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A Portrait of ‘Literary Malice’
In his most recent book, Alex Beam details the disintegration of Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson’s friendship.
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How War Created Pippi Longstocking
Astrid Lindgren’s translated diaries don’t dwell on the origin of the popular fictional character—but rather illuminate the turbulent surroundings she emerged from.
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Harper The Gangly Texan Pianist Who Wooed Soviets During the Cold War
Russian audiences swooned over Van Cliburn during a fraught period in relations with his home country. Nigel Cliff tells the humble musician’s story in a new biography.
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Random House The Fraught Friendships of Eight Great Artists
Sebastian Smee’s group biography details four incentivizing rivalries between famous painters as they strove for excellence.
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Penguin Press The Humanity of The Wicked Boy
The former journalist Kate Summerscale tells the true story of a child who murdered his mother in Victorian London.
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McSweeney's Satire and Shtick Against a Backdrop of ‘Glorious Dust’
A mother and daughter wade through the loss of father and son in Olja Savičević’s bleakly bizarre novel Adios, Cowboy.
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Graywolf Finding the ‘Beautifully Chaotic’ in Grief
Max Porter’s debut novel careens between mocking hilarity and heartbreaking sorrow.
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Metropolitan A Dark Collage of Fear and Beauty
A short book review of The Fox Was Ever the Hunter
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A 19th-Century Bookseller’s Obsession With a Lost Masterpiece
A short review of Laura Cumming’s The Vanishing Velázquez
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Simon & Schuster The Struggles of the Woman Behind 'Battle Hymn of the Republic'
A short review of The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe
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Counterpoint A Sinner Reimagines the Bible
The latest novel from Mary Rakow, This Is Why I Came, could be called the “agnostic Gospels.”
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Paul Spella / Zak Bickel / The Atlantic Five Books We Missed in 2015
And the titles their authors say they loved
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University of Minnesota Press Our Gang: A Racial History of The Little Rascals
A new book offers a different perspective on the feisty crew of kids.
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Neil Hall / Reuters A Brief History of Seven Killings Wins the 2015 Man Booker Prize
In a group of novels that showcase a virtuosic interest in distinctive voices, Marlon James’s historical epic ultimately triumphed.
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A Short Review of The Unprofessionals
An anthology from The Paris Review highlights new writers—and some very famous ones, too.
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The Atlantic Inside the 2015 Man Booker Shortlist
Over the next few weeks, follow along as we review and revisit all six finalists.
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Penguin Extreme Altruism
Larissa MacFarquhar writes about do-gooders who “open themselves to a sense of unlimited, crushing responsibility.”
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Salman Rushdie's Self-Mockery and Antic Magic
Once again, the author comes up with a fantastic fable about colliding worlds.
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Blue Rider Press The Tedium of Baseball
A review of “The Grind: Inside Baseball's Endless Season” and “33 Days.”
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sNike/Shutterstock The 71-Year-Old Hipster
In his final novel, Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf proved that he could still speak the language of the young.
