Library-of-America

Book Review: “The Cool School” — What Does it Mean to be Hip?

October 30, 2013
Posted in , ,

In a way, this collection of hip writing, a “literary mixtape,” is the ultimate embodiment of the vision of the Hipster-as-Curator.

Read More

Fuse Interview: Ian Frazier on the Comic Genius of Ring Lardner

October 6, 2013
Posted in , ,

Ring Lardner wrote the funniest stand-alone sentence using the fewest words with which that feat can be done: “‘Shut up,’ he explained.”

Read More

Book Interview: Sherwood Anderson — The American Bard of Inchoate Longings

February 4, 2013
Posted in ,

“What Sherwood Anderson knew and understood was the nature of inarticulate lives and what people do when they’re in the grip of strong feelings and words fail them.”

Read More

The Annual Arts Fuse Holiday Gift Roundup — Tips From the Experts

December 5, 2011
Posted in , , , , , ,

Wondering about what to give the arts and culture lover on your gift list? No problem — the sage writers for The Arts Fuse (with an assist from our readers) come to the rescue with thoughtful suggestions.

Read More

Fuse Book Interview: George Kimball Takes The Library of America to The Fights

April 2, 2011
Posted in

Jack London was rather like Norman Mailer in that he thought of himself, and tried to write like, a boxer who happened to write. They were both often full of shit, but that’s the perspective they tried to convey.

Read More

The Annual Arts Fuse Holiday Gift Roundup — Tips from the Experts

December 11, 2010
Posted in , , , ,

With gift season comes the existential quandary: What to give the culture lovers on your list? This season the writers for The Arts Fuse waylay the crisis by recommending items that will delight the heart and stimulate the mind. Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section. Keep in mind that…

Read More

World Books April Update

April 17, 2010
Posted in , ,

By Bill Marx I have neglected to point out the recent postings at my other gig, the online feature World Books at BBC/PRI’s The World. I just completed my April podcast, a departure for the series because I focus on a classic American author rather than a writer in translation. But this April 21st marks…

Read More

Book Review: Film Critic Manny Farber — Ravenous Genius

November 20, 2009
Posted in , ,

Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber. Edited by Robert Polito. Library of America, 1000 pages, $40. Reviewed by Justin Marble Film critic Manny Farber’s landmark 1962 essay “White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art” champions the underground, manic, frenzied, messy “termite” films against the by-the-book, consciously significant, pompous and often critically-adored “white…

Read More

Book Review: Edmund Wilson — Prophet of the Blogosphere, Part 2

October 27, 2007
Posted in ,

By Bill Marx Edmund Wilson: A Life in Literature (Paperback) By Lewis M. Dabney. Johns Hopkins University Press, 672 pages, $25. Literary Essays and Reviews of the 1920s & 30s (Library of America #176) By Edmund Wilson. Edited by Lewis M. Dabney. 1026 pages, $40. Literary Essays and Reviews of the 1930s & 40s (Library…

Read More

Books Commentary: Trashy Modern Classics

July 31, 2007
Posted in , ,

More evidence bean counters will be picking the classics of the future: two novels by Ayn Rand – the unhinged saint of unbridled capitalism – have been reissued as Penguin Modern Classics.

Read More

Recent Posts