1/13/20 - My Favorite Writing of the Decade

Hi! Welcome to what will likely be the most link-heavy installment of this newsletter. It took me some time to put my finger on this, and there’s still not necessarily a great name for it, but my “thing” is internet writing. Or, internet reading, as it were. Some people are movie buffs, bookworms, etc. - the media realm I love the most is just like, The Internet.

It’s because I’m curious (nosy); I always want to know about the buzziest article that everyone on twitter is dunking on. If those viral articles make up a mini-genre in the middle of the internet writing spectrum, let’s put weird/silly comedy writing on one end and serious journalism on the other. I have favorites at every point along the line, and I would love to share them with you. These are truly my babies, except for the fact that I played no part in creating them.

Humor Writing

As far as I’m concerned, the gold standard for online humor writing is The Best Restaurant in New York Is: The American Girl Café by Caity Weaver and Rich Juzwiak. I could (and probably will!) do an entire newsletter post on all of the subsequent Best Restaurant in New York follow ups.

Other hits by Caity Weaver include the time she ate endless mozzarella sticks at TGI Fridays and her interview with Justin Bieber for GQ

If you like Caity Weaver I think you’ll also like Kelly Conaboy! The first thing I read from her was the Vast Bay Leaf Conspiracy. This oral history of a crucial moment in sports is the exact kind of bizarrely niche reporting that I crave. But hands down the BEST thing she’s ever written (and MS Paint illustrated) is this investigation into how men enter bathtubs.

Humor writing would not be complete without a handful of links to The Toast.

Dramatically Bad Articles

Here’s two highly devour-able articles about men who made a lot of terrible decisions - one about renovating a house and one about buying a restaurant (both from Toronto Life, interestingly enough!) Lord, grant me the confidence of these two bozos.

I remember finding this couple who lives like Victorians truly insufferable when I read about them in 2015 but like, now I don’t know! In this modern hellscape, do what you need to do. Crank your mechanical clocks. Manually stock your icebox. Ride that silly bike. Nothing matters.

My favorite Wife Guy is Cliff Wife, who’s yours?

You can find more Dramatically Bad Articles in this thread, in the xojane It Happened to Me archives, and in every single Refinery 29 Money Diary.

Dramatically Good Articles

If reveling in the misfortune of others isn’t your jam, please enjoy this palate cleanser of a piece about Daniel Radcliffe learning how to be a fact checker for the New Yorker. It’s so simple and so lovely.

Like Caity Weaver and Kelly Conaboy, Jia Tolentino gets her own full paragraph. She’s the voice of this generation, or at least a voice of a generation. I think her writing is both accessible and challenging, and I find real guidance in it. See all of her work here. (I particularly recommend her review of one of my very favorite books, and this piece about Carly Rae Jepsen - both excellent examples of legends on legends.)

I’ll end with three links that you should only read if you’re in the right mood for them; they aren’t for everybody. But if you want an unsolved true crime mystery, an endless amount of reader-submitted “true” horror stories, and/or the most devastating article and follow up I’ve ever read in my life, please do click away.

If any of those make you cry in public, Monica Heisey can help you.

In hindsight, I should have structured this in reverse order and gone out on a lighter note! Re-read everything backwards and you’ll be all set. As always, let me know what you liked and what I missed! (Except Cat Person. Do not send me Cat Person.)

Love to you all,
Ali

P.S. There was no good place to fit this in, but obviously my ultimate goal in life is to write an I Think About This A Lot for The Cut. I think so much about so many things.