Discussed in this essay: Of Love & War, by Lynsey Addario. Penguin Press. 272 pages. $40. Heavy, by Kiese Laymon. Scribner. 256 pages. $26. The Letters of Sylvia Plath. Harper. 1088 pages. $45.…
Discussed in this essay: Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers by Elaine Mokhtefi. Verso. 256 pages. $24.95. He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, the Faith…
Discussed in this essay: Notes from the Fog by Ben Marcus. Knopf. 288 pages. $26.95. A Girl’s Guide to Missiles: Growing up in America’s Secret Desert by Karen Piper. 336 pages. Viking. $27.…
Sleep gets a bad rap in the United States. Despite the threats and cajolings of the CDC, which has deemed chronic sleeplessness a serious danger to the nation’s health, and…
The strangest part of acquiring my green card was the medical exam, which culminated in an inspection of my breasts and “external genitalia.” Underwear lowered to my knees, I stood…
It’s hard for bookish people not to romanticize the act of reading—as a spur to imagination and compassion for others or just an escape from whatever real-life trap you may…