The Literary Agent's Invisible Hand: Laura B. McGrath on Middlemen

By Rosa LysterMay 14, 202610 min read

A conversation about what literary agents actually do and why their work is largely invisible.

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5 Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week

Our flock of fabulous reviews this week includes Scaachi Khol on Jill Biden’s View From the East Wing, Lincoln Michel on Deb Olin Unferth’s Earth 7, Michael Faber on M. John Harrison’s The End of Everything, William T. Vollmann on

Book MarksJun 11, 2026

The Paris Review

What Is Poetry? Chelsey Minnis’s Frying Pan Full of Diamonds

“For the past twenty-five years, she has waged a sustained assault on the ideology of poetic sincerity.”

Jordan CastroJun 11, 2026

Literary Hub

Maris Kreizman’s Best of Books of 2026 So Far

I’m no fool. I know that lists are not the most intellectually rigorous form of book criticism but I also know they get lots of clicks. And given that I spend a great deal of time in this column griping

Maris KreizmanJun 11, 2026

Hyperallergic

Sarah Schulman’s Four Decades of Lesbian Fiction

“Nothing stops me except the publishing industry,” quipped the novelist and AIDS historian, who cut her teeth as an East Village journalist writing for queer and feminist papers.

Lakshmi Rivera AminJun 11, 2026

Public Books

Ada Ferrer on “Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter”

“People are buffeted byhistory sometimes in ways that they don't realize. Ourfamily was buffeted by these forces that were much greater than us.” The post Ada Ferrer on “Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter” appeared first on Public Books.

Megan CumminsJun 10, 2026

Hyperallergic

What Carmen Maria Machado Wants You to Know About Power

The author and memoirist spoke to Hyperallergic about curating the work of Cuban painter Rocío García, whose characters linger in the space where power and pleasure meet.

Lakshmi Rivera AminJun 10, 2026