The Strange Power of the Dance-Floor Novel
A new run of books embrace the literary potential of underground electronic music, Robert Rubsam writes.
Under Review
admin He Gave the Knicks Their Name. Why Was He Forgotten?
Eric Lach reviews Phillip Lopate’s biography “A Washington Irving Sketch Book: Reflections on an American Writer.”
The Best Books of 2026 So Far
Our editors and critics review notable new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Claudia Rankine Plays Dead
Maya Binyam writes about Claudia Rankine’s book “Triage.”
How Jordan Harper Reinvented Noir for the Epstein Era
“A Violent Masterpiece,” this year’s buzzy crime novel, inverts the genre’s traditional contrast between superficial optimism and subterranean despair, writes…
There’s Nothing Provincial About This Three-Volume Icelandic Saga
Salvatore Scibona reviews Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s “Trilogy About the Boy,” which comprises “Heaven and Hell,” “The Sorrow of Angels,” and…
How Mary Kay Built an Empire Out of Other Women’s Dreams
Lauren Michele Jackson writes about the founder of the global cosmetics empire, who feminized the sale of cure-all lotions and…
A Trollish New Campus Novel Hates Students and Professors Alike
Hannah Gold reviews “The Vivisectors,” by the novelist Missouri Williams, which critiques the hollowness of contemporary life.
What Jill Biden Doesn’t Say in Her White House Memoir
A sense of make-believe and avoidance pervades “View from the East Wing,” Jill Biden’s memoir about her tenure as First…
When Dance in New York Took Center Stage
Marina Harss reviews the book “Nonstop Bodies: How Dance Shaped New York City,” by Rennie McDougall, considering the cultural evolution…