A stick to beat writers with
The transformation of “historical fiction” into a pejorative term signals a misunderstanding of history and contempt for its uses, says Hilary Mantel.
The transformation of “historical fiction” into a pejorative term signals a misunderstanding of history and contempt for its uses, says Hilary Mantel.
Christopher Payne’s Asylum, a photographic history of state mental hospitals, depicts soaring ceilings, and rows of toothbrushes left hanging. (See also.)
In Oscar Wilde’s long shadow, Somerset Maugham played it straight. Jessa Crispin reviews a new biography of the writer.
All week someone’s been searching my archives for the old design of this site, so here it is. I liked it better the original way, honestly, even though the paint spatters gave everyone else a headache. For a couple years you could still read the site in its original iteration even after the newer design went up, but we had . . .