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The five best writers, period.

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Alma, Nov 16, 2015.

Page 4 of 8
  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Good one there. A lot of his stuff was gloriously out of place for ESPN.com, thumbing his nose at sports.
     
    playthrough, Nov 18, 2015
    #37
  2. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Even if that's your interpretation of MacGregor, it's a bad thing why?
     
    Songbird, Nov 18, 2015
    #38
  3. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    It's not a bad thing. ESPN didn't know what to do with MacGregor, who was way too literary for the middlebrow audience they target. Unlike Simmons, who still tries to appeal to 12-year-old wrestling fans bc he wisely knows that's where he earns his bread, some writers actually mature and try new things, which is what MacGregor is doing, to his credit.
     
    CD Boogie, Nov 18, 2015
    #39
    Songbird likes this.
  4. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Not a bad thing at all. It was often anti-establishment (I remember a piece where he trashed fantasy sports), which I thought added some sensibility to that site. But even while reading it you'd wonder how long it would last and how espn could sell this to their middlebrow audience as CD Boogie said. I'd be curious if his contract simply ran out or if there was more to it, like Jeff said "I can't do this anymore" or they said "this is too eclectic for us."
     
    playthrough, Nov 18, 2015
    #40
    Songbird likes this.
  5. JohnHammond

    JohnHammond Well-Known Member

    Sports
    1. Reilly
    2. Albom
    3. King
    4. Lupica
    5. Jenkins

    News
    1. Taibbi
    2. Pierce
    3. Hannan
    4. Schuman
    5. Krugman
     
    JohnHammond, Nov 18, 2015
    #41
    YankeeFan likes this.
  6. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    Contemporary writers, in no particular order:

    -Mark Bowden
    -Tom Wolfe
    -Tony Horwitz
    -Malcolm Gladwell
    -Charles Pierce

    I wish I could put Ebert on the list; his loss is still felt very deeply in the arts world.
    Wife of Fart and I always read aloud one of his reviews right after we watch a movie that predated his passing.
     
    3_Octave_Fart, Nov 18, 2015
    #42
    Big Circus and CD Boogie like this.
  7. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    Made my day that you referred to your better half as Wife of Fart. Awesome.
     
    CD Boogie, Nov 18, 2015
    #43
    3_Octave_Fart likes this.
  8. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    Much better half.

    Hate to leave out Coates, who is the James Baldwin of the age.
    Coates is only 40. He's going to be around a long time and best work is to come.
     
    3_Octave_Fart, Nov 18, 2015
    #44
  9. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    Lane DeGregory of the Tampa Bay Times. Has a great touch with a 40-inch feature or a 10-inch brite.

    Doyel, absolutely. Also Van Valkenburg. And Charlie Pierce.

    My all-time "goddamn, I wish I could write like that" byline, though, is Hunter S. Thompson. Not only for entertainment value, but just great technically also. He could put the twist into a recitation of facts in such a beautiful way.
     
    FileNotFound, Nov 18, 2015
    #45
  10. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    I'd put Pierce high on the totem too but only when he avoids the bells and whistles. He's devastating when he doesn't fuck around.

    He, HST, and Taibbi on politics.
     
    Songbird, Nov 18, 2015
    #46
  11. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    She is one of my absolute favs. I don't know that anyone does SHOW-don't-tell better than she does.

    This is one of my favorite features to appear in a newspaper in the last 10 years.

    Miss Teen America finds freedom, for a day
     
    Double Down, Nov 19, 2015
    #47
    Donny in his element, FileNotFound and YankeeFan like this.
  12. swingline

    swingline Well-Known Member

    Really good story, DD, but it leaves me wanting to know more about Eleana and her crazy mother.
     
    swingline, Nov 19, 2015
    #48
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