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
There Is No Green Transition Without Consequences
A new book argues that simply replacing fossil-fuel extraction with critical-mineral mining is no way out of the climate crisis.
Syncretism
A poem
Diseducators
A short story
A Rupture in One’s Sense of Self
In Patricia Lockwood’s new novel, the main character gets so ill that she wonders whether she’s become a different person.
The Classic Teen Novel I Still Haven’t Forgotten
My secret first encounter with Judy Blume’s Forever
Patricia Lockwood’s Mind-Opening Experience of Long COVID
In her new novel, the author captures the strangeness of ordinary life for the chronically ill.
A Portrait of Southern Sexual Repression
In her debut novel, Addie E. Citchens creates a vibrant Mississippi town and a dire morality tale about the suppression of desire.
Seven Books About What Corruption Actually Looks Like
Dishonest governance is rarely a single act or brazen deal; more often, it appears as a set of habits that spread through a society.
Take Me With You
A poem
Publishing’s New Microgenre
This year, dozens of books are principally concerned with AI.