Is Cohabitation the Feminist Future?
Stories about women living together are proliferating—and offering alternative visions to the nuclear family.
Books
Introducing The Atlantic’s expanded books coverage: essays, criticism, fiction, poetry, and recommendations from our writers and editors
Peter Hujar’s Photos Are All the Rage. He’d Be Shocked.
A new biography brings the late photographer’s relationship with the artist Paul Thek to vivid life.
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.
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 To Read
See All
Eight of the Most Fascinating Biographies to Read
Each is animated by the author’s love—for their subject, for language, and for pushing the boundaries of what the genre can do.
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.
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
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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
When Hulk Hogan Turned Heel
Pro wrestling—and America?—was never the same.
A Philosophy That Sees ‘Women as Doers’
What if function, not form, dictated what was in fashion?
The Feminine Pursuit of Swoleness
Casey Johnston’s new book, A Physical Education, considers how weight lifting can help you unlearn diet culture.
The Making of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle
How the novelist turned the violence and randomness of war into a cosmic joke
The Mainstreaming of Literary Kink
A noirish novel set in the world of strip clubs and BDSM dungeons ventures beyond titillation and into the daily grind.
It Has Pockets!
How Claire McCardell changed women’s fashion
A New History of the Western Hemisphere
A recent book suggests that Latin American democracy may hold lessons for the current U.S. political moment
What Are Emoji?
Unpacking the 🍑, the ️🤡, and the 👍
For Now
A poem
Toni Morrison’s Definition of a Legacy
As a writer and an editor, she put humanity plainly on the page, where it would outlast her and her critics alike.