In the Arms of Il Divo
Taking your mom to see male opera singers belt out contemporary pop may not sound all that appealing. But did we mention that they’re totally hot? An evening watching the boy band for baby boomers.
personalessays
A collection of 230 issues
I'm Your Biggest Fan
There are many reasons to pepper a celebrity with fan mail: admiration, a sense of kinship, obsession, even boredom. Any are acceptable and all are believable—until you try to explain your motives to others.
I Am Not Your Average Family
When cleaning out your refrigerator, you may encounter a number of unexpected items at the back. But please note: It would be wise to leave unopened the jar labeled “catharsis.”
Bra Mitzvah: Becoming a Man Through Lingerie
Those afraid of flying get on a plane to somewhere, while acrophobes take elevators to the tops of skyscrapers. Confronting your deepest fear with a journey through a Parisian lingerie shop.
Holiday Travel Hell
It's a toss-up for what's worse about Thanksgiving: visiting the family homestead, or simply getting there. Our travel stories.
Sharing Smokes With the Holy Spirit
Bumping into an acquaintance can change your day in profound ways. This is especially true when your friend has recently died, ascended to heaven, and been reborn as a vagrant.
The Green Ghost of Sleepy Hollow
The Kinderhook area of New York is famously haunted. Though is it only by our own thoughts, or from something altogether different? Memories of home turn up the family spirits.
Do Right Man
When you find someone who can cut your hair right, get engaged. Otherwise they’ll eventually leave, and you’ll have to find someone new. Someone who, in our author’s case, would love to see you with a high-top fade.
Notes From the Storm
After a week of decisions, heartbreak, and travel, the lives of many exiled New Orleans families have been altered forever. A firsthand account of one family’s seven days of evacuation.
Our Faded Summers
It may be something in the sunscreen, but funny things happen during summer: dehydration, Lyme disease, brief romantic flings. Collected writings of love lost and won (but mostly lost).