Tuesday 3 August 2010

100 best magazine articles ever written

Ok, so this is something of a crap shoot, but I applaud the idea. The guys over at Cool Tools have started a list of what they think are the best articles ever written in English. It's overwhelmingly American, and they really, really like David Foster Wallace. But I respect that they have at least attempted, and invite suggestions.

Things I like about endeavours like this:

1) You don't have to read every single one; you can just read the ones that interest you, and know you are getting top quality writing.

2) No matter what you read, you will be reading very, very good writing.

3) You end up reading interesting articles on topics you wouldn't normally find interesting.

4) Many of the articles are worth reading for style alone, and not the content.

Have started making my way through the list, starting, naturally, with the top 7. Of note so far for me are 'Why the future doesn't need us' by Bill Joy, 'Consider the Lobster' by the above mentioned DFW, and 'Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?' by EJ Edward Jay Epstein (whole engagement ring, 'diamonds are forever' thing was created by ad agency N W Ayer).

If you enjoy it, please send your love their way.

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/the-best-magazi.php

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

http://essayist.tumblr.com/ has a great selection of classic articles, along with some interesting pieces from around the world you don't see on most lists... and this is a great tool for saving them in ebook format
http://www.instapaper.com

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