New YorkerestEssential reads from every New Yorker issue

January 31, 2011

The New Yorker cover for January 31, 2011: “Mental Landscape,” by Frank Viva.

“Mental Landscape,” by Frank Viva.

Featured Pick

fiction

Axis

Alice Munro

Fiction, from 2011: “If they had heard even the kitchen door they might have had a moment to prepare.”

More picks from this issue

annals of science

Going Viral

David E. Hoffman

books

The Long View

Ruth Franklin