Blunt-Force Ethnic Credibility | Som-Mai Nguyen

Writers in the Vietnamese diaspora are too eager to signal ethnic authenticity. Have we no shame?

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Hernan Diaz is making a career out of taking on some of the biggest archetypal American novels—the Western, and now the Wealth Novel.

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The Future Is Canceled | Izidora Angel

The urgent and unsubtle horror of Gospodinov’s Time Shelter is that the present is grayed out, that there’s more past than future.

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Daydreaming in Progress | Leslie Jamison

A behind-the-scenes look at the writing of Leslie Jamison’s essay “Dreamers in Broad Daylight: Ten Conversations” for the Ecstasy issue.

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Two Sides of the Same Coin | Julia Sanches

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s Translating Myself and Others, Julia Sanches finds a writer more interested in introspection than dialogue.

May 17, 2022·7 min read

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Fiona Apple Changes My Mind | Steven Pfau

While many fans might consider Fiona Apple’s “Hot Knife” to be a lighthearted song, Steven Pfau finds it has a trenchant core.

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The Tender Cubist | Julia Wong Kcomt

Why must artistic traditions be siloed by region? Chinese Peruvian writer Julia Wong Kcomt discovers a sublime exception in the Cubist paintings of Wifredo Lam.

May 19, 2022·6 min read