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
Procrastinating Ourselves to Death
Jenny Odell’s latest book asks an urgent question: What happens when our emergencies become banal?
Before
A poem for Wednesday
The One Cause of Poverty That’s Never Considered
In a new book, Matthew Desmond argues that to understand what keeps people poor, we need to take a good look at the rich.
Eight Books That Will Take You Somewhere New
These titles conjure their settings so vividly that you’ll feel as if you’re there.
Friendship, 1963
A poem for Sunday
The Gift of Rereading
Returning to a book you’ve already finished is an underrated pursuit in a fast-paced world: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Nora Ephron’s Revenge
What right do women have to tell their side of the story?
10 Poetry Collections to Read Again and Again
Here is the verse that we just can’t get out of our heads.
The Failed Promise of Having It All
Rona Jaffe’s classic novel explores the age-old question, but contains a darker message for contemporary readers.
America’s Most Insidious Myth
It’s time to challenge our country’s dangerous obsession with self-reliance.