What can haunted houses and their history tell us about American history and culture? Writer Colin Dickey sets out across America to investigate America’s haunted spaces in order to uncover what their ghost stories say about who we were, are, and will be.
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My Bad Parenting Advice Addiction
When her son was born, Emily Gould read 25 books about babies and sleep, but wound up only more confused.
Xenu’s Paradox: The Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard and the Making of Scientology
Alec Nevala-Lee, author of Astounding, a forthcoming book on the history of science fiction, digs into the writing career of L. Ron Hubbard, gaining new insights into the life of the controversial founder of dianetics and the origins and nature of Scientology itself.
Longreads Best of 2016: Under-Recognized Books
We asked our contributors to tell us about a few books they felt deserved more recognition in 2016. Here they are.
I Can See Your Future: Six Stories About Psychics
Stories about looking for clues about the future.
Percy Ross Wants to Give You Money!
He was was a self-made, blue-collar millionaire in Reagan’s America. But when Percy Ross decided to give away his fortune, he made things simple: all you had to do was ask for it.
The Great American Housewife Writer: A Shirley Jackson Primer
“Her storytelling is incredibly modern. She is a writer to read right now.”
Excerpt: ‘The Red Car’ by Marcy Dermansky
“The car had upset me. Judy had found a parking space right in front of the restaurant and I could see the red car from our table. Taunting me.”
On Graywolf Press and the Lyric Essay
Over at New York magazine, Boris Kachka has a piece looking at how the tiny, Minnesota-based Graywolf Press became a major player in book publishing. As the publisher of books like Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts (read the first chapter here!) and Claudia Rankine’s Citizen, Graywolf Press has helped turn “the previously unprepossessing genre of the ‘lyric essay’ into a major […]
King-Killers in America (and the American Who Avenged the King)
When Charles II regained the throne, he launched a global manhunt for the judges who had sentenced his father to death.
