Biblio

Matthew J.X. Malady: For several decades, writers, scholars, and language rabble-rousers have been suggesting that apostrophes are perhaps less necessary than we might suspect. Such thinking is anathema to the surprisingly large (and unsurprisingly vocal) subset of the population that gets genuinely fired up about apostrophes and their misuse.

Stories by much-acclaimed American writer, some just a sentence long, praised for vigilance 'down to the very word'.

Lit geeks who love their food will be delighted to know that graphic designer Dinah Fried has gone ahead to reenact famous meals from famous literature texts and show us just how yummy they are with a series of artfully composed shots. Meals from classic reads like The Catcher in the Rye, Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist and Moby Dick make an appearance as well as from contemporary bestseller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Nice.

Handwriting in late-nineteenth-century letters is almost universally beautiful: regular, precisely slanted, and pleasing to the eye. This broadside, which outlines the principles of a popular system of instruction in cursive writing at the time, proves that achieving that style took a lot of work.

The winner of the Man Booker's biennial selection of the best in international literature will be awarded next week. Many of the finalists are unfamiliar to English-language readers. Read the interviews.

Can Steven Poole decode the arcane puzzle of the bestselling author Dan Brown's latest novel in just 48 hours?

In the continuing losing battle to save England’s local libraries, it’s been announced that Manchester will most likely lose six of its libraries within weeks, if the council’s proposed cuts go ahead.

On April 3, 2013 The New York Review of Books and the Cullman Center for Scholars & Writers at the New York Public Library presented a panel discussion celebrating the Review’s 50th anniversary. Five regular contributors discussed their careers, their experience writing for editors Robert Silvers and Barbara Epstein, and their predictions and hopes for the future of literary journalism.

If we are cursed to forget much of what we read, there are still charms in the moments of reading a particular book.

'One-tenth of your income must go into War Bonds if you hope to defeat both the Axis and inflation!'

The Washington Post did not review Martin Amis's latest novel favorably, but the book blurb suggests otherwise.

It’s a particularly Ginsberg-ian list, with a healthy mix of genres and periods, most of it poetry—by Ginsberg’s fellow beats, to be sure, but also by Melville, Dickinson, Yeats, Milton, Shelley, and several more.

On the eve of the publication of Messud's new book, she can’t shake the feeling she’s still an outsider.

Fiction writers face a challenge in depicting the ubiquitous 21st-century experience of virtual existence.

Michael Deacon: The snobs and critics will have a field day with the US author’s latest work – but I’m not joining in.

Two literary men who have never met exchange emails for a year. Worth reading? Yes, it turns out that this old fashioned idea still charms and delights in the digital age. Matthew Walther on the missives of Frederic Raphael and Joseph Epstein.

The presence of a Bad Mother in a story means all bets are off.  If she refuses to play by the rules of meek ‘n’ mild Good Motherhood, then this lady is going to tramp all over the expected game plan.  She’s liable to be unpredictable, downright contrary, and prone to tossing spanners into the linear narrative’s works.