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Articles by A.O. Scott
This Poem Will Hit You Where You Live
A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Oct. 21, 2026 We are all too aware of the gap between what is and what might be. On one side are the plain facts we are supposed to face, on the other the wild speculations we would rather indulge.
John Berger, el hombre que nos enseñó a prestar atención antes de que las pantallas se robaran la memoria
John Berger, el hombre que nos enseñó a prestar atención (Foto: Salvatore Di Nolfi) Como crítico, es decir, como alguien cuyo trabajo consiste en prestar atención a las cosas, y como lector de crítica, lo que significa alguien que presta atención a las maneras en que se presta atención, últimamente me han obsesionado las obras de John Berger.
The Man Who Taught Us How to Pay Attention
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. As a critic, which is to say someone whose job is to pay attention to things, and as a reader of criticism, which means someone who pays attention to the ways attention is paid, I’ve been fixated recently on the works of John Berger.
What Kind of Novel Is This, Anyway? A Damn Good One.
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“The Corrections” Is 25 Years Old. Its First Paragraph Still Feels New.
A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Sept. 2, 2026 Twenty-five years ago, Jonathan Franzen’s “The Corrections” was published to a storm of acclaim and argument. On the subways of New York in the weeks after 9/11, everyone seemed to be reading it. When Oprah selected the novel for her book club, Franzen’s ambivalent response caused a media squall in its own right. The hype was huge, but the book holds up.
These 20 Words Are Worth a Thousand Pictures
A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Aliza Aufrichtig is a visual journalist. Aug. 24, 2026 Let’s say you’re riding public transportation — maybe on your daily commute to work, or an excursion in an unfamiliar city — and something catches your eye, something about the urban horde surging around you that you hadn’t noticed before. The impression sticks in your head, and eventually you write it down. That’s more or less what happened to the poet Ezra Pound one day in 1911.
‘Gone Girl’ Is the Best Thriller of the 21st Century. Here’s How It Gets Inside Your Head. Original
Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” was voted the best thriller of the 21st century in our recent poll. If you haven’t read it yet, you can start right here: We’re going to be looking at only the first three paragraphs, without giving away any secrets. And if you have read the book, it’s worth marveling at how Flynn grabs your attention and gives you the willies. Not by revealing very much. A chapter heading states that the narrator is someone named Nick Dunne.
Que la ‘Odisea’ se convierta en tu próxima lectura
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. La Odisea es un poema de 12.000 versos con 2800 años de antigüedad. Este verano, también se estrena una gran película, protagonizada por Matt Damon en el papel de Odiseo, el astuto y atribulado héroe de la Edad de Bronce, un veterano de la guerra de Troya que intenta regresar a casa con su esposa, Penélope, y su hijo, Telémaco.
Which Version of the ‘Odyssey’ Should You Read? Which Version of the ‘Odyssey’ Should You Read?
new video loaded: Which Version of the ‘Odyssey’ Should You Read? Which Version of the ‘Odyssey’ Should You Read?Which Version of the ‘Odyssey’ Should You Read? Homer’s “Odyssey” has been translated into English countless times, with versions ranging from contemporary and accessible to highly poetic. A.O. Scott, critic at large for The New York Times Book Review, breaks down three translations and explains which one might be right for you.
We’ll Help You Find Your Next Great Book. (Spoiler: It’s the ‘Odyssey.’) Original
The “Odyssey” is a 2,800-year-old, 12,000-line poem. This summer, it’s also a major motion picture, starring Matt Damon as the wily, beleaguered Bronze Age hero Odysseus, a veteran of the Trojan War trying to get home to his wife, Penelope, and their son, Telemachus. It’s a 10-year journey, during which Odysseus contends with raging storms, seductive sirens, an angry Cyclops and a gaggle of local horndogs trashing his house and threatening his marriage.
They're Some of the Most Famous Words Ever Written. Have You Ever Really Read Them?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." -- The Declaration of Independence, 1776 -- "The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem," Walt Whitman wrote, but the nation was conceived in prose. Other countries have national holidays that commemorate feats of revolutionary or military glory.
'Make America Great Again' Didn't Start With Trump. It Won't End With Him, Either.
"Make America Great Again." -- Ronald Reagan, 1980; Bill Clinton, 1991; Donald Trump, 2015 -- Yes, it's a campaign slogan, an ideological catchphrase, a monument of political branding rather than rhetorical art. Some readers may wince at seeing these four words in a collection of important American sentences; others may suspect trolling or trickery.
Frederick Douglass’s Demand for Citizenship Is Still Radical
Jia Lynn Yang is a Times senior writer. She previously served as the national editor. June 8, 2026 In the Edward P. Jones historical novel, “The Known World,” there is a harrowing scene in which a freed slave named Augustus Townsend encounters a group of patrolmen one night on the dark country roads of antebellum Virginia. They are on the lookout for runaway slaves.
Did Movies Ruin Everything?
Maybe you've heard this before. Modern civilization has been transformed -- undermined, propelled toward ruin -- by a mighty and ubiquitous technology. Widely accessible and endlessly adaptable, this technology has been celebrated for its democratic potential as well as for powers that seem almost magical. At the same time, it has proved to be a tool of dictators, an instrument of propaganda and the weapon of ruthless, unaccountable corporate interests.
Did Movies Ruin Everything?
Maybe you’ve heard this before. Modern civilization has been transformed — undermined, propelled toward ruin — by a mighty and ubiquitous technology. Widely accessible and endlessly adaptable, this technology has been celebrated for its democratic potential as well as for powers that seem almost magical. At the same time, it has proved to be a tool of dictators, an instrument of propaganda and the weapon of ruthless, unaccountable corporate interests.
Does ‘All Men Are Created Equal’ Include Women?
America, One Line At a Time The United States was written into being. Now, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, we look at six sentences that shaped the American story — taken from a founding document, an incendiary speech, a classic autobiography, an inaugural address, a protest song and a baseball cap. Does ‘All Men Are Created Equal’ Include Women? By Parul Sehgal Parul Sehgal is a Times critic who writes about literature, language and ideas. June 8, 2026 Share full article 0 On Nov.
They’re Some of the Most Famous Words Ever Written. Have You Ever Really Read Them?
America, One Line At a Time The United States was written into being. Now, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, we look at six sentences that shaped the American story — taken from a founding document, an incendiary speech, a classic autobiography, an inaugural address, a protest song and a baseball cap. They’re Some of the Most Famous Words Ever Written. Have You Ever Really Read Them? By A.O. Scott A.O. Scott is a Times critic who writes about literature and ideas.
‘Make America Great Again’ Didn’t Start With Trump. It Won’t End With Him, Either.
America, One Line At a Time The United States was written into being. Now, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, we look at six sentences that shaped the American story — taken from a founding document, an incendiary speech, a classic autobiography, an inaugural address, a protest song and a baseball cap. ‘Make America Great Again’ Didn’t Start With Trump. It Won’t End With Him, Either. By A.O. Scott A.O. Scott is a Times critic who writes about literature and ideas.
How F.D.R.’s Most Famous Sentence Remade America
America, One Line At a Time The United States was written into being. Now, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, we look at six sentences that shaped the American story — taken from a founding document, an incendiary speech, a classic autobiography, an inaugural address, a protest song and a baseball cap. How F.D.R.’s Most Famous Sentence Remade America By Peter Baker Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times.
They’re Some of the Most Famous Words Ever Written. Have You Ever Really Read Them?
A.O. Scott is a Times critic who writes about literature and ideas. June 8, 2026 “The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem,” Walt Whitman wrote, but the nation was conceived in prose. Other countries have national holidays that commemorate feats of revolutionary or military glory. This one celebrates a document.
‘Make America Great Again’ Didn’t Start With Trump. It Won’t End With Him, Either. Original
A.O. Scott is a Times critic who writes about literature and ideas. June 8, 2026 Yes, it’s a campaign slogan, an ideological catchphrase, a monument of political branding rather than rhetorical art. Some readers may wince at seeing these four words in a collection of important American sentences; others may suspect trolling or trickery. But it’s hard to deny the impact of this declaration, which predates the 2016 presidential election and resonates beyond the outrage cycles of the past decade.
My Life Was a Trainwreck. Then I Read This Poem.
My Life Was a Trainwreck. Then I Read This Poem. A.O. Scott seeks practical wisdom in a villanelle by Wendy Cope. Share full article 0 Isabella Cotier By A.O. Scott and Aliza Aufrichtig A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Aliza Aufrichtig is a visual journalist. May 28, 2026 Where do you turn when you need advice? A chatbot? A life coach? A wise and trusted friend? How about a poet?
My Life Was a Trainwreck. Then I Read This Poem.
A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Aliza Aufrichtig is a visual journalist. May 28, 2026 Where do you turn when you need advice? A chatbot? A life coach? A wise and trusted friend? How about a poet? Poets may not be famous for making the best life choices, but because they subject the mess of human existence to the discipline of language, they can be as helpful as any therapist or mentor.
Day 5 : You did it! You’re a star. Original
We’ve come to the end of our Poetry Challenge. In four days, we’ve committed the four stanzas of “The More Loving One” to memory, and taken some time to ponder its intricacies and appreciate its meaning. (Just joining us? Start here anytime.) Now what? In one of his notebooks Auden observes that “a poem or a novel is a gratuitous not a useful object, like a lathe or an automobile.” He wasn’t being modest or dismissive. The impracticality of poetry is a feature, not a bug.
Day 4 : Are we alone in the universe? Does it matter? Original
Here we are on Day 4 of the Poetry Challenge, looking up, again, at the sky. (If you’ve just arrived, click here to catch up.) We’ve considered “The More Loving One” as a witty, teasing love poem, and also peeked into the life of its author, W.H. Auden, to see what it might have meant to him. But maybe it’s time to take this poem at face value, as a meditation on our place in the universe.
Day 3 : How to write about love? Be a little heartsick (and the best poet of your time). Original
Now that we’ve memorized the first half of our poem, let’s learn a little more about the man who wrote it. (Haven’t memorized anything yet? Click here to start at the beginning.) For most of his life, Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-73) was a star. He was widely read, quoted, argued over and gossiped about, achieving a level of fame that few writers now — and not many then — could contemplate.
Day 2 : What’s love got to do with it? Original
Maybe you woke up this morning haunted by the first four lines of W.H. Auden’s “The More Loving One” — or tickled by its tongue-in-cheek handling of existential dread. (Not ringing any bells? Click here to begin the Poetry Challenge). This is a love poem. Perhaps that seems like an obvious thing to say about a poem with “Loving” in its title, but there isn’t much romance in the opening stanza.
Day 1 : Love, the cosmos and everything in between, all in 16 lines. Original
Let’s memorize a poem! Not because it’s good for us or because we think we should, but because it’s fun, a mental challenge with a solid aesthetic reward. You can amuse yourself, impress your friends and maybe discover that your way of thinking about the world — or even, as you’ll see, the universe — has shifted a bit. Over the next five days, we’ll look closely at a great poem by one of our favorite poets, and we’ll have games, readings and lots of encouragement to help you learn it by heart.
Book 4 of a Sensational Danish Hit Series Is Here. It’s Great.
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Book 4 of a Sensational Danish Hit Series Is Here. It’s Great. The next installment in Solvej Balle’s series about a woman trapped in a time loop is here. Credit...Henri Campeã Published April 14, 2026Updated April 25, 2026 ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME: Book IV, by Solvej Balle Sometimes you seize the day. Sometimes the day seizes you.
What Happens When We Die? This Poem Has Thoughts.
What Happens When We Die? This Poem Has Thoughts. A.O. Scott contemplates the great unknown in Wallace Stevens’s “Of Mere Being.” Share full article 0 Isabella Cotier By A.O. Scott and Aliza Aufrichtig A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Aliza Aufrichtig is a visual journalist. March 25, 2026 Whatever you do, don’t think of a bird. Now: What kind of bird are you not thinking about? A pigeon? A bald eagle? Something more poetic, like a skylark or a nightingale?
What Happens When We Die? This Wallace Stevens Poem Has Thoughts.
By A.O. Scott and Aliza Aufrichtig A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Aliza Aufrichtig is a visual journalist. March 25, 2026 Whatever you do, don’t think of a bird. Now: What kind of bird are you not thinking about? A pigeon? A bald eagle? Something more poetic, like a skylark or a nightingale? In any case, would you say that this bird you aren’t thinking about is real? Before you answer, read this poem, which is quite literally about not thinking of a bird.
What Happens When We Die? This Poem Has Thoughts.
Whatever you do, don’t think of a bird. Now: What kind of bird are you not thinking about? A pigeon? A bald eagle? Something more poetic, like a skylark or a nightingale? In any case, would you say that this bird you aren’t thinking about is real? Before you answer, read this poem, which is quite literally about not thinking of a bird.
When Shakespeare Took On Joe McCarthy
A TREACHEROUS SECRET AGENT: How Literature Spoke Truth to Power During the Red Scare, by Marjorie Garber “You are quoting from this Marlowe. Is he a Communist?” That question was put by Joe Starnes, a congressman from Alabama, to Hallie Flanagan, director of the Federal Theater Project, at a hearing in 1938. At issue was un-American activity in organizations like Flanagan’s, one of the cultural jewels of the New Deal.
NYT Crossword Answers for March 24, 2026
TUESDAY PUZZLE — For more than 20 years, I reviewed movies for The New York Times, which was a pretty sweet job. From time to time, though, I would find myself in a screening room wishing I was somewhere else: in a museum, maybe, or at a restaurant. I never thought I had the expertise to be a restaurant reviewer or an art critic, but I knew what I liked. Nowadays I’m the critic at large for the Book Review, which means I deal mostly in words.
NYT Crossword Answers for March 23, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2026-03-23.html You have been granted access, use your keyboard to continue reading. Wordplay, The Crossword Column For puzzlers of all generations, Matthew Luter hits the sweet spot.
In Under 500 Words, a Judge Weaponized Wit to Free the Child Detained by ICE
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Is ‘Wuthering Heights’ Actually the Greatest Love Story of All Time?
Is ‘Wuthering Heights’ Actually the Greatest Love Story of All Time? Catherine and Heathcliff are returning to the screen, but their passion burns brightest in a handful of sentences from Emily Brontë’s novel. Share full article 0 Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.” Warner Bros. By A.O. Scott A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Feb. 4, 2026 Catherine and Heathcliff.
Is Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ Actually the Greatest Love Story of All Time? Original
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.” A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Feb. 4, 2026 Catherine and Heathcliff. Since 1847, when Emily Brontë published her only novel, “Wuthering Heights,” those ill-starred lovers have inflamed the imaginations of generations of readers. Who are these two? Definitely not the people you meet on vacation.
In Under 500 Words, a Judge Weaponized Wit to Free the Child Detained by ICE
Critic’s Notebook In Under 500 Words, a Judge Weaponized Wit to Free the Child Detained by ICE Our critic annotates the barbed wordplay of a decision challenging the Trump administration’s theory of executive power. By A.O. Scott A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Feb.
Annotating the Judge’s Decision in the Case of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE
One of the many unsettling images to emerge from the recent ICE surge in Minneapolis was that of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, in his blue bunny hat, standing in the January cold with the hand of a federal officer gripping his Spider-Man backpack. Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, an asylum seeker from Ecuador, were taken from Minnesota to Texas and held at a detention facility outside San Antonio.
Annotating the Judge’s Decision in the Case of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE
One of the many unsettling images to emerge from the recent ICE surge in Minneapolis was that of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, in his blue bunny hat, standing in the January cold with the hand of a federal officer gripping his Spider-Man backpack. Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, an asylum seeker from Ecuador, were taken from Minnesota to Texas and held at a detention facility outside San Antonio.
An Oddly Formal Catchphrase Spells Out a Need: Obedience
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What Kind of Lover Are You? This Poem Might Have the Answer.
What Kind of Lover Are You? This Poem Might Have the Answer. William Blake’s “The Clod & the Pebble” is a dialogue on tenderness and cruelty in three short stanzas. Read it with our critic A.O. Scott, and then play a game to memorize it. Share full article 2 Isabella Cotier By A.O. Scott and Aliza Aufrichtig A.O. Scott is a critic at large for the Book Review. Aliza Aufrichtig is a visual journalist. Jan. 16, 2026 Not every poem about love is a love poem.
What Kind of Lover Are You? This William Blake Poem Might Have the Answer. Original
Isabella Cotier Not every poem about love is a love poem. This one, from William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” first published in 1794, is more analytical than romantic. Instead of roses and violets, it offers us dirt and rocks. The CLOD & the PEBBLE by William Blake Love seeketh not Itself to please , Nor for itself hath any care ; But for another gives its ease , And builds a Heaven in Hells despair .
Why Trump Always Thanks You ‘For Your Attention to This Matter’ Original
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Like an action movie or an old-fashioned sitcom, the first year of the second Trump administration has spawned a catchphrase, a scrap of language that is all but impossible to avoid. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Why Trump Always Thanks You 'For Your Attention to This Matter'
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I Think This Poem Is Kind of Into You
I Think This Poem Is Kind of Into You Our critic A.O. Scott feels the heat of a wintry lyric by the Nobel laureate Louise Glück. Share full article 1 Isabella Cotier By A.O. Scott A.O. Scott, a critic at large for the Book Review, recorded the poem that appears in this piece. Dec. 11, 2025 A famous poet once observed that it is difficult to get the news from poems. The weather is a different story.
I Think This Poem Is Kind of Into You Original
Isabella Cotier A famous poet once observed that it is difficult to get the news from poems. The weather is a different story. April showers, summer sunshine and — maybe especially — the chill of winter provide an endless supply of moods and metaphors. Poets like to practice a double meteorology, looking out at the water and up at the sky for evidence of interior conditions of feeling. The inner and outer forecasts don’t always match up.
From NYT’s 10 Best Books of 2025: A.O. Scott on Kiran Desai’s New Novel
Inge Morath/Magnum Photos When a writer is praised for having a sense of place, it usually means one specific place — a postage stamp of familiar ground rendered in loving, knowing detail. But Kiran Desai, in her latest novel, “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny,” has a sense of places. This 670-page book, about the star-crossed lovers of the title and several dozen of their friends, relatives, exes and servants (there’s a chart in the front to help you keep track), does anything but stay put.
When I’m Sick of Doomscrolling, I Turn to This Poem
When I’m Sick of Doomscrolling, I Turn to This Poem “Monet’s ‘Waterlilies,’” by Robert Hayden, reflects on what art can (and can’t) do in tumultuous times. Our critic A.O. Scott shows you why he loves it. Share full article 2 Isabella Cotier By A.O. Scott A.O. Scott, a critic at large for the Book Review, recorded the poem that appears in this piece. Nov. 6, 2025 In the midst of the world’s unrelenting horribleness, it’s important to make room for beauty.
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