In 2007, K Paul Stoller was told what no parent is ever prepared to hear: “Your son is dead.” Galen Stoller, an eleventh grader at Desert Academy in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was hit by a train at an unguarded railroad crossing. At the... Read More

Most people are familiar with Helen Keller’s story: She was blind, deaf, and, until the age of ten unable to speak at all. With the guidance of her teacher, Ann Sullivan, she became one of the most remarkable writers and social... Read More

Romanian author Mihail Sebastian’s The Accident, translated into English here for the first time, is a compelling, mercurial novel. French teacher Nora slips while exiting a tram in 1934 Bucharest, sustains superficial injuries, and is... Read More

Two favorite topics in books these days are management and dogs—so, Martin Levin must have thought, why not combine them. The concept of learning management from a dog may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Levin adopted a dog named... Read More

From 1652 to 1994, South Africa was ruled by a succession of white regimes notorious for exploiting the non-white population. Apartheid, imposed on the non-whites beginning in 1948, made life for blacks a living hell, and for Indians... Read More

It’s amazing how a brutal sport can evoke such eloquent prose. Among the top-notch writers who have contributed novels and non-fiction assessments about the squared circle are A.J. Liebling, Joyce Carol Oates, and Norman Mailer. Add... Read More

Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock, and Hugh Jackman all bravely bring something once hidden into the light: adoption. They aren’t alone. Celebrities who proudly adopt mirror a transformation underway in our neighborhoods, schools, and... Read More

Great things can come from games of make-believe. As a girl, Sarah Edmonds practiced at being what her father wanted most: a boy. This skill later served her (and the Union army) well when she joined ranks as a male nurse. “What part... Read More