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

Plus: Ted Chiang on A.I., and new poetry from Craig Morgan Teicher and Kaveh Akbar. View in browser | Update your preferences 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 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. 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. More from The New Yorker Annals of Inquiry Why Computers Won’t Make Themselves Smarter We fear and yearn for “the singularity.” But it will probably never come. By Ted Chiang Dept. of Science Why Animals Don’t Get Lost Birds do it. Bees do it. Learning about the astounding navigational feats of wild creatures can teach us a lot about where we’re going. By Kathryn Schulz You're receiving this e-mail because you signed up for . Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.