Columbia University pushed this ex-liberal toward conservative stardom

Watch my recent interview with Fox News

8 hrs ago • Liza Libes

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Why Are Contemporary Novels So Afraid of Emotion?

From Emma Cline to Elif Batuman, contemporary fiction has embraced emotional detachment at the expense of beauty, sublimity, and the human soul.

Nov 2 • Liza Libes

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October 2026

10 Authors Who Taught Me More About Writing Than My Columbia Professors

No MFA program could ever replace what I learned from these literary giants

Oct 26 • Liza Libes

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Sally Rooney Is a Terrible Writer. Why Does Everyone Pretend Otherwise?

I read Normal People so you don't have to—and discovered everything wrong with contemporary literary fiction.

Oct 19 • Liza Libes

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The Literary Establishment Wants to Lobotomize You

How the Nobel Prize in Literature Became a Celebration of Soulless Writing

Oct 12 • Liza Libes

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Why Crime and Punishment is the Second-Greatest Novel Ever Written

Dostoyevsky understood something about human nature that modern literature has forgotten.

Oct 5 • Liza Libes

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September 2026

Cathy Ames Is Evil. That’s the Point.

Netflix’s East of Eden reveals Hollywood’s growing inability to believe in evil—and our culture’s growing inability to believe in choice.

Sep 28 • Liza Libes

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How Bad Writing Became Literary

The National Book Award reveals three disturbing trends in contemporary fiction

Sep 21 • Liza Libes

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This Book Is Everything Wrong With Modern Literature

I found the perfect case study in how contemporary literary fiction has lost its soul.

Sep 14 • Liza Libes

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Provocative Insights From an Unapologetic Classicist

Watch my recent interview with Peter Boghossian

Sep 7 • Liza Libes

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August 2026

How to *Actually* Write a Novel

The anti-MFA guide to writing great fiction—and a sneak peek into my writing process

Aug 31 • Liza Libes

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12 Literary Opinions That Would Get Me Kicked Out of an MFA Program

These publishing rules are slowly killing great literature

Aug 24 • Liza Libes

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