“Geoffrey Gray investigates the writer’s bizarre cult and finds himself entangled in a web of murky financial dealings, sex, possible foul play—and one death-defying supernatural being.”
Alta Journal
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we’re recommending stories by Zarlasht Halaimzai, Gloria Liu, E. Jean Carroll, Amy Margolis, and Chris Colin.
San Francisco’s 24-Hour Diner Stops the Cosmic Clock
“. . .but then there it is: a strikingly red building, a flash of weathered neon, an improbable promise issued since 1970. We Never Close.”
‘This Place Belongs to You’
“Joshua Tree National Park is synonymous with the desert. Yet record numbers of guests threaten to overwhelm its beauty, wildlife, and small staff.”
‘The Ways of Fiction Are Devious Indeed’
“Finding current relevancy—and outrage—in the accusations of plagiarism that have long haunted a classic of the West: Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose.”
The Gentrification of Consciousness
“San Francisco’s Mission district has become synonymous with well-paid tech workers displacing non-white longtime residents. It’s now the setting for a new battle, as the coming psychedelic-industrial complex threatens to strip hallucinogenic drugs of their historical and religious significance.”
