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 Book That Doesn’t Seek to Explain Itself
In his movies and his writing, the South Korean director Lee Chang-dong has long used images to suggest what can’t be expressed.
How a Tradition Forged in Slavery Persists Today
A new book argues that conjure—a Black spiritual practice—has touched nearly every corner of American life.
How Did Taylor Swift Convince the World That She’s Relatable?
The tidiest explanation for the pop star’s success is that she befriended an underestimated audience of girls and young women. That’s only part of the story.
What I Learned From the Georgia Protests
A novelist traveled to the former Soviet republic in search of food and a story. She found a new understanding of how to stand up for democracy.
Why Miriam Toews Writes
The Canadian novelist’s new memoir reckons with the deaths of her father and sister—and examines the forces that made her an author.
A New Theory Puts Parenting at the Center of Human Evolution
Can the origin of language can be traced to child care?
The Hardest Question for a Writer to Answer
For Miriam Toews, writing is a way of living with the unspeakable.
June
A short story
Irresistible Contentment
A poem