A small sampling of standout essays published this year.
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Posted inNonfiction
Fire/Flood: A Southern California Pastoral
In and around Los Angeles, natural and man-made disasters have been inextricable for almost two centuries.
Posted inNonfiction
The Great British Reading List
A reading list on the weird and wonderful culture of Great Britain.
Posted inNonfiction
The Strange True Tale of ‘Castro’s No. 1 Killer’
Herman Marks, a drifter from Milwaukee, took a boat to Cuba with nothing but a Colt .45 revolver and $400 in cash. His plan? To join the revolution.
Posted inFeature
“I Had to Face the Blues Every Day”
Soul and gospel singer Candi Staton let no hardship stand in the way of her voice, one that helped define the music of her generation.
Posted inStory
Judge a Book Not By its Gender
Lisa Whittington-Hill suggests there’s a distinct gender bias in celebrity memoirs. Where female celebrities are expected to expose all, male writers get to write about whatever they want.
Posted inBooks, Commentary
This Week in Books: Farewell Longreads! I’m Taking This Rodeo to Substack.
To read my “This Week in Books” newsletter in the future, follow me on substack.
Posted inStory
The Hare Krishnas of Coal Country
The world is full of make-believe. Some of it is sweet, some of it is sick. It persists because we have found no other antidote for pain.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2018: Crime Reporting
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in crime reporting.
Posted inCommentary, Nonfiction, Reading List, Sports
“The Ugliness of Greatness”: A Kobe Bryant Reading List
It has been a dozen days since the shocking death of the Los Angeles Lakers star. How do we talk about Kobe and his legacy on and off the court?
