Our top stories of the week, as chosen by the editorial team at Longreads.
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Reflections of an Accidental Florist
When a painter stumbles into a floral career, she sees the ugly truth behind a colorful, fragrant industry.
Death by Fire
Forty years after his time with the U.S. Forest Service, a writer reflects on his years fighting fires out West, especially how fire shapes both forests and people.
My Parents Said I Bruised Easily
An excerpt from “Estranged: Leaving Family and Finding Home,” by Jessica Berger Gross.
On Female Friendship and the Sisters We Choose for Ourselves
Essayist Chloe Caldwell on the “sisters” we choose for ourselves, and her close relationship with her surrogate younger sister, Cheryl Strayed’s daughter Bobbi.
Father of Migrants
“When it comes to the human body, everything can be trafficked. Migrants are a product in a system that breaks them down into lucrative parts, often until there is nothing left.”
Michael Joyce’s Second Act
In 1996, David Foster Wallace profiled tennis player Michael Joyce in one of the most celebrated pieces of sports writing ever published. Who has he become since?
Longreads Best of 2016: Sports Writing
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here, the best in sports writing.
Mourning the Low-Rent, Weirdo-Filled East Village of Old
An excerpt of Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul, by Jeremiah Moss.
Yearning for My Emo Days in Nostalgia-Inducing Asbury Park
Mabel Rosenheck looks back at a group of friends, and a music festival on the Jersey Shore, that came along when she needed them most.

