Against Heaven
A poem for Sunday
The ‘Great Man’ Theory of American Food
The prolific cookbook author James Beard helped shape the nation’s culinary identity—for better and for worse.
The Books Briefing: How to Tell the Story of a Family
Feuding brothers, possessive aunts, and honest discussions: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Darling
A poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, published in The Atlantic in 1995
The Books Briefing: How Literature Helps Us Grieve
Mourning in poetry, memoirs, and fiction: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Whitewashing the Great Depression
How the preeminent photographic record of the period excluded people of color from the nation’s self-image
The Many Lives of Adrienne Rich
Praised by W. H. Auden as neat and modest, she vowed to be passionate and radical instead.
The Books Briefing: Read to Find Focus, Even During a Pandemic
Suggestions for a wandering mind: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Teaching Should Be Political
How to talk about race in the classroom
A Dystopian Novel That Challenges Taboos and Refuses Judgment
In Earthlings, Sayaka Murata incubates ideas that strain the bounds of realism.
A Granted Prayer
An unpublished story by Edith Wharton
Calling: Marfa
A poem for Sunday
The Most Important Divide in American Politics Isn’t Race
The polarization of place and the depolarization of race are the stories of the moment.
Anthem
For Susannah Mushatt Jones, 1899–2016
How I Came to Love My Epic Quarantine Reading Project
Tackling Proust’s famously massive work started as a challenge. Then it turned into something else.
The Books Briefing: When Poets Write Novels
A background in poetry can enrich the process of writing fiction: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Early December in Croton-on-Hudson
A poem by Louise Glück, published in The Atlantic in 1967
The Books Briefing: How Horror Stories Empower Kids
Gruesome novels and chilling tales about ghoulish monsters and other dangers: Your weekly guide to the best in books
How a Great Crime Writer Came to Imitate Himself
Over the past decade, John Banville has frankly apprenticed himself to the masters, including Henry James and Raymond Chandler. With his new novel, he’s come full circle.
Blursday Blues
A poem for Sunday