Books & Fiction: Simone de Beauvoir’s Lost Novel of Early Love

Plus: Flash Fiction by Danielle Dutton and new poetry by Bessie Golding and Alex Dimitrov. View in browser | Update your preferences Books Simone de Beauvoir’s Lost Novel of Early Love Her passion for a doomed friend was so strong that Beauvoir wrote about it again and again. By Merve Emre The Writer’s Voice: Fiction from the Magazine George Saunders Reads “The Mom of Bold Action” The author reads his story from the August 30, 2021, issue of the magazine. Books Briefly Noted “The Minister Primarily,” “I Couldn’t Love You More,” “In the Forest of No Joy,” and “Pure Flame.” Flash Fiction Flash Fiction “Acorn” “The word was body. Was her own body a word?” By Danielle Dutton Poetry Poems “The Gate of Horn & the Gate of Ivory” “Somewhere I read that music was invented to confirm human loneliness.” By Bessie Golding Poems “Monday” “Doesn’t it bother you sometimes / what living is, what the day has turned into?” By Alex Dimitrov On This Day Books Life Lessons from Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born on this day two hundred and seventy-two years ago. Revisit Adam Kirsch on what the German author seemed to possess that the modern world lacked—a “Grow up!” kind of wisdom, the ability to understand life and how it should be lived. By Adam Kirsch More from The New Yorker Double Take A Rare Discovery on the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of John Hersey’s “Hiroshima” The head librarian at John Hersey High School, in Illinois, uncovers a piece of journalism history. By Erin Overbey Culture Desk Watch Highlights: The Return of Broadway at The New Yorker Live David Byrne and Ruben Santiago-Hudson shared their visions for a post-lockdown, post-George Floyd Broadway in the latest edition of our subscriber-only event series. By The New Yorker 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.