When does imagination become appropriation?

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From A Primer for Forgetting, out this month from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. anti-mnemonicsUmberto Eco writes that “once, as a joke, some friends and I invented advertisements for university po­sitions…

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A writer alone with the work

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What the hidden relationships of ancient folktales reveal about their evolution—and our own

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From explanations given by the Chinese government for why certain artists and celebrities are banned from entering or performing in the country. Behaving badly in social lifeAssociating with countercultureUsing profanity…

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By Renee Gladman, from Calamities, a collection of linked essays that was published this month by Wave Books. Gladman is the author of eight works of prose, including the novel…

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Why we take so many pictures and what it means for photography

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Can a staged photograph tell the truth?

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In defense of America’s best idea

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