
Review: Ron Chernow's “Mark Twain” Biography


Surely we have lost something vital when we have lost the power to be startled, even offended, by the voices from the past. To say “This text offends me, I will read no further” may be shortsighted; but to read a “great book” from the past with such reverence that you can’t see where its views are wrong, or even where they differ from your own, is
... See moreAlan Jacobs • Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind
William Vollmann, whose collection The Rainbow Stories
D. T. Max • Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace
Since almost every word Wolfe wrote was autobiographical, nearly all his characters based closely on real people, there had always been a risk of prosecution.
A. Scott Berg • Max Perkins: Editor of Genius
Do the audaciousness and hubris that drive him to attempt epic feats excuse his bad behavior, his callousness, his recklessness? The times he’s an asshole? The answer is no, of course not. One can admire a person’s good traits and decry the bad ones. But it’s also important to understand how the strands are woven together, sometimes tightly. It can
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