New Books

Christopher Carroll, the reviews editor at Harper’s, sits down with the former New Books columnist, Claire Messud, and her successor, Dan Piepenbring, to discuss the history, challenges, and pleasures of the storied column. The three critics go over their influences, the changes in publishing today, and, above all else, the great opportunity the column has given each writer to “go on a walk through your own mind.” Subscribe to Harper’s for only $16.97: harpers.org/save Claire Messud’s “New Books” columns: https://harpers.org/author/clairemessud/ Claire Messud’s “New Books” column on Kurt Wolff, Phillipe Sands, and Tom Stoppard: https://harpers.org/archive/2021/02/reviews-endpapers-the-ratline-tom-stoppard-wolff-hermione-lee-phillippe-sands/ Chris Carroll’s “New Books” column for July: https://harpers.org/archive/2023/07/new-books-harvey-sachs-henry-bean-martin-cruz-smith/ Dan Piepenbring’s premier “New Books” column for August: https://harpers.org/archive/2023/08/dan-piepenbring-new-books/ Elizabeth Hardwick’s 1959 “The Decline of Book Reviewing” essay in Harper’s: https://harpers.org/archive/1959/10/the-decline-of-book-reviewing/ Claire Messud’s novel, The Emperor’s Children: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-emperor-s-children-claire-messud/8718221?ean=9780307276667&gclid=CjwKCAjwhdWkBhBZEiwA1ibLmNLXWamvWO_e0R14ztZIVsKTiCbUXZ1kfgM81EXmTzIizusWfIz4ChoC2tgQAvD_BwE Dan Piepenbring’s book CHAOS: https://bookshop.org/p/books/chaos-charles-manson-the-cia-and-the-secret-history-of-the-sixties-tom-o-neill/113666 “New Books” columns, including Zadie Smith, Joshua Cohen, and John Leonard: https://harpers.org/sections/new-books/ Jonathan Franzen’s essay “Perchance to Dream” from April, 1996: https://harpers.org/archive/1996/04/perchance-to-dream/ 0:49: History of “New Books” coverage 3:38: What goes into choosing a book 7:36: Writing fiction as a critic 9:10: Changes in publishing today, “gone are those days” 13:59: “Centripetal vs. centrifugal forces” in book criticism 15:45: “If you care enough about what happens, then the book has already won you over.” 17:16: The critical pan, and why they’re less necessary now 29:10: The pleasure of connecting different titles, “serendipitously”