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
The Ferguson Report: An Erasure
An excerpt
Obsessed With the Life That Could Have Been
In her latest novel, Deborah Levy continues a career-long search for the authentic self.
The Secret to Mozart’s Lasting Appeal
A new book brings the composer down from the ether and reminds us about the context in which his music was made.
Cleanup
A poem for Sunday
Going Undercover to Expose America’s Ugly Side
The forgotten postwar best sellers that sussed out prejudice
The Writers Who Went Undercover to Show America Its Ugly Side
In the 1940s, a series of books tried to use the conventions of detective fiction to expose the degree of prejudice in postwar America.
Refugee Year
A poem for Sunday
How BTS Did It
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS manages to layer an emotional history on top of the professional rise of the world’s biggest band.
The Lonely Narrator’s Journey
Osamu Dazai’s 75-year-old novel of alienation
The Cult Classic That Captures the Stress of Social Alienation
The Japanese novelist Osamu Dazai wrote, better than almost anyone, about the thin line between isolation and belonging.