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The Tragedy and Comedy of <em>Don Quixote</em>

The Tragedy and Comedy of Don Quixote

How the Kidnapping of Miguel de Cervantes Shaped His Famous Novel

By Ed Simon | September 22, 2025

Hiroshima at Eighty: Contemporary Literature as a Product of the Post-Nuclear World

Hiroshima at Eighty: Contemporary Literature as a Product of the Post-Nuclear World

Ed Simon Considers the Enduring Impact of the Atomic Bomb on Artistic and Literary Production

By Ed Simon | August 18, 2025

Hypergraphia: On Prolific Writers and the Persistent Need to Produce

Hypergraphia: On Prolific Writers and the Persistent Need to Produce

Ed Simon Considers the Habits and Processes of a Group of Critically and Commercially Acclaimed Authors

By Ed Simon | July 21, 2025

The Dark Magic of Words: Why Fascism and Illiberalism Are So Seductive to Writers

The Dark Magic of Words: Why Fascism and Illiberalism Are So Seductive to Writers

Ed Simon Looks at Eduard Limonov, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Yukio Mishima, and Others

By Ed Simon | June 23, 2025

L. Frank Baum’s Literary Vision of an American Century: <em>The Wizard of Oz</em> at 125 Years

L. Frank Baum’s Literary Vision of an American Century: The Wizard of Oz at 125 Years

Ed Simon on Grifters, the Chicago World Fair, and Oz as Symbol of a Modern USA

By Ed Simon | May 16, 2025

American Literature’s White Whale: Why the “Great American Novel” is Still Worth Pursuing

American Literature’s White Whale: Why the “Great American Novel” is Still Worth Pursuing

Ed Simon on the Importance of Chasing an Elusive Literary Ideal in an Era of National Decline

By Ed Simon | April 2, 2025

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

  • Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes
  • Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David
  • I Can't Stop Thinking about Horses and Sex
  • Queen of Lombard Street
  • Paradise Burns
  • Doppelgänger
  • Hanging and Burning: A King Oliver Novel
  • Our Arab: On Longing, Belonging, and Hope
  • The Turning of Sally-Mae

Punk, Poet, Prophet: In Praise of the Late, Great Shane MacGowan

By Ed Simon | March 17, 2025

In Praise of Wonder Boys (Both the Book AND the Movie)

By Ed Simon | February 25, 2025

“Anarchism Means That You Should Be Free.” On the Literature of Liberation

By Ed Simon | January 27, 2025

How Walter Benjamin’s Iconic Antifascist Essay Escaped Europe

How Walter Benjamin’s Iconic Antifascist Essay Escaped Europe

Ed Simon on the Enduring Political Relevance of Benjamin’s “Theses on the Philosophy of History”

By Ed Simon | December 13, 2024

In Praise of Print: Why Reading Remains Essential in an Era of Epistemological Collapse

In Praise of Print: Why Reading Remains Essential in an Era of Epistemological Collapse

Ed Simon on What Sven Birkerts Got Right in “The Guttenberg Elegies”

By Ed Simon | November 25, 2024

Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues: On the Timeless Duality of Being Human

Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues: On the Timeless Duality of Being Human

Ed Simon Explores the Ways in Which Good and Evil Have Manifested Throughout the Ages

By Ed Simon | November 15, 2024

Exhuming Dracula’s Ancestors: What Vampires Reveal About Our Latent Fears

Exhuming Dracula’s Ancestors: What Vampires Reveal About Our Latent Fears

Ed Simon Explores the History and Tradition of Unearthing the Long-Buried Past in Eastern Europe

By Ed Simon | October 31, 2024

Life Imitates Art: On <em>The Sorrows of Young Werther</em>, Moral Panic and the Power of Books

Life Imitates Art: On The Sorrows of Young Werther, Moral Panic and the Power of Books

Ed Simon Considers the Phenomenon of Killing Yourself (and Others) in the Name of Literature

By Ed Simon | September 27, 2024

Boccaccio’s Modern Life: What <em>The Decameron</em> Reveals About Contemporary Anxiety

Boccaccio’s Modern Life: What The Decameron Reveals About Contemporary Anxiety

Ed Simon Considers the Act of Storytelling as a Means of Preserving Our Humor and Humanity in Tumultuous Times

By Ed Simon | August 5, 2024

A Deal With the Devil: What the Age-Old Faustian Bargain Reveals About the Modern World

A Deal With the Devil: What the Age-Old Faustian Bargain Reveals About the Modern World

Ed Simon on "The Most Important Story Ever Told," That of Humanity's Transactional Relationship With Evil

By Ed Simon | July 9, 2024

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    • How Alain Delon Got Caught Up in a Murder Investigation at the Height of His FameNovember 3, 2026 by Edward Chisholm
    • Karin Slaughter on Mo Hayder, thrillers by women, and the legacy of "Gone"November 3, 2026 by Karin Slaughter
    • The best crime novels, mysteries, and thrillers of the month: November 2026November 3, 2026 by Molly Odintz
    • Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes
    • The Best Reviewed Books of the Week
    • "A vivid, sometimes grisly, sometimes enraging portrait of 19th-century British society ... Probing and excellent."
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