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Fiction

Daniel Alarcón established his literary reputation with the publication this year of his widely praised novel, Lost City Radio. Irish writer Colm Toibin described it as “gripping and tense…with echoes of Orwell and Huxley.”

Crossing the Divide

Novelist Daniel Alarcón’s writings evoke the gritty, compelling landscape of urban Latin America

Kerouac (with the author in Greenwich Village in 1957) was as unprepared as anyone else for his novel's surprise impact.

Remembering Jack Kerouac

A friend of the author of “On the Road,” published 50 years ago this month, tells why the novel still matters

Table of Contents from the First Folio

Folio, Where Art Thou?

One man’s quest to track down every copy on the planet

After months at sea, Selkirk's ship put in at the island (named Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966) with a leaky hull and restive crew. But an extended stay didn't quell Selkirk's misgivings.

The Real Robinson Crusoe

He was a pirate, a hothead and a lout, but castaway Alexander Selkirk—the author’s ancestor inspired one of the greatest yarns in literature

George Frideric Handel by Balthasar Denner

Fatal Triangle

How a dark tale of love, madness and murder in 18th-century London became a story for the ages

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Prescient and Accounted For

A century after his death, novelist Jules Verne, who imagined Moon flight and deep-sea voyages, looks more prophetic than ever

Mark Twain (in 1906) "simply never, never goes stale," says editor Harriet Smith. If all goes well, annotating Twain's letters should be completed by 2021.

Keeping Up with Mark Twain

Berkeley researchers toil to stay abreast of Samuel Clemens’ enormous literary output, which appears to continue unabated

The house of "Vlad the Impaler" lies in the center of Sighisoara's well-preserved, walled historic district, which dates to the 13th century and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Uproar from preservationists, including England's Prince Charles, prompted planners to find another site for the Dracula Park.

The Curse of Count Dracula

The prospect of a tourist bonanza from a Dracula theme park in Transylvania excites some Romanians, but opponents see only red

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Master of Middle Earth

When J.R.R. Tolkien finally completed his Lord of the Rings trilogy in 1949, the Oxford don scarcely imagined his fantasy epic would entrance readers

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Smithsonian Notable Books for Children, 1995

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