Attention
A poem for Sunday
The Books Briefing: The Dark Side of Athletic Perfection
Technical optimization seems to be threatening the humanity of sports—but moments of passion still peek through: Your weekly guide to the best in books
How to Write a Kaleidoscopic Character
To the author Robert McGill, fiction’s job is to unsettle.
Something Something Alice Munro
A short story
Come In
A poem by Robert Frost, published in The Atlantic in 1941
The Books Briefing: What the Best Travel Writing Can Do
The most enduring works in the genre offer far more than practical guidance: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Richest Babysitter in the World
A short story
The Rise of Must-Read TV
How your Netflix habit is changing contemporary fiction
Danez Says They Want to Lose Themself in Bops They Can’t Sing Along To
A poem for Sunday
The Books Briefing: The Best Books to Get Lost in This Summer
Memoirs and novels that satisfy the urge for high drama: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Problem With the Stories We Tell About Eating Disorders
When art about the subject glamorizes it, audiences pay the price.
Beloved Park
A poem for Sunday
The Books Briefing: The Quiet Skill of Mass-Market Novels
Many popular authors are compelling storytellers who sharply analyze power dynamics and offer vivid portraits of daily life. They are also frequently dismissed by the literary establishment.
Letter From Prague 1968-1978
A poem by Carolyn Forché, published in The Atlantic in 1979
The Soft Radicalism of Erotic Fiction
Jackie Collins sold half a billion books, taught women to demand power, and told the truth about Hollywood, yet she’s never gotten her due.
The Books Briefing: What Literary Letters Reveal
The raw power of correspondence: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The Rich, Weird, and Frustrating World of Depression-Era Travel Guides
The American Guides were unusual not only for their shaggy opulence and Americana maximalism, but also for their source of funding: the federal government.
How Disney Mismanaged the Star Wars Universe
And how The Mandalorian can restore the true power of George Lucas’s galaxy
The Books Briefing: Finding Place as a Black American
Carving out room for freedom and self-identification: Your weekly guide to the best in books
A Better Way to Look at Trees
What pioneering new research has revealed about the forest