In this deep and engaging meditation on the usefulness and uselessness of reading in the digital age, Harvard English professor Marjorie Garber aims to reclaim "literature" from the periphery of our personal, educational, and professional lives and restore it to the center, as a radical way of think[...]

The plays of Shakespeare are filled with ghosts - and ghost writing. "Shakespeare's Ghost Writers" is an examination of the authorship controversy surrounding Shakespeare: the claim made repeatedly that the plays were ghost written. Ghosts take the form of absences, erasures, even forgeries and sign[...]

What is the role of the arts in American culture? Is art an essential element? If so, how should we support it? Today, as in the past, artists need the funding, approval, and friendship of patrons whether they are individuals, corporations, governments, or nonprofit foundations. But as "Patronizing [...]