Essay Lines of Work A Talent for Sloth By Philip Connors Ten years as a lookout on a fire tower requires a particular aptitude for idleness. More
Essay The City Urban Scrawl By Jamie James The city novel begins with a young person arriving from the provinces—and the world rising up to greet them. More
Essay Comedy Once Upon a Time in the West By Ben Tarnoff How a simple story of a man and his talented frog made Mark Twain a national celebrity. More
Essay Death Squeak & Gibber By John Crowley Humanity’s greatest feat of rationality lies in the explanations we use to grapple with our own mortality. More
Essay Swindle & Fraud We Buy Broken Gold By Clancy Martin Why would a wealthy diamond merchant in a three-thousand-dollar suit want to cheat me out of a hundred bucks’ worth of gold? More
Essay Disaster Pressure Drop By Simon Winchester Exploring—and ignoring—climate chaos in the South Pacific. More
Essay Memory Mortal Soul, Moral Soul By Anne Michaels What happens when private grief becomes common experience? More