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
Seven Books That Will Change How You Watch the Olympics
These titles will allow you to view the competition with a new appreciation.
These Millennials Can’t Get Out of Their Head
In Halle Butler’s new novel, young people won’t stop pathologizing others—or themselves.
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Norman Mailer?
A new documentary offers a model for reassessing the lives of monstrous men.
Eight Books That Will Inspire You to Move Your Body
Athleticism, exercise, and sports all lend themselves to heightened narrative stakes, and writers know this well.
The Garden
A poem for Sunday
The Books That Keep Readers Awake at Night
A certain kind of novel can push you to stretch one day into the early hours of the next one.
The Cheapness of Luxury
In Yasmin Zaher’s new novel, the promise of exclusivity is a facade.
On Love
A poem for Wednesday
Seven Bedside-Table Books for When You Can’t Sleep
These titles can offer another voice in the darkness, ready to soothe a restless mind.
Cornucopia
A poem for Sunday