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.
What To Read
Books
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The Toll
A poem
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.
An Adaptation That’s Both ‘Excellent’ and ‘Bizarre’
Lincoln in the Bardo is a bold novel that has rightfully inspired inventive adaptations.
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.
Empathy Isn’t Enough
The perils and limits of writing with a moral message: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Awkward Intimacy of Therapy
The practice may require vulnerability, but being heard can bring healing: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Books Swallowed by the Black Hole of the Coronavirus
Some spectacular titles had the terrible luck of being released in early 2020. They still deserve our attention.
Life, Literature, This Moment of June
The allure and the friction of city life are never clearer than they are in the summer: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Thin Line Between Sickness and Health
Nine books that helped me reframe my relationship to viruses, the most abundant biological entity on Earth
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Learning How to Grieve in Public
What happens when private loss is widely shared instead of borne alone? Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Books That Taught a Debate Champion How to Argue
Through reading, I learned that disagreement can be a source of good, not ill, even in our polarized age.
What a Book Can Do for a Girl
A story that changes how a child sees can, in no small way, change her life: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Motherhood’s Impossible, All-Consuming Demands
Works that meditate on the struggle to maintain an independent sense of self after having children: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Allure of the Campus Novel
Why schools provide such fertile ground for fiction: Your weekly guide to the best in books