Essays & Criticism Archives

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Something About the Present

by Devin Kelly January 26, 2023January 24, 2023

“And so I remember that it’s this moment I want, before it becomes the next, where anything could happen and anything could not.”

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The Strangely Beautiful Experience of Google Reviews

by Will McCarthy January 3, 2023December 15, 2022

Glimpses of humanity in an unlikely corner of the internet.

Nonfiction

Best of 2022: Reported Essays

by Longreads December 13, 2022December 8, 2022

Our list of some of the great reported essays published this year includes reads on grief, veganism, the geology of Mexico City, and British real estate.

A close-up graphic of a pen against a solid blue-green background with text that reads" Longreads: The Best Personal Essays of 2022"

Nonfiction

Best of 2022: Personal Essays

by Longreads December 8, 2022December 9, 2022

Five notable personal essays published this year, on friendship, loss, war, endings, and metaphors.

Photo of a long carpeted hallway with handrails along each wall. At the end, a sunset.

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The Sunset

by Lisa Bubert November 30, 2022November 29, 2022

Lisa Bubert | Longreads | November 30, 2022 | 11 minutes (3,072 words) When I was 19, a nursing home hired me to work as an aide. There wasn’t much to the interview that I remember, other than I agreed to come to work on time and take the certification course the home provided. In […]

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How Wednesday Addams Birthed a Generation of Cynics

by Emily Alford November 23, 2022November 23, 2022

Emily Alford | Longreads | November 23, 2022 | 8 minutes (2,132 words) Midway through 1991’s The Addams Family, young Wednesday Addams attempts to supplement her family’s lost fortunes by selling poison lemonade for a nickel. Not everyone’s a willing customer. “I only like all-natural foods and beverages, organically grown with no preservatives,” a perky […]