For years, his work has been marked by his creeping fear that the world is in need of an urgent intervention—and why not from him?

Mark McGurl’s new book defines a frightening new era of literature, honed to Jeff Bezos’s algorithm.

For decades, Forster could not publish his novel of gay love, “Maurice.” Its importance in his work and to the writers he nurtured is only just becoming clear.

He has always dealt in big ideas. Can he do emotion?

His muddled defense of liberalism comes with a heavy dose of disdain for the left.

How the turn toward “precision” combat promoted endless war

The Netflix show with Sandra Oh captures an existential crisis.

The characters in Sally Rooney’s “Beautiful World, Where Are You” want you to know they considered alternatives to capitalism.

We ascribe too much meaning to the early years of the republic.

How the cataclysms of the past loomed over Sebald’s life and haunted his fiction

Spencer Ackerman’s new book argues that the forever wars created the conditions for Trump’s rise.

How public interest groups inadvertently aided the right’s ascendency

Do we give the activist groups of the 1960s more credit than they deserve?

It’s easy to hate the internet. Patricia Lockwood is the rare writer who delights in its chaos.

Hollywood rarely lets women have fun—and get away with it.

Why do game studios keep imploding?

In an unequal economy, even some of the winners are unhappy.

Juneteenth is an opportunity to recover the possibilities of history

In her fiction, she questioned every social and sexual arrangement.

Andreas Malm’s “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” urges activists to turn to tougher tactics.