From opaque theory to giddily playful fiction by Chris Kraus and Salman Rushdie, the era that followed modernism is as much about politics as art
June 2021
On the Road to Bridget Jones: five books that define each generation
Blake Morrison on boomers, Chris Power on Gen X, Megan Nolan on millennials and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé on Gen Z … which books shaped your generation?
April 2019
Books that made me
Fatima Bhutto: ‘David Foster Wallace on David Lynch is pretty funny’
The novelist on admiring Maggie Nelson and Rachel Kushner, and being irritated by William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury
February 2019
Top 10s
Top 10 books about idleness
From Oscar Wilde to Sigmund Freud and David Foster Wallace, a psychoanalyst recommends reading that turns a critical eye on busyness
January 2019
Book of the week
Not Working by Josh Cohen - the benefits of idleness
A polemic against our overwork culture and a manifesto for just being rather than doing ... let’s learn from the slackers
September 2018
David Foster Wallace was right – even in paradise we will need the internet
Brigid Delaney
There was one thing he didn’t predict: that when entertainment and addiction met in the internet, rage and hate would follow
August 2018
You know who knew the real John McCain? David Foster Wallace
Jill Abramson
Tributes and takedowns misunderstand the senator’s nature. The novelist didn’t: McCain was flawed and he knew it writes Guardian US columnist Jill Abramson
July 2018
Further reading
The best tennis books: Benjamin Markovits serves up his favourites
As Wimbledon 2018 starts, the novelist tips books on Agassi and Federer – with a volley from Roth and Updike
June 2018
Morality clauses: are publishers right to police writers?
Offensive opinions. Bullying. Sexual misconduct. As the literary world is rocked by scandal US publishers are asking authors to sign contracts with ‘morality clauses’. Are they really the answer?
April 2018
The Recovering by Leslie Jamison review – on giving up booze
This much-touted literary love letter to Alcoholics Anonymous is too moral in its argument for the superiority of the sober
January 2018
Top 10s
Top 10 errant teenagers in fiction
From Infinite Jest’s antsy prodigy to Brighton Rock’s haunted antihero, debut novelist Danny Denton picks the best bad girls and boys in books
September 2017
Moving Kings by Joshua Cohen review – the baggage of the past in contemporary America
Two young Israeli former soldiers find parallels with home when living in the US
August 2017
No wonder Terry Pratchett wanted to avoid the Stieg Larsson treatment
Stephanie Merritt
From Kafka to Pratchett, the wishes of authors and fans regarding posthumous publication often diverge, writes Stephanie Merritt
July 2017
The literary life of Michiko Kakutani: the book critic's best feuds and reviews
‘Proust is the godfather of fashion’: what writers’ clothes reveal about them
May 2017
Books blog
Can male writers avoid misogyny?
It’s deeply embedded in the culture, and the likes of Philip Roth and Martin Amis are often thought to reproduce what they sought to expose. Is there any way out?
April 2017
Books blog
Enough David Foster Wallace, already! We need to read beyond our bubbles
Jessa Crispin
Male critics have long expounded a literary canon that mirrors their own lives. Such narrow reading is not restricted to men, but their example is a caution
February 2017
Focus Group review – David Foster Wallace's sinister Mr Squishy is staged
Audience participation turns from fun to fraught in this assault on the corporate world inspired by the American author’s short story
September 2016
Games designer Ian Bogost: ‘Play is in everything’
