To Prevent the Rebirth of Islamic State, the U.S. Must Constrain Iran
Don’t hire the arsonist to put out the fire.
November 22, 2019
Who Needs Literature?
A great Yiddish writer reflects on what, exactly, the novel is for.
Best known for his many novels and short stories, of which a very large portion were translated into English, the Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer also authored numerous essays on literary criticism and other topics under the pseudonym Yitskhok Varshavski. Among these was his 1963 article titled “Who Needs Literature?” in which he questions the purpose of fiction even while lamenting its decline. Singer begins the essay, recently translated into English by David Stromberg, by declaring that he has come to the conclusion “that reading fiction is a waste of time”—but then goes on to defend literature itself:
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Login or SubscribeNovember 22, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn’s Anti-Semitism Isn’t a Matter of Opinion
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Who Needs Literature?
A great Yiddish writer reflects on what, exactly, the novel is for.