Jotted down: letters, diaries, recipes, and other random scribblings

Literary lives: as the Seder nears, books by tale-tellers, praiseworthy and otherwise

A night with Tom Stoppard and the Belarus Free Theatre

Harry Houdini exhibited two very different public faces—master of escape and anti-mystical firebrand—that were united by his Jewishness

Doctorow and Oz have a chance; Jacobson remains underdog

What we’re reading—and rereading—this season