CATEGORIES

THE LAST RAVE

Remembering a summer of estrangement.

HOW THE WEST WAS LONG

“Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1.”

TWICE-TOLD TALES

The seditious writers who unravel their own stories.

CASTING A LINE

The hard-bitten genius of Norman Maclean.

THE HADAL ZONE

Arwen Rasmont waits hours at Keflavík International for his flight; they call it as he leaves the men’s room. He walks past the mirrored wall and is assaulted, as usual, by his dead father’s handsome image: high-arched nose, yellow hair.

OPENING THEORY

Ivan is standing on his own in the corner while the men from the chess club move the chairs and tables around.

ANTIHERO

“The Boys,” on Prime Video.

КАНО

I’ve dated all kinds of women in my life,” the man said, “but I have to say I’ve never seen one as ugly as you.”

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

Taffy Brodesser-Akner weighs the cost of generational wealth.

THE DRUMMER BOY ON INDEPENDENCE DAY

This story was written in the mid-nineteen-fifties, after E. L. Doctorow, then in his twenties, had completed his military service in Germany.

THE BLUE AND THE WHITE

The London imprint Fitzcarraldo Editions makes challenging literature chic.

TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR

Four years ago, when Ivan Cornejo was a junior in high school, he had a meeting with his family to announce that he was dropping out. His parents were alarmed, of course, but his older sister, Pamela, had a more sympathetic reaction, because she also happened to be his manager, and she knew that he wasn’t bluffing when he said that he had to focus on his career.

DOC HOLLYWOOD

Neal ElAttrache, the surgeon to the stars of sport and screen, can fix anything.

THE TAIWAN TANGLE

Can we deter belligerence in the strait without provoking it?

JOHN FETTERMAN'S WAR

Is the Pennsylvania senator trolling the left or offering a way forward for Democrats?

VINCENT'S PARTY

The party was in full swing. Evelyn could hear the sexy blare of the trad jazz almost as soon as she got off the bus at St. Mary Redcliffe and began walking over to the Steam Packet, the pub that Vincent—who was a friend of Evelyn’s older sister, Moira—had commandeered for the evening.

GROWING PAINS

In Phoenix's upscale suburbs, authorities slowly realized that the Gilbert Goons might be a violent teen gang.

BEST INBREED

The rise of canine clones.

MEDIEVAL LONGING

The fourteenth-century love songs of Guillaume de Machaut.

THE NORTH STAR

Harriet Tubman’ radical faith.

UNHOLY TRINITY

“Kinds of Kindness.”

HERO BALL

Who was the main character of the N.B.A. Finals?

The Crackdown

Fighting drug gangs, a young President declares war within his own country.

MIDDLE-AGE FANTASIES

You are seated on the examination table when the nurse enters. She’s tall and raven-haired, with enormous blue eyes and candy-red lips. She says hello with a husky Eastern European accent, which reminds you of a recent episode of “The Daily” about Polish elections.

the buggy RODDY DOYLE

There were people at the far end of the beach. Some adults, a lot of children.

THE PLAGUE DOCTOR

Anthony Fauci on what's ailing America.

HEAT RISING

The era of the line cook.

UNSHATTERED

How the philosopher Charles Taylor would reënchant the world.

THE SPACE BETWEEN

\"Janet Planet.\" The first time we meet Janet in \"Janet Planet,\" a wondrous début feature from the celebrated playwright Annie Baker, she is standing on a rural road a little way from the camera.

LABOR PAINS

Lucy Kirkwood's \"The Welkin\" assesses women's work.