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.
Who Came Up With That?
Contrary to what we think of as intellectual property, most ideas are difficult to trace back to one human mind.
The Questionable Triumph of the ‘Baling Wire Hippies’
Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog was seen as a countercultural milestone, but his new book reveals his alliances with the powerful.
Eight of the Most Fascinating Biographies to Read
Each is animated by the author’s love—for their subject, for language, and for pushing the boundaries of what the genre can do.
Is Cohabitation the Feminist Future?
Stories about women living together are proliferating—and offering alternative visions to the nuclear family.
Peter Hujar’s Photos Are All the Rage. He’d Be Shocked.
A new biography brings the late photographer’s relationship with the artist Paul Thek to vivid life.
Where Did ‘Let Them’ Come From?
Years before Mel Robbins published her best-selling self-help book, a struggling writer posted a poem with a similar message.
Catch
A poem
Scars
A short story
The First Draft of Cultural History
Lena Dunham’s new memoir is a fascinating primary source of Hollywood in the 2010s.
If You Want a Better World, Act Like You Live in It
We’ve had Henry David Thoreau the environmentalist, the libertarian, the life coach. To understand his influence, think of him first as a dissident.