Martin Schneider writes:

A new issue of The New Yorker comes out tomorrow. Here is a description of its contents.

Atul Gawande examines the use of prolonged solitary confinement in our nation's prisons, and concludes that whether one is serving time at a supermax prison or being held in a cell in Beirut, Hanoi, or Guantánamo Bay, "all human beings experience isolation as torture."

Evan Osnos profiles Cheung Yan, the head of Nine Dragons Paper, China's largest paper manufacturer, and explores how the fortunes of the company that was once the largest exporter, by volume, of freight from the United States fell to the point "that the company's market value was less than half the value of its own phalanx of paper machines."

David Owen writes about how bad economic times can be good for the environment.

James Surowiecki responds to Europe's conservative reaction to the economic crisis.

David Sedaris recounts stories from his latest book tour.

Woody Allen envisions revenge on Bernie Madoff.

Alec Wilkinson profiles Chris Ferguson, one of the most successful and strategic poker pros.

John Lahr reviews West Side Story and God of Carnage.

Hilton Als explores depictions of race and prejudice in Tracey Scott Wilson's The Good Negro.

Anthony Lane examines the life and letters of Samuel Beckett.

James Wood considers paranoid schizophrenia in John Wray's new novel Lowboy.

Alex Ross attends Il Trovatore and La Sonnambula at the Metropolitan Opera.

Paul Goldberger revisits the work of the architect Andrea Palladio.

Nancy Franklin reviews the new television drama Kings.

David Denby reviews Duplicity and Hunger.

There is a short story by Craig Raine.