Nieman Storyboard’s “Why’s This So Good” explores what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth reading. This week: Tim Carmody examines Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Ketchup Conundrum,” which was originally published in The New Yorker’s Food Issue in Sept. 2004: Note: I can’t stand ketchup. Any ketchup. I think it’s disgusting, and always have. I was averse […]
Why’s This So Good
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Nieman Storyboard’s “Why’s This So Good” explores what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth reading. This week: Deborah Blum examine’s Buzz Bissinger’s “Shattered Glass,” which was originally published in Vanity Fair in Sept. 1998: You might think that devious and uncooperative Glass would end up simply the evil counterpoint to the dauntless Lane. But Bissinger […]
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"Why’s This So Good?" No. 33: Michael Paterniti's Painted Ghosts
Nieman Storyboard’s “Why’s This So Good” explores what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth reading. This week: Thomas Curwen takes a look at Michael Paterniti’s “The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy,” which was originally published in Esquire in July 2000. The opening sequence of “The Long Fall” is a mere 500 words and, in my […]
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"Why’s This So Good?" No. 32: Darcy Frey on the Brink
Nieman Storyboard’s “Why’s This So Good” explores what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth reading. This week: Laurie Hertzel takes a look at Darcy Frey’s “Something’s Got to Give,” which was originally published in The New York Times Magazine in 1996. “Savage, bug-eyed.” “Frantic bursts of techno-chatter.” “Sucks down coffee.” Casual words, carefully chosen to […]
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Nieman Storyboard’s “Why’s This So Good” explores what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth reading. This week, Andrea Pitzer examines Susan Orlean’s “Orchid Fever,” which was originally published in The New Yorker on Jan. 23, 1995. Orlean builds her study of obsession out of a vocabulary of desire and devastation, ranging from the apocalyptic to […]
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Nieman Storyboard’s “Why’s This So Good” explores what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth reading. This week, Bruce Gillespie takes a look at Andrea Curtis’s “Small Mercies,” which was originally published in Toronto Life: A compelling narrative and a richly detailed behind-the-scenes look at a NICU would, on its own, be enough to hook any […]