Books & Literary Life
Literary criticism, author interviews, and book culture from within and beyond Harvard.
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
Namwali Serpell
The professor of English is also a novelist and a critic.
Off the shelf: Recent books with Harvard connections
Tax follies, Thomas Sowell, Donald Hall, and more
Melvin Miller ’56: “Not going…to stand aside”
The founder, editor, and publisher of The Bay State Banner profiled
al-Hariri, a master storyteller
Brief life of a master storyteller
The Racial Tensions That Roiled Texas
Annette Gordon-Reed on the real history of Texas, and Juneteenth
Arabic translator Marilyn Booth
Marilyn Booth translates Arabic literature for Anglophone readers.
Recent books with Harvard connections
Recent books with Harvard connections
Secretaries’ role in history of information
From a huge new book on the history of information, an excerpt on the role of secretaries
Novelist Maggie Shipstead and “Great Circle”
Maggie Shipstead’s time-spanning, globe-circling new novel
by Dan Kelly
Andrew Knoll, “A Brief History of Earth,” reviewed by Jonathan Shaw
Andrew Knoll on the planet’s past—and fraught future