Essays & Criticism Archives - Page 2 of 104

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Things That Able Me

by Christy Tending February 2, 2023January 30, 2023

Christy Tending | Longreads | February 2, 2023 | 14 minutes (3,768 words) There are things that able me. A chair. One person speaking to me at a time. Shoes that are not cute, but spare me nerve pain. A hot bath with epsom salts: so hot it would scald most, but my skin is like […]

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Story

Something About the Present

by Devin Kelly January 26, 2023January 30, 2023

“And so I remember that it’s this moment I want, before it becomes the next, where anything could happen and anything could not.”

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Feature

The Strangely Beautiful Experience of Google Reviews

by Will McCarthy January 3, 2023December 15, 2022

Glimpses of humanity in an unlikely corner of the internet.

Nonfiction

Best of 2022: Reported Essays

by Longreads December 13, 2022December 8, 2022

Our list of some of the great reported essays published this year includes reads on grief, veganism, the geology of Mexico City, and British real estate.

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Nonfiction

Best of 2022: Personal Essays

by Longreads December 8, 2022December 9, 2022

Five notable personal essays published this year, on friendship, loss, war, endings, and metaphors.

Photo of a long carpeted hallway with handrails along each wall. At the end, a sunset.

Feature

The Sunset

by Lisa Bubert November 30, 2022March 28, 2023

There are plenty of reasons to see nursing homes as sad, neglectful places. There are also reasons to see them as something else entirely.

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Feature

How Wednesday Addams Birthed a Generation of Cynics

by Emily Alford November 23, 2022November 23, 2022

Emily Alford | Longreads | November 23, 2022 | 8 minutes (2,132 words) Midway through 1991’s The Addams Family, young Wednesday Addams attempts to supplement her family’s lost fortunes by selling poison lemonade for a nickel. Not everyone’s a willing customer. “I only like all-natural foods and beverages, organically grown with no preservatives,” a perky […]