Lolita

Fictional characters and irrational fears go together like bread and butter, like Romeo and Juliet, like Dave Eggers and long book titles. Where would we be, canonically speaking, if Macbeth wasn’t all weird about murdering the king? If the Ancient Mariner wasn’t frightened by the albatross around his neck? If Batman wasn’t terrified of bats? […]

It is possible that, in addition to reading War and Peace and all the Austen ever printed, I may occasionally glance at magazines that may feature well-known personages of the stage and screen (and reality television, and other sources of mysterious fame I still do not quite understand). Becuause hey, some of these people star in movies about my favorite […]

It’s beach reading time. And since I know you don’t want to bring your shiny new hardbacks anywhere near the seaweed and beached jellyfish, I hereby declare the next three months the Summer of Paperback Favorites. While I can’t promise my compilation’s handy acronym (SPF) is accidental, I can assure you I’ve selected several of the […]

The 1950s saw the emergence of literary lights including J.D. Salinger and Jack Kerouac, authors whose books questioned the status quo and the midcentury preoccupation with conformity. The decade’s best books were mired in the dark realities of recent history, and looked forward to seismic social shifts to come. Novelists explored cultural norms through timeless dystopic visions, and […]