Books & Literary Life

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

Three climbers seated on a snowy summit, surrounded by clouds, appearing contemplative.

These Harvard Mountaineers Braved Denali’s Wall of Ice

John Graham’s Denali Diary documents a dangerous and historic climb.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Ross Douthat standing in a wooded park

Ross Douthat’s conservative conservatism, a profile by Lydialyle Gibson

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat’s journey through American decadence and upheaval

by Lydialyle Gibson

Portrait photograph of a middle-aged Lorenzo Tañada as a Philippine senator

Lorenzo Tañada

Brief life of a Philippine patriot: 1898-1992

by Christopher Capozzola

Black and white photo of a group of Vietnamese children, titled “Schoolchildren Playing Cards”

Photographer Mark Erickson’s street scenes of 1990s Vietnam

Photographer Mark Erickson on the Vietnam he never knew

by Dan Kelly

Dan Chiasson at home in front of a “sometimes delightful, sometimes disturbing” mural by David Teng Olsen, which appears in The Math Campers.

Dan Chiasson's Poetry and Criticism

Poet-critic Dan Chiasson and The Math Campers

by Lydialyle Gibson

Illustration of bearded farmer, from anthology of Yiddish children’s literature

Excerpt from Mirim Udel’s book “Honey on the Page”

Miriam Udel’s passion for children and Yiddish children’s literature

Black-and-white photograph of Karl Puchner in 1937 with his wife, young son, and a tiny, barely visible swastika button on his jacket

Review of Martin Puchner’s “The Language of Thieves”

A German American scholar is unsettled by an ancestor’s secret.

by Marina N. Bolotnikova

A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Photograph of cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookie from the book “Science and Cooking”

Recent books with Harvard connections

Recent books with Harvard connections

An illustration of social capital, the subject of the book being reviewed, in the form of an individual versus a group working together

Review of new Putnam and Garrett book, “The Upswing,” by Idrees Kahloon

In search of optimism, a sweeping interpretation of American social history

by Idrees Kahloon

Gifts for the arts

Holiday gifts that support the arts

by Nell Porter-Brown