Sacrifice
An eccentric monk’s singular scrap cathedral reveals the chaos and genius of his mind.
Memoir
The Emily Ratajkowski You’ll Never See
With her new book, the model tries to escape the oppressions of the male gaze. So our writer is keeping some of her secrets.
Katie Couric Is Not for Everyone
The legendary anchor has written a wild, unflinching memoir. Does that make her a bad person?
My Father, the Hitman
In my naive denial, I had wanted to see him as a hapless ne’er-do-well, a nonconformist with a streak of dishonesty. I liked to think of him as a latter-day Robin Hood. Now I knew that wasn’t true.
The Wild, Sublime Body
Before I learned about beauty, I delighted in my body. I sensed a deep well at my center, a kind of umbilical cord that linked me to a roiling infinity of knowledge and pathos that underlay the trivia of our daily lives.
Making Amends With Lean Cuisine
Narratively, how sweet it would be to describe in words that she learned to roast a chicken, she never took another pill again, she now takes care of me through cooking. But that’s not the truth.
A Fierce Attachment
My mother is an urban peasant and I am my mother’s daughter. The city is our natural element. We each have daily adventures with bus drivers, bag ladies, ticket takers, and street crazies. Walking brings out the best in us.
Only a Mile and a Big World Separated Us
Everything I had going against me he had going for him. Us young Black dudes who were slanging were hated, hunted and haunted for our role in the drug war. He was praised and honored and rewarded with overtime.
You Can Never Tell About a River
The author unearths the story of Frank Yerby, one of the the most prolific African-American novelists in history.
This Is Not a Love Story
When a young author started her novel years ago, she saw it as a romance. She sees it differently now.
Elizabeth Smart Died in 1986. Her Work Still Haunts Me
On the bohemian poet’s hidden career as a prolific copywriter.
Cop Diary
On life as a police patrolman.
Originally published in 1997 under a pen name in The New Yorker. Appears now for the first time under the author’s known identity.
The Reluctant Memoirist
What it means when an investigative reporter’s undercover work is framed as a personal journey.
Anatomy of a Divorce
The author ponders the dissolution of his own marriage, and others.
On Doris Lessing
At the age fifteen, Jenny Diski, a “foundling,” went to live with Doris Lessing. For fifty years, the two talked every week. Diski promised Lessing that she would never write about her but now, after Lessing’s death, Diski has begun to recount the story of their relationship.
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What To Call Her?
The question of how to name her relationship with Lessing plagued Diski.
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Doris and Me
Lessing invited Diski into her home, but did she want her there?
Why We Play
The allure of dangerous sports.
Under the Boardwalk
A memoir of Santa Cruz.
The Only Time I’ve Ever Been To Connecticut
An informational interview during which the author is advised, “Find a rich husband, and then you can work at whatever you like on the side, and it doesn’t matter, because you already have money.”
A Rebel's Recollections
A Confederate soldier’s point of view on the Civil War.
The Other Side of the Story
“When I was fourteen, I had a relationship with my eighth grade history teacher. People called me a victim. They called him a villain. But it’s more complicated than that.”
How Many of Your Memories Are Fake?
How our memories become contaminated by inaccuracies.
Eat, Pray, Love, Get Rich, Write a Novel No One Expects
A profile of Elizabeth Gilbert, whose bestselling memoir may have sunk her literary career.
My Foreign Mom
“I love my mother a not-normal amount.”
My Love Affair With The New York Observer
Diary of a veteran gadfly.
Down and Out in a Repurposed Troop Carrier
Writing a “stunt memoir” in the waterpark capital of the world.
