The Time is Right for a ‘Great Books’ Revival
To build a better world in the age of AI, students need grounding in indispensable ideas.
Books
Introducing The Atlantic’s expanded books coverage: essays, criticism, fiction, poetry, and recommendations from our writers and editors
He Was Hugely Influential. He Also Had a Foolish Streak.
A recent biography of the writer John Berger reminds us about his hefty influence—and how he could be blinkered by his convictions.
Forget Grit
Even the luminaries of the self-help genre have begun to recognize how little in life we can actually control.
How American Girl Doll Lost Its Way
At 40, the brand faces a midlife crisis.
Democrats Are Sounding More Like Republicans
Why politicians are betting on ever more moralizing language
What To Read
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50 Unforgettable Love Stories
Centuries of joyous, tragic, tantalizing, enduring fiction
Six Hard-to-Find Books Worth Reading
These titles are no longer fashionable, if they ever were—but should you manage to read one, you might love it.
What to Read to Wake Up Your Brain
These books can ease readers into a season of work and hard thinking.
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Six Books That Take You to Space
You won’t even have to leave your couch.
Newsletter
The Books Briefing
Our culture editors’ weekly guide to the best in books.
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Fiction
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The Guardians
A short story
Disunion
A short story
I Heard You Singing
A short story
The Wisdom of Holden Caulfield
Beneath all the alienation, The Catcher in the Rye, which turns 75 this year, has a surprisingly hopeful—and ethical—outlook.
The Feeling of Becoming Less and Less of a Person
In Ben Lerner’s new novel, technology divides us further from one another, and ourselves.
Dreams in April
A poem
Unconventional Novels About Conventional People
In some great books, readers watch a character become disillusioned with their dreams of joyful conformity.
What Tracy Kidder Stood For
His deep, immersive writing had moral stakes and changed people’s lives.
Will People Ever Stop Eating Animals?
Bruce Friedrich has devoted his life to reducing American meat consumption—and he isn’t giving up just yet.
How Long Can You Live Your Ideals?
Stories about revolutionaries seem to entrance readers and moviegoers alike—especially if they don’t end well.
Following
A poem
Let a Book Annoy You
Sometimes, an angry note in the margin can be an expression of love.
A Novel About Women Who Trade One Kind of Captivity for Another
In Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things, a group of captive women discover who they might become beyond the control of men.
‘Intensely Southern and Only Faintly Jewish’
Nicholas Lemann recalls an unusual and sometimes unsettling family history—his own.