This is the question that tormented Søren Kierkegaard, perhaps the first great philosopher to process our modern world—and it comes to life in Clare Carlisle’s unconventional new biography.

A new memoir by George Scialabba, an unsung giant of criticism, is a gripping portrait of life under the spell of depression—and also a model of true intellectual inquiry.

A classic short story by Danish writer Jens Peter Jacobsen—notorious in his time for its pessimism—offers a surprising kernel of hope in our own time of plague.

The late literary critic embodied the best of his profession, and proved that books can furnish a life.

In his lucid new memoir, Thomas Chatterton Williams channels Albert Camus and James Baldwin—and offers a thoughtful counterpoint to the tired racial dogmas of both Right and Left.