An occasional series in which writers speak for themselves.
A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies
By David Thomson
Strangely, the author knocks the very medium he spotlights.
Agrippa: A Novel of Ancient Rome’s Descent into Dictatorship
By Robert Harris
A dynamic figure from antiquity is rendered oddly lifeless.
Smut: An 1883 Obscenity Trial and Its Echoes Today
By Carol Kammen
Controlling women then; controlling women now.
Mired in Irrational Admiration
By Stephanie Dupal
On the nature and artifice of being stuck.
Blessings and Disasters
By Alexis Okeowo
Minority voices ring out in this affecting memoir of the South.
A recap of the books we’ve spotlighted in the past few days.
Wayward Girls
By Susan Wiggs
The classic “mean Irish nuns” story gets an Upstate New York reboot.
Contested Continent: The Struggle for North America, c. 1000-1680
By Peter C. Mancall
No land is ever conquered quietly.
New collections to make life more lyrical.
Crocodilopolis: A Novel
By John Manuel Arias
A searing portrayal of generational strife set against a lush Costa Rican backdrop.
