Thirty years ago, the world lost a great literary mind—the Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges. Today, Elizabeth Hyde Stevens revisits the financial conditions that produced this life of pure literature, finding unexpected hope in the darkest period of Borges’ forgotten past.
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Posted inNonfiction, Podcasts, Quotes
Chaz Ebert on Becoming One With Roger During His Sickness
Chaz Ebert stopped practicing law when she married Roger, and ran the business side of things for him. They worked side-by-side throughout their marriage. As he became sicker, and was only able to communicate through a computer, Chaz’s role grew. At some point, he asked me to be his voice. So we would do some […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Roger Ebert's Love Story
“How can I begin to tell you about Chaz? She fills my horizon, she is the great fact of my life, she has my love, she saved me from the fate of living out my life alone, which is where I seemed to be heading. If my cancer had come, and it would have, and […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Joan Rivers: 1933-2014
Joan Rivers, comedy legend, has died at age 81. Three stories from the Longreads Archive: The Fresh Air Interview: Joan Rivers (Terry Gross, NPR) GROSS: So, like, that’s kind of a paradox to me that you live to be on stage and at the same time, there’s this dread of being on stage. Ms. RIVERS: […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Legend of Harvey Scissorhands
A brief history of Harvey Weinstein’s relationship with filmmakers and the editing room. Does he make movies better—or are Good Harvey and Bad Harvey working together? “Plenty of filmmakers have lambasted Weinstein for his savage butchery — Luc Besson, Mike Leigh, James Ivory — while others have praised Harvey for helping them find their film […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
From the Longreads Archive: Roger Ebert
A collection of stories by and about the writer and film critic, who has died at age 70.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Thinking Molecules of Titan
[Fiction] A previously unpublished sci-fi story by the writer and film critic, who died on April 4 at age 70: “‘This is a vague idea,’ said Regan. ‘I’m still working on it. Titan evolves molecules that group in such a way that they, oh, get together, like, and don’t actually communicate, like, but prowl around […]
Posted inUncategorized
A love letter: Wednesday, July 18, is the 20th anniversary of our marriage. How can I begin to tell you about Chaz? She fills my horizon, she is the great fact of my life, she has my love, she saved me from the fate of living out my life alone, which is where I seemed […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘Memory.’ The Introduction to Roger Ebert’s New Memoir ‘Life Itself’
The point for now is: I had no conception of such a show and no desire to work with Siskel. The three stages of my early career (writing and editing a newspaper, becoming a film critic, beginning a television show) were initiated by others. Between college and 2006, my life continued more or less on […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Can D.I.Y. Supplant the First-Person Shooter?
The face of the enemy flashed across a 20-foot screen. “That’s right,” Jason Rohrer announced. “It’s Roger Ebert.” There were a few boos, as several hundred people stirred in their seats. The film critic’s cherubic face stared at the audience. “Ebert said video games can’t be art,” Rohrer said. “He issued all of us a […]
