The Hub

News, Notes, Talk

Meet the literary critics who are keeping the culture honest (and sometimes spicy).

What is the state of cultural criticism today? This summer, The Yale Review dedicated an entire issue to unpacking this very question. After editors conceded that “we live in a moment when the closing of many news­papers and magazines means Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Joy Williams! Rust Belt writers! Phillip Lopate! 25 new books out today.

July has arrived, and, for American readers, this means that the Fourth of July is just around the corner. Amidst the fireworks and grilled delights (and at-times-questionable displays of patriotism), the holiday can be an unexpectedly good opportunity to catch Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

"Every time I watch it, I’m transfixed anew." Rachel Kushner on her favorite films.

Need something good (and weird) to watch tonight? Novelist, noted film buff, and general haver-of-good-taste Rachel Kushner has put together a list of her favorite films for Galerie, a new online film club with offerings curated by a variety of Read more >

By Emily Temple

Is it the summer of the brat?

What’s the deal with brats this summer? June has brought us Brat the novel, Brat the album, and Brats the documentary. We at Lit Hub have decided this cannot be a coincidence. And to understand this phenomenon, we must consider Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Ukraine has passed a new law that directly supports bookstores.

There’s been a lot of global focus recently on what governments can and cannot do, what they should or should not provide. Some of that certainly comes with the multi-election territory this year—elections in the US, the UK, and France Read more >

By Drew Broussard

What's worth more than the rarest book in American literature? The answer may (not) surprise you.

You can read Bradford Morrow on Poe’s Tamerlane here. Auctions are unpredictable beasts. If you approach them thinking you know how they will behave, you do so naively. Some lots sell far higher than expected, others much lower, and there’s Read more >

By Bradford Morrow

NYC libraries are getting their funding back.

As the saying goes, you know you’ve fucked up when the librarians start protesting—and while New York City makes a sport out of hating its mayors, current problematic mayor Eric Adams really stepped in it when he announced cuts to Read more >

By Drew Broussard

Ann Beattie! Mysterious Korean SF! Colin Channer! 26 books out in paperback this July.

July is here! And, as ever, that means (amongst other things) that there are heaps of new books to look forward to. Today, we’re focusing on books newly being released in paperback this month. And there are many, many to Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Julia Phillips! Tracy O’Neill! Reality TV! 20 new books out today.

June, incredibly, is almost at an end, and, for many of us it’s been a month of many things, from the beauty of Pride Month and the recognition of Juneteenth to the sweltering weather of heat waves around the world Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

Taika Waititi is taking on Percival Everett's James.

In evergreen news, it seems that Hollywood has gotten its hooks into yet another beloved literary property. Taika Waititi, of Thor/Our Flag Means Death/Reservation Dogs-etc., is slated to direct the film adaptation of Percival Everett’s latest bit of wizardry: the Read more >

By Brittany Allen

What's the deal with Book Girl Summer?

Earlier this month, the fashion house Miu Miu staged a marketing event at an unlikely catwalk: Casa Magazines. This was part and parcel of a recurring pop-up called ‘Summer Reads,’ at which fans of the brand can line up to Read more >

By Brittany Allen

Most freelance book critics are making less than minimum wage.

Since September 2023, the book criticism working group of the Freelance Solidarity Project (a union of digital media workers, organizing to raise labor standards across the industry) has been collecting data on freelance rates. Its findings, published earlier this month, Read more >

By Dan Sheehan

A definitive ranking of Brat Pack movies.

This week, the ex-teen heart-throb, ur-“Nice Guy,” and award-winning travel writer(!) Andrew McCarthy made his documentary debut at the TriBeCa film festival. Brats—the film in question, now on Hulu—documents the rise and fall of the enfants terribles who defined the Read more >

By Brittany Allen

What does it mean that Barnes & Noble is buying Denver indie Tattered Cover?

After several tumultuous years, there’s light at the end of the tunnel for Denver’s Tattered Cover bookstore. Denverite reports that the troubled local chain (TC has six stores in the Denver area) accepted a $1.8 million offer from Barnes & Read more >

By Drew Broussard

Rachel Cusk! Francine Prose! Thom Gunn! 27 new books out today.

It’s another Tuesday, and—against the depressing impulses of doomscrollers to begin each day with bad news—I fortunately have good news to offer: there’s a veritable salmagundi of new books out today in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In fact, I have Read more >

By Gabrielle Bellot

The Indian government is planning to prosecute Arundhati Roy.

Arundhati Roy, the internationally recognized author and activist, is currently wanted by the Indian authorities. This comes after the Lieutenant General of Delhi granted police permission to prosecute the Booker Prize-winning novelist under a draconian anti-terrorism statute called the Unlawful Read more >

By Brittany Allen