Day by Michael Cunningham; The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez review – tales from the Covid era
Two New York novels – one a melodrama of familial tension, the other musings from an unlucky housesitter – investigate life during the pandemic
Book of the day
Day by Michael Cunningham review – living through the pandemic
The author of The Hours explores the inner lives of a Brooklyn family, before, during and after lockdown
Michael Cunningham: ‘Some people have never forgiven me for not just writing The Hours again’
The acclaimed author was halfway through writing a novel when the pandemic hit – forcing him to start over. He discusses the new book, and how he’s continuing to honour his literary heroes
December 2022
The Woolf pack: Renée Fleming and Joyce DiDonato on turning The Hours into opera
The Pulitzer-prize-winning, Mrs Dalloway-influenced novel about three generations of women, has finally hit the stage. Its stars tell us how they pulled it off
February 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 classic stories retold
From Zadie Smith’s new take on Howards End to Michael Cunningham’s reworked Virginia Woolf, these tales refresh books we thought we knew
August 2017
Reading group
Reading group: which book about gay life should we read in August?
To mark the 50th anniversary of decriminalisation in the UK, please help choose a novel to mark the occasion. There are hundreds to choose from
June 2016
'New York problems': literature puts a city on the couch
The great metropolis has always been a magnet for writers, whose scrutiny has laid bare towers of ‘issues’ alongside its grand glamour
August 2015
Reading American cities
Reading American cities: books about Cincinnati
From the origins of Uncle Tom to the stories of revolutionary, radical women, Michael Griffith takes us on a tour of literary Cincinnati – including Toni Morrison, Edmund White and a drive to attract America’s best poets
May 2015
Books blog
Virginia Woolf should live on, but not because of her death
Her genius continues to inspire all manner of new artistic work, but far too much of it fixates on her suicide over the vivid life of her fiction
November 2014
Bad sex in fiction award includes Booker winner among shortlist targets
Richard Flanagan's unlikely metaphors lined up against writers including Haruki Murakami and Kirsty Ward
July 2014
Top 10s
Philip Hensher's top 10 parallel narratives
From Mrs Gaskell to David Mitchell, the novelist picks the best of a surprisingly long tradition that pairs unconnected but related stories
May 2014
The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham review – a novel of New York lives that touches the fantastical
The Snow Queen review – Michael Cunningham's poetic meditation on life and death
July 2013
Books blog
Michael Cunningham: My fantasy Folio goes to Ulysses and To the Lighthouse
Virginia Woolf was a snob and James Joyce a bully – but their novels have never been surpassed. As the new Folio prize judges are announced, academician Michael Cunningham looks back at two deserving classics
December 2012
In praise of ...
In praise of… the hatchet job
Editorial: Literary hatchet jobs are the application of a sharp blade to a distended reputation
April 2012
Pulitzers 2012: prize for fiction withheld for first time in 35 years
None of the entries for the best American novel of the last year could command a majority
February 2012
Review of The Hours author's latest book wins inaugural hatchet job award
Michael Cunningham's novel By Nightfall prompted 1,000-word demolition job in Observer by author and critic Adam Mars-Jones
October 2011
Occupy movement attracts support of top authors
Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Noam Chomsky among star names added to online petition at occupywriters.com
July 2011
Book club
Michael Cunningham meets the Guardian book club – podcast
