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.
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
Scars
A short story
Fortunes
A short story
The Honor of the Layward Brothers
A short story
We Are Not One
A short story
Who Needs Intimacy?
Influential novelists are imagining what women’s lives might look like without the demands of partners and children.
Why We’re Still Talking About the ‘Trauma Plot’
People will always experience terrible things, and many will want to write about them.
What to Make of Miracles
In a new book, Elaine Pagels searches for the narrative origins of Jesus’s most wondrous acts.
Hinge
A poem
Relatable Mom
A short story
The Chinese Communist Party’s Ultimate Taboo
Fang Fang’s newly translated novel uncovers the brutal, buried history of land reform in China.
The Best American Poetry of the 21st Century (So Far)
The 25 most consequential collections from the past 25 years
An Iranian American Rom-Com That Breaks the Mold
Mariam Rahmani’s debut novel is both charmingly familiar and totally unpredictable.
A Country Imperfectly Pulling Itself Together
Wildcat Dome’s characters can’t escape the calamities that marked their lives—and their country’s history.
Three Very Different Ways to Live Honestly
In Emily St. James’s new novel, three trans women figure out what life to live—and what to sacrifice for it.