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
Departing Afghanistan
A poem for Memorial Day
A Different Kind of Female Protagonist
Two new literary works from Colombe Schneck and R. O. Kwon feature fascinating, flawed women.
Go Ahead and Make Fun of Your Friends
It’s good for both of you.
The Brooklyn Sequel Asks the Most American of Questions About Immigration
In his new novel, Colm Tóibín explores the twinned relationship between Ireland and America.
What Happens When Desire Fuels a Life
R. O. Kwon’s new novel, Exhibit, takes an expansive view of the things that women are punished for wanting.
Nothing Is a Body
A poem for Wednesday
A Powerful Indictment of the Art World
Hari Kunzru’s new novel deflates the idea of an artistic life as a noble pursuit.
A French Reproach to Our Big, Baggy American Memoirs
In her slim books, the French writer Colombe Schneck stares honestly at her own life, without illusions or sentimentality.
850 Bryant
A poem for Sunday
‘An Entire Life Handed Over to Art’
Alice Munro’s death was an occasion to praise her life as a writer as much as her actual work.