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
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Scars
A short story
Fortunes
A short story
The Honor of the Layward Brothers
A short story
We Are Not One
A short story
125 Years Old and Still Biting
Bram Stoker’s gothic masterpiece speaks surprisingly well to our information-addled age of paranoia.
Disaster Means ‘Without a Star’
A poem for Sunday
Why Do We Keep Writing About Life After Death?
The afterlife provides an opportunity to ponder our biggest existential questions: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Bob Dylan Reveals Himself Through 66 Songs
And it’s the closest we’re probably going to get.
A World Where Death Isn’t the End
Namwali Serpell’s new book explores grief as it’s really experienced.
I Didn’t Want My Children to Know—And Then I Did
In a new book for young readers, Achut Deng recounts her harrowing experiences as a girl escaping the fighting in Sudan and arriving in America as a refugee.
Where My Characters Come From
I don’t choose them; they choose me.
Rachel Cusk Won’t Stay Still
The acclaimed novelist has moved countries and finds herself at a turning point in her art and in her life.
The Green Tram
A poem for Sunday
Six Books That Show No One Can Hurt You Like a Sibling
The unique feeling of sharing parents, or of growing up together, makes this relationship unlike any other.