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.
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
Night Terrors
Published in The Atlantic in 1995
What Writer’s Block Feels Like
Being stuck is a regular affliction when you do this work for a living, though it can affect anyone who just has to write an email or a birthday card—all of us, that is.
Rachel Cusk’s Lonely Experiment
First she abandoned plot in her fiction; now characters must go.
American Women Are at a Breaking Point
In the U.S., government support for families seems transgressive. It shouldn’t be.
Eight Books to Read If You’re in a Creative Slump
These books dispense practical advice on managing one’s ambitions—or describe the dread of writer’s block with precision and humor.
The Father-Son Talk I Never Expected to Have
I almost never spoke about my past as an addict. Then adolescence came for my son.
What to Read When You Have Only Half an Hour
A short story has velocity and verve, and the best ones create an immediate, instinctual bond between the reader and the characters.
The Long View of the Challenger Disaster
Adam Higginbotham’s new book on the tragedy manages to add depth to a well-known story.
What a Year on Ozempic Taught Johann Hari
A chronicler of addictions struggles to control himself.
What the Challenger Disaster Proved
We take the workings of wide, complicated technological systems on faith. But they depend on people—and, sometimes, people fail.