Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness,” “Happy Hour,” “Walk with Me,” and “Man Ray.”

2d

The Many Wars of Pat Barker

Celebrated for her First World War trilogy, Barker has been reimagining the Trojan War through the eyes of its female victims. But what happens when gritty realism meets myth?

2d

The Miracle of Stephen Crane

Born after the Civil War, he turned himself into its most powerful witness—and modernized the American novel.

2d

On Translating Tove Ditlevsen

A conversation with Michael Favala Goldman, who translated Ditlevsen’s short story “The Umbrella,” in this week’s issue.

2d

Sunday Reading: Critics on Classic Literature

From the magazine’s archive: a selection of contemporaneous appraisals of writers and reviews of classic novels.

3d

Karl Ove Knausgaard’s Haunting New Novel

In “The Morning Star,” the Norwegian novelist gives voice to the feeling that something terrible is coming for us all.

4d

The Trump Presidency Is Still an Active Crime Scene

It’s hard to consign the Trump years to the history books when we remain in the middle of the crisis that it sparked.

5d

Thomas McGuane Reads “Not Here You Don’t”

The author reads his story from the October 18, 2021, issue of the magazine.

2w

Thoreau in Love

The writer had a deep bond with his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. But he also had a profound connection with Emerson’s wife.

2w

It’s Time to Stop Talking About “Generations”

From boomers to zoomers, the concept gets social history all wrong.

2w