Books & Literary Life

Literary criticism, author interviews, and book culture from within and beyond Harvard.

Portrait of a man in a denim shirt beside a blue book cover for "Gretal and the Great War" featuring an illustration of a leg holding an army helmet..

How Adam Ehrlich Sachs Writes Absurd and Beautiful Fiction

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

by Eric Olson

Photograph of earth scientist Andrew Knoll at work in the field

Andrew Knoll, “A Brief History of Earth,” reviewed by Jonathan Shaw

Andrew Knoll on the planet’s past—and fraught future

by Jonathan Shaw

Solomon Gate in an open position.

An innovative gate for Harvard Yard

At Houghton and Lamont libraries, a creative new entry into the Yard

by Jacob Sweet

Head and torso of a man painted by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

A monumental book reveals a monumental work of art

Nicholas Callaway publishes the Sistine Chapel in closeup.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Historic photograph of heap of fabric scraps

Excerpt from “Shoddy,” by Hanna Rose Shell

“From Devil’s Dust to the Renaissance of Rags”—a surprising account of scrap

An illustration showing a human head in profile, suggesting the elements of distinctive Western psychology

Excerpt from “The WEIRDEST People in the World,” by Joseph Henrich

Reinterpreting the distinctive psychology of the human West

Photograph of author Justin Deabler

“Lone Stars”—an HLS grad’s semi-autobiographical debut novel

Fiction about “the power that comes to us when we uncloset ourselves”

by Lydialyle Gibson

Historic images of Francis Drake and Elizabeth I, who feature in a new book by Laurence Bergreen

Recent books with Harvard connections

Recent books with Harvard connections

Chapter & Verse

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones poses stylishly in a studio

Profile of Radhika Jones

Radhika Jones at the helm of Vanity Fair

by Marina N. Bolotnikova

Hands typing on a computer keyboard.

The Muse & The Marketplace 2021

This Boston conference offers a virtual writing retreat.

by Nell Porter-Brown