Books & Fiction: Amanda Gorman’s Inaugural Poem Is a Stunning Vision of Democracy

Plus: the myth of the Himalaya, the reality of DACA’s Dreamers, and what happens when you breathe. View in browser | Update your preferences Books Can We See Past the Myth of the Himalaya? The history of the high-altitude landscape is more complicated, and more turbulent, than adventure tales can capture. By Akash Kapur Essays & Criticism Our Columnists Amanda Gorman’s Inaugural Poem Is a Stunning Vision of Democracy “But while democracy can be periodically delayed / it can never be permanently defeated.” By Masha Gessen Personal History Waking Up from the American Dream Growing up undocumented, I learned that the price of my innocence was the guilt of my parents. By Karla Cornejo Villavicencio Books What Happens When You Breathe Our lungs sustain a delicate equilibrium in our bodies, while exposing us to a world that seems increasingly out of balance. By Brooke Jarvis Books Briefly Noted “Icebound,” “Sylvia Pankhurst,” “Life Among the Terranauts,” and “Pickard County Atlas.” Newsletters Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Daily Humor Newsletter Cartoons and more funny stuff in your in-box. Poetry Poems “Last Words” “I don’t want to die in a poem.” By Rita Dove Poems “To Be Young” “A man chainsaws the orchard of which you once partook.” By L. S. Klatt The Writer’s Voice The Writer’s Voice: Fiction from the Magazine Allegra Goodman Reads “A Challenge You Have Overcome” The author reads her story from the January 25, 2021, issue of the magazine. More from The New Yorker Photo Booth A Greek Photographer’s Ode to the Dying Art of Mourning Ioanna Sakellaraki’s series is an elegy both to her father and to the doyennes of a national tradition. By Eren Orbey Pop Music The Obsessive Beat-Making of Madlib The producer’s new album, “Sound Ancestors,” a collaboration with Four Tet, distills his eclectic, globe-trotting approach to sampling. By Hua Hsu 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 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.