April 26, 2019
In Defense of a Literary Canon
Mild controversy erupted on Twitter early this month after Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg released a list of his ten favorite books. To me, the list felt a little like […]
September 17, 2018
On Accessibility in Historical Fiction
I’ve generally enjoyed Graywolf Press’s “Art of” series, a group of books focusing on different topics pertaining to writing (The Art of Subtext, The Art of Perspective, The Art of […]
May 14, 2018
On Historical Accuracy in Historical Fiction
In his Postscript to The Name of the Rose, when he describes how he came to determine the specific setting for his novel—the particular time period (the fourteenth century), the […]
July 7, 2012
On Laurent Binet’s HHhH
I sought out with immense eagerness the English translation of Laurent Binet’s Prix-Goncourt-winning novel, HHhH. This book concerns Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate the Nazi Reinhard Heydrich. I had […]