Annie Dillard describes her experience of the 1979 solar eclipse, the last one visible in the United States until this year.
Sari Botton
Posted inEditor's Pick
Annie Dillard’s Classic Essay: ‘Total Eclipse’
Dillard’s 1982 personal essay — excerpted by The Atlantic from her new collection, The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New. She writes in exquisite detail about the haunting, surreal experience of witnessing the last solar eclipse, on February 26th, 1979, after driving five hours inland in Washington State to catch it from a hill top.
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You Are a Jigsaw Puzzle with Missing Food-Shaped Pieces
A personal essay in which Lindsay Hunter, author of the novel Eat Only When You’re Hungry, unpacks the factors and childhood experiences informing her complicated relationship to food, eating, and body image.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Forever Yesterday: Peering Inside My Mom’s Fading Mind
A personal essay in which writer Kevin Sampsell struggles to understand and accept the ravages of Alzheimer’s on his elderly mother’s memory — and quality of life.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
Body Positivity Nudges Plus-Size Fashion Forward
Despite a high demand for it, plus-size fashion has been largely neglected and poorly executed by major brands. But that’s starting to change.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Fashion for the 67 Percent: A Revolution in the Plus-Size Market
An article about the burgeoning business of plus-size women’s fashion. Author Ashley C. Ford also weaves in her own story — as a plus-size customer who often has a hard time finding clothes in regular stores, and as someone who was discouraged from her dream of designing plus-size clothes.
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In Foreign Territory, Wondering: Who is the Alpha Monkey?
A personal essay in which Leigh Shulman writes about learning about human behavior while studying primates at a refuge in Bolivia. Volunteering there with her nine-year-old daughter also provides perspective on the meaning of home and belonging.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘They Used Deadly Force to Subdue Her’
An excerpt of “Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color,” about the violent ways police have frequently treated black women with mental illness.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Mental Illness is Not a Capital Crime
An excerpt from Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, by Andrea J. Richie, just out from Beacon Press. In this chapter, subtitled, “On the disproportional impact of police violence on women of color,” Richie writes about the impact law enforcement’s common misconceptions about women of color can have on […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘You Wouldn’t Think the Ashes of a Man Would Be So Heavy’: Remembering Sam Shepard
Remembering the late actor and playwright Sam Shepard.