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
See All
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.
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
See All
Scars
A short story
Fortunes
A short story
The Honor of the Layward Brothers
A short story
We Are Not One
A short story
Scent of a Man
In a new memoir, Al Pacino promises to reveal the person behind the actor. But is he holding something back?
The Lessons of Aging
Alan Hollinghurst’s and Lore Segal’s later writing takes two different approaches to growing old.
This Time, Bob Woodward Gets It Right
The Watergate journalist has taken a lot of hits—including from me. In his new Biden chronicle, War, he’s at his best.
How Lore Segal Saw the World in a Nutshell
Whether in novels or her long-running book group, the émigré author, who died this week at 96, was driven by empathy above all.
Melania Really Doesn’t Care
Her new memoir is a master class in how selective attention and empathy can insulate someone from the pains that trouble the rest of us.
The Woman Who Would Be Steinbeck
John Steinbeck beat Sanora Babb to the great American Dust Bowl novel—using her field notes. What do we owe her today?
Six Books That Feel Like Watching a Movie
Writing can share the thrill of movies by dissolving the physical limitations of the page.
Alan Hollinghurst’s Lost England
In his new novel, the present isn’t much better than the past—and it’s a lot less sexy.
In Defense of Marital Secrets
Lauren Elkin’s Scaffolding suggests that total honesty can take a relationship only so far.
When a Friendship Changes Forever
Lauren Groff captures the precise moment when someone realizes their memories are theirs alone.