Bob Dylan just won a Nobel Prize in literature. It’s exactly the kind of lifetime achievement award such an endlessly inventive and prolific artist as Dylan deserves. Of course, everyone is mad about it. In The New York Times, Anna North laments that the selection committee passed over “writers who have made significant innovations...
“What miracle is parting the sea in the face of a supernova? What power lies in an empty tomb when you compare it to nebulae that are hundreds of light-years in diameter, giving birth to stars?” Mike McHargue, an author, speaker, and podcaster on science and religion, grappled with these questions as he struggled to...
Nine male convicts squeeze into state-issued chairs and encounter great works of literature. One female English professor steers an erratic discussion, befriending a ragtag band of prisoners. This is the “Maximum Security Book Club.” In her new novel, Mikita Brottman assesses her time at Maryland’s Jessup Correctional Institution book by book, recalling the conversations and...
The bloodcurdling anthology series “American Horror Story” is finally back on its feet. After a few years of backsliding in viewership, the show has returned to its original horror roots in its sixth season, opting for serious scares over shock value. In 2011, the “American Horror Story’s”debut shattered conventional television norms. Its subject matter...
On Sept. 8, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock shocked the world with “Psycho,” one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of horror. It was the first film ever to use fake blood, and its scare-factor was rooted in a boldly crafted atmosphere. Since “Psycho,” the horror genre has evolved. From the first “Halloween” movie to “The...