About - Ghost Stories

I write book reviews and culture journalism for The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and other publications. I also teach at Columbia, @92Y, and sometimes elsewhere. I’m the author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life and A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction.

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What you’ll find here

Thoughts on what I've been reading and writing these days. A monthly group read featuring Israeli and Palestinian writers. Updates on my current book project, a biography of Anne Frank. And now and forever, news from the world of Shirley Jackson.

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For people who think critically about books. An insider perspective on book publishing, writing criticism, and my biography currently in production, THE MANY LIVES OF ANNE FRANK. Also featuring an occasional group read of Israeli and Palestinian authors.

People

Ruth Franklin

@ghoststories

I'm a book critic and the author of SHIRLEY JACKSON: A RATHER HAUNTED LIFE. Just begun: a monthly group read featuring Israeli and Palestinian writers. New book about Anne Frank coming winter 2025.