Emily in Paris Doesn’t Need a Makeover
Netflix’s silliest show is the epitome of guilty-pleasure viewing. It should probably stay that way.
What Gena Rowlands Knew About Marriage
The late actor mined the many contradictions of romantic love in her work, and never more brilliantly than in A Woman Under the Influence.
When Is It Okay to Not Finish a Book?
How to decide to put down a book—without all the angst
Someone Is Watching. Is It God, or Your Boss?
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation captured anxieties about the emerging surveillance state—and how it makes workers past and present feel at their job.
When Wellness Can’t Bring Happiness
A provocative 1970s novel reads like a contemporary cry for freedom from the expectations of others.
Why Some #MeToo Fiction Puts Men Center Stage
Mary Gaitskill’s 2019 novella, This Is Pleasure, makes readers consider whether including male voices can help us understand women’s stories.
Humans Are Killable. The Alien Franchise Isn’t.
Alien: Romulus hits some recognizable beats, but the pleasures of its central concept remain undiminished.
A Memoir About Recovering From Men
Anna Marie Tendler’s mordant account of her life suggests a single source for her pain.
The Monumental Discovery That Changed How Humans See Themselves
The unearthing of dinosaur bones transformed Victorian society—and long-held notions about our place in the world.
A Movie That Understands the 2000s-Internet Generation
Dìdi is a crowd-pleasing portrait of adolescent angst set in the heyday of Myspace and AIM.
A Satire of America’s Obsession With Identity
The hero of Danzy Senna’s new novel is trying, and failing, to write the Great American Biracial Novel.
Who Wants a ‘Man in Finance’?
The song of the summer captures the bleak truth about today’s dating scene.
When Growing Up Happens in a Single Conversation
The Sundance gem Good One is a deceptively simple, and unusually precise, coming-of-age film.
It Should End Here
Hollywood sheen isn’t enough to enliven the tiresome romantic drama of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, It Ends With Us.
Consider the Boor
In Jo Hamya’s new novel, pity becomes a form of power.
The Hotdish Ticket
The Harris-Walz campaign’s embrace of food is a signal.
When Realism Is More Powerful Than Science Fiction
In On Strike Against God, Joanna Russ imagined a freer world while confronting its inequities head-on.
How Greed Got Good Again
In HBO’s Industry, Gen Z reveals itself to be just as money-obsessed as the corporate raiders of Wall Street.
An Intoxicating 500-Year-Old Mystery
The Voynich Manuscript has long baffled scholars—and attracted cranks and conspiracy theorists. Now a prominent medievalist is taking a new approach to unlocking its secrets.
What to Read When You Want to Quit
These titles help readers think through pressing questions about modern employment—including whether it’s time to walk away.