The Billionaires Who Are Threatening Democracy
In his new book, the historian Quinn Slobodian writes about the ideologues who believe that society should prioritize capital, not people.
Book Review
Writing in the Ruins
The German writer Jenny Erpenbeck cuts through dogma, fractures time, and preserves rubble.
A Better Way of Buying—And Wanting—Things
A new book argues that we should honor our material desires rather than feeling ashamed of them.
Who Was Cleopatra’s Daughter?
The perils of searching for feminist heroes in antiquity
Surrender to Steely Dan
How the insufferably perfectionist duo captured the hearts of a new generation of listeners
A Novel in Which Language Hits Its Limit—And Keeps On Going
In Han Kang’s Greek Lessons, words are both insufficient and too powerful to tame.
A Rom-Com That Seduces the Old-Fashioned Way
Curtis Sittenfeld’s new novel masterfully dissects a well-worn genre.
When You Crave Some Comforting Strangeness
Kelly Link masterfully twists familiar source material into unexpected, new shapes.
Philosophy’s Big Oversight
If the discipline is concerned with the nature of human existence, then a canon dominated by men isn’t just incomplete—it’s distorted.
An Institution That’s Been Broken for 200 Years
Two new books argue that America urgently needs to reimagine its child-welfare system.