Life & Letters Magazine

Books

Writing to Beauvoir

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In her new book, Sex, Love, and Letters, Judith Coffin reveals the private lives and intimate bond found in Simone de Beauvoir’s letters with her fans.

Race By Any Other Name

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In her award-winning book, The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, Geraldine Heng argues that race did exist even if the language of the time had yet to capture the phenomenon.

Dreams of El Dorado

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The rapid growth of America came as a shock to some, as it was the only country whose expansion occurred with such little government supervision.  In Dreams of El Dorado, author H.W. Brands recounts the rich history of the American West. Beginning with the purchase of the Louisiana territory, which propelled future Western expansion of […]

Affording Jane Austen

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In The Lost Books of Jane Austen, Janine Barchas explores the burgeoning popularity of Jane Austen’s novels beginning in the nineteenth-century. Through photographs and unique historical perspectives, Barchas shares some of the earliest and cheapest reprints of Austen’s work that brought the author recognition in the working-class, leading to the reputation she has today. Learn […]

Drawing Inspiration

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Edward Carey’s office is filled with fanciful artwork, including several large drawings of the gloomy-eyed characters who inhabit his books. But the item that immediately catches my eye is a bowl of small, cylindrical objects that at first glance appears to be an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. These, it turns out, are pencils, worn […]

Bring Your Brain to Work

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In Bring Your Brain to Work, Art Markman shares what you need to know to succeed at work. He highlights research from cognitive science that supports strategies to help readers get a job, to succeed at that job once they get it, and to best enhance their career by getting the next job.  You’ve probably heard […]

What’s in Your Library?

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Over a period of five years (2013-18) a Faculty Committee on Influential Books discussed, debated and finally compiled a list of intellectually and culturally significant books to encourage reading by undergraduates and provide inspiration for continued reading by college alumni. The committee benefited from student suggestions and criticism in drawing up the list that mainly […]