Essays
Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion review – a masterclass in minimalism
These remarkable essays from the writer’s early years highlight her search for truth and attention to detail
Peter Conrad
22, Feb, 2021 @7:00 AM
'Love’s labours should be lost': Maria Stepanova, Russia's next great writer
The Muscovite’s work is arriving in English this year in three books of remarkable memoir, poems and essays that, she explains, reach for ‘the truth of the past’
Matthew Janney
11, Feb, 2021 @12:25 PM
The Capote Tapes: inside the scandal ignited by Truman's explosive final novel
He partied with high society America but caused outrage when he spilled their secrets. Ebs Burnough talks us through his new film about Answered Prayers – the ‘smart, salacious’ novel Capote never finished
Ryan Gilbey
26, Jan, 2021 @6:00 AM
Top 10 unconventional essays | Eula Biss
Taking in everything from town planning to cruising for sex, this mongrel genre claims an eccentric free range not available to other kinds of writing
Eula Biss
13, Jan, 2021 @12:15 PM
In the Land of the Cyclops by Karl Ove Knausgaard review – anaemic essays
The acclaimed Norwegian novelist’s musings on literature, philosophy and the cosmos too often drift into abstraction
Rob Doyle
05, Jan, 2021 @7:00 AM
Feed your soul: the 31-day literary diet for January
From a Shirley Jackson short story to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 30-minute Ted talk, nourish your mind with our one-a-day selection of literary treats
Claire Armitstead
27, Dec, 2020 @11:30 AM
Not a Novel by Jenny Erpenbeck review – a moral journey
One of the most vital writers working today ... the German novelist’s precision and humanity are evident in these essays
Natasha Walter
21, Dec, 2020 @7:30 AM
Bland Fanatics by Pankaj Mishra review – 'Anglo-American delusions'
Versus Niall Ferguson and Jordan Peterson ... a set of essays from a writer who excels at calling out intellectual vapidities but now needs to ask new questions
Abhrajyoti Chakraborty
17, Dec, 2020 @7:30 AM
Kate Grenville, Sofie Laguna, Julia Baird and others: the 20 best Australian books of 2020
Diligent journalism, urgent fiction, wondrous imagination: Guardian Australia critics and staff bring you their top reads of the year – in no particular order
Brigid Delaney, Beejay Silcox, Paul Daley, Steph Harmon, Stephanie Convery, Thuy On, Bec Kavanagh, Michael Williams, Paul Daley, Fiona Wright and Lucy Clark
16, Dec, 2020 @4:30 PM
Jenny Erpenbeck: ‘My experience of East Germany is changed by every book I read’
The prize-winning writer on her new memoir Not a Novel, growing up near the Berlin Wall and her support for refugees
Philip Oltermann in Berlin
12, Dec, 2020 @11:00 AM
Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald review – a collection of natural wonders
Essays that test the boundaries of our relationships with animals and, above all, birds
Kathryn Hughes
12, Dec, 2020 @9:00 AM
The best books of 2020 – picked by our acclaimed guest authors
A panel of writers who published new work this year share their own favourite titles of the past 12 months
06, Dec, 2020 @9:00 AM
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