Helen of Troy Meets Her First Husband
A poem for Wednesday
This Whale Has Something to Say
A novel about a young man and the orca named Lolita who knows him better than he knows himself
What’s So Bad About Asking Where Humans Came From?
Human origin stories have often been used for nefarious purposes. That doesn’t mean they are worthless.
Drift of Summer, 1965
A poem for Sunday
Obama, the Protagonist
Two literary accounts of the former president’s rise
The Patron Saint of Political Violence
Does Frantz Fanon have anything to teach us today?
Photographing Black Self-Creation in the American South
How Rahim Fortune depicts the beauty of a place and its people
The Impossible Fight to Live the Life You Want
In Lisa Ko’s ambitious, messy novel, characters go to extreme lengths in search of a purposeful existence.
A Clear-Eyed Look at the Early Obama Years
Vinson Cunningham’s new novel takes the reader back to a time when many thought the nation’s first Black president had an answer for every American ailment.
Not Everything Is About Gender
In a new book, Judith Butler tries to indict gender-critical feminists.
The Rick Rubin Guide to Creativity
Can the legendary record producer’s book really make you into an artist?
Night Shift in the Home for Convalescents
A poem for Sunday
Reading as a Sensory Experience
In this novel, the act of seeing is an art in itself.
Nature That Cannot Be Driven To
A poem for Wednesday
Six Books That Will Jolt Your Senses Awake
Reading can help us cultivate a more patient, attentive state of mind by highlighting the beauty present in our day-to-day lives.
Christine Blasey Ford Testifies Again
Her new memoir doubles as a modern-day horror story.
What Comes After Workism?
A new novel suggests that finding daily satisfaction is itself a serious job.
Specimens
A poem for Sunday
Choosing America’s Greatest Novels
The Atlantic assembled a list of 136 works of fiction that we consider to be the most significant of the past 100 years.
The Great American Novels
136 books that made America think
