Books & Fiction: Sybille Bedford and the Unruly Art of the Origin Story ⋆ GUIA BARCELONA FRIKI

Plus: Ted Chiang on A.I., and new poetry from Craig Morgan Teicher and Kaveh Akbar.
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Books

Sybille Bedford and the Unruly Art of the Origin Story

The writer kept returning to the events of her life, but she never pretended that her narrative cohered.

By Madeleine Schwartz

Essays & Criticism

Two young people kiss in a dark bedroom.

Under Review

The Politics of Bad Sex

A new book argues that current standards of affirmative consent place too much emphasis on knowing what we want.

By Jeannie Suk Gersen

Books

Briefly Noted

“Zabor, or the Psalms,” “Milk Blood Heat,” “Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free,” and “The Disordered Cosmos.”

Newsletters

Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Food Newsletter

Get essays on food, restaurant reviews, and notes for the kitchen, all delivered to your in-box.

An Asian woman’s reflection on a small mirror with a jade bracelet and a vase of lotus flowers.

Personal History

America Ruined My Name for Me

So I chose a new one.

By Beth Nguyen

Poetry

Poems

“Peers”

“We were about to // inherit the world, and we had no idea / what to do with it.”

By Craig Morgan Teicher

Poems

“My Empire”

“My empire made me / happy because it was an empire / and mine.”

By Kaveh Akbar

The Writer’s Voice

The Writer’s Voice: Fiction from the Magazine

Sterling HolyWhiteMountain Reads “Featherweight”

The author reads his story from the April 5, 2021, issue of the magazine.

Books & Fiction: Sybille Bedford and the Unruly Art of the Origin Story