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
A Novelist’s Cure for the ‘Loneliness Epidemic’
Eloghosa Osunde’s new book offers a vision of kinship for a world that is steadily growing more disconnected.
Preamble to the West
A poem
What John le Carré Learned in Corfu
For authors, travel can generate new understandings of their characters—and themselves.
The One Book Everyone Should Read
The Atlantic’s staffers on the books they share—again and again
Chasing le Carré in Corfu
If you’re trying to find someone who doesn’t want to be found, you don’t go to the obvious places.
The Most Dangerous Kind of Friendship
A new novel challenges sentimental ideas about lifelong bonds.
Eight Books That Explain the University Crisis
Now is the perfect time to look with clear eyes at the goals, accomplishments, and failures of higher education.
Your Horses
A poem
What Andrea Gibson Understood About Very Simple Poetry
Gibson, who died this week, valued live performance and emotionally resonant language.
What to Do With the Most Dangerous Book in America
At a perilous American moment, the Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explains why he wanted to read The Turner Diaries.