
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.
Introducing The Atlantic’s expanded books coverage: essays, criticism, fiction, poetry, and recommendations from our writers and editors

We’ve had Henry David Thoreau the environmentalist, the libertarian, the life coach. To understand his influence, think of him first as a dissident.

A minimally speaking autistic man just wrote a best-selling book. Or did he?

Testing has become so advanced that doctors now miss important elements of diagnosis.

Her new memoir captures the cost of being an impossibly popular target.

Humankind has devised a new form of debasement.
Our culture editors’ weekly guide to the best in books.

Edmund White, who died yesterday at 85, infused his life with as much pleasure as he did his writing.

Andrey Kurkov’s crime thrillers provide timely lessons for anyone living under an oppressive regime.

Susan Choi’s new book, Flashlight, considers the evolution of rage.

Melissa Febos’s new book, The Dry Season, recounts a year of celibacy and the freedom it gave her to reconnect with the world.

A poem

Alternatives to the medical or economic state of affairs offer hope—and danger.

He was misunderstood, then adored, then vilified. Who was he really?

When malaise strikes, a book can break the spell—if you choose the right one.

A new book reveals how health-care inequality fueled the spread of anti-science conspiracy theories.

Powerful Silicon Valley leaders are prioritizing their utopian vision of the future over the concerns of people in the present.