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
Nostrand and Lincoln
A poem for Wednesday
How Tom Hanks Became Tom Hanks
The actor—and now novelist—reflects on how he got here, and the other lives he might have lived instead.
A Lesson About Living From a Survivor of Suicide
In his new book, How Not to Kill Yourself, Clancy Martin describes feeling addicted to the idea of taking his own life.
The Comic Turn
A poem for Sunday
What to Read When You Need to Start Over
If you’re in search of a boost or motivation to change your life, these seven books may help.
Make Room for More Voices in Philosophy
With a wider canon, enlightenment could come from anywhere: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Kenan Orhan on Exile and Memory
“Tracing the origin of a story is only slightly more concrete than tracing a dream to its roots.”
The Renovation
A short story
When You Crave Some Comforting Strangeness
Kelly Link masterfully twists familiar source material into unexpected, new shapes.
The Painstaking Journey to a David Grann Book
How the best-selling nonfiction author finds the facts that drive his books