Frances Dodds recalls two men who laid bare the fragile lines between desire, pain and manipulation — and questions the framework of her own fantasies.
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Judging Books By Their Covers
Jason Diamond analyzes his obsession with Vintage Contemporaries paperbacks from the 80s.
The Enduring Legacy of the Willie Lynch Hoax
Why Kanye referenced a nonexistent slave owner.
Fiction Confidential
Before he became the patron saint of every tattooed-chef-in-a-gentrifying-neighborhood, Anthony Bourdain wrote novels. What can they tell us about the man behind the bad-boy persona?
Responses
We’re delighted to share three responses to Scott’s essay “Between the Wolf in the Tall Grass and the Wolf in the Tall Story” from Paul Bloom, William Gatewood, and Daniel Raeburn. Jump to responses by Paul, William, and Daniel. * * * The Arrogance of Empathy by Paul Bloom I don’t regret calling my last […]
Behind The Writing: On Interviewing
In her first column on craft, Sarah Menkedick speaks with Sarah Smarsh, Lauren Markham, and Jennifer Percy on the art of the interview.
Dead Girls: An Interview with Alice Bolin
It’s clear we love the Dead Girl, enough to rehash and reproduce her story, to kill her again and again. But not enough to see a pattern.
And How Much of These Hills Is Gold
In this short story, the children of Chinese miners in the frontier West struggle to survive after their parents’ death.
Baring the Bones of the Lost Country: The Last Paleontologist in Venezuela
In light of recent events in crisis-ridden Venezuela, its last vertebrate paleontologist puts together key pieces of the baffling puzzle that the country has become in the past couple of decades.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Renee Montagne and Nina Martin, Michael Hobbes, Rebecca Traister, Naima Coster, and Kristen Roupenian.

