The Ecology of Empire
by Ginger Strand
Virgil’s Aeneid describes the conspicuous consumption that underwrites the Roman Empire—and our own.

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A Dream of a Small But Unlost Town
by Izzy Grinspan
Donald Harington turns the dirty stories people tell on their front porch (in Arkansas) into twisty diction worthy of Nabokov.

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New York Underground
by Alec Wilkinson
The irresistible quest to discover every subterranean tunnel in New York City.

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The Slim Shady Essay
by Robert Christgau
How will history judge Eminem’s work?

Gary Lutz
interviewed by Ross Simonini
“Every sentence should bestow a fresh verbal bounty on the reader.”

Peter Singer
interviewed by Sahar Akhtar
Educated liberals are still eating meat, and the Great Ape Project is going way too slowly.

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Demetri Martin
interviewed by Litsa Dremousis
This is the interview that almost destroyed the internet. Just kidding; it’s an interview with a comedian who has been on TV.

Angélique Kidjo
interviewed by Patrick Knowles
Blending Caribbean pop, funk, samba, and at least six other genres, Kidjo is the new champion of African musical flexibility.

Sentences of the Year
by Stephen Schenkenberg

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
by Jack Pendarvis

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Announcing The Second Annual Believer Book Awards

Sedaratives
by Amy Sedaris

Stuff I’ve Been Reading
by Nick Hornby

Witold Gombrowicz’s Cosmos
reviewed by Adam Novy

Elliot Perlman’s The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming
reviewed by Pete L’Official

Kathryn Davis’s The Thin Place
reviewed by Mary Guterson

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Brock Clarke’s Carrying the Torch
reviewed by Steve Almond

T. Edward Bak’s Untitled Service Industry Comic
reviewed by Tom Devlin

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Ange Mlinko’s Starred Wire
reviewed by Stephen Burt

Insect: Monarch Butterfly
by Erin Ergenbright

La Zona Fantasma
by Javier Marías

Letters to Walt Whitman
by Ben Turner

John James Audubon in Pursuit of the Golden Eagle
by R. Kikuo Johnson

Schema: Non-Essential Stock Photography, Vol. II
by Brian McMullen