Everybody prays, whether they know it or not.

The "great (colonial) American novel" was written more than half a century ago. John Barth's 1960 masterpiece, The Sot Weed Factor, keeps improving with age.

American music—not just playing and listening to it, but making and selling it—is a portal to cultural awareness.

Born cynic meets redeemable tragedy.

Phillip Roth and Ian McEwan on love, lust and loss.

The long, strange trip from Little Richard to Dr. Dre.

As Adrienne Rich said, poetry isn’t “a mass-market product”, but when you need a good poem, nothing else will do.

The sudden popularity of tattoos among the American bourgeoisie is undeniable. But what does it mean?

What do Joshua Reynolds, Theda Bara, Madonna, and NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon have in common?

Leaves of Grass is 150 years old, but vibrant as ever. A fellow poet celebrates Walt Whitman as America’s muse to the Kosmos, and the craftsman of America’s own spirit.