BETTER ANGEL
Biographer Sidney Blumenthal talks to The Daily Beast about a pre-Civil War America where Jefferson Davis demanded both Lincoln and Douglas be lynched.
Allen Barra reviews books for TheAtlantic.com, Salon.com, Bookforum and American History. His latest book is Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mays, The Parallel Lives of Baseball’s Golden Age.
BIG MEH
The literary and social critic’s magnum opus, ‘Sexual Personae,’ landed like a bombshell. Her latest collection lands with a thud.
BLOAT
He never goes out of print. He’s still taught in schools. But most of his novels look more ponderous and posturing (silly, even) with each passing year. Ah, but those stories.
EMPTY SUIT
Conservatives pay lip service to the Party of Lincoln, but their contemporary icon is Reagan, or the idea of Reagan, which is a definite upgrade on the real man.
HOT AND COLD
The stories of his selfishness, snobbery, and utter lack of personal loyalty are legion, but they cannot overshadow—nor ultimately detract from—his profound literary achievements.
TRUE LIT
The Arkansas novelist’s classic tale turns 50 this year and looks as fresh and funny as the day it was published. If this is not a great American novel, we don't know what is.
SNATCH AND GRAB
US relations with Mexico are chilly these days, but what else is new? The US has abused its neighbor for most of two centuries, including one of the biggest land grabs in history.
Le Loup
François Villon liked to run with Parisian crooks and low-lifes—but his poetry influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to Bertold Brecht.
CAMELOT
These books cut through the legend and give an unvarnished picture of America's 35th president.
First Reading
There are thousands of books about America’s commanders in chief—and no, they’re not all about Lincoln, though it seems that way sometimes. Here are the ones to begin with.
