Either Martin Mull or Frank Zappa or Elvis Costello once said writing about music is as pointless as dancing about architecture. Which doesn’t account for how I’ve danced to all these books.
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Longreads Best of 2018: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Edward Gorey: A Highly Conjectural Man
When asked if there was “anything people don’t understand” about him, Gorey responded: “Yes. No. Yes. No.” A new biography by Mark Dery attempts to sort myth from reality.
Remembering Singer Nancy Wilson
The influential singer’s voice cut across genres and decades, and it will continue to.
‘I Don’t Think Those Feelings of Self-Doubt Ever Go Away.’
Susan Choi talks about feeling unsure of oneself, as a writer, as a performer — or as a victim — and about how her latest novel evolved in uncanny tandem with the real world.
The Thrill (and the Heavy Emotional Burden) of Blazing a Trail for Black Women Journalists
Dorothy Butler Gilliam remembers how exciting it was to integrate The Washington Post, but also how lonely — and often attacked — she felt as the first black woman reporter in the newsroom.
I Had a Friend. He Dreamed of Israel.
After 35 years, a visit to a grave, and to a different country.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Defrauding Agency
What a 19th-century scammer can teach us about women, lying, and economic boom-and-bust cycles
Memoirs of a Used Car Salesman’s Daughter
Hearses, limousines, Detroit’s newest model — cars marked many milestones in Nancy Nichols’ life of heartache and family deception.
Accidental Music History: How Jeff Gold Saved Rare Iggy & the Stooges Recordings from the Dump
Sometimes this is how musical history gets saved.

