“To love walking is to love the body, and this has been a barrier for me.”
The Sun
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Nicholas Hune-Brown, Nick Sturm, Samanth Subramanian, Kristin Idaszak, and Sy Safransky.
The Cat Who Woke Me Up
“Even though my brain is confused and I’m struggling, always struggling, to see if my writing is good, I still want to write. And the writing that matters the most to me isn’t about Alzheimer’s. It’s about a cat.”
Dimes, Dunks, and Devotion: A Basketball Reading List
Seven essays that go beyond the box score.
Coach’s Kid
“On defense Dad put me at linebacker, a position that allowed me to unleash some of the harmful energy I had previously aimed at myself.”
Fighting the Tree
“Maybe I wasn’t the son Dad wanted. Maybe, if he could have, he would have picked another kid, a son he could enjoy parenting.”
Longreads Best of 2019: Essays
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in essays.
Living to Tell About It
Struggling with trauma, sexual objectification, and self-harm, the teenage T Kira Madden found salvation in her close relationships with other young women.
Finding Grace Between Love and Loss
One single mother’s journey to construct a sense of self that’s true to herself, not to other people.
