For a writer to deny that fiction is political is not only an act of bad faith, but an artistic failure.

Was the Constitution designed to make the United States less democratic?

‘The Bestseller Code’ reveals the well-known secrets of the formulaic novel.

An interview with the poet Max Ritvo about illness, improvisation, and his first book, published posthumously next week.

Notes toward a theory of Nell Zink.

Underrated for most of her life, the author of "The Lottery" is at last experiencing a revival.

A new book outlines an epidemic of over-diagnosis and addiction.

Alice Kaplan’s new book, "Looking for 'The Stranger,'" explores Albert Camus’s fraught relationship with his Algerian homeland.

What Marx means in a world that has made peace with capitalism.

In James Gleick’s new book, humans invented time travel to counter the regret that we only have one life to live.

What Lionel Shriver got right—and wrong—in her controversial speech about political correctness in literature.

The spectacle surrounding Lionel Shriver's controversial speech revealed more than one layer of prejudice.

Why do people support Trump and the Tea Party? A native son and a sociologist search for answers.

American utopias weren’t always paradise, especially for the women who found themselves burdened by freedoms made by men.