How American Girl Doll Lost Its Way
At 40, the brand faces a midlife crisis.
Latest
Elizabeth Renstrom for The Atlantic The Novel That Looks Death in the Eye
Emma Cline’s Switzy might not make readers happy, but it could strike them with moments of sublime clarity.
Illustration by Lee Kyutae The High Priestess of the Ordinary
In defense of Mary Oliver
Why So Much Millennial Fiction Is Boring
The generation’s novels tend to focus on the flatness of modern life—but alienation doesn’t have to be dull.
Paolo Pellegrin / Magnum The Art of the Joyful Tearjerker
A new novel by the Hamnet author Maggie O’Farrell showcases her genius for infusing painful stories with flashes of pure bliss.
Evelyn Freja / Connected Archives Matt Lauer’s Accuser Complicates Her Story
Brooke Nevils’s memoir is also a reckoning with many misconceptions about #MeToo narratives.
Lhaura Rain / Connected Archives The Germans Who Stood Up to Hitler
And the Germans who didn’t
Illustration by Mathieu Larone She Has No Autonomy. Can She Be Happy?
Kate Riley’s perceptive debut novel, Ruth, depicts the life of a woman in a repressive sect without an ounce of sanctimony.
Larry Towell / Magnum Mrs. Dalloway’s Midlife Crisis
Virginia Woolf’s wild run of creativity in her 40s included writing her masterpiece on the terrors and triumphs of middle age.
Illustration by Akshita Chandra* Fast Times and Mean Girls
What the great teen movies tell us about American adolescence
Photo-Illustration by Colin Hunter. Sources: Getty; Steve Schapiro / Getty; Paramount / Everett Collection; Universal / Everett Collection; Lionsgate Entertainment; CBS Photo Archive / Getty; Silver Screen Collection / Getty.
