If a novel about memory and war keeps getting challenged, are we protecting kids—or protecting our myths? It’s Banned Books Week again (Oct. 5–11, 2025), and PEN America’s latest Banned in … Read more
Families uprooted by debt, drought, and a rigged labor market need language for their pain; John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath gives it to them. Through the Joad family’s flight … Read more
Feeling numb in a culture that equates worth with watches, restaurants, and résumés? American Psycho shows where that numbness ends—when a polished life stops being a life. American Psycho is … Read more