Criticism
Book Critic James Wood
James Wood is book critic for The New Republic. He's making his own literary debut with the novel The Book Against God. It's about a priest's son who becomes an atheist. Wood is also the author of The Broken Estate: Essays on Literature and Belief.
"Poet's Choice."
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass (pronounced like grass) talks about his new book "Poet's Choice: Poems for Everyday Life" published by Ecco Press. It's a collection of Hass' favorite recent poems by other poets. Hass served as Laureate from 1995-1997. He is also the author of "Sun Under Wood," "Human Wishes," "Praise," "Field Guide," and a book of essays titled "Twentieth Century Pleasures," which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. He teaches at the University of California at Berkeley.
The Death of Romance as a Literary Metaphor.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The End of the Novel of Love" (Beacon Press) by Vivian Gornick.
Those Who Study the Boring Need Not Be Boring Themselves
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Patricia Meyer Spacks' new book called "Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind," published by the University of Chicago Press.
Pitting Parker Against the Latest Literary Hit.
Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews, "The Bridges of Madison County," by Robert Kincaid (Rant) and acknowledges the 100th anniversary of Dorothy Parker's birth.
Spine-Tingling Summer "Fiction."
Maureen Corrigan has a review of "The Art of Fiction," novelist David Lodge's collection of 50 essays of literary criticism, published by Viking.
"Sexual Personae" is More Reprehensible than Ridiculous.
Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Sexual Personae," Camille Paglia's (pag-lee-ah) controversial analysis of the sexes.
Novelist David Lodge on the Collision of Business and Academia
Novelist and former academic David Lodge's writing is steeped in the language of literary criticism. Many of his books are set in a university -- including his newest, Nice Work, about a businessman who fall in love with a professor.
Poet and Critic Robert Pinsky
Pinsky says he's suspicious of literary criticism, even though he often writes it himself. His new book, Poetry and the World, looks back on his past, including growing up in New Jersey.
Poet and Critic Robert Pinsky
Pinsky says he's suspicious of literary criticism, even though he often writes it himself. His new book, Poetry and the World, looks back on his past, including growing up in New Jersey.