Books & Fiction: How James Beard Invented American Cooking
Plus: Nobel laureate Louise Glück, Elizabeth Kolbert on the day nuclear war almost broke out, and poems by Henri Cole and Nicholas Goodly. View in browser | Update your preferences
The gourmet’s real genius wasn’t in his recipes but in his packaging. He knew how to serve up the authenticity that his audiences craved.
By Adam Gopnik
Essays & Criticism
Books
The Day Nuclear War Almost Broke Out
In the nearly sixty years since the Cuban missile crisis, the story of near-catastrophe has only grown more complicated. What lessons can we draw from such a close call?
By Elizabeth Kolbert
Books
Briefly Noted
“Perilous Bounty,” “Sex and Lies,” “The Awkward Black Man,” and “The Searcher.”
Celebrating Louise Glück
Page-Turner
How Louise Glück, Nobel Laureate, Became Our Poet
For decades, she has taught us the contours of our own inner lives.
By Dan Chiasson
Poems
Presidents’ Day
“Some / principle is at work, I thought.”
By Louise Glück
The Writer’s Voice
The Writer’s Voice: Fiction from the Magazine
David Rabe Reads “Suffocation Theory”
The author reads his story from the October 12, 2020, issue of the magazine.
Poetry
Poems
“Daffodils”
“Sometimes I arrive with my buds closed, / and I am mistaken for scallions.”
By Henri Cole
Poems
“Lipsticks”
“Orange in the 212 / Burnt Sunset Boulevard / Iris Apfel Bloom.”