Margaret Atwood on Envy and Friendship in Old Age
The author of The Handmaid’s Tale read my story about losing friends in midlife. She had some thoughts.
America’s Love-Hate Relationship With the Bald Eagle
Revered as a national symbol, reviled as an actual bird
Gladiators
A poem for Sunday
How to Tell a War Story
To make sense of bloodshed, writers turn to different genres: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Smutty Mystic
What everyone gets wrong about Sheila Heti’s fiction
Eight Books That Explain the South
The southern travelogue is a genre with a long history. These examples helped me write my own.
When Home Improvement Is Self-Improvement
A new group of makeover shows is grappling with a timely truth: Needing help doesn’t make you a failure.
The Problem With the Genius Myth
The label erases the complication and collaboration that are central to the artistic process: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Read the Books That Schools Want to Ban
These 14 titles have been under attack for doing exactly what literature is supposed to do.
The Octavia Butler Novel for Our Times
The pandemic has revealed the depths of our mutual dependence. Fledgling shows us how to coexist.
The Madness of Method Acting
Does acting need to be grueling to be good?
Night Sky
A poem by Carl Dennis, published in The Atlantic in 2011
Feeling Bad? Read These Books to Feel Better.
Wallowing in our worst moods can be enthralling, and even educational.
Poetry Lets Us Remember—And Move On
Where to turn when your emotions call for something other than straightforward prose: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Redemption of the Bad Mother
Two recent works challenge the long-standing pact of American motherhood: We give mothers nothing and expect everything in return.
Invitation
A poem for Sunday
Working It Out on the Page
Writers explore exercise and their relationship to it: Your weekly guide to the best in books
15 Books You Won’t Regret Rereading
Years after these titles were popular, they’re still worth picking up.
Requiem With Remission
A poem for Sunday
When Meals Nourish a Plot
Fictional feasts and memories of home cooking: Your weekly guide to the best in books