The Lost Idealism of Heartland Rock
The genre of Bob Seger and John Mellencamp reached across the ideological spectrum in a way that seems unimaginable today.
Fiction
Books
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The Books That Take Revenge, Centuries Later
A new history of the Red Scare prompts the question: Does literature still have enough influence to bring down the powerful?
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.
What To Read
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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.
Six Books That Simply Must Be Talked About
These six books demand discussion—with a pal, a date, or a book club.
Nine Books to Reset Your View of the World
Each of these titles will widen your perspective, offering you original insight and vision.
Seven Books to Read When You Have No Time to Read
These titles are worth picking up, even if you have only a moment to spare.
Moonshine
I graduate of Smith College and a Yankee on both sides of the family, RUTH M. GOLDSMITH worked in publishing and for the Government on its economic warfare program in Spain and Washington before moving to Florida, where she now lives and does her writing. “Beyond the end of our road,” she says, “lies the rather wild land with the tall pines and palmettos, such a place as might be good for setting up a still, for those so inclined.”
Drug for the Major
English novelist and short-story writer, GEOFFREY HOUSEHOLD came to the Atlantic with his first and often reprinted story, ”The Salvation of Pisco Gabar,”and on the strength of it the Atlantic bought every new story he wrote in the next twelve months. A born linguist who graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, he sold toys in Rumania, was a bank clerk in Spain, and finally built up enough savings in American radio to become a free lance. Atlantic readers will remember his well-liked novels, Rogue Male, Arabesque, and Fellow Passenger.
How Mr. Hogan Robbed a Bank
A short story
The Day Aunt Chaya Was Buried
A Londoner who cherishes every vestige of the cockney, WOLF MANKOWITZ graduated from Cambridge University and within six years established himself as one of the leading dealers in Wedgwood. Now in his early thirties, he divides his time between authoritative studies of the Portland vase, humorous articles for Punch, and fiction. His two novels, Make Me an Offer and A kid for Two Farthings, were made into films, and his satirical book, Laugh Till You Cry, was published last spring by Dutton.
Medal in the Sky
LEO RoSTEN writes under two signatures — his own and Leonard Q. Ross, under which he wrote the ever-popular, The Education of H*y*m*a*n K*a*p*l*a*n. Mr. Rosten has taught at Yale, is faculty associate at Columbia University, and was deputy director of the Office of War Information. In 1945 he was sent to Europe on a special mission for the Secretary of War. He has written Hollywood: The Movie Colony; The Movie Makers; The Washington Correspondents; and many movies, notably Walk East on Beacon; Sleep, My Love; and The Dark Corner. He recently won the George Polk Memorial Award for his article, ” Is Fear Destroying Our Freedom?” and is editor of A Guide to the Religions of America.
Rat Trap
In engineer who studied at Harvard and the University of Tulsa, JOSEPH WHITEHILL two years ago turned to full-time writing. Waved by his Nary memories arul by his respect for the tvorh oj Joseph Conrad. Mr. Whitchill wrote a sea story called “Able Baker“ which icon an Atlantic “First” award and is being reprinted in the 0. Henry Prize Stories, 1956. The following narrative is another high point in the life of Able Baker.