Nathaniel is a writer, editor, historian, journalist, and the author of five books, including the novel Everything is Borrowed, forthcoming in May 2018 from New Door Books. He’s the co-editor of Who Will Speak for America?, a literary anthology in response to the American political crisis, also forthcoming, in June 2018 from Temple University Press. He’s the fiction review editor of Cleaver Magazine, as well as a prolific book critic focusing on literary fiction and works in translation. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Public Books, The Rumpus, Tablet Magazine, LitHub, The Millions, and the Kenyon Review, among other publications.

Nathaniel and I sat down, he in his office in Philadelphia where he lives and works, and me in my office in Seattle, and talked about why literary criticism is important, and what makes for good criticism.

Interview by Ryan Evans, producer of On the Edge. Music by @simon-aspinall01