Read, White, and Blue

PW’s critics poll named Moby-Dick, Invisible Man, and Kindred among the most essential works of literature published in the U.S. since 1776, as part of our homage to America’s upcoming 250th birthday in this week’s magazine. Results from the Association of American Literary Agents’s biennial survey suggest that agenting professionals are feeling pressured by growing workloads and poor compensation. And with Stephen Colbert bidding farewell to the Late Show last night, publishers are reflecting on his significant influence on reader tastes and book sales over his more than two decades on television. In other news, the New York Times profiled National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett in the wake of the controversy sparked by his latest book. Kerry Washington is set to star in Hulu’s series adaptation of Wendy Walker’s What Remains, per Deadline. For the Atlantic, Vauhini Vara digs into the recent scandal over Granta’s publication of a prize-winning short story allegedly written by AI. The Point’s Selen Ozturk dives deep into the critical tastes—and limitations—of BookTok. Hyperallergic considers why so many recent book covers feature paintings. And the Public Domain unearths a Victorian-era story in which new technologies bring “the end of books.”