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
Pop Culture Is Obsessed With Female Friendships
Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye perfectly portrays an intense, fickle, painful dynamic between women.
What I Learned From Sammy Davis Jr.
The showman never stopped pleasing audiences—and confounding expectations.
A Conservative Rejoinder to the Manosphere
A new book argues that America would benefit if more men adopted the values of vulnerability and mutual care that are usually attributed to women.
American Suburbs Have a Financial Secret
Municipal bonds have become an unavoidable part of local governance—and their costs divide rich towns from poor ones.
We Are Not One
A short story
The Man Who Rescued Faulkner
How the critic Malcolm Cowley made American literature into its own great tradition
The Stubborn Myth of the Literary Genius
What two new books on the English Renaissance reveal about the appeal of speculative history
Coyote
A poem
The Powerful, Unpredictable Nature of Fear
Halloween is the perfect time to think more deeply about the role it plays in our lives.
All Our Brilliant Friends
The explosion of novels about intense female friendships, in the Elena Ferrante mold, is changing the genre—and making it more fun.