Who Are We, Really?
A new subgenre of literature explores what’s uncovered when you take away someone’s public-facing persona.
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State Russian Museum / Bridgeman Images The Literature of the Pandemic
Half a decade on, we now have at least a small body of work that takes on COVID.
Evelyn Freja / Connected Archives The Fantasy of a More Neighborly Past
Sun City offers evidence that Americans’ widespread isolation began long before they became absorbed in their phones.
Jakub Schikaneder / Fine Art Images / Heritage Images / Getty How Does a Real Person Become a Character?
Two novels take different approaches to bringing the dead back to life.
Fine Art / Getty The Art Monster Under the Bed
Ella Baxter’s new novel reminds us that mediocrity is far more common than genius.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. The Century-Old Book With a Message for This Season
Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain offers a unique antidote to contempt and despair.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Historic Collection / Alamy The Lessons of Aging
Alan Hollinghurst’s and Lore Segal’s later writing takes two different approaches to growing old.
Millennium Images / Gallery Stock When One Animal Changes a Human’s Mind
E. B. White was accustomed to slaughtering pigs, until one stole his heart.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. How to Write About the Trump Years
A new memoir shrewdly captures the upheavals of the past eight years.
Vincent Forstenlechner / Connected Archives Go Ahead, Put Down That Book
There’s no reason to agonize over the titles you don’t finish.
Heritage Art / Getty
