Obama's inauguration poet is a fresh burst of firsts

Cuban American Richard Blanco will not only be the first Latino poet to be so honored, but the first openly gay man to be selected as well.

'Big Sur': Another Kerouac novel heads to the screen

"Big Sur" is coming to the screen, in an adaptation directed by Michael Polish and starring Jean-Marc Barr; it premieres at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah later this month.

Where the wild things are for sale

The Swann Gallery in New York is holding a large auction of 20th century illustrations that features the works of Maurice Sendak.

Everyone's life is interesting: Defending confessional nonfiction

There's a fundamental flaw in "Journalism Is Not Narcissism," the recent Gawker post deriding confessional nonfiction: The first-person essays he finds so self-indulgent are not journalism.

The bestselling e-book of 2012: 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

If you bought a copy of "Fifty Shades of Grey" for your e-reader, you are not alone -- not by a long shot.

How to keep your 2013 resolutions: Jeremy Dean on 'Making Habits'

The sun has risen on a new year, a time for (once the hangover has subsided) fulfilling all the resolutions we made.

15 literary resolutions for 2013

We asked some smart bookish types if they have any particularly literary resolutions for 2013 — they've got some great ideas for kicking off the new year.

Faces to Watch 2013: Emily Rapp, Small Demons' Valla Vakili, more

Who should you be reading in 2013? Memoirist Emily Rapp and short-story writer Jim Gavin, for starters.

'On the Road' toward mortality: A critic ponders Jack Kerouac

The 1957 novel seems to be Kerouac's attempt to mythologize his band of friends so that they would escape time. The new movie overlooks this element.

An Amazon.com jungle of wrapping paper

It's the day after Christmas and all through the house, so much wrapping paper is spilling and suffocating my spouse.

How well do you know your Christmas tree? Take the quiz

The Christmas tree is a fixture as familiar as it is ubiquitous; but how well do you know the Christmas tree?

Sebastian Faulks' 'A Possible Life' told with craft

Though its well-regarded writer calls the book a novel, it's better to read it as a gallery of fictional portraits. That way, we can appreciate his skill.

'Spilt Milk' by Chico Buarque plays on memory, experience

'Spilt Milk' by Chico Buarque is about a Brazilian centenarian whose life echoes his country's.

Melodrama overtakes Ayana Mathis' 'Twelve Tribes of Hattie'

First-time novelist Ayana Mathis draws a one-dimensional portrait of a black woman's plight in the mid-1920s in 'The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.'

What to read before the Maya apocalypse

The world is ending on Friday — according to a bunch of people who've misread the Maya calendar.

Penguin settles in e-book price fixing case

Penguin has settled with the Department of Justice in the e-book price-fixing case brought against Apple and five publishers this year.

Essential reading after Newtown: 'Columbine' by Dave Cullen

When it comes to events like the recent school shooting in Newtown, Conn., there are knowns, unknowns and, already, mis-knowns.

'Hell Bent' by Benjamin Lorr is a vivid adventure in yoga

The author engagingly relates his experience in competitive yoga and with Bikram Choudhury.

Mo Yan's 'Pow!' packs a punch, however veiled

The Nobel laureate probably can't criticize his government outright, but his tale of corrupt capitalist communism in Slaughterhouse Village is zingy.

Books 2012: David L. Ulin

The best titles of the year marked a return to writing that takes the measure of the moment, with standout writers like Steve Erickson, Hari Kunzru and Zadie Smith.

Not again: New York maligns Los Angeles literary scene

Those New Yorkers really have a problem with us Angelenos.

The writers behind Magnus Flyte come to Vroman's on Wednesday

When writers Christina Lynch and Meg Howrey decided to collaborate on the new novel "City of Dark Magic," they chose a pseudonym as fantastical as the novel itself: Magnus Flyte.

Carolyn Kellogg's recommendations

Maria Semple's 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette' is among the year's best.

Dalkey Archive posts world's wackiest job listing

Unavailable at night or on the weekends? Like a little workplace gossip? Then you need not apply at Dalkey Archive Press.