The Millions
-
Biblical Narratives Revisited
“Philip Esler’s book seeks to probe the mindset of ancient Israelite readers, to uncover their cultural presuppositions and to reveal the patriarchal, patrilocal and patrilinear structures in which their narratives make sense.” Esler’s Sex, Wives, and Warriors: Reading Biblical Narrative…
-
On Portraying Sexual Violence
The Millions has an essay on sexual violence and its literary and cinematic representations. Is it better to represent sexual violence through a code of silence, through allusions and subtlety or explicitly? Books and films that portray sexual violence diverge…
-
Feminist Firsts
Taking us back to her prep school days, Miranda July reveals her first feminist action and the fallout. “I didn’t have a plan beyond this moment. I wasn’t sure anyone would even get it—who and what I was talking about.…
-
Genre Writing Shifts in the Industry
The Millions has an interesting essay on why literary authors are transitioning into the world of genre-writing. Whether the cause be jumping on the most marketable bandwagon, or pressure from agents, publisher nudging or a style-change by the author, there…
-
All of Us, Anchored in Place
“…isn’t it strange, I mean, this thing about being a human being breathing and thinking and sensing and dwelling always, always, in a place?” This essay in the Millions is all about place and home—how all aspects of living occurs…
-
What do you do, and how do you do it?
Blue Collar, White Collar, No Collar: Stories of Work is an anthology of short stories edited by Richard Ford that chronicle the ways in which our jobs–what we “do”–is inextricably intertwined with how we define ourselves–who we “are”. This collection…
-
Getting Lucky
What does luck have to do with memory? The connection is drawn in this Millions essay, which tackles the role of memory in the life of the reader–a rather comforting discussion for those of use who feel the anxious tug…
-
Read to Me
A new opportunity is available for adults seeking to mix up their nightly routine. As part of her current project “Here is Where We Meet,” artist, writer and educator, Madhu Kaza, will venture to individual’s homes to read to them…
-
SPE, Revisited
“Forty years later, the Stanford Prison Experiment remains among the most notable—and notorious—research projects ever carried out at the University. For six days, half the study’s participants endured cruel and dehumanizing abuse at the hands of their peers. At various…
-
“Literary Criminal”
Interrogating the reluctance to further qualify crime writing, this Millions piece hones in on Megan Abbott. The essay explores Abbott’s protagonists, prose, and grasp of the human condition, arguing, “If such finesse can’t also be called “literary,” it’s outright criminal.”
-
Hemingway’s Decline
Does Ernest Hemingway’s death outshine his literary prowess? At the end of Hemingway’s life, he was subjected to electro-shock treatment to treat his paranoid depression, which resulted in memory loss and subsequently the loss of his writerly abilities—this all after…
-
“The Year of Wonders”
The Millions just published a personal essay on fleeting fame in the publishing industry. Alex Shakar writes on his novel that once reached six figures. His experience breathes insight into the world of editors, agents and ephemeral success.