Books
The Books Briefing: How Writers Try On New Perspectives
Some points of view on point of view: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Why Singin’ in the Rain Is an Almost Perfect Musical
The 1952 film exemplifies the key elements of a beloved Hollywood genre.
Jefferson’s Doomed Educational Experiment
The University of Virginia was supposed to transform a slave-owning generation, but it failed.
The Books Briefing: How to Build a Family Legacy
Tracking how we got from there to here: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Over the course of her writing career, she has explored the power and limits of personal testimony in times of crisis.
The 19th-Century Feminist Novel Pushed Out of the Russian Canon
Karolina Pavlova’s A Double Life examines internalized oppression—and insists on the independence of the unconscious mind.
The Call Me by Your Name Dream Continues
The follow-up to a beloved novel of gay romance continues André Aciman’s exploration of desire that tests convention: “It’s not a subject that has ever interested me, ethics,” the author says.
The Books Briefing: Let’s Talk About Death
Putting mortality in perspective: Your weekly guide to the best in books
The novelist Jami Attenberg shares a poem that helped her understand her own relationship to isolation.
In his new memoir, Acid for the Children, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist exhibits virtuosic vulnerability.
A Simplistic View of a Mixed-ish America
ABC’s Black-ish spin-off joins a new memoir by Thomas Chatterton Williams in presenting a seemingly enlightened but ahistorical view of race.
John le Carré’s Scathing Tale of Brexit Britain
In Agent Running in the Field, the celebrated spy novelist takes on a chaotic international landscape.
The Books Briefing: Costume Party
Witches and werewolves and clowns, oh my! Your weekly guide to the best in books.
She Said, Catch and Kill, and other new books tell stories of monsters brought to account. But their defining mood is not exultation—it’s terror.
The Books Briefing: Trapped in a World That Uber Built
The seeds that could grow into the dystopias of tomorrow are being planted right now. Your weekly guide to the best in books.
The Charming Candor of Julie Andrews’s New Memoir
In Home Work, the legendary actor comes to terms with an acting career she couldn’t always control.
Thomas Edison’s Greatest Invention
It wasn’t the light bulb or the phonograph or the moving picture—or anything tangible. It was a way of thinking about technology.
Three new books explore the variety of transgender experiences.
The Blondie singer’s memoir, Face It, wryly recounts making the most of being ogled.
The Books Briefing: The Revolution Will Be Written About
“Show me what democracy looks like.” Your weekly guide to the best in books.