Our world is driven by measurable, pragmatic results. In our results-driven world, “quixotic” stands out as something curious with hints of romance, ambition and wildly unrealistic expectations. With ...

‘Chekhov’s stories tread the finest line between a newspaper account and a fairy tale,” the poet Howard Moss once wrote. The same could be said, and perhaps with more accuracy, of Andrey Platonov’s ...

Since making a mistake here this week, I've been thinking a lot about Oedipal complexes and Faustian bargains. That's because of an exchange in my interview with professor Ilan Stavans to mark the ...

The Paris Review's Jonathan Gharraie loves Don Quixote. He doesn't love the way people misuse the adjective derived from the title character's surname. "What does it mean to be quixotic today?" he ...

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Bruce Conforth, professor of American culture at the University of Michigan, about words that have entered... A Gargantuan Error: Quixotic Is Not The Only Word From A ...