In a recent piece for Cultured, novelist Rob Franklin observed “a surge” in recent depictions of the Black bourgeoisie. This milieu, defined by a lifting as we climb ethos and certain cultural signifiers (Jack and Jill, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Oak Read more >
Finally, a sense of hope in the air. A tide change, or a wind shifting: New Yorkers can, and do, expect better for themselves. There’s a beauty to that realization, that no matter the hardships and beat-downs our country has Read more >
Today, at a ceremony in London, David Szalay was awarded the 2025 Booker Prize for his novel, Flesh. The judges called it “a disquisition on the art of being alive, and all the affliction that comes along with it, but it Read more >
Like an ancient cyborg culling through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic planet (twitter, derogatory), Joyce Carol Oates recently fired her full-power death ray at aspiring trillionaire Elon Musk, whose childish attempts to justify his riches prompted this, from JCO (who Read more >
I’ve been a very stereotypical New Yorker this week in that I can’t stop thinking, saying, or texting “Greatest city in the world, baby!” Zohran’s win is validating and invigorating, and I’m excited for a New York City where we Read more >
Today, the American Library in Paris announced the winner of their 2025 Book Award, which “celebrates outstanding works of literature that draw on France as a timeless source of inspiration.” The winning title, chosen from a shortlist revealed in September, Read more >
As your proud neighborhood clearinghouse for leftie literary sentiment, most of us here at the Hub were elated by Zohran Mamdani’s big win. But we all drew different inspiration from the new Mayor. Mamdani’s triumph represents, at once, an energy Read more >
Have you thanked a bodega cat today? Remember, they won’t be getting raises under the new administration. For 51% of New York City bipeds, however, it’s a pretty great week. Zohran Mamdani, the charming upstart, will be our new mayor. Read more >
I’m excited to be writing to you from here in Mayor-elect Mamdani’s New York City. After years of bad news and then worse news, and a lifetime of disappointing mayors, it’s a strange and pleasant feeling to wake up in Read more >
C. D. Rose has won this year’s Goldsmiths Prize for his novel We Live Here Now. Described in the press copy as “DeLillo meets Kafka,” the novel sounds absolutely wild—as befits a winner of the Goldsmiths Prize, which was launched in Read more >
On Tuesday, Helen Garner’s How to End a Story: Collected Diaries was announced as the 2025 winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, which recognizes excellence in nonfiction from authors of any nationality published in English in the UK. Read more >
The Texas filmmaker Richard Linklater has built much of his legacy on homage. His love runs deep, but narrow. He cares especially for the layabouts, the cranks, and the iconoclasts. From masquerading hit-men to opportunistic funeral directors, from Orson Welles Read more >
It’s the first Tuesday of a new fall month, meaning the sheer number of books coming out is reaching a fever pitch. It’s harder than ever to choose which titles to highlight in such a season, but below you will Read more >
Happy Halloween! I haven’t seen enough fun literary costumes in real life or on social media—what are the book people going as this year? The closest I’m getting is my niece dressing up as a black cat this year, which Read more >
Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War by Lyndal Roper, an excellent new history of one of the largest popular uprisings before the French Revolution, won this year’s Cundill History Prize and its $75,000 prize. The award, which Read more >
First off—apologies, readers. I failed to report our nice things last Friday, so we have a combo week. Gratitude is abundant this Hallow’s Eve. So what’s been making us happy? In a word? Soups. Oliver Scialdone made a killer butternut Read more >
This Thursday brings bad news for book lovers. Baker & Taylor, one of the largest distributors for print library books in America, is closing down—and throwing the distribution pipeline into (at least) short term chaos as a result. As 404Media Read more >
It’s November, and I’m happy to be back with a new slew of book recommendations. I’ll be taking a step back from my weekly round-ups for the moment, but I’ll still be here at the end of each month to Read more >
The American government has revoked the visa of Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian author who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in literature, according to Al Jazeera. The writer received what he called a “rather curious love letter” from the American authorities, Read more >
Ted Geisel, the doctor best known for spreading the gospel of green eggs and ham, has a deep bench of classic kid’s books. Dr. Seuss gave us cats in hats and star-bellied sneetches. He gave some of us our first Read more >
