[W.B. Yeats’s 1919 poem] “The Second Coming” may well be the most thoroughly pillaged piece of literature in English. (Perhaps Macbeth’s famous “sound and fury” monologue is a distant second.) Since Chinua Achebe cribbed Yeats’s lines for Things Fall Apart in 1958 and Joan Didion for Slouching Towards Bethlehem a decade later, dozens if not hundreds of others have followed suit, […]
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
When Your Lost Phone Ends Up in Yemen
In the summer of 2013, a New York yuppie lost her iPhone in the Hamptons. A few months later, she got an alert saying that her phone had been turned on in Yemen, and then candid pictures of a Yemeni family started filling her iCloud account. The phone was soon updated under the name of its new owner, a teenager […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Get to Know the National Book Award Finalists for Nonfiction
This reading list features the five nonfiction nominees for the National Book Awards. The winner be announced on November 18, 2015.
Posted inQuotes
The Selfies of Poets
At LitHub, Kate Durbin presents several dozen selfies–not her own, but those of contemporary poets, like Eileen Myles, Luna Miguel and Dodie Bellamy.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Teachings
On poetry and dying: Win Bassett reflects on a summer spent working as a hospital chaplain.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story, Unapologetic Women
‘See What Y’All Can Work Out’: The State of Empathy in Charleston
Charleston’s—and our nation’s—systemic racism, through the lens of the Dylann Roof trial.
Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews
Mark Haddon: ‘Ultimately, There Is No Narrative Without Death’
An conversation with the author about his dark new short story collection, The Pier Falls.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
The Miseducation of John Muir
A close examination of the wilderness icon’s early travels reveal a deep love for trees, and some ugly feelings about people.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List, Top 5
Longreads Best of 2015: Here Are All of Our No. 1 Story Picks from This Year
All through December, we’ll be featuring Longreads’ Best of 2015. To get you ready, here’s a list of every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction
How the Brontës Came Out As Women
When Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell burst onto the literary scene, everyone wondered who these mysterious men could be—and if they could even really be men.
