Books

a long talk

‘We Weren’t Concerned With Making Anyone But Ourselves Laugh’

 Monty Python’s Terry Jones reflects on his long career — and how the group’s work was almost lost to history. By Mike Sacks
interview

A Comedy Education From Late Legend Buck Henry

 What working on The Graduate, Get Smart, SNL, and more taught him about making timeless humor. By Mike Sacks
read like the wind

Uncanny Valley, and 9 More Reads I Can’t Get Out of My Head

 From a classic dispatch about community college to a pants-wettingly disturbing true-crime audiobook. By Molly Young
  1. books
    Oprah Wants to ‘Hear All Sides’ in American Dirt ControversyHer upcoming Apple TV+ event will purportedly “bring people together … to talk about this book, and who gets to publish what stories.”
    By Claire Lampen
  2. books
    Colin Jost’s New Book, A Very Punchable Face, Is Out in AprilSomething a lot of people tell Jost he has is now the title of his memoir.
    By Megh Wright
  3. the industry
    Reagan Arthur Succeeds Sonny Mehta As Publisher of KnopfArthur is universally admired in publishing circles, and like Mehta, she has an eye for both fiction and nonfiction, commercial and highbrow.
    By Lila Shapiro
  4. memoirs
    Jessica Simpson Began ‘Relying on Alcohol’ While Dating John Mayer“I was killing myself with all the drinking and pills.”
    By Zoe Haylock
  5. a long talk
    ‘We Weren’t Concerned With Making Anyone But Ourselves Laugh’Monty Python’s Terry Jones reflects on his long career — and how the group’s work was almost lost to history.
    By Mike Sacks
  7. books
    Why Is Everyone Arguing About the Novel American Dirt?It was supposed to be the season’s big novel. Suddenly it’s an argument starter.
    By Rebecca Alter
  8. trailer mix
    Watch the Very Sex-Forward Trailer for the Normal People TV Show“Normal” means “looking like upscale sweater models.”
    By Jackson McHenry
  9. interview
    A Comedy Education From Late Legend Buck HenryWhat working on The Graduate, Get Smart, SNL, and more taught him about making timeless humor.
    By Mike Sacks
  10. read like the wind
    Uncanny Valley, and 9 More Reads I Can’t Get Out of My HeadFrom a classic dispatch about community college to a pants-wettingly disturbing true-crime audiobook.
    By Molly Young
  11. coming attractions
    32 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2020The return of Elena Ferrante and a Me Too narrative unlike any you’ve read before.
    By Hillary Kelly
  14. legacies
    Elizabeth Wurtzel Took Up Space, Even When the Literary World Wouldn’t Have HerShe was often looked down upon by a literary community that saw her as too much everything.
    By Hillary Kelly
  15. one grand books
    Lupita Nyong’o’s 10 Favorite BooksF. Scott Fitzgerald, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Marianne Williamson, and more.
    By Lupita Nyong'o
  16. obits
    Writer Elizabeth Wurtzel Has Died at 52The iconic Prozac Nation writer died of complications from cancer.
    By Hannah Gold
  17. books
    Unpacking the Racist Drama Roiling the World of Romance WritersIn August, Courtney Milan called a white writer’s book a “racist mess.” Four months later all hell broke loose.
    By Madison Malone Kircher
  18. the literati
    Cool Brooklyn Uncle Barack Obama Reveals His Favorite Books of 2019Trick Mirror with a side of Normal People.
    By Devon Ivie
  19. what were the 2010s?
    Gone BoysWhere are the Jonathans of yesteryear? Female authors dominated the 2010s, and replaced the Great American Novel with something better.
    By Hillary Kelly
  20. vulture lists
    Every Stephen King Reference and Easter Egg in Castle Rock Season TwoThe Hulu series brings one of King’s most iconic characters to the town of Castle Rock, but season two’s name-dropping goes well beyond Annie Wilkes.
    By Brian Tallerico
  21. girl groups
    Little Women Was the Original Super-FranchiseFrom film and TV adaptations to fan-fic and merch, Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel about the March sisters has always been big.
    By Hillary Kelly
  22. best of 2019
    The 10 Best Comedy Books of 2019Featuring Garry Shandling, Ali Wong, Jenny Slate, and a thorough history of Friends.
    By Brian Boone
  23. best of 2019
    The Best Overlooked Books of 2019Lesser-noticed novels by Yoko Ogawa, Helen Phillips, and others were among the year’s greatest.
    By Hillary Kelly
  26. read like the wind
    Incidental Inventions and 7 More Books I Can’t Get Out of My HeadIf you are interested in the experience of having a drink with Elena Ferrante and listening to her muse on various subjects, here’s your answer.
    By Molly Young
  27. best of 2019
    The 10 Best Books of 2019From an experimental memoir of domestic abuse to the one that broke 10,000 brains.
    By Molly Young
  28. one grand books
    Devendra Banhart’s 10 Favorite BooksRam Dass, Kurt Vonnegut, and more.
    By Devendra Banhart
  29. who were the 2010s?
    Margaret Atwood on the Decade The Handmaid’s Tale Came to LifeHer novels speculated about lab-grown meat, environmental catastrophe, and the diminishment of reproductive autonomy. Does anything shock her anymore?
    By Molly Young
  30. literary greats
    Celebrating Toni Morrison With Thousands of Her ReadersMore than 3,000 people came to St. John the Divine to hear eulogies from Oprah, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and others.
    By Lila Shapiro
  31. the grub street diet
    Author Carmen Maria Machado Wants Her Food Spicy and Strong“I like food that kind of kicks me in the teeth.”
    By Chris Crowley
  32. in memoriam
    Read Oprah Winfrey’s Powerful Eulogy for Toni Morrison“The first time I came face to face with Toni Morrison was in Maya Angelou’s backyard… Every time I looked at her, I couldn’t even speak.”
    By Rebecca Alter
  33. party report
    Sarah M. Broom’s National Book Award Speech Will Make You Want to Call Your MomIt cuts right to the heart.
    By Madison Malone Kircher
  34. trailer mix
    Emma Teaser Reminds Us That Laughing at Rich People Is FunWho doesn’t love a good comeuppance?
    By Zoe Haylock
  35. fleabag season 3?
    Let Phoebe Waller-Bridge Play Lyra Belacqua, You Cowards!We have a Pullman superfan in our midst.
    By Zoe Haylock
  38. books
    Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise Among 2019 National Book Award WinnersThe five winners were announced Wednesday night.
    By Zoe Haylock
  39. ya twitter
    Famous Authors Drag Student in Surreal YA Twitter ControversyBy Saturday afternoon, many of the authors involved had apologized.
    By Lila Shapiro
  40. one grand books
    Sara Quin’s (of Tegan and Sara) 10 Favorite BooksWhite Teeth, Priestdaddy, and more.
    By Sara Quin
  41. books
    The It’s Garry Shandling’s Show Theme Song Was Written in an ElevatorPlus other highlights from a new book about the late comedian, edited by Judd Apatow.
    By Brian Boone
  42. chat room
    Camgirl Memoirist Isa Mazzei Wants to Take the Shame Out of Sex WorkThe author of Camgirl and the movie Cam talks about vulnerability in front of the camera and on the page.
    By Andy Crump
  43. book excerpt
    When Carrie Fisher Hung With the SNL CrowdInside the hard-party days that fueled and finished her friendship with John Belushi.
    By Sheila Weller
  44. read like the wind
    Vernon Subutex 1, and 9 More Books I Can’t Get Out of My HeadRecommended if you like: The Deuce, Iggy Pop, oversleeping.
    By Molly Young
  45. the resistance
    Welcome Tori Amos to the Resistance With Her Second MemoirHalf celebrity memoir, half reckoning with contemporary politics.
    By Justin Curto
  46. books
    Jenny Slate on How Writing Little Weirds Saved Her LifeThe comedian opens up about her new book, feminism, and writing her own death.
    By Eric Farwell
  47. great adaptations
    Is It Normal to Be This Hot?Sally Rooney’s Normal People is being adapted for TV. Here are the first images.
    By Hannah Gold
  50. from the vault
    Early Lyrics to ‘Purple Rain’ and Other Musical Details From Prince’s New Book“I’m not a politician, I’m a purple musician, / And I only want to set u free.”
    By Justin Curto
  51. vulture guides
    A Guide to the Best Stephen King AudiobooksFeaturing Kathy Bates, Sissy Spacek, Tim Curry, and more.
    By Zach Dionne
  52. hot takes
    All of Prince’s Pop-Culture Hot Takes From His New Book, The Beautiful OnesHe thought we needed a new word for what Beyoncé does.
    By Justin Curto
  53. the politics of fiction
    Alexander Chee on How to Unlearn EverythingWhen it comes to writing the “other,” what questions are we not asking?
    By Alexander Chee
  54. the politics of fiction
    Who Gave You the Right to Tell That Story?Ten authors on the most divisive question in fiction, and the times they wrote outside their own identities.
    By Lila Shapiro
  55. books
    New Elena Ferrante Novel AlertAnd we finally have a title and a publication date for it.
    By Bridget Read
  56. whoops
    Naomi Wolf’s New Book Has Been Canceled, Presumably Over Major ErrorsMonths ago, the author found out during an interview that some of her research was disastrously incorrect.
    By Hannah Gold
  57. pretty in print
    Rihanna Is the Chicest Person Alive and She Made a Book Just to Prove ItThe world is her photo shoot.
    By Zoe Haylock
  58. how mysterious!
    How I Learned to Write Mysteries the Mystic River WayBy deconstructing Dennis Lehane’s best seller, Angie Kim was able to shape her own debut novel.
    By Angie Kim
  59. your childhood
    Natalie Portman Receives a Signed Baby-Sitters Club Book, Loses Mind“I still identify as a Kristy mixed with Stacey and a dash of Dawn.”
    By Halle Kiefer
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