Famous Once Again
Longfellow reaches his bicentennial; here's why his poems became perennial
February 2007 |
By Nicholas A. Basbanes
Man of the Century
But 100 years after writing his classic memoir, the question about Henry Adams remains: Which century?
December 2006 |
By Peter Hellman
Tony Hillerman's Mile-High Multiculturalism
Creator of savvy Native American sleuths, author Tony Hillerman cherished his Southwestern high desert home
December 2006 |
By Tony Hillerman
Living With Geese
Novelist and gozzard Paul Theroux ruminates about avian misconceptions, anthropomorphism and March of the Penguins as "a travesty of science"
December 2006 |
By Paul Theroux
Watching Water Run
Uncomfortable in a world of privilege, a novelist headed for the hills
November 2006 |
By Ellen Gilchrist
An Interview with Josh Hammer, Author of "Return to the Marsh"
Ben Block spoke with Josh about Iraq and reporting in dangerous regions of the world.
October 01, 2006 |
By Ben Block
Interview with Louise Erdrich
"A Writer's Beginnings" by Louise Erdrich originally appeared in the August 2006 issue of Smithsonian magazine. Here, Erdrich speaks about notable weather, Wal-Mart and writing.
August 01, 2006 |
By Courtney Jordan
What's Eating America
Corn is one of the plant kingdom's biggest successes. That's not necessarily good for the United States.
July 2006 |
By Michael Pollan
35 Who Made a Difference: Maya Angelou
By singing of her own hardships, she has given strength to others
November 01, 2005 |
By Richard Long
35 Who Made a Difference: Wendell Berry
A Kentucky poet draws inspiration from the land that sustains him
November 01, 2005 |
By Paul Trachtman
One Writer's Garden
In Jackson, Mississippi, preservationists are restoring the verdant retreat that sustained novelist Eudora Welty
April 2005 |
By Wendy Mitman Clarke
Walden's Ripple Effect
One hundred fifty years after its publication, Henry David Thoreau's meditation remains the ultimate self-help book
August 2004 |
By Robert D. Richardson
Seeing Sylvia Plath
A new movie rekindles curiosity about the poet's life, love and suicide at age 30
November 2003 |
By Robert F. Howe
Keeping Up with Mark Twain
Berkeley researchers toil to stay abreast of Samuel Clemens' enormous literary output, which appears to continue unabated
September 2003 |
By Ron Powers
Land Shark
In his noir satires, novelist and eco-warrior Carl Hiaasen ravages those who dare to desecrate.
June 2003 |
By Linton Weeks
Still Ahead of His Time
Born 200 years ago this month, Ralph Waldo Emerson had some strange ideas about the natural world. Recent research suggests they might even be true
May 2003 |
By Frederick Turner
A Conversation with Maya Angelou at 75
"I'm considered wise, and sometimes I see myself as knowing. Most of the time, I see myself as wanting to know. I've never been bored in my life."
April 2003 |
By Lucinda Moore
Southern Comfort
Traveling back roads, brothers Matt and Ted Lee track down authentic foods for mail-order customers hankering after a taste of the Deep South
February 2003 |
By Marialisa Calta
Betting on Seabiscuit
Laura Hillenbrand beat the odds to write the hit horse-racing saga while fighting chronic fatigue syndrome, a mysterious disorder starting to reveal its secrets
December 2002 |
By Larry Katzenstein
Prince of Tides
Before "ecology" became a buzzword, John Steinbeck preached that man is related to the whole thing
January 2002 |
By Bil Gilbert
