The Problem With Moral Purity
In his new book, The Message, Ta-Nehisi Coates sacrifices necessary complexity.
The Bold Compassion of Dear Dickhead
Virginie Despentes’ novels rage against male abuse—but her new social-media satire offers forgiveness instead.
Let Us Now Praise Undecided Voters
Voters who don’t easily make up their minds are usually greeted with annoyance or disdain, but what if they’re the ideal citizens?
Mesozoic
A poem for Sunday
How to Write About the Trump Years
A new memoir shrewdly captures the upheavals of the past eight years.
The Rooneyverse Comes of Age
In her new novel, Intermezzo, Sally Rooney moves past the travails of youth into the torments of mortality.
The Fog
A poem for Wednesday
Can the Right Drugs Fix Your Life?
A writer overwhelmed by a world gone mad takes a headlong dive into drugs and dancing. Results are mixed.
The Anti–Rock Star
Leonard Cohen’s battle against shameless male egoism
Shake the Earth
A poem for Sunday
The Irresistible Pull of an Alternate Universe
It lets us explore the allure of living a totally new life.
Entitlement Is Not an Identity. It’s a Trap.
In Rumaan Alam’s latest novel, a Black woman’s quest for status runs up against her blind spots.
How the War on Terror Warped the American Left
A new book on how 9/11 altered the national psyche also demonstrates how it stunted progressive politics.
A Book That Puts the Life Back Into Biography
To capture the spirit of the poet Audre Lorde, Alexis Pauline Gumbs decided to break all the rules.
Likeness
A poem for Sunday
The Feeling That’s Hardest to Communicate
Pain can stump even gifted writers, but a few have managed to describe the experience exquisitely.
Yuval Noah Harari’s Apocalyptic Vision
His warning of AI’s dangers is alarming, but does it help us avoid them?
The Allure of Living a Radically Different Life
What the proliferation of multiverses in pop culture reveals
Seven Books That Demystify Human Behavior
Other people can be baffling; these titles attempt to unravel a bit of their mystery.
AI Is Coming for Amateur Novelists. That’s Fine.
An annual speed-writing contest lets in the robot overlords, and I, for one, welcome them.
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