Warning: This column contains spoilers. “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn begins: “When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The
Oh God, not another bookmark: The six most awful gifts a reader can get
Reading is not often thought of as a particularly risky passion. Sure, you can argue that it expands your mind to dangerously new heights
Metaphors: Salvaging Our Relationships
I’m sitting at a mahogany table; it’s big and round and shrinks the classroom to half its real size. My classmates fill the spaces
The shape-shifting magic of translated literature
At the time, I hadn’t even read Gabriel García Márquez’s landmark work yet. Really, I had only heard the first line: “Many years later,
The evolution of what reading means to me
From my early years to around late middle school, I inhabited the role of the quiet, shy, and excruciatingly reserved kid. My life was
Under the covers: The racial gap in romance
Abs so sculpted they belong in an art museum. Luscious, flowing-with-the-breeze, heartthrob hair. Heaving bosoms in low-cut, lace dresses. I’ve been reading a lot
The in-group: How aliens have become reflections of ourselves
It is the mere possibility of alien existence that enables us to walk into the tight-knit, exclusive hangout down the hall, feeling a little
Let the brows run wild: A defense of lowbrow literature
Richard Steele, an 18th century Irish writer who always looks like he just ate something sour, wrote: “Reading is to the mind what exercise
‘The Book of M’: Seeking out others’ shadows
This article contains a mild spoiler. I have come to realize that a lot of great literature plays with figurative shadows. William Shakespeare
Dating and Dostoevsky
Last December, while the Skirball Fire tore through the Los Angeles neighborhood nestled next to my own, I was studying abroad 5,000 miles away