Books Jack Kerouac’s contested legacy Dismissed in later life as a “mystic boob”, the Beat novelist still haunts modern American mythology. By Douglas Kennedy
World Douglas Kennedy’s Diary: The orchestra’s return, US abortion wars, and how to be a traveller in the time of Covid By Douglas Kennedy
The A-list life of Richard Avedon – one of America’s great post-war photographers As a portraitist and latterly a chronicler of the American persona, Avedon was a true visual shape-shifter. By Douglas Kennedy
How film noir explains Donald Trump The ruthless, hyper-materialist white-male world of the US president is by no means new. By Douglas Kennedy
Forest Dark: an impressive meditation on identity and the human condition Nicole Krauss's novel is defiantly and brilliantly novel. By Douglas Kennedy
Ode to a philistine: Howard Jacobson’s Pussy As can be gathered from the title, Jacobson’s target is the current president of the United States. By Douglas Kennedy
The sad slide of the American middle class It’s one of the stranger verities of US politics: the way that so many members of the beleaguered working… By Douglas Kennedy
Anxious in America: On writing the life of Joan Didion Tracy Daugherty’s biography of Joan Didion is most interesting when it comes to highlighting the complex dynamics inherent in… By Douglas Kennedy
Gallic symbols: How the French Think Trying to explain the French mindset to the Anglo-Saxon world is a literary subgenre. By Douglas Kennedy
An innocent abroad: Hunters in the Dark is a shady portrait of travel Lawrence Osborne's new book, set in Cambodia, grapples with manifold questions about identity. By Douglas Kennedy