“He’s as flawed a human being as anyone else, one who’s still wrestling with questions about how best to move through life with a modicum of grace and compassion.”
fiction
Posted inEditor's Pick
Our Narrative Prison
“The three-act ‘hero’s journey’ has long been the most prominent kind of story. What other tales are there to tell?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The American Novel Has a Major Problem With Fat People
“Why does fiction do such a bad job of portraying fat characters?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Recognizing the Stranger
“What in fiction is enjoyable and beautiful is often terrifying in real life.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Chuck Palahniuk Is Not Who You Think He Is
“Twenty-six books in, the author has made a career of writing about loners, misfits, and deviants. But the man behind these controversial and transgressive fictions is full of surprises.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Judy Blume Goes All the Way
“A new generation discovers the poet laureate of puberty.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
I’m Looking to Jump Ship Sooner Than I Should: A Conversation with Percival Everett
“We abandon stories. They don’t end.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
What If We Cancel the Apocalypse?
“How the aesthetic, utopian yet pragmatic movement of Solarpunk reimagines a future without a climate catastrophe.”
Posted inCuration, Nonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend longreads by Benjamin Wofford, Josh Dzieza, Evan Osnos, Alice Wong & Ed Yong, and Dan Kois.