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.
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The Books Briefing
Our culture editors’ weekly guide to the best in books.
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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
The Perils of ‘Design Thinking’
How did the concept become the solution to society’s most deeply entrenched problems?
How Toni Morrison Changed Publishing
At night, she worked on her novels. By day, as an editor at Random House, she championed a new generation of writers.
The Real Reason Men Should Read Fiction
Literature is often pushed on allegedly reluctant men as a machine for empathy. I read it for a different reason.
Americans Are Tired of Choice
How did freedom become synonymous with having lots of options?
Passions of the Void
A poem
A Novel That Reimagines the Meaning of Outer Space
In Pip Adam’s extraordinary, humane book Audition, the stars are both a dystopian place and a site of uncharted possibility.
How a Book Can Change a Graduate’s Life
After I finished college, Leslie Jamison’s The Empathy Exams won my allegiance immediately and forever.
A Provocative Argument About What Creates Serial Killers
In her new book, Murderland, Caroline Fraser argues that the rise of these criminals has deep roots in the release of industrial waste.
Yes I Will Read Ulysses Yes
How Richard Ellmann made James Joyce a hero to generations of readers and scholars
A Father’s Prayer
A poem