The Insults of Age
On the stupid things people say to the elderly.
First Person
I'm From Philly. 30 Years Later, I'm Still Trying to Make Sense of the MOVE Bombing
Revisiting the 6200 block of Osage Avenue.
My Dad Tried to Kill Me With an Alligator
On being among giant reptiles with a parent you don’t understand.
Autobiography of a Body
On equating beauty with self-worth.
Scenes From a Life in Negroland
A meditation on life in the black “upper class.”
The Art of Butchery
We are disgusted by butchery, even as we eat more meat than ever.
The Strange Experience of Having My Memoir Turned Into a Movie
Most people think they’d be thrilled to have their memoir snapped up for a movie. The author had a different, more troubled experience.
The Terrible Things I Learned About My Dad: On Abuse and the People We Love
The author discovers devastating secrets while going through her late father’s belongings.
Confessions Of a Drug-Addicted High School Teacher
Everyone just wants to know if he’s going to the football game.
A General Feeling of Disorder
A treatment for liver cancer gives the writer a fresh perspective on illness – and wellness.
Patna Roughcuts
Old India and new, viewed through the prism of the writer’s hometown.
I Followed My Stolen iPhone Around the World, Became a Celebrity in China, and Found a Friend for Life
“None of this should have ever happened. It makes absolutely no sense at all. It’s truly crazy.”
The Right to Remain
The events that led the writer to spend 60 days in jail.
Life in Chains
On loving Taco Bell, as a half-Mexican. A James Beard Award nominee.
The Girls on Shit Duty
Cleaning up after the fisherman at a remote lodge in Northern Ontario.
The Unauthorized Biography of a Black Cop
“When I was a child, Dad told me that he chose to become a cop because a cop was the most respected man on the block. When I took a seat at the grown folks table, he told me that he wanted control.”
My Saga
Why Didn’t You Just Do What You Were Told?
“What I had going for me was teen rage, contempt impervious to offers of compromise; the power of the mask capable of turning ice to marshmallow, and all the time in the world, all the ability to sustain it without surrendering.”
The Next Next Level
An ode to Juiceboxxx, a 27-year-old rapper from Milwaukee no one’s ever heard of.
How Crazy Am I to Think I Actually Know Where that Malaysia Airline Plane Is?
“Okay,” I said. “What do you think is the percentage chance that I’m right?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Five percent?”
A Wilderness of Waiting
Living on your parents’ farm while pregnant changes your relationship to time.
To An Aesthete Dying Young
Finding the thread of depression in the personal history of a friend’s suicide.
A Curious Case of Writer's Block
A patient arrives in a therapist’s office complaining of writer’s block. He’s not in search of the talking cure, though.
When Children With Autism Grow Up
Adult life for the autistic is littered with misunderstandings, anger, and group homes.
Rape-Rape
Recalling a sexual assault.
