Would Limitlessness Make Us Better Writers?
AI embodies hypotheticals I can only imagine for myself. But I believe human impediments are what lead us to create meaningful art.
My Book Had Come Undone
A poem for Wednesday
The Particular Cruelty of Colonial Wars
A new history of Indonesia’s fight for independence reveals the brutal means by which the Dutch tried to retain power.
Hinge
A poem for Sunday
The Hidden Wisdom of Cookbooks
The author Ruby Tandoh argues for the freedom to cook—and eat—for pleasure.
Eight Cookbooks Worth Reading Cover to Cover
Flag dishes you want to make, or don’t: The point of this practice is pleasure, not pragmatism.
The Illogical Relationship Americans Have With Animals
A new book explores the roots of our love for certain creatures—and our indifference toward many others.
The New Empress of Self-Help Is a TikTok Star
Keila Shaheen outsold Oprah Winfrey with a journaling book marketed through TikTok. Now what?
Salman Rushdie Strikes Back
In a new memoir, the author reckons with the attack that nearly took his life.
An Oblique and Beautiful Book
The Children’s Bach is a striking picture of how ravaged a life can be when unmoored from any responsibility, and of how necessary it is to take care of others.
The Country That Tried to Control Sex
Clair Wills’s memoir is a timely warning that sexual morality can be enforced only with violence.
Six Cult Classics You Have to Read
As word of mouth about a book spreads, it begins to spark with a special kind of electricity.
A Child’s-Eye View of 1970s Debauchery
The brilliant novels of Helen Garner depict her generation’s embrace of freedom, but also the sad consequences.
Our Last Great Adventure
My husband, Richard Goodwin, drafted landmark speeches for JFK and LBJ. Late in life, we dived into his archives, searching for vivid traces of our hopeful youth.
Half Moon, Small Cloud
Published in The Atlantic in 2006
Feminism, Womanhood, and Celebrity
The books Sophie Gilbert turns to while writing
What Orwell Really Feared
In 1946, the author repaired to the remote Isle of Jura and wrote his masterpiece, 1984. What was he looking for?
A Vision of the City as a Live Organism
In this novel, Prague is impish, tyrannical—and alive.
Seven Books to Read in the Sunshine
Enjoying literature at a park, a beach, or an open-air café encourages a particular leisurely frame of mind.
There Is More Good Than Evil in This Country
In a new book, two sociologists reconstruct the lives of people who were abandoned in death.