Nine
If Tess takes ballet lessons, Meredith will give Tess tights and toe shoes, and marry Tess's father. She will stay forever.
Interviews
Of Horses and Children
Aryn Kyle talks about the American West as a character, writing from a child's perspective, and her debut novel, The God of Animals [Web only]
Stand By Me
What Jarrat had in his life were sorrow, stubbornness, silence, and work. So when his sons needed him most, their daddy didn't have much to offer.
Patient, Female
I don't let them forget anything. I tell them to remember it alphabetically: breasts, cervix, ovaries, uterus. Lying on my back, I take them through it, one exam at a time.
The Second Coming of Gray Badger
"Dad's real proud of you," I said. "Said it's too bad you're a thief, though. You could have done something good."
AUDIO
Carmen Elcira: A (Love) Life
"You left because you thought I was weak," Joseph said. "What you didn't know was that you were the person who was going to make me strong."
AUDIO
We Are All Businessmen
Ranil wanted a company scholarship for his son, and would do what he must to make the American executive feel well cared for.
AUDIO
Obituary
The marina had a proposition for him. They wanted him to leave, and they were willing to pay him to do it.
AUDIO
Amritsar
Tom wanted him to be prepared, to know what he was up against. But Gurukha didn't want a pistol in his house. He wanted to move on, to be done with India, and with Amritsar.
"My Life in Sales"
A month of living in a suitcase, eating in airports, and cracking your forehead open against hotel-room walls in the middle of the night often comes to very little. But the only thing worse than going on book tour is not going.
Interviews
Interview: The Poet's Poet
Mary Jo Salter talks about her new collection, Phone Call to the Future; editing The Norton Anthology of Poetry; and her early days as an assistant poetry editor at The Atlantic. [Web only]
ALSO SEE
Fiction Issue 2007
Stories by John Updike, Tobias Wolff, Marjorie Kemper, Constance Squires, Sana Krasikov, and Bradford Tice; Edward J. Delaney assesses America's top writing programs; poems by Brendan Galvin, Linda Pastan, and others; Ann Patchett on writing, friendship, and censorship; our 2007 student poetry contest winners; and much more.
Fiction Issue 2006
Stories by Richard Russo, Cynthia Ozick, Tim Gautreaux, and others; E.L. Doctorow on historical fiction, Francine Prose on reading like a writer, Megan Marshall on academic discourse and adulterous intercourse; and much more.
Fiction Issue 2005
Joyce Carol Oates, "*BD* 11 1 86"; Charles Baxter, "Poor Devil"; Adam Haslett, "City Visit"; Shira Nayman, "The House on Kronenstrasse"; George Singleton, "Director's Cut"; Curtis Sittenfeld, "The Perils of Literary Success"; Rick Moody, "Writers and Mentors"; Mary Gordon, "Moral Fiction"; and much more.
Literary Interviews
An index of Atlantic Unbound interviews with fiction writers, poets, and critics from Chinua Achebe to Tobias Wolff.
Student Writing Contest
The Atlantic invites submissions of poetry, fiction, and personal or journalistic essays for its 2008 Student Writing Contest.
Flashback: So You Want to Be a Writer
Wallace Stegner, Francine Prose, John Kenneth Galbraith, and others offer advice to aspiring wordsmiths.
Where Great Writers Are Made
Assessing America's top graduate writing programs. By Edward J. Delaney (Fiction Issue 2007)