AI spambots think I’m a genius
On the recent deluge of AI-generated spam targeting writers' insecurities and desire for recognition.
The Floating World by Ben Eastham
My take on a debut novel set in a near-future European society on the brink of collapse due to climate change and…
The House of Asterion: Borges Marathon, Part 33
“The House of Asterion” is one of the shortest stories by Jorge Luis Borges, composed almost entirely of the interior monologue of…
How to Make a Woman by Marie Darrieussecq
My review of a French coming-of-age novel narrated from two separate and sometimes contradictory perspectives.
Books I read in July 2026
The best book I read this month was a historian's account of how the concept of the West came about and why…
Emma Zunz: Borges Marathon, Part 32
My thoughts on this short story by Jorge Luis Borges, which is an outlier in terms of the plot and main character, but still…
The Three-Cornered Hat by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón
In this 19th-century Spanish novella, a miller and his wife have their love tested by the scheming of a corrupt local authority…
Paris in Turmoil #parisinjuly2026
Parisian writer Eric Hazan shares his memories of Paris interwoven with historical research and beautifully observed urban detail.
Books I read in June 2026
From a Booker winner to a nineteenth-century vision of a future socialist utopia, here's a roundup of the books I read this…