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
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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.
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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
From Feminist to Right-Wing Conspiracist
What Naomi Wolf’s odyssey can teach us about seeing patterns where they don’t exist
This Week in Books: Sylvia Plath Continues to Fascinate
Her life is still being unpacked 60 years after her death.
The Man Who Became Uncle Tom
Harriet Beecher Stowe said that Josiah Henson’s life had inspired her most famous character. But Henson longed to be recognized by his own name, and for his own achievements.
Why Would Anyone Become a Politician?
Rory Stewart’s new memoir about his life in politics details his dawning realization that the game was not worth the effort.
George Eliot’s Subversive Vision of Marriage
Unlike Jane Austen, the novelist was most interested in what happens after “I do.”
The Novel That Helped Me Understand American Culture
The Bell Jar provided an emotional context for a country I found alluring as a teenager growing up abroad.
Fiction on Trial
Zadie Smith’s ambitious new novel asks: Do we expect the genre to do too much?
Some Have Yoga. I Have Montaigne.
The philosopher will always be among the writers I reread; his words provide one of the best anchors for one’s ever-changing mind.
Little Rock
A poem for Sunday
This Week in Books: Could AI Ever Write Like Stephen King and Margaret Atwood?
Two authors respond to the revelation that their work is being used to train artificial intelligence.