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literature

The Wonder Reader

Finding Happiness in Middle Age

March 11, 2023

The Value in Decoding Fairy Tales

March 10, 2023

close up of a man's face wearing sunglasses with butterflies

An Ode to Nicknames

April 2023 Issue

Illustration of sketched person shrugging with question mark for mouth and nose on green background

A Novel in Which Nightmares Are All Too Real

March 9, 2023

a photo of soldiers and people lined up against a wall

I Actually Went to the Lighthouse

Patricia Lockwood

April 2023 Issue

Photo of a person in a coat and hat scrambling along steep, grassy dunes next to a broad, sandy beach

The Importance of the Coming-of-Age Novel

March 3, 2023

black-and-white photo of teenagers dancing

The Double Life of John le Carré

February 28, 2023

A photo illustration of a typewriter, with the silhouette of a person in a trench coat and hat and John le Carré's eyes

You Should Be Reading Sebastian Barry

April 2023 Issue

detail of illustration with gray-haired white man in a black knit cap, a green turtleneck, and a brown coat in front of coastal rocks

Book Recommendations

Six Memoirs That Go Beyond Memories

John Hendrickson

February 27, 2023

a door knob on stuck to a book

We Read the Banned Books

February 23, 2023

The Forgotten Ron DeSantis Book

David Waldstreicher

February 22, 2023

Ron DeSantis's face refracted

Roald Dahl Can Never Be Made Nice

February 21, 2023

The Fine Art of Failure

February 21, 2023

An illustration of a typewriter, the surface of which is transforming into a crumpled piece of paper

Book Recommendations

What to Read to Come to Terms With Death

Eleanor Cummins

February 21, 2023

Illustration of a book turned upside down, its pages fluttering. Glowing orbs seem to be rising toward its spine.

The Body’s River

February 19, 2023

A hand reflected in ripples across blue water

The Atlantic Daily

The ’90s Blockbuster That’s Also a Symphony

Kelli María Korducki

February 19, 2023

Still from the film 'Face/Off'

The Wholly Human Art of Poetry

February 17, 2023

A feather quill draws three basic outlines of faces with different expressions.

Ben Okri on Manipulating Reality

February 15, 2023

A black-and-white image of Ben Okri set on a lavender purple background, with illustrated hot pink, dark yellow, and black squiggles surrounding his portrait.

How to Build a Life

An Old Romantic Custom We Should Bring Back

Arthur C. Brooks

February 14, 2023

Illustration of two people reading a book together in bed

Book Recommendations

The Best Books to Read With Someone You Love

February 13, 2023

black and white photo of two girls reading a book

Go Ahead and Ban My Book

Margaret Atwood

February 12, 2023

An illustration featuring library bookshelves seen through an x-mark against a red-cape background.

What Politicians’ Libraries Tell Us

February 10, 2023

a photo of a man reading

Why Do Fascists Love Dante?

Anna Momigliano

February 10, 2023

collage of Giorgia Meloni, Dante, Mussolini

The Masterpiece No One Wanted to Save

March 2023 Issue

A black-and-white photo of Soviet prisoners of war covering a mass grave at Babi Yar

The Case of the Unknowable Human

February 3, 2023

Black-and-white photo of Dorothy Sayers with squiggly lines overlaid

America’s Byron

Christopher Buckley

February 1, 2023

pictures of james dickey and a clip of one of his poems

A New Way to Read Gatsby

March 2023 Issue

illustration of mirror images of man in suit and fedora facing each other in black and white on red background

The Miraculous Salman Rushdie

Judith Shulevitz

March 2023 Issue

A black-and-white photograph of Salman Rushdie sitting on a park bench.

The Atlantic Daily

A Debut Novel That’s Not to Be Missed

January 29, 2023

Book Recommendations

What to Read When You’re Expecting

Annie Midori Atherton

January 27, 2023

A mother looks at her newborn baby's feet

The People Who Don’t Read Books

Thomas Chatterton Williams

January 25, 2023

An illustration of books in a trash can

Patience

January 24, 2023

A half-done puzzle of Edith Wharton against a blue background

How Do You Adapt a Book Into a TV Show?

January 20, 2023

A TV shows a black-and-white animation of scrolling bookshelves.

The Literary Legacy of C. Michael Curtis

Cullen Murphy and Scott Stossel

January 16, 2023

A photograph of C. Michael Curtis

She Never Meant to Write a Memoir

January 15, 2023

Family photos from Janet Malcolm

The Atlantic Daily

The Joy of Watching Wednesday With Daughters

January 15, 2023

A still from 'Wednesday'