Books & Literary Life

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

Collage of book covers featuring various titles on a vibrant orange background.

America’s Past, Opera's Future: 11 New Books from Harvard Authors

These newly released novels, histories, and memoirs grapple with identity in all its forms.

by Gabriella Gage

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

A Zoom screen shot shows guest speaker Isabel Wilkerson, interviewer Don Lemon, and Harvard professor David R. Williams

Isabel Wilkerson speaks at Harvard about racism storytelling and public health

Author Isabel Wilkerson kicks off a Harvard speaker series on storytelling and public health.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Portrait of Rachel Gable, author of new book on first-generation students at elite colleges

Timely guidance for colleges enrolling first-generation and low-income students

Rachel Gable’s research on helping first-generation and low-income students succeed at elite colleges

by John S. Rosenberg

An illustration by James Steinberg shows a heavenly hand extending down to the U.S. Capitol and attempting to influence members of Congress

Benjamin Friedman on faith and American socioeconomic policy

How faith shapes economic and social policy

Archival photograph of John F. Kennedy as an undergraduate, circa 1939, studying papers

Fredrik Logevall, “JFK: Coming of Age…” excerpt

An unusual senior thesis

Photograph of a giant cuttlefish, “Sepia apama,” at Cabbage Tree Bay, Australia: among Peter Godfrey-Smith’s subjects for his research on cognition

Recent books with Harvard connections

Recent books with Harvard connections

Portrait of Harvard Law School dean—and perfectionist—Ezra Thayer circa 1910, who found the school’s dire finances overwhelming.

Review of Kimball and Coquillette, “The Intellectual Sword,” by Lincoln Caplan

The making of the modern Harvard Law School

by Lincoln Caplan

David Roberts seated outdoors on a stone wall by the Charles River

Adventure writer Dave Roberts

David Roberts: A lifetime of adventures, risks, and rewards

by Nell Porter-Brown

Three people in 1950s New York

Robert Frank at the Addison Gallery, Andover, Massachusetts

“Robert Frank: The Americans,” at the Addison Gallery of American Art

by Nell Porter-Brown