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“Waiting for Bigfoot” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Eight)
Colleen O’Neil’s “Waiting for Bigfoot,” is barely a “longform” article at just under 3000 words, but since it’s about twice the length of a typical Slate or Salon story, I say it qualifies. O’Neil’s story takes her on an outing with a group of Ohio Bigfoot enthusiasts/researchers. The tone of the story is light, but…
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“There and Back Again” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Seven)
“There and Back Again,” by Nick Paumgarten for The New Yorker in April 2007, explores the issue of commuting from a wide range of angles: the impact on workers, trade-offs commuters make, and overall trends of sprawl, commuting, and social isolation. It’s an incredible story. Paumgarten looks at the issue from the perspectives of four…
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“Atari Teenage Riot: The Inside Story Of Pong and the Video Game Industry’s Big Bang” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Six)
When I was ten, my brother and I would get up early on Saturdays, swipe the quarters off our dressers, and wait outside Zip’z, a local ice cream / “make you your own sundae” shop so we could be the first inside to play Asteroids. As a Gen X child of the ’80s, my formative…
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“Still Richard” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Five)
After recently absorbing long stories about murder, rape, and child death, I desperately needed a change of pace. So I welcomed the chance to read a profile of 64-year-old Richard Simmons, “Still Richard,” by David Davis for SBNation.com. I was suprised to find out that Simmons was still out there, actively teaching aerobics classes and…
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“Fatal Distraction” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Four)
I started reading Gene Weingarten’s “Fatal Distraction” in March 2009. I didn’t get to the final page until yesterday. My first attempt to read the story stopped at page six. I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. “Fatal Distraction” is about people whose children die after being forgotten and left in cars, something that happens…
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“Urban Meyer Will be Home for Dinner” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Three)
Sportswriting is often overlooked as a source of serious journalism, including long form narrative nonfiction. Yet many of my favorite nonfiction writers — Gary Smith, Gay Talese, Buzz Bissinger — have focused much of their talents on the world of sports. Wright Thompson’s “Urban Meyer Will Be Home for Dinner,” from the August 6 edition of…
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“The Bravest Woman in Seattle” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Two)
This story, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing this year, has haunted me since I read it. It has lingered in the back of my mind and prompted me to double check the locks on my doors and windows before I go to bed. As a father, a husband, and a man, it…
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“How to Build An American Car” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day One)
Buried near the back of the October 2012 issue of Esquire, parked behind articles about Clint Eastwood, Mitt Romney, and vodka, is “How to Build An American Car,” a beautiful look at the people behind a new model of Cadillac. A story like this could be dull and tedious. Manufacturing is not usually a sexy,…
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31 Longreads in 31 Days
This year has been big for the appreciation of long-form nonfiction writing. 2012 marked the popularity of #longreads on twitter, as well as the rise of longreads.com, longform.org, and byliner.com. Ironically, at a time when “writing short” and the brevity of Twitter are celebrated, it’s never been easier to discover and appreciate great works of…
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Five few good reads this week
Between Feedly and Summify and Read it Later, it’s easier than ever for me to read great nonfiction and features about the craft of writing. If anything, there’s too much to keep up with. But here are a few great reads from the past week: 1. Roy Peter Clark on the first storytelling rule is…