Books & Fiction: The Cost of Mining the Treasures of the Deep Sea

Plus: remembering Janet Malcolm, and new poetry by Miller Oberman and Anna Journey. View in browser | Update your preferences Books The Cost of Mining the Treasures of the Deep Sea We’ve barely explored the darkest realm of the ocean. With rare-metal mining on the rise, we’re already destroying it. By Elizabeth Kolbert Essays & Criticism A Critic at Large When Graphs Are a Matter of Life and Death A new book argues that pie charts and scatter plots seem like ordinary tools, but they have revolutionized the way we solve problems. By Hannah Fry Books Briefly Noted “The Reason for the Darkness of the Night,” “Migratory Birds,” “You People,” and “The Trojan Women.” PAID POST The New Yorker’s Will McPhail Welcomes You “IN.” “Will McPhail draws sensitively and with impeccable emotional precision. In ‘IN.,’ he has created a hilarious, touching, infinitely surprising world.”—Liana Finck, author of “Passing for Human: A Graphic Memoir” From the Archive Personal History Six Glimpses of the Past Janet Malcolm, the legendary author and New Yorker staff writer, died on Wednesday at the age of eighty-six. In 2018, Malcolm shared a personal history on photography and memory: “Autobiography is a misnamed genre; memory speaks only some of its lines.” By Janet Malcolm Poetry Poems “The Wind Is Loud” “The wind is loud on the water today / I think about him drowning.” By Miller Oberman Poems “Unconditional Belief in Heat” “I would’ve stabbed the man’s hand / had he not jerked it away.” By Anna Journey More from The New Yorker The New Yorker Interview Rita Moreno Has Time Only for the Truth The actress, now eighty-nine, spent decades being typecast and belittled. In a new documentary, she tries to recover her story. By Michael Schulman The New Yorker Documentary Documenting a Trans Child’s Poignant Revelation In “Joychild,” self-awareness and sensitivity color the moment when a child tells their mother, “I’m not a girl.” By Crispin Long You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for Books & Fiction from The New Yorker. 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.