Me and Tony Bourdain
At 35, I left my hard-won editor job to become Anthony Bourdain’s assistant. It was the best decision I’ve ever made
Harper Lee, Lost and Found
Eight short stories by the To Kill a Mockingbird author, discovered after her death in 2016, are being published for the first time
Top of the Line
Algerian streets, Italian fountains, German tanks … The late New Yorker illustrator and cartoonist Saul Steinberg’s drawings are collected in a new edition of All in Line
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a new history of the Irish famine, a survey of contemporary architecture, and a portrait of the Edwardian painter John Singer Sargent and his Jewish patrons
Hollywood Confidential
In order to evade racist Hollywood codes and immigration bans, Merle Oberon—the first Asian actress to receive an Oscar nomination—passed as white for almost 50 years
Deadly Pleasures to Read and Watch
Books on a female assassin team and a villain in a league of his own, plus the latest season of a hit British spy thriller
Journey to Italy
Five years ago, a Roman photographer set out on his version of Goethe’s Italian Journey. The results of the tour, which took him from Naples to Ponza to Positano, are collected in a new coffee-table book
Joan Didion, Movie Critic
Among the opinions unearthed in her Vogue film columns? She didn’t care for Billy Wilder, had little time for classics such as Casablanca, and was bored by Sidney Lumet
The Blind Side
After a devastating childhood acid attack, Joshua Miele turned his pain to purpose by inventing technology for the visually impaired
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a look inside Winston Churchill’s country sanctuary, a poetry collection all about water, and the story of the Soviet botanists trapped in the siege of Leningrad
Lady and the Little Tramp
Among Charlie Chaplin’s many ill-fated trysts, perhaps his most disastrous was with Joan Barry, a woman 30 years his junior
Once upon a Time in Hollywood
De Niro! Prince! Madonna! From Oscar parties to parking lots, Dafydd Jones’s L.A. photos capture a bygone era
Inside the S.N.L. Audition Room
Laugh-free interviews, under-the-breath asides, and lots of popcorn … Chris Rock, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, and others reveal what it’s like to get hired by Lorne Michaels
All About Yves
A new coffee-table book offers an intimate glimpse into daily life at Yves Saint Laurent’s studio, as captured by the son of one of the French designer’s closest confidantes
The Curious Case of Curzio Malaparte
Was the celebrated Italian writer an anti-Fascist behind enemy lines, as he portrayed himself? Or just a Fascist?
Vladimir Putin and My Missing Mice
A Boston-based thriller writer on the break-in that followed his appearance on a Russian propaganda outlet
The Stones That Keep On Rolling
From Mick Jagger to Paul McCartney, music’s old guard is proving there’s no age limit for being a rock star
Lisa’s Mystery Picks
This week, don’t miss a British espionage thriller, a whodunit featuring five real-life female mystery novelists, and a tale of a deadly conspiracy theory
