Hermann Hesse on How to Read a Book and How to Read Yourself

The Courage to Be Yourself: E.E. Cummings on Art, Life, and Being Unafraid to Feel

Man Sues Alleging Brother-in-Law's Autobiography Book Jacket Summary "Whitewashes [Author's] Life Story"

Begone dull care

1776 All-Stars: George Washington Was a Model of Restraint

Mignon Dunn (1928 – 2026) Mezzo-Soprano

America the Great

Religious rites, rock concerts, and other transcendent moments stem from directing our attention to “something more than human”

Open Thread

Trespassing

Why Some Wealth Gaps Closed—and Others Didn’t

Hermann Hesse on Solitude, the Value of Hardship, the Courage to Be Yourself, and How to Find Your Destiny

11 Books to Read This July

Tiny honorariums, endless reading, and a bewildering amount of randomness — book prizes don’t work how you think

A Natural History of William Kentridge’s Studio

It Wasn’t Just the Founders

Vasily Grossman died believing that his masterpiece had been seized by the KGB and lost forever

Hit by a car, beset by family tragedy, diagnosed with cancer: William T. Vollmann may be dying, but he’s also just finished a 3,000 page opus

Rat Disease Has a New Pick-Me-Up

Two Ways to Remember the Declaration of Independence

Open Thread