Atlantic’s list of “100 fantastic pieces of journalism” from 2014

Journalism-is-Orwell

The Atlantic’s Roughly 100 Fantastic Pieces of Journalism: Exceptional nonfiction stories from 2014, includes:

SALON / The Day I Left My Son in the Car by Kim Brooks (Kimi note: this is a truly blow-away article)
“I made a split-second decision to run into the store. I had no idea it would consume the next years of my life.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES / Working Anything but 9 to 5 by Jodi Kantor
“She rarely learned her schedule more than three days before the start of a workweek, plunging her into urgent logistical puzzles over who would watch the boy. Months after starting the job she moved out of her aunt’s home, in part because of mounting friction over the erratic schedule, which the aunt felt was also holding her family captive. Ms. Navarro’s degree was on indefinite pause because her shifting hours left her unable to commit to classes. She needed to work all she could, sometimes counting on dimes from the tip jar to make the bus fare home. If she dared ask for more stable hours, she feared, she would get fewer work hours over all.” read more

Writing tip: add visualization with just a few extra words

I came across a beautiful snippet of writing this morning. By adding several words about the woman who walks into the village carrying a tote, Shirley Rousseau Murphy transformed an abstract sentence into a visual treat replete with a subject who lays claim to habits, personality and wow – even a history. I’ve never so clearly experienced the power of the power of visualization, until now. From Cat Breaking Free (2005, p 66):

Maybe he’d wait until tomorrow, take the sensible route, lay low until Chichi walked into the village early, as she often did, carrying her big canvas tote. read more