Essays

We are in the midst of a sea change.

Consider the difference between James Cooper and James Fenimore Cooper; David Wallace and David Foster Wallace; or Jorge Luis Borges and Jorge Borges. Who would want to go down in history as Jorge Borges?

Endorsing Portnoy’s penis as a guide post for literary sex is like saying guys these days should act more like Don Draper.

How in the world did people get information in the days before Google?

They join a growing list of vital websites providing “serious consideration of serious books” at a time when print media is fast abandoning the practice.

Mustafa al-Farkhani stops outside the closed gate of the Tijaniyya shrine in Tetouan, Morocco, and holds a finger to his lips. His eyes go dim as he places his ear against the whitewashed limestone wall of the house that abuts the shrine.

Vanessa Gould’s documentary casts origami as an art form coming of age with a wide range of immensely complex constructions.

While here are only two freestanding book reviews in this fair country, we do have a wealth of best book lists. Here is a meta-list: The Best of the Best Books of 2009.

In the United States wets and drys are unable to agree about alcohol. In the Valley of the Nile it is water that keeps England and Egypt from coming to an understanding.

Maybe the publication of Ford County means that short stories are making a comeback.