We asked reporters for an year-end list of their favorite briefreads: A top five. It's been done before (see gangrey.com's list of longreads), but not for stories that can be read in less than 12 minutes.
We're here for that.
Special thanks to Michael Kruse of the St. Petersburg Times and gangrey.com for getting us started. And to The Star-Ledger's Andy McCullough who considers 3,000 words a brief read.
(12/23: We've added top fives by Richard Lake of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Matt from Briefreads. Thanks.)
Let's go:
We're here for that.
Special thanks to Michael Kruse of the St. Petersburg Times and gangrey.com for getting us started. And to The Star-Ledger's Andy McCullough who considers 3,000 words a brief read.
(12/23: We've added top fives by Richard Lake of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Matt from Briefreads. Thanks.)
Let's go:
Michael Kruse
"Hit-and-run victim was quiet and dependable, co-workers say," by Andy Meacham, St. Petersburg Times, Sept. 29
Tears in my eyes while reading in my kitchen on the morning it ran.
"Glenn Beck's rally recap is one way to fill an hour," by Hank Stuever, Washington Post, Aug. 31
Hank had me at the bulletproof vest.
"The sadness of seeing Ali like this," by Wright Thompson, ESPN.com, Sept. 24
My favorite thing Wright wrote all year, and Wright wrote a lot of really good things.
"War rages on after medic returns from Iraq," by Jeb Phillips, Columbus Dispatch, May 3
The gun rattled against his teeth in the second sentence of the story. I'm reading on.
"Love lands ... and moves quickly," by Tommy Tomlinson, Charlotte Observer, Dec. 17
A story so simple, told so well.
"'Get the fuck down!'" by C.J. Chivers, NYTimes.com, April 21
Is a video a read? I don't even care. It's a story, and you can't not watch this.
• • •
Andy McCullough
"Still Going Strong," by Joe Posnanski on Jim Thome
"Roy Halladay no-hitter lifts Phillies past Reds in Game 1," by Dave Sheinin
"The Boy Who Died of Football," by Thomas Lake
"Lionel Messi: The World At His Feet," by S.L. Price
"Roger Ebert: The Essential Man," by Chris Jones
• • •
Eddie
"Oil spill sloshes over spirits at waterside Mississippi restaurant" by Dan Zak
"A little girl's signature kept by time," by Lane DeGregory
"The Chilean miners," by Tommy Tomlinson
"'Playboy' wasn't in Woody's playbook," by Mike Harden
I met Mike Harden once, this summer. Although he was retired, he wrote columns until he died in October. I only said, "Thank you," for a lunch meeting. Thanks for everything else.
"Politics devolves into blood sport in Philippines," by Chico Harlan
And what didn't make the paper: ("So let's start with the facts, blameless and final.")
• • •
Richard Lake
"A little girl's signature kept by time," by Lane DeGregory
"Loving Wyatt to the end," by Rick Ruggles
"My son is gay," from Nerdy Apple Bottom
"My Opponent Knows Where Washington Is On A map; I Don't, And I Never Will," from The Onion
"For Jessica," by Jennifer Lawler
• • •
Matt
"Dear Mr. President," by Eli Saslow, Washington Post, March 31
Clocking in at just under 3000 words (in other words just brief enough to be a brief read),Eli Saslow writes about Jennifer Cline who writes a letter to President Obama and receives a reply. The story weaves in a narratives about the 20,000 letters and emails Obama receives per day and the channels they must go through for somebody to receive a reply. Saslow is the best feature/politics writer you've never heard of.
"The last of Leeville: Chances grow slim for a wide spot in the road in La." by Dan Zak, Washington Post, June 18
Dan Zak several excellent stories detailing the way the oil spill ruined businesses and lives. He owned that beat. His final piece de resistance, a feature on the dying coastal town of Leesville, La., captured best the frustrations and sorrows brought on by the Deepwater Horizon leak.
"Lonely, stressed and frustrated: inside the mind of the Pinellas monkey," by Michael Kruse, St. Pete Times, May 16
There's an absurd amount of excellent narrative storytelling in the St. Pete Times, but I went with this monkey-on-the-run story due to its unique subject matter and the way Kruse tells part of the monkey's tale through the monkey's point of view: Scared, alone and freaked out. This could easily have been a kooky offbeat story about a goofy monkey stirring up trouble, but Kruse adds depth to the story.
"A love of story was my Dad's gift to me," by Roy Wenzl, Wichita Eagle, June 20
Sad, sad story that also makes you so appreciative for journalism and superb narrative storytelling."
"A Facebook story: A mother's joy and a family's sorrow," by Ian Shapira, Washington Post, Dec. 9
For its innovation alone this story deserves to be commended. Ian Shapira tells a story through a woman's facebook updates. And - just as Facebook itself is prone to do - this story sucks you in right up until the heartwrenching final post.
"The meaning of family, alternative Thanksgivings and all," by Chris Jones, Esquire, Nov. 24
If you're going to read Chris Jones, of course don't skimp on the his longform (The Things That Carried Him, The Essential Man, etc.), but Jones' new Esquire blog, which muses on just about anything, already seems to have its own cult following. This blog first went viral with a moving post on people-watching and Thanksgiving.
• • •
Zach Schonbrun
"Hit-and-run victim was quiet and dependable, co-workers say," by Andy Meacham, St. Petersburg Times, Sept. 29
Tears in my eyes while reading in my kitchen on the morning it ran.
"Glenn Beck's rally recap is one way to fill an hour," by Hank Stuever, Washington Post, Aug. 31
Hank had me at the bulletproof vest.
"The sadness of seeing Ali like this," by Wright Thompson, ESPN.com, Sept. 24
My favorite thing Wright wrote all year, and Wright wrote a lot of really good things.
"War rages on after medic returns from Iraq," by Jeb Phillips, Columbus Dispatch, May 3
The gun rattled against his teeth in the second sentence of the story. I'm reading on.
"Love lands ... and moves quickly," by Tommy Tomlinson, Charlotte Observer, Dec. 17
A story so simple, told so well.
"'Get the fuck down!'" by C.J. Chivers, NYTimes.com, April 21
Is a video a read? I don't even care. It's a story, and you can't not watch this.
• • •
Andy McCullough
"Still Going Strong," by Joe Posnanski on Jim Thome
"Roy Halladay no-hitter lifts Phillies past Reds in Game 1," by Dave Sheinin
"The Boy Who Died of Football," by Thomas Lake
"Lionel Messi: The World At His Feet," by S.L. Price
"Roger Ebert: The Essential Man," by Chris Jones
• • •
Eddie
"Oil spill sloshes over spirits at waterside Mississippi restaurant" by Dan Zak
"A little girl's signature kept by time," by Lane DeGregory
"The Chilean miners," by Tommy Tomlinson
"'Playboy' wasn't in Woody's playbook," by Mike Harden
I met Mike Harden once, this summer. Although he was retired, he wrote columns until he died in October. I only said, "Thank you," for a lunch meeting. Thanks for everything else.
"Politics devolves into blood sport in Philippines," by Chico Harlan
And what didn't make the paper: ("So let's start with the facts, blameless and final.")
• • •
Richard Lake
"A little girl's signature kept by time," by Lane DeGregory
"Loving Wyatt to the end," by Rick Ruggles
"My son is gay," from Nerdy Apple Bottom
"My Opponent Knows Where Washington Is On A map; I Don't, And I Never Will," from The Onion
"For Jessica," by Jennifer Lawler
• • •
Matt
"Dear Mr. President," by Eli Saslow, Washington Post, March 31
Clocking in at just under 3000 words (in other words just brief enough to be a brief read),Eli Saslow writes about Jennifer Cline who writes a letter to President Obama and receives a reply. The story weaves in a narratives about the 20,000 letters and emails Obama receives per day and the channels they must go through for somebody to receive a reply. Saslow is the best feature/politics writer you've never heard of.
"The last of Leeville: Chances grow slim for a wide spot in the road in La." by Dan Zak, Washington Post, June 18
Dan Zak several excellent stories detailing the way the oil spill ruined businesses and lives. He owned that beat. His final piece de resistance, a feature on the dying coastal town of Leesville, La., captured best the frustrations and sorrows brought on by the Deepwater Horizon leak.
"Lonely, stressed and frustrated: inside the mind of the Pinellas monkey," by Michael Kruse, St. Pete Times, May 16
There's an absurd amount of excellent narrative storytelling in the St. Pete Times, but I went with this monkey-on-the-run story due to its unique subject matter and the way Kruse tells part of the monkey's tale through the monkey's point of view: Scared, alone and freaked out. This could easily have been a kooky offbeat story about a goofy monkey stirring up trouble, but Kruse adds depth to the story.
"A love of story was my Dad's gift to me," by Roy Wenzl, Wichita Eagle, June 20
Sad, sad story that also makes you so appreciative for journalism and superb narrative storytelling."
"A Facebook story: A mother's joy and a family's sorrow," by Ian Shapira, Washington Post, Dec. 9
For its innovation alone this story deserves to be commended. Ian Shapira tells a story through a woman's facebook updates. And - just as Facebook itself is prone to do - this story sucks you in right up until the heartwrenching final post.
"The meaning of family, alternative Thanksgivings and all," by Chris Jones, Esquire, Nov. 24
If you're going to read Chris Jones, of course don't skimp on the his longform (The Things That Carried Him, The Essential Man, etc.), but Jones' new Esquire blog, which muses on just about anything, already seems to have its own cult following. This blog first went viral with a moving post on people-watching and Thanksgiving.
• • •
Zach Schonbrun
Dan Barry's great story on the domino effect of the Gulf oil spill on fishermen
"A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web," by David Segal
"The Hangover: Roethlisberger," by Jack McCallum
"Pitcher Stephen Strasburg makes his major league debut for Washington Nationals," by Dave Sheinin
"Andy Reid's ordeals and triumphs," by Ashley Fox
-eddie
"Pitcher Stephen Strasburg makes his major league debut for Washington Nationals," by Dave Sheinin
"Andy Reid's ordeals and triumphs," by Ashley Fox
-eddie
