Books

Dispatch

A Conversation With Gore Vidal

The American literary and cultural icon speaks out on the Polanski scandal, the Obama Presidency, the sexual exploits of Bill Clinton, and more. By John Meroney.

Dispatch

Eunice the Formidable

Eunice Shriver thoroughly terrified her husband's biographer—and inspired his profound admiration. A reminiscence. By Scott Stossel.

Dispatch

From Prisoner to Poet

Sentenced to nine years in prison at the age of sixteen for carjacking, R. Dwayne Betts discovered something unexpected while relegated to solitary confinement for assaulting a guard: a love of literature. By R. Dwayne Betts.

Sidebar

Divorce, American Style

Alec Baldwin's self-serving memoir will strike a chord with fathers struggling against a campaign of alienation. By Christopher Cahill.

Dispatch

In Defense of the Kindle

A rare books librarian contends that the Amazon Kindle will promote the culture of letters, not undermine it. By Matthew Battles.

Dispatch

Resisting the Kindle

Critic and essayist Sven Birkerts comments on what we lose in the page-to-screen transfer. By Sven Birkerts.

Interviews

Lyric and Narrative

Poet Linda Bierds talks about her career, her new collection of poetry, and her perpetual quest to capture "the grand ineffable" By Sarah Cohen.

Books

Books In Brief

In time for the holidays—a comprehensive selection of books highlighted in The Atlantic in 2008.

Dispatch

Bright Light, Dim City

Stockholm’s pretensions toward literary clout would be almost laughable—except that it has the Nobel Prize, the world’s single most powerful literary symbol. By James F. English.

Dispatch

The Joyous Peculiarity of David Carr

Corby Kummer—David Carr's editor at The Atlantic—takes stock of Carr's gritty new memoir, The Night of the Gun. By Corby Kummer.

Interviews

The Poet's Poet

Mary Jo Salter talks about her new collection, Phone Call to the Future; editing The Norton Anthology of Poetry; and her early days as an assistant poetry editor at The Atlantic. By Sarah Cohen.

Interviews

Of Horses and Children

Aryn Kyle talks about the American West as a character, writing from a child's perspective, and her debut novel, The God of Animals By Jessica Murphy Moo.

Caitlin Flanagan at the National Magazine Awards

An index of NMA-nominated pieces by Caitlin Flanagan.

Interviews

The Great Irish-Dutch-American Novel

Joseph O'Neill, an Irishman raised in Holland, talks about The Great Gatsby, post-9/11 New York, and his new novel, Netherland. By Katie Bacon.