A Close Read
What makes good writing good
Book Review
New Fiction
Finds and flops
The Persian Version
Under the caked muck of theocracy in today’s Iran, ancient and lovely literary springs still bubble
New York State of Mind
In praise of Deborah Eisenberg’s nonchalant sophistication
Fire From the Sky
What not to read this month
A Man of Action
His narration may be clunky and his sex scenes almost comical, but Alan Furst’s turns of plot can leave a reader breathless
Finds and flops
Finds and flops
No Way
John Updike’s latest novel reveals his tin ear for critical times
How To Treat the Help?
The age-old problem of the rich has become the brand-new problem of the middle class
Modernism, Minimalism, Fundamentalism
What to read this month