Harry Potter is now the most banned book in America, according to the American Library Association. But these books have taught children to read, to think, to write and to criticize, all hallmarks of free expression.

Now, you might ask: What does the number of times the word "because" appears in a given work tell us about whether or not an author was influenced by classic literature? Nothing. The conclusions presented in the paper would be laughable -- if they weren't being taken seriously.

The Help is a blockbuster that doesn't just redeem its white heroine -- it redeems all of white America right along with her.

Sigh. Authors just don’t insult each other like they used to. Sure, Martin Amis raised some eyebrows when he claimed he would need brain damage to w...

I've vanquished the flab in my bookshelves, oiled the joints on my bifocal sunglasses, and bulked up the piles of new reading material.

"Tangled Webs" by James Stewart Washington Post As in earlier books such as “Blood Sport” and “Den of Thieves,” Stewart offers riveting ...

At the age of 80, with almost 40 books behind him and nearly as many accumulated honors, Harold Bloom has written, in "The Anatomy of Influence," a ki...

William Shakespeare was the most influential writer who ever lived. Even those who haven't read his plays know his words, from "to be or not to be" to...

Tolstoy has been better served by translators than other Russian writers, but there is still the challenge of coming closer to the original, of catching more of its specific stylistic qualities than previous translations have done.