Books & Literary Life

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

Matt Levine in a dark blazer and glasses stands smiling with arms crossed in front of a large window in a city building.

University People | July-August 2025

Making Money Funny

Matt Levine’s spunky Bloomberg column

by Max J. Krupnick

Sarah Manguso

Montage | March-April 2015

Speak, Memory

Dissecting her diary, a writer weaponizes solipsism.

by Sophia Nguyen

Algebra, a high-wire act for math phobics, is here rendered clearly, amusingly, and memorably.

Montage | March-April 2015

Off the Shelf

Recent books with Harvard connections

Montage | March-April 2015

Chapter & Verse

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Lafayette became a friend of American artist and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse, who depicted him with Revolutionary icons Washington and Franklin in this 1826 portrait.

Features | March-April 2015

Vita: Lafayette

Brief life of an American champion: 1757-1834

by Laura Auricchio

Here lies an eager patriot.

The College Pump | March-April 2015

Youthful Ardors

Love Story locale, and other passionate pursuits

Museums & Collections |

Inside Harvard’s Home for Books

A new documentary explores the three million feet of shelving at the Harvard Depository.

by Stephanie Garlock

Amy Poehler with members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals during a parade through Harvard Square

Performing & Recorded Arts |

Amy Poehler Honored as Woman of the Year

Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals celebrate the actress and writer.

by Laura Levis

Joan Kane on King Island

Alumni | January-February 2015

A Poet’s Return

For Joan Naviyuk Kane ’00, an abandoned island is a potent creative source.

by Melanie Wang

Montage | January-February 2015

Open Book: Rough Road for Capitalism

A critique of the neoliberal economy

Amy Wilentz

Montage | January-February 2015

A Love Affair with Haiti

Amy Wilentz on her “touchstone and central obsession”

by Craig Lambert