Essays

The police archive sits in a cemetery of confiscated cars at the edge of Zone 6 in Guatemala City. Behind the high wall of the police-headquarters complex, the cars are piled three, four, even five high, their rusted bodies giving the area...

On the night of August 3, 1944—in the hot crickety darkness of Riga, Latvia—my grandparents did two remarkable things. After midnight, while his children were sleeping, my grandfather—Harijs Mindenbergs—sat down at the kitchen table and...

Inspiration comes from the unlikeliest of places.

Bernardo Atxaga draws a line between theft and homage in his delightful “Obabakoak.”

The year’s best mistakes, Lawerence Weschler’s mysterious power, the merits of literary prizes, and more.

J. Hoberman weighs in Steven Soderbergh’s epic biopic of Che.

Ecce homo: Ernesto, Fuser, The Argentine, The Heroic Guerrilla, The Shadowy Power Behind Fidel Castro, The Great Compañero, The New Socialist Man, The Last Armed Prophet, The Most Complete Human Being of Our Age, The Clearest, Most...

A new study concludes that medical residents are dangerously overworked. But is the healthcare field willing—or able—to change?

The economics of writing have required some of the most celebrated authors to maintain a 9 to 5 job.