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“Lottery Winner Jack Whittaker’s Losing Ticket” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day 15)
It’s a cliché to say that money can’t buy happiness, but in the case of Jack Whittaker, who won $314.9 million in the Powerball lottery in 2002, the story is a lot worse than that. In a story that feel like it was pulled from a Hollywood screenplay, Lottery Winner Jack Whittaker’s Losing Ticket by…
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“The Most Amazing Bowling Story Ever” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day 14)
Within the narrative nonfiction, there is a wide range of genres, including, but not limited to: history, profiles, reported essays, investigative reports, and longform features. And then you occasionally get something like this, which is harder to classify, other than that it’s simply a great story. The Most Amazing Bowling Story Ever by Michael J.…
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“The Secret History of Guns” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day 13)
As a big fan of authors like Adam Hochschild and Laura Hillenbrand, I’m always impressed with writers who can write about history in a riveting, colorful way. So many of the history books I read in high school and college were lifeless, tedious marches through events, places, and dates. But the best modern nonfiction writers…
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“Netherland” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day 12)
When I read through the latest issue of The New Yorker, I thought that I might write-up my take on two other longform pieces in the magazine, the profile of Alabama radio host Paul Finebaum or Ken Auletta’s feature on Elisabeth Murdoch. But the story that grabbed me instantly and haunted me after I put…
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“Walking His Life Away” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Eleven)
A year ago, a good friend send me a copy of Gary Smith’s book, Going Deep, a collection of his longform articles from Sports Illustrated. Smith is a masterful writer who mostly covers sports. But that’s misleading: he writes about people. Some are pro athletes; some never make it to college. He writes about the…
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“A Wicked Wind Takes Aim” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Ten)
In April 20, 2004, a massive tornado descended on the town of Utica, Illinois, taking with it the lives of eight residents. The sudden destruction of the tornado instantly devastated the community. Julie Keller of the Chicago Tribune wrote a three-part series on the tragedy that subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Reading…
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“Todd Marinovich: The Man Who Never Was” (31 Longreads in 31 Days, Day Nine)
Mike Sager’s 9800-word profile of Todd Marinovich for the May 2009 edition of Esquire is an impressive work. It details the rise and fall of Marinovich from prep star, to USC standout, to NFL washout, to drug addict and convict. The quarterback’s story has so many plot twists, so many highs and lows, it almost…
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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…