The best stories of the week, as chosen by the editors of Longreads.
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Posted inFirst Chapters, Nonfiction, Story
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.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
Moved by Kim
Seth Davis Branitz had an awful suspicion he’d feel relieved when, some day, his very troubled brother would pass. He had no idea about the other ends it would rapidly bring with it.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How Homelessness Looks in the Tech Boom
In the New Republic, Monica Potts profiles an elderly couple who lived in their van while searching for affordable housing, and portrays the hostilities and NIMBYism that Silicon Valley’s homeless face, as well as the social services available to them.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction
What Can and Can’t be Learned From a Book
How learning to swim at 24 led Syam Palakurthy to first-hand lessons in gentrification.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books, Nonfiction
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London
How women writers and artists, from Virginia Woolf to Sophie Calle, found inspiration and freedom by navigating cities on foot.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
The Admission
Stacy Torres recalls the mixture of frustration and relief that came with checking herself into a New York City psych ward at the age of 20.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Unapologetic Women
Against Confession: On Intersectional Feminism, Radical Catholicism, and Redefining Remorse
Laura Goode investigates her Catholic identity—the radical, feminist, social-justice-oriented version she discovered upon encountering the mysteries of marriage and motherhood—years after her departure from the guilt-stricken, conservative Catholicism of her upbringing.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘My Depression’ Author Elizabeth Swados on Her Brother’s Mental Illness, Homelessness and Early Death
The theater and lit worlds suffered a great loss this week with the passing, Tuesday, of Elizabeth Swados, 64, a prolific writer and composer .
Posted inAuthor Notes, Blog Post, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews
How to Report on the Life of a 13-Year-Old
There must be few journalistic feats more difficult than getting inside the head of a teenager. But with “13, Right Now,” Washington Post staff writer Jessica Contrera joins the ranks of reporters who have skillfully chronicled the lives of children and teens, including Susan Orlean (read her classic Esquire piece, “The American Man, Age 10”) and more […]
