Social Science - Essays

A compelling, radical, "richly explored" (The New York Times Book Review) and "insightful" (Vanity Fair) collection of essays on art, feminism, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy from prizewinning novelist Siri Hustvedt, acclaimed author of The Blazing World and What I Loved. In this expansive volume,...

Queer writers reflect on the complicated legacy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Since its earliest midnight showings at the Waverly Theater in New York City, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been an underground sensation. For five decades, people around the world have...

How a force that's hard to name, but which we all feel, is reshaping what it means to be human In Against the Machine, "furiously gifted" (The Washington Post) novelist, poet, and essayist Paul Kingsnorth presents a wholly original--and terrifying--account of the technological-cultural matrix...

"An essay collection that covers everything from the freelance hustle to the state of trans healthcare in the U.S. with a dryly confessional, comedic voice guaranteed to make you burst out laughing."--Vogue "Walker cuts to the heart of what it means to be a...

"A. S. Hamrah's writing on film is a delight. . . . Like all the best criticism, his writing makes art and life feel less lonely." --Elif Batuman"Unerring" (Bookforum), "hilarious" (Dana Spiotta), "our age's most irreplaceable critic" (Guernica), "a genius" (Kenyon Review), A. S....

"Who would black women get to be if we did not have to create from a place of resistance?" Hip Hop Womanist writer and theologian EbonyJanice's book of essays center a fourth wave of Womanism, dreaming, the pursuit of softness, ancestral reverence, and radical...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Provocative and illuminating essays from women at the forefront of the climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage, and solutions to lead humanity forward. "A powerful read that fills one with, dare I say . . . hope?"--The New York Times...

In a series of deeply personal essays, Mester explores how the things we buy, eat, amass, and discard become an intimate part of our lives. We guiltily watch Amazon boxes pile up on the porch, wade through endless reviews to find the perfect product,...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Academy Award-nominated actress and 2023 SeeHer award recipient America Ferrera comes a vibrant and varied collection of first-person accounts from prominent figures about the experience of growing up between cultures. America Ferrera has always felt wholly American, and...

In the 1890s and for years thereafter, America reverberated with the name of the "notorious Anarchist," feminist, revolutionist, and agitator, Emma Goldman. A Russian Jewish immigrant at the age of 17, she moved by her own efforts from seamstress in a clothing factory to...

A memoir of growing up in Florida interwoven with cultural reflections of the state from The X-Files to Emerson--revealing the complex truths of life as a FloridianFlorida and pop culture are a magnetic, viral match. From true crimes on social media to spring break...

"Mordantly wonderful." -CARL HIAASEN"I almost died laughing." -ROZ CHAST"My own departure would not be so bad if only Mr. Roberts could write the obit!" -KAI BIRD From celebrated New York Times obituarist Sam Roberts, the art of the obit: Who we remember, how we...

Many worry that criticism is suffering from a crisis of authority. In a world where everyone's a critic, what is criticism for? Since her canonical 2018 essay "On Liking Women," the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Andrea Long Chu has established herself as a leading public...

Winner of the European Essay Prize 2023 The chant of "Azadi!"--Urdu for "Freedom!"--is the slogan of the freedom struggle in Kashmir against what Kashmiris see as the Indian Occupation. Ironically, it also became the chant of millions on the streets of India against the...

"Roxane Gay is so great at weaving the intimate and personal with what is most bewildering and upsetting at this moment in culture. She is always looking, always thinking, always passionate, always careful, always right there." -- Sheila Heti, author of How Should a...

TENTH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED COLLECTOR'S EDITIONRoxane Gay's New York Times bestselling debut collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism--a modern classic from one of the most prominent voices of her generation--is now available in a beautifully designed Tenth anniversary limited edition, with a stunning...

Longlisted for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction - Finalist for the 2025 Governor General's Literary Award in Translation - Finalist for the 2025 John Glassco Translation PrizeAn unlikely literary friendship from the past sheds light on the radicalization of public...

More than ever, "the body" is today at the center of radical and institutional politics. Feminist, antiracist, trans, ecological movements--all look at the body in its manifold manifestations as a ground of confrontation with the state and a vehicle for transformative social practices. Concurrently,...

Like most progressive Southerners, Hal Crowther is decidedly angry about current social and political events, but few writers are more able than he to articulate the problems, the issues, and even the bitter humor of our present situation.Hal Crowther is a writer who has...

From the writer crowned one of the smartest, funniest voices in modern America, this hotly anticipated debut collection of essays offers "a precious glimpse into how Ziwe's uniquely fearless mind functions" (New York) Ziwe made a name for herself staring interviewees in the eye...