Books & Literary Life

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

These Harvard Mountaineers Braved Denali’s Wall of Ice

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

by Lydialyle Gibson

Brief life of Guy Davenport, a polymathic stylist

Brief life of a polymathic stylist: 1927-2005

by Eric Allen Been

Excerpt from “The Wine Lover’s Daughter” by Anne Fadiman

Anne Fadiman ’74 recalls her father, Clifton, in an excerpt from The Wine Lover’s Daughter

Found in Translation

Maureen Freely ’74, longtime translator of Orhan Pamuk, shares the nuances of bringing a text from one language to another.

by Oset Babür

Recent books with Harvard connections

Recent books with Harvard connections

Harvard professor Stephanie Burt on becoming co-poetry editor at “The Nation”

Stephanie Burt ’94 is the kind of poetry critic who provokes anger in other poetry critics.

by Tara Wanda Merrigan

"Bunk" review: Kevin Young surveys American culture, from circuses to con men

From the Missouri Compromise to the 2016 election, Kevin Young's Bunk takes stock of American hoaxes, con men, and race fantasies.

by Niela Orr

Chapter and verse quotation-citation correspondence site

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

2017 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

Rare books and ephemera at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

by Nell Porter-Brown

In “Little Fires Everywhere,” a Custody Battle Ignites the Comfortable Suburbs

Celeste Ng’s nimble second novel traces a cross-cultural drama in her Midwestern hometown. 

by Sophia Nguyen

In Danielle Allen’s “Cuz,” Caught Between Two Justice Systems

Allen’s new book excoriates both the justice system and a parallel universe of gang rule. 

by Marina N. Bolotnikova