“‘You go through life…’ ‘thinking you’ve pretty much seen it all.’ You think that maybe you’re even a little bit on the edge of things, she thought, a little daring. Then you get a peek of true underbelly, and you realize... Read More

“I enjoy nothing more,” wrote Jean-Baptiste Colbert, France’s Minister of Finance under King Louis XIV, “than making love, dining well and drinking the rich red wines of Bordeaux, and I am never more pleased when I can carry out... Read More

“Herman Melville Crazy” was the assessment of a typical review of his Pierre: or, the Ambiguities, published in 1852, the year following the appearance of Moby-Dick. Other reviews were similarly devastating: “sound, fury, and... Read More

In his college application essay, seventeen-year-old Ruchir Shah, the author of three historical comic books, writes that he was inspired to make history more interesting for children by portraying it in comic form. “As exciting as it... Read More

These quick bursts of cracked brilliance, these splintered bedtime stories for grown folks, have the power to make readers laugh, and then think… Then scoff at the futility of thinking. The lineage for this spirit of irony traces... Read More

Recently, the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul began developing a light rail system that would shuttle commuters, Twins baseball fans, and Mall of America shoppers across the metro areas. Plans to expand the lines are being embraced... Read More

New Jersey lawyer Andy Carpenter is having a bad day; in the brief time since he’s become involved with convicted murderer Richard Evans’ appeal for a new trial, he’s “been shot at by two hoods, one of whom was supposed to be... Read More

It’s easy to dismiss Jefferson Davis as simply the President of the Confederacy, which fought to uphold slavery. Children and adults alike may be surprised, therefore, to learn that Jefferson Davis and his compassionate family adopted... Read More