Obsessed With the Life That Could Have Been
In her latest novel, Deborah Levy continues a career-long search for the authentic self.
The Secret to Mozart’s Lasting Appeal
A new book brings the composer down from the ether and reminds us about the context in which his music was made.
Cleanup
A poem for Sunday
Going Undercover to Expose America’s Ugly Side
The forgotten postwar best sellers that sussed out prejudice
The Writers Who Went Undercover to Show America Its Ugly Side
In the 1940s, a series of books tried to use the conventions of detective fiction to expose the degree of prejudice in postwar America.
Refugee Year
A poem for Sunday
How BTS Did It
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS manages to layer an emotional history on top of the professional rise of the world’s biggest band.
The Lonely Narrator’s Journey
Osamu Dazai’s 75-year-old novel of alienation
The Cult Classic That Captures the Stress of Social Alienation
The Japanese novelist Osamu Dazai wrote, better than almost anyone, about the thin line between isolation and belonging.
Outdoor Day
A poem for Wednesday
Five Books That’ll Fit Right Into Your Busy Schedule
These essay and short-story collections are easy to read at your own pace.
The Psychic Toll of Class Mobility
Domenico Starnone explores the cost of familial estrangement.
For the Lichens
Published in The Atlantic in 2011
When Domestic Life Is Like a Horror Story
An astonishing new novel captures the dichotomy at the heart of housework.
A Manual for Surviving History
For the Shanghai-born writer Eileen Chang, observation was a way of life.
The Juicy Secrets of Everyday Life
Eileen Chang’s slyly observant essays about day-to-day realities double as a manual for surviving history.
What to Read When You Want to Reimagine Family
These books offer a wide set of perspectives on what kinship can be, and on the endless ways we might create it.
The Posting
A short story
Sara Freeman on How Marriages Implode
“One could argue that contained in every marriage is the possibility of its implosion, the DNA of its demise.”
When Making Art Means Leaving the United States
A new book expands the history of the Black Americans who nurtured their creativity overseas.