A legendary American tech company faces new challenges, and new competition, in areas where it once dominated: It would have been better to walk away. As the Government Accountability Office reviewed the award, documents showed the CIA’s opinion of IBM was tepid at best. The agency had “grave” concerns about the ability of IBM technology […]
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
There Are Three Types of People Who Can Afford to Write Books
Several editors, agents, and authors told me that the money for serious fiction and nonfiction has eroded dramatically in recent years; advances on mid-list titles—books that are expected to sell modestly but whose quality gives them a strong chance of enduring—have declined by a quarter. These are the kinds of book that particularly benefit from […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Author John Green on the Problem With 'Twilight'
John Green is the author of the wildly popular young adult novel The Fault in Our Stars, which remained No. 1 on Amazon in the U.S. and Britain two years after its release. Guardian writer Emma Brockes profiled Green for Intelligent Life this month, and here Green discusses what is problematic about another wildly popular series: […]
Posted inNonfiction
Long Live Grim Fandango
The greatest adventure game ever made returns from the dead.
Posted inNonfiction
#Nightshift: Excerpts from an Instagram Essay
Jeff Sharlet | Longreads | September 2014 | 12 minutes (2,802 words) 1. Snapshots Dunkin Donuts, West Lebanon, New Hampshire The night shift, for me, is a luxury, the freedom to indulge my insomnia by writing at a Dunkin Donuts, one of the only places up here open at midnight. But lately my insomnia doesn’t […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
What It’s Like to Outrun Death: The Survival Story of a New Orleans Blues Legend
For our latest Longreads Member Pick, we’re thrilled to feature “The Gutbucket King,” a new ebook by journalist Barry Yeoman and The New New South, about the tumultuous life of blues singer Little Freddie King, who survived stabbings, alcoholism and personal tragedy. You can read a free excerpt below. Become a Longreads Member to receive the full […]
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction
Budd & Leni
The story of Hollywood screenwriter Budd Schulberg’s unlikely collaboration with Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
Long Live Grim Fandango
The greatest adventure game ever made returns from the dead.
Posted inFiction, Quotes
Charlie Chaplin's Lost Novel
“What happened?” “A nervous breakdown. I almost died.” “And you’re still drinking?” “Occasionally, when I think of things.” He smiled, “The wrong things, I suppose. However, I’ve talked enough about myself. What would you like for breakfast?” “What a sad business, being funny,” she said thoughtfully. The table was laid and now he was ready […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Ground Control
What will it look like when drones (like those envisioned by Amazon’s Prime Air) come to U.S. airspace? In this property-rights-obsessed nation, it turns out you actually don’t have a clear right to shoot down a drone hovering low over your backyard unless it’s putting you in imminent physical danger. “You have to acknowledge in […]
