Literary Collections

Twelve incisive, probing essays on womanhood in popular culture. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

On Womanhood: Bodies, Literature, Choice gathers a selection of Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert’s essential and attentive essays on womanhood and popular culture. Unflinchingly positioning television and literature as capacious sites of feminist critique, Gilbert’s criticism sharply surveys our contemporary media landscape. This collection joins treatises on beloved series like Game of Thrones with thoughtful meditations on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale; ponders the lessons supermodels offer us on questions of consent; and examines the rebellious literary legacies of Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, and their respective contemporaries. On Womanhood offers some of the most commanding popular criticism of this generation.

A love letter to Korean pop sensation BTS and an ode to fandom. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

The supersonic rise of the Korean pop group BTS may seem enigmatic to some, but for Lenika Cruz, senior culture editor at The Atlantic, their worldwide fame is obvious. As Cruz argues in On BTS: Pop Music, Fandom, Sincerity, the group’s trajectory—debuting on a relatively obscure label in Korea to becoming a global household name in just a few years—is a natural result of their authenticity, artistry, energy, social conscientiousness, and general coolness. As a non-English-language band finding record-breaking international success, BTS is helping usher in a fresh, more inclusive era in the music industry. In this love letter to the once-in-a-generation pop sensation, Cruz narrates her own unexpected journey into the fandom, and in doing so might welcome you in, too.

From the editor in chief of The Atlantic comes a collection of essays examining Donald Trump’s corrupted notions of American "heroism" and "cowardice." An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

From the editor in chief of The Atlantic comes a grave study of Donald Trump’s trenchant disdain for military personnel, a preoccupation that reveals the extent to which Trump is grossly unfit to serve. Jeffrey Goldberg draws upon decades of his own reporting, including key interviews with top officials such as John McCain, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley. In doing so, Goldberg paints a portrait of a president whose impulse is to dismiss acts of heroism in pursuit of dangerously undemocratic processes and ideals.

A rigorously reported anthology on how local politics have fueled a generation-defining national emergency. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 167-year archive.

In this precise collection, Atlantic staff writer Jerusalem Demsas turns her expertise and keen eye to the housing shortage, one of our country’s most dire yet widely misunderstood public frustrations. Demsas examines how local democracies have become coconspirators in the anti-development aspirations of the very few, at the hefty expense of the many. These essays identify the inefficiencies and irrationalities of contemporary land-use politics and the stages they play out on, offering readers a refreshing and accessible guide to a generational crisis.

The first six Atlantic Editions in a boxed collection. 

On BTS: Pop Music, Fandom, Sincerity by Lenika Cruz
A love letter to Korean pop sensation BTS and an ode to fandom.

On Misdirection: Magic, Mayhem, American Politics by Megan Garber
An investigation of misinformation and fracturing in contemporary American political culture.

On Womanhood: Bodies, Literature, Choice by Sophie Gilbert
Twelve incisive, probing essays on womanhood in popular culture.

On Grief: Love, Loss, Memory by Jennifer Senior
The unflinching Pulitzer Prize–winning essay on mourning and recovery in the wake of an inconceivable tragedy. 

On Nobody Famous: Guesting, Gossiping, Gallivanting by Kaitlyn Tiffany and Lizzie Plaugic
Dispatches from the everyday adventures of two regular women in New York. 

On Work: Money, Meaning, Identity by Derek Thompson
A rousing commentary on the history of labor and the future of work.

Atlantic Editions draw fromThe Atlantic’s rich literary history and robust coverage of the driving cultural and political forces of today. Each book features reported essays by Atlantic writers from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

Incisive, compassionate, and revelatory reporting from America’s death row, named a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist for feature writing. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

Elizabeth Bruenig’s sensitive reporting pulls back the curtain on a routine crisis in America’s death chambers: state executioners’ inability to kill the condemned humanely. She takes readers to the torturous final moments of death row inmates while considering the often heinous crimes that led to their sentences. Thoughtful and profound, Bruenig’s writing negotiates the culture of violence in America, asking what’s at stake when we refuse to see the humanity in those who have done the inhumane.

“A great addition to the ongoing discourse around the value of perspective-taking, perfect for those hoping to elevate the approach to conversations about difficult subjects.” —Shelf Awareness

Seven essays that make the compelling case for coming to your own informed conclusions in an age of extremes. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

Caitlin Flanagan’s two decades of celebrated reporting and commentary at The Atlantic span an array of subjects—from cancer to fraternities, abortion to scammers—but always return to one central question: What happens when we suppress our critical instincts and shut our ears to opposing opinions and competing facts? With poise, humor, and an analytical acumen unlike any other working journalist, this collection of deep reporting and cultural commentary encourages readers to dismantle their echo chambers—whether they be social media feeds or lecture halls—and embrace disagreement.

A critic’s notebook on sparkle and spectacle. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.

A collection of essays on musicians, celebrities, and aesthetic movements and moments that, taken together, characterize the often used, yet widely misunderstood term diva. With keen insight and genuine enthusiasm, On Divas offers readers an original understanding of an age-old phenomenon by drawing together figures as diverse as Beyoncé, Björk, and Donald Trump.