Best longform magazine articles

**bennymac** · 03-10-2017, 04:10 PM

I've been keeping a list of longform magazine/newspaper/online articles that I found intriguing and want to read again.

This one is the best I've read (with Snow Fall being a close second)

The Real Heroes Are Dead - by James B. Stewart
The New Yorker - February 11, 2002

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...eroes-are-dead

I'd be interested to hear what maggots think of this article. And what other articles stick out to them.

**iceman** · 03-10-2017, 06:09 PM

Pretty much every issue of The New Yorker has something long that's of value. Anything that John MacPhee has written for them, or earlier than that, EB White or Joseph Mitchell, is to be treasured. Anything new by Adam Gopnick these days is a real treat for me. For some reason this artice about the greatest bank robbers in US history has always stuck with me. If the one guy hadn't told his girlfriend about it they'd probably still be out there doing it.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...chcoat-robbers

**dunfree** · 03-10-2017, 06:41 PM

https://thebrowser.com/
has a collection of longform articles from generally good quality authors.

**concretejungle** · 03-10-2017, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by dunfree

https://thebrowser.com/
has a collection of longform articles from generally good quality authors.

In the same vein longform.org

**seano732** · 03-10-2017, 08:47 PM

I love longform journalism...I have both longform.org and longreads app on the old IPad, and I actually read both of those ^^^^ New Yorker articles through those sites. Being a fireman, this one on the Worcester Cold Storage Fire is a scary, brutal read........Hits close to home.

http://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a10...ect-fire-0700/

RIP to the Worcester Six....

**bodywhomper** · 03-10-2017, 08:54 PM

Hesler's New Yorker articles when he was in China were always great.

**iceman** · 03-10-2017, 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by seano732

http://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a10...ect-fire-0700/

RIP to the Worcester Six....

That one burned a hole in my brain at the time, good call.

**old goat** · 03-11-2017, 07:00 AM

Originally Posted by iceman

Pretty much every issue of The New Yorker has something long that's of value. Anything that John MacPhee has written for them, or earlier than that, EB White or Joseph Mitchell, is to be treasured. Anything new by Adam Gopnick these days is a real treat for me. For some reason this artice about the greatest bank robbers in US history has always stuck with me. If the one guy hadn't told his girlfriend about it they'd probably still be out there doing it.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...chcoat-robbers

another vote for the New Yorker. And I enjoy Adam Gopnik, but I can only understand half of what he says. I think it's because he lived in France for a while--too much abstract thinking for my linear mind to grasp. One of the best things about the New Yorker is that the articles are written in the author's voice, not translated into house style a la Time, etc. So I keep reading Adam Gopnik.

**wyeaster** · 03-11-2017, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by iceman

Pretty much every issue of The New Yorker has something long that's of value. Anything that John MacPhee has written for them, or earlier than that, EB White or Joseph Mitchell, is to be treasured. Anything new by Adam Gopnick these days is a real treat for me. For some reason this artice about the greatest bank robbers in US history has always stuck with me. If the one guy hadn't told his girlfriend about it they'd probably still be out there doing it.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...chcoat-robbers

women!

**iceman** · 03-11-2017, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by wyeaster

women!

Right?!? Bitch ratted them out because she was mad at him.Yeesh.

**iceman** · 03-11-2017, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by old goat

another vote for the New Yorker. And I enjoy Adam Gopnik, but I can only understand half of what he says. I think it's because he lived in France for a while--too much abstract thinking for my linear mind to grasp. One of the best things about the New Yorker is that the articles are written in the author's voice, not translated into house style a la Time, etc. So I keep reading Adam Gopnik.

Well Gopnik (thanks for the spelling correction) grew up in Quebec and as you said lived in France for a long time, so of course he's weird. For whatever reason, I dig what he writes. It's possible I'm weird too.

**BmillsSkier** · 03-11-2017, 10:00 AM

I particularly like The Bitter Southerner. Really great writers and long essays, stories, and pieces about everything from authors to cooks to musicians to history - all with as they put it a bitter, progressive bent to the 'southern duality'.
Excellent photography as well.

It's web only but has been putting out great pieces every week since they started.

**frorider** · 03-11-2017, 11:20 AM

Gopnik is the mother fuckin man. In my circle of friends I have a reputation for finding fault with most fiction and non-fiction writers, but AG deserves his stellar reputation. Like Nabokov, he chooses words carefully, and tries to be evocative without piling on adjectives and cliches.

Since we're correcting spelling errors, Ice, it's spelled McPhee.

I've liked his stuff for many years.

Just finished the article on Herbalife in the NYorker this morning. Straightforward journalism, nothing wrong about that, but this thread has reminded me that there are writers out there that really are worth savoring.

**frorider** · 03-11-2017, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by dunfree

https://thebrowser.com/
has a collection of longform articles from generally good quality authors.

Thx for the link. I hadn't heard of it. Will use it for gift subscriptions.

**bluespark** · 03-11-2017, 11:51 PM

AMERICAN HIPPOPOTAMUS is the most fascinating article i've read in a long while, delving into some obscure history. Atavist has some gems if you poke around.

https://magazine.atavist.com/america...verlay&preview

THE YANKEE COMANDANTE, another hidden history piece involving a gringo in Castro's revolution

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...urrentPage=all

**Angle Parking** · 03-12-2017, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by bennymac

I've been keeping a list of longform magazine/newspaper/online articles that I found intriguing and want to read again.

This one is the best I've read (with Snow Fall being a close second)

The Real Heroes Are Dead - by James B. Stewart
The New Yorker - February 11, 2002

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...eroes-are-dead

I'd be interested to hear what maggots think of this article. And what other articles stick out to them.

Great article, thanks. Love Dan Hill's remarks in the final paragraph. If one were so inclined, the article could be picked apart on jingoistic, nostalgic grounds but whatever. I chose to read it as the character study of a man, the kinda of man that doesn't really seem to exist all that much anymore in our era of pro sports watching', beer drinking' male buffoonery where a hero is some dip sh*t who plays a child's game for money.

Fantastic thread BTW. Keep the links coming folks.

**klar** · 03-12-2017, 01:28 PM

This one stuck with me, in part because of the impressive journalistic feat, in part because of the tragedy that is the story. "Last winter two bodies were found in Norway and the Netherlands. They were wearing identical wetsuits. The police in three countries were involved in the case, but never managed to identify them. This is the story of who they were."

and yes, the New Yorker delivers regularly in so many ways.

**iceman** · 03-12-2017, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by bluespark

AMERICAN HIPPOPOTAMUS is the most fascinating article i've read in a long while, delving into some obscure history. Atavist has some gems if you poke around.

https://magazine.atavist.com/america...verlay&preview

Just read this one, definitely interesting and worthwhile. It would have been worthwhile just for the word "hippopotamuslessness" but there was a lot more there too.

**dunfree** · 03-12-2017, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by klar

This one stuck with me, in part because of the impressive journalistic feat, in part because of the tragedy that is the story. "Last winter two bodies were found in Norway and the Netherlands. They were wearing identical wetsuits. The police in three countries were involved in the case, but never managed to identify them. This is the story of who they were."

and yes, the New Yorker delivers regularly in so many ways.

I remember reading that one. Quite a story.

thanks for the bittersoutherner bmills

Fiction, originally in Harper's
https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploa...01-0007859.pdf

**BmillsSkier** · 03-12-2017, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by dunfree

thanks for the bittersoutherner bmills

My pleasure. I actually was there today going through the "Features" tab to find this piece on the Barkley Marathons to send to my buddy who I was trying to explain them to called Good Luck Morons.

Tye 1on, if you see this, while in there I saw this long interview with Patterson Hood of the Drive By Truckers and remembered your quote in your sig, worth a read for sure.

http://bittersoutherner.com/patterso...ve-by-truckers

**Viva** · 03-12-2017, 06:04 PM

I liked that Barkely piece. Met Gary Cantrell at Hardrock one year, hell of a persona. He was holding court at one of the early aid stations. He is also a talented writer, himself. Had a regular column in Ultra Running during the 90s- Homily with Grits on the Side...something like that. I always looked forward to reading it. So many people in Ultra Running are self-absorbed braggarts. Gary represents the best of that activity.

**John_B** · 03-12-2017, 07:32 PM

Thanks for the article Klar. Quite a story.

**Angle Parking** · 03-13-2017, 02:17 AM

Originally Posted by Viva

I liked that Barkely piece. Met Gary Cantrell at Hardrock one year, hell of a persona. He was holding court at one of the early aid stations. He is also a talented writer, himself. Had a regular column in Ultra Running during the 90s- Homily with Grits on the Side...something like that. I always looked forward to reading it. So many people in Ultra Running are self-absorbed braggarts. Gary represents the best of that activity.

What's with the smoking?

**bennymac** · 03-13-2017, 07:10 PM

Making my way through the articles posted. The bank robbery one was good and the Worcester one was intense - super interesting to learn about the different roles of the firefighters in a situation like that. What a sad story. Thanks for posting those up.

Here's one back:

A diver exploring the bottom of a super deep cave makes a grisly discovery

Raising the Dead - By: Tim Zimmermann Aug 1, 2005 - Outside Magazine
https://www.outsideonline.com/1922711/raising-dead