Bookforum editors
In a column for Harper’s Magazine, Hari Kunzru writes about his decision to withdraw from the PEN America literary festival as a protest against the organization’s failure to stand up for Palestinian writers. Kunzru takes on critics such as George Packer, who claim that an “authoritarian spirit” motivates critics of the war in Gaza who […] 
Welcome to the Fall 2023 issue of Bookforum! In this edition, our contributors review new novels by Ed Park, J. M. Coetzee, Zadie Smith, Teju Cole, Lexi Freiman, and more. Also in this edition: Katie Kadue reads scene stealer and meme factory Julia Fox’s memoir; Hanif Abdurraqib writes about obsession, mythology, and Will Hermes’s new biography of Lou Reed; Audrey Wollen considers Helen Garner’s newly reissued 1984 novel The Children’s Bach; Laura Kipnis reads Janet Malcolm’s posthumous confessional memoir; Jane Hu surveys Sigrid Nunez’s quietly defiant fiction; and so much more. 
We are thrilled to announce that, after a brief hiatus, Bookforum is returning under new ownership. If you care about our magazine’s mission, please show your support by getting a subscription today. You will get four print issues per year, beginning with our Summer 2023 issue in August. Bookforum has long staked out new territory in the […] 
Welcome to the Dec/Jan/Feb 2023 issue of Bookforum! In this edition, read: Harmony Holiday on Hilton Als’s conflicted love letter to Prince; Justin Taylor on whether Cormac McCarthy is “our most minor major novelist or is he our most major minor novelist”; Christine Smallwood on a new biography of Shirley Hazzard; Becca Rothfeld on Colette’s Chéri novels and the mantle of girlhood; George Saunders interviewed by Angelo Hernandez-Sias; Siobhan Phillips on choreographer George Balanchine and the fragile contingency of genius; Lisa Borst on Sam Lipsyte’s 1990s neopunk noir novel; Rebecca Ariel Porte on Ian Patterson’s new translation of Proust’s Finding Time Again; Michael 
Welcome to the Sep/Oct/Nov 2022 issue of Bookforum! In this edition, read: Meghan O’Rourke on Lynne Tillman’s new memoir about the challenges of looking after a sick parent; Lucy Sante on Emmanuel Carrère’s latest, which the author intended to be a short best-seller about a yoga retreat but instead ended up being about his mental breakdown; Moira Donegan on a pre-Roe abortion service run by Chicago activists; Charlie Tyson on Darryl Pinckney’s coming-of-age memoir that doubles as a tribute to Elizabeth Hardwick; an interview with Namwali Serpell about storytelling, grief, and experiential fiction; Beatrice Loayza on French film critic Serge Daney’s restless, 
At the height of the pandemic, sports stadiums took on an eerie quality: they became so quiet. It was a stark reminder of the symbiotic relationship between star athletes and fans. If a great goal is scored and no one cheers, does it even exist? It must, because we still watched from afar, and were moved by those roarless games. And as stadiums reopened, the hunger for sports—and the connections and rivalries among fans—proved to be as strong as ever. Following our favorite teams, we obsess, we admire, and we are disappointed, because even the best players can’t win them 
Welcome to the Mar/Apr/May 2022 issue of Bookforum! In this edition, our contributors review new novels by Sheila Heti, Alejandro Zambra, Claire-Louise Bennett, and more, as well as newly reissued works by Kay Dick and Yūko Tsushima. The film critic A. S. Hamrah considers how director Billy Wilder bested the twentieth century, Sasha Frere-Jones reflects on essayist Lucy Sante’s inquisitive oeuvre, Harmony Holiday writes about the late hip-hop producer J Dilla’s poetics, and so much more. Read the issue online here, and consider signing up for or gifting a subscription. 
Welcome to the Dec/Jan/Feb 2022 issue of Bookforum! In this edition, our writers pick the best books of 2021, Melissa Anderson delves into the diaries of Patricia Highsmith, Benjamin Kunkel considers how Amazon has changed the way we read, and much more. Read the issue online here, and consider subscribing or gifting a subscription with our holiday discount.