Books & Fiction: Flash Fiction by Joyce Carol Oates

Plus: rethinking the science of skin; Phillis Wheatley; and poetry by Maxine Scates and David Baker. View in browser | Update your preferences Flash Fiction “Hospice/Honeymoon” “Once the word is uttered aloud, there is a seismic shift. You will feel it.” By Joyce Carol Oates Essays & Criticism Under Review How Phillis Wheatley Was Recovered Through History For decades, a white woman’s memoir shaped our understanding of America’s first Black poet. Does a new book change the story? By Elizabeth Winkler Books Rethinking the Science of Skin What is all the scrubbing, soaping, moisturizing, and deodorizing really doing for the body’s largest organ? By Brooke Jarvis Books Briefly Noted “Must I Go,” “Empire of Wild,” “Character,” and “The Vapors.” Newsletters Sign up for The New Yorker’s Podcasts Newsletter Never miss another New Yorker podcast again. The Writer’s Voice The Writer’s Voice: Fiction from the Magazine Bryan Washington Reads “Heirlooms” The author reads his story from the August 3 & 10, 2020, issue of the magazine. Poetry Poems “Limbo” “I think she was right, / part of me did die with her.” By Maxine Scates Poems “We Are Gone” “Listen, the years are short. They are nothing.” By David Baker More from The New Yorker Letter from the U.K. Swifts and the Fantasy of Escape During the pandemic, birds are doing the travel that we can’t. By Sam Knight Personal History The Whispered Spell of the Clavichord A cherished friend and a historic keyboard instrument have given me a new way of listening. By Mahan Esfahani This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To insure delivery, we recommend adding newyorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your contacts, while noting that it is a no-reply address. Please send all newsletter feedback to tnyinbox@newyorker.com. For more from The New Yorker, sign up for our newsletters, shop the store, and sign in to newyorker.com, where subscribers always have unlimited access. Contact us with questions. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.