Is Cohabitation the Feminist Future?
Stories about women living together are proliferating—and offering alternative visions to the nuclear family.
Books
Introducing The Atlantic’s expanded books coverage: essays, criticism, fiction, poetry, and recommendations from our writers and editors
Peter Hujar’s Photos Are All the Rage. He’d Be Shocked.
A new biography brings the late photographer’s relationship with the artist Paul Thek to vivid life.
If You Want a Better World, Act Like You Live in It
We’ve had Henry David Thoreau the environmentalist, the libertarian, the life coach. To understand his influence, think of him first as a dissident.
The Publishing Mystery That No One Wants to Talk About
A minimally speaking autistic man just wrote a best-selling book. Or did he?
The Paradox of Modern Medicine
Testing has become so advanced that doctors now miss important elements of diagnosis.
What To Read
See All
Eight of the Most Fascinating Biographies to Read
Each is animated by the author’s love—for their subject, for language, and for pushing the boundaries of what the genre can do.
Six Books That Simply Must Be Talked About
These six books demand discussion—with a pal, a date, or a book club.
Nine Books to Reset Your View of the World
Each of these titles will widen your perspective, offering you original insight and vision.
Seven Books to Read When You Have No Time to Read
These titles are worth picking up, even if you have only a moment to spare.
Newsletter
The Books Briefing
Our culture editors’ weekly guide to the best in books.
Subject to The Atlantic's Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions
Fiction
See All
Scars
A short story
Fortunes
A short story
The Honor of the Layward Brothers
A short story
We Are Not One
A short story
How Did Healing Ourselves Get So Exhausting?
Wellness has become yet another obligation to fit into our schedules.
What Does Paleo Parenting Look Like?
A new book that examines the strange protractedness of human childhood also argues against basing modern parenting practices on our distant ancestors.
Litany for Dictatorships
Published in The Atlantic in 1935
The Year I Tore Through Annie Ernaux’s Books
Reading the work of the newly minted Nobel Prize laureate, one novelist discovered the kind of writer she wanted to be.
The Simple Pleasures of Baking
The practice can be a salve for anxiety—or just a cozy way to spend a fall day: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Unexpected Power of Seeing Yourself as a Villain
If horror-film monsters mirror society’s deepest anxieties, embracing them draws attention to who or what is deemed worthy of fear.
Why Putin Made Peace With the Soviets’ Archenemies
Revisiting Russia’s brutal civil war
Five Authors We Thought Might Win the Nobel—Including One Who Did
A reading list of works by perennial favorites, including this year's awardee, Annie Ernaux
The Toll of Hiding One’s True Self
In his new memoir, Seán Hewitt describes coming out of the closet—only to build another one for himself.
