How Did Taylor Swift Convince the World That She’s Relatable?
The tidiest explanation for the pop star’s success is that she befriended an underestimated audience of girls and young women. That’s only part of the story.
Book Review
The Hardest Question for a Writer to Answer
For Miriam Toews, writing is a way of living with the unspeakable.
These Books Won’t Make You a Better Person
A new generation of disabled writers isn’t interested in inspiring readers.
The Judgments of Muriel Spark
The novelist liked playing God—a very capricious one.
Literature’s Enduring Obsession With Strange Sisters
In Xenobe Purvis’s novel, a brood of odd siblings illuminates the fears of their fellow villagers.
The Tech Novel’s Warning for a Screen-Addled Age
Elaine Castillo’s second book captures how profoundly technology can alienate people from their emotions.
Mrs. Dalloway’s Midlife Crisis
Virginia Woolf’s wild run of creativity in her 40s included writing her masterpiece on the terrors and triumphs of middle age.
A Novelist’s Cure for the ‘Loneliness Epidemic’
Eloghosa Osunde’s new book offers a vision of kinship for a world that is steadily growing more disconnected.
The Most Dangerous Kind of Friendship
A new novel challenges sentimental ideas about lifelong bonds.
When Hulk Hogan Turned Heel
Pro wrestling—and America?—was never the same.