1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think
"When I look within, I only see that thin man who miraculously withstood fifty lashes, while a group of people celebrated his pain, repeatedly chanting Allahu Akbar. All for… More
The Self-Deceptions of Empire
David Bromwich is finalist for the 2015 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay for the collection Moral Imagination, which explores the importance of imagination and sympathy in… More
The Empathy Exams
The title essay of Leslie Jamison's The Empathy Exams, a finalist for the 2015 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. More
The Twisted Art of Documentary
Read an essay from Ian Buruma's Theater of Cruelty, winner of the 2015 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. More
Number Six of the Eleven Calamities
Someone would ask me how I was and I would promptly answer “prose.” You’d look down at the inscription I’d written and somehow it would only say “prose.” Prose… More
The Prince of Finesse: Hugging the Shore
If it please the court, I ask that it be stricken from the record that I ever mocked/denigrated John Updike for his devotion to Doris Day, which I have… More
The 72-Hour Trial
Paralyzed? Unable to walk? Unable to have sex? Unable to work, run, play or swim? The papers became a blur, then I noticed it was from my tears.… More
Come Break Me Down
I try to envision hanging myself from a locker that is shorter than I am. It seems impossible even in my head, despite any amount of dedication. I decide… More
A Nothing Would Do As Well
The first time I met Mad Dog, he nearly shot me with a hepatitis C-infected blowgun dart. More
from A is for Addis
When I tell people about my impending trip, I try to avoid the word “Africa,” though I can’t explain why. I am struck by the timidity, the lack of… More
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