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At one point, she gave the unfinished manuscript of “The Silent Woman” to Philip Roth. He gave it a slashing edit, with often nasty comments in the margins. He violently disapproved of her putting herself in as a character. He hated her metaphors and accused her of intellectual shallowness. Another writer might have been crushed … Read more

In his Nobel acceptance speech, Fosse said that “in my drama the word pause is without a doubt the most important and the most used word — long pause, short pause, or just pause.” The script for “Night Sings Its Songs” includes stage directions and, yes, many, many requests for pauses, but no punctuation. Concretely, … Read more

Many authors dream of having their notes, drafts and scraps preserved forever in a prestigious literary archive. But not Amy Tan. Until recently, she had left written instructions for everything except photographs to be shredded after her death, lest she be subjected to the posthumous ordeal of scholars “going through the equivalent of my underwear … Read more

Rebecca Yarros’s ‘Onyx Storm’ Is the Fastest-Selling Adult Novel in 20 Years The book, the third in a series, has sold 2.7 million copies in its first week, and provided yet another example of the romantasy genre’s staying power. By Alexandra Alter Jan. 30, 2025

Christopher Jencks, a highly regarded sociologist who helped transform public and expert opinion on complex policy issues like homelessness, income inequality and racial gaps in standardized testing, died on Saturday at his home in Lexington, Mass. He was 88. His wife, the political scientist Jane Mansbridge, said the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. … Read more

With “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” streaming, the novelist talked in an email interview about what moviemakers keep cutting from adaptations of her best sellers. SCOTT HELLER Describe your ideal reading experience. I love a vacation binge-read — I read all 800 pages of “The Goldfinch” in Greece (that’s Greece, not Greek). I also … Read more

Good news for fans of everyone’s favorite hapless British diarist: Bridget Jones is back. The wearer of short skirts, smoker of endless cigarettes and romancer of the playboy Daniel Cleaver and the stealth charmer Mark Darcy takes her fourth turn on the big screen in “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.” The movie, which premieres … Read more