“[Agee] seeks complication in every sense—from the incongruous ‘Design’ of his book to the gritted convolution of his sentences. He’s damning by excess, and constantly purging it. His eye for beauty turns his stomach.” — Leslie Jamison reflects on Let us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee

Alex Mar investigates a convent; Pia Z. Ehrhardt remembers the owls on Solomon Place; William Giraldi spends a few days with Allan Gurganus.

Plus: fiction by Thomas Pierce and George Singleton. Additional essays by Diane Roberts, Wendy Brenner, David Means, James Seay, and others.