How Tom Hanks Became Tom Hanks
The actor—and now novelist—reflects on how he got here, and the other lives he might have lived instead.
A Lesson About Living From a Survivor of Suicide
In his new book, How Not to Kill Yourself, Clancy Martin describes feeling addicted to the idea of taking his own life.
The Comic Turn
A poem for Sunday
What to Read When You Need to Start Over
If you’re in search of a boost or motivation to change your life, these seven books may help.
Make Room for More Voices in Philosophy
With a wider canon, enlightenment could come from anywhere: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Kenan Orhan on Exile and Memory
“Tracing the origin of a story is only slightly more concrete than tracing a dream to its roots.”
The Renovation
A short story
When You Crave Some Comforting Strangeness
Kelly Link masterfully twists familiar source material into unexpected, new shapes.
The Painstaking Journey to a David Grann Book
How the best-selling nonfiction author finds the facts that drive his books
AAAAdam
A poem for Sunday
The Great American Poet Who Was Named After a Slave Ship
A new biography of Phillis Wheatley places her in her era and shows the ways she used poetry to criticize the existence of slavery.
A Memoir About Friendship and Mental Illness
A Q&A with Jonathan Rosen, whose new book, The Best Minds, delves into a fraught friendship and the societal response to schizophrenia
The Trap of Celebrity
It’s not easy to balance a carefully planned public image with authentic vulnerability—even the most open stars have to think about their narrative: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Seven Books to Read as a Family
A strong title can do more than entertain—it can also provoke, challenge, educate, or soothe.
Marco Antonio
A poem for Wednesday
A History of Humanity in Which Humans Are Secondary
A new book tells the story of our past from the perspective of the bugs that have shaped it.
Philosophy’s Big Oversight
If the discipline is concerned with the nature of human existence, then a canon dominated by men isn’t just incomplete—it’s distorted.
The Empty Promise of Good Intentions
Even when motives are pure, altruism is too often insufficient: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Seven Celebrities Who Published Actually Great Memoirs
A tell-all is worth picking up when the star has an honest, grounded perspective on their life.
An Institution That’s Been Broken for 200 Years
Two new books argue that America urgently needs to reimagine its child-welfare system.