An I-Novel by Minae Mizumura (1995), translated from the Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter (2021)

An I-Novel was originally published in 1995 under the title Shishōsetsu from left to right. The word shishōsetsu designates a confessional autobiographical genre-the “I-novel”-that has played a key role in modern Japanese literature (54 ( Read more... )

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell (2021)

Part 1: Repeat After Me . . .
v. In the late 1950s, Synanon started as a rehabilitation center for hard-drug users, labeled “dope fiends,” but later extended to accommodate non-drug-addicted “lifestylers.” In Synanon, children lived in barracks miles away from their parents, and no one ( Read more... )