Long Form

Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

Last week (we ended up posting a little late!), editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky picked “My Mother’s Killer” by James Ellroy in the July 1994 issue of GQ. Four more stories follow below.

Here’s more about the pick: “She was last seen leaving a pickup bar, her body was found the next morning in the dirt beside a football field. He was ten. Thirty-six years later, the author investigates his mother’s murder.”

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Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

This week, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky picked “The Apostate” by Lawrence Wright in the February 2011 issue of the New Yorker. Four more stories follow below.

Here’s more about the first pick: “During his 35 years as a member of the Church of Scientology, Oscar-winning writer and director Paul Haggis went “all the way to the top.” The story of why he left, and what happened once he did.”

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Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

This week, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky picked: “Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code” by Jonah Lehrer from the February 2011 issue of Wired Magazine. The editors shared additional long form stories below…

Here’s more about the pick: “I’m not the kind of guy who hears voices. But that night, as I passed the station, I heard a little voice coming from the back of my head…‘If you do it that way, if you use that algorithm, there will be a flaw. The game will be flawed. You will be able to crack the ticket. You will be able to plunder the lottery.’”

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Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

This week, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky picked “Steve Jobs and His Portal to the Invisible” by Tom Junod in the October 2008 issue of Esquire.

Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

This week, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky picked “Metamorphosis” by Andrew Corsello in the January 1997 issue of GQ.

Here’s why they picked it: “Had Corsello not written it so honestly, Jon Sarkin’s story would be near impossible to believe. A hard-working, creatively disinclined chiropractor, Sarkin suffered a stroke on October 20, 1988. It was the last day of his first life. In his second, which began the moment that blood vessel burst, Sarkin transformed into a massively prolific artist who had precious little in common with his previous self. An absolute classic.”

Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

This week, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky picked “Giving Hitler Hell” by Matthew Brzezinski from a July 2005 issue of The Washington Post.

Here’s why they picked it: “Some great pieces were published this week—there’s been a lot of chatter about Sarah Ellison’s big Vanity Fair feature on Julian Assange’s relationship with the mainstream media, and Rob Walker’s “Cyberspace When You’re Dead” in the Times will certainly get you thinking. But this story by Brzenzinski, the details of which were kept secret for sixty years, is just impossible to shake. Here’s the short version: Arnold Weiss, all of 13, escapes Germany in 1938 and leaves his family behind. He returns seven years later as a U.S. intelligence officer. His mission? Track down fugitive Nazis.”

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Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

For this week’s post, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky chose In Pursuit of the Perfect Brainstorm by David Segal in the December 2010 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

For this week’s post, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky chose the top ten long form pieces of the year. We’ve included the top five picks below, follow this link to read the rest.

1.The Anosognosic’s Dilemma (Parts 1-5) Errol Morris | New York Times
2.Moscow’s Stray Dogs Susanne Sternthal | Financial Times
3.Beware of Greeks Bearing Bonds Michael Lewis | Vanity Fair
4. The War for Drugs Sarah Hill | Boston Review
5. Generation Why? Zadie Smith | NY Review of Books

Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

For this week’s post, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky chose two pieces (one for this week, one from the holiday weekend). They follow below,  complete with links.

“The Quaid Conspiracy” by Nancy Jo Sales from the January 2011 edition of Vanity Fair: “Randy Quaid and his wife Evi have fled Hollywood and are living in Canada—in their car—seeking refuge from the ‘Star Whackers’ they claim are threatening their lives. [This] empathetic piece Sales traces their relationship over the past two decades and reveals a classic story of love, madness, and tragedy.”

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Some critics worry that smartphones and tablet computers will ruin our ability to focus on long form material. To fight this trend, we will have the editors of Longform.org pick an essay for your weekend reading pleasure every week.

For this week’s post, editors Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky chose “The Future of Advertising” by Danielle Sacks from the November issue of Fast Company.

Here’s more about the pick: “The advertising industry hasn’t gone through a major creative revolution since the 1960′s. That’s about to change. Technology has so completely upended the way brands connect with consumers, Madison Avenue firms have no choice but to change how they do business—assuming it’s not too late. Says one industry veteran: ‘Marketing in the future is like sex. Only the losers will pay for it.’”

Want to read more? Check out our Long Form archives.