Book Reviews
The Limits of Home Cooking
A richly reported new book offers powerful insights into the cooking habits—and daily struggles—of working-class Americans.
The Global History Behind 'Build the Wall!'
Since ancient times, border walls have simultaneously assuaged and stoked our fears of outsiders. But a history of walls can't tell the full story of civilization.
What Happens When a Black Man Tries to Embrace White Gun Culture
RJ Young's memoir recounts how he tried to endear himself to his white in-laws by learning how to shoot. Both love affairs eventually fell apart.
A Cure for White Fragility
A new book argues that we can't overcome racism unless white people are willing to be a little uncomfortable.
Keeping Up With the Bundys: What Really Happened at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge
A new book with an imperfect narrator demonstrates the benefits—and limits—of taking right-wing extremists at their word.
How America Uses Digital Tools to Punish Its Poor
A new book argues that America uses digital tools to sequester and punish its poorest citizens. But can we really blame technology?
Focus Groups and the Culture of Consultation
Political writer Liza Featherstone uses focus groups as a lens on the past, present, and future of the American project.
Have Recreational Vehicles Killed the American Dream?
In her new book, journalist Jessica Bruder argues that, in post-2008 America, the nostalgic vision of RVs and other "wheel estate" is incomplete.
What Doesn't Happen in 'What Happened'
Hillary Clinton's new book about the 2016 election is harsh on misogyny but ignores the role of race and her own policies.
'Invisible No More' Is a Chilling History of Police Violence Against Women of Color
Andrea J. Ritchie's new book offers fresh perspective on how American law enforcement reserves particular abuse for black women.
Derailing Stereotypes of Masculinity, Queerness, and Gang Violence
In her new book, Vanessa Panfil offers a detailed and nuanced portrayal of homosexual life among gangs in Ohio.
How Black Leaders Embraced the Drug War
James Forman Jr.'s first book chronicles with compassion how the actions of black leaders sometimes hurt the very people they sought to save.
How the U.S. Government Segregated America
Richard Rothstein's magisterial new book tracks how the government segregated America—and how new policy, and new education, could save us.
Confronting Race and Colonialism in Contemporary America
In his latest book, Chris Hayes urges white Americans to take black suffering seriously.
What 'Stand Your Ground' Really Means
A new book traces the legal history of self-defense in America—and shows how laws for self-protection have been generally reserved for whites.
The 'Cosmopolites,' the Passport Market, and the Dawn of the Global Citizen
A meticulous new book examines the growing market for passports—and what that means for the way we think about citizenship and belonging.
The Explanation for America's Vast Prison Population
If the problem isn’t straightforward racism or benighted drug laws, what is it?
All of Us Worried, None of Us Angry
Three new books explain why inequality isn't sending us to the barricades.
The Enduring Allure of Badly Behaved Men
Men, for all Laura Kipnis’ attempts to appear transgressive, is a cautious and old-fashioned book that illustrates male privilege rather than denying it.
In Politics, Are We Always Just Looking Out for No. 1?
In politics, are we always just looking out for No. 1?
Zombies in the Quad: The Trouble With Elite Education
William Deresiewicz's new book, Excellent Sheep, is in part, he says, a letter to his younger, more privileged self.
Shelf Help: New Book Reviews in 100 Words or Less
What you need to know about Bad Feminist, XL Love, and The Birth of Korean Cool.
The Searchers
An old American obsession—the rogue detective's urge to crack the case—finds a new outlet.