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.
Books
Introducing The Atlantic’s expanded books coverage: essays, criticism, fiction, poetry, and recommendations from our writers and editors
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 Does Lena Dunham Want to Tell Us?
Her new memoir captures the cost of being an impossibly popular target.
The Eighth Deadly Sin
Humankind has devised a new form of debasement.
What To Read
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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.
Six Books You Can Get Lost In
These novels highlight the power—both good and bad—of unchecked fantasizing.
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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
Millennials Are Worrying About Getting Old. Gen X Can Relate.
Despite the dichotomies pitting them against each other, more connects the generations than divides them.
Five Books That Conjure Entirely New Worlds
The best-written stories can make readers feel as if they have passed through mundane states of being and been brought over to another universe.
Malcolm Gladwell, Meet Mark Zuckerberg
The writer’s insistence on ignoring the web is an even bigger blind spot today than it was when The Tipping Point came out.
The Problem With Moral Purity
In his new book, The Message, Ta-Nehisi Coates sacrifices necessary complexity.
The Bold Compassion of Dear Dickhead
Virginie Despentes’ novels rage against male abuse—but her new social-media satire offers forgiveness instead.
Let Us Now Praise Undecided Voters
Voters who don’t easily make up their minds are usually greeted with annoyance or disdain, but what if they’re the ideal citizens?
Mesozoic
A poem for Sunday
How to Write About the Trump Years
A new memoir shrewdly captures the upheavals of the past eight years.
The Rooneyverse Comes of Age
In her new novel, Intermezzo, Sally Rooney moves past the travails of youth into the torments of mortality.
The Fog
A poem for Wednesday