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
Andrea Gibson Refused to ‘Battle’ Cancer
The last years of the poet’s life were among their most joyful.
What We Gain by Forgetting
In Linn Ullmann’s memoiristic fiction, the erosion of memories is a feature, not a bug.
Is America Really Exceptional?
What happens anywhere—including moves toward authoritarianism—can also happen here.
Between ‘the Drive to Forget and the Obligation to Remember’
Argentina’s unfinished reckoning shows how difficult it can be to recover from state terror.
How the Grateful Dead Nearly Solved the Problem With Live Music
The band’s innovative sound system made them sound better than ever. It also nearly broke them.
Lamentations
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?