“Why’s this so Good?” No. 47: Calvin Trillin and Classic Edna Buchanan
A quintessential profile from the great profiler
Originally published June 19, 2012
Read the article at Nieman Storyboard
Fact-Checking “In Cold Blood”
I found the papers of the fact checker who worked on Capote’s nonfiction masterpiece. What did he miss?
Originally published March 20, 2013
Truthy Memoirs
A handy guide
Originally published July 11, 2011
Read the article at Nieman Storyboard
Trial and Eros
The 1960 case in England’s Old Bailey against “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.”
Originally published October 01, 2010
Read the essay at The American Scholar
Believe It or Not
Memoir Fabulists Getting Caught Means the System Is Working
Originally published March 06, 2008
Benevolent Dreamer
An appreciation of Sr. Clair McKelway
Originally published February 01, 2007
Read it at Columbia Journalism Review online
Michiko Kakutani
A critic with a fixation.
Originally published April 10, 2006
My Life as a Hack
A freelancer’s lunch with Uma Thurman. Then everything went downhill.
Originally published August 26, 2005
The 9/11 Commission Report
How a government committee made a piece of literature.
Originally published November 08, 2004
Going Deep
How Gary Smith became America’s best sportswriter.
Originally published March 30, 2003
I’m Upset. Quote Me.
The rising trend of state-of-mind writing.
Originally published January 14, 1995
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