Good Morning!

Every week, we dive into the business of sports, media rights, and power plays behind the scenes. But once a year, we hit pause. This is that moment.

Welcome to the third annual Summer Reading List issue—a collection of timeless books and unforgettable magazine articles that have nothing to do with sports. No trend-chasing. No empty productivity hacks. Just great writing that holds up.

Whether you’re on a plane, a beach, or your back porch with a drink in hand, these are the reads worth your attention.

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📚 Book Recommendations

The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker

A landmark synthesis of psychology, philosophy, and cultural theory. Becker’s Pulitzer-winning meditation explores how our fear of death shapes human behavior—from art to war to love.

Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace

A masterclass in deep attention, cultural critique, and footnoted genius. Includes the famous essay questioning the ethics of boiling lobsters alive.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Raw, funny, and unfiltered. This memoir of a chef’s life changed food writing forever and captures the chaotic poetry of the restaurant world.

The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher

Elegant prose meets elemental appetite. Fisher’s collected works blend food, emotion, and culture into unforgettable essays.

Dispatches by Michael Herr

War reporting as literary fever dream. A visceral, poetic, and haunting portrait of the Vietnam War.

The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński

Decades of reporting from post-colonial Africa. A vivid, human account of revolutions and everyday resilience.

The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim

A Freudian analysis of fairy tales and how they reflect deep psychological truths. Provocative and insightful.

The Esquire Big Book of Great Writing

A rich anthology of literary journalism, featuring legends like Talese, Marche, and Richman. A must for lovers of the longform craft.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Wallace’s cruise ship essay is a modern classic, equal parts hilarious and claustrophobic. Includes meditations on tennis, state fairs, and literature.

The Peregrine by J.A. Baker

A haunting, transcendent diary of a man’s obsession with a wild falcon. Revered for its prose and intensity of observation.

📝 Timeless Magazine Articles

Frank Sinatra Has a Cold by Gay Talese — Esquire, 1966

The gold standard of profile writing—without ever quoting the subject. Talese captures Sinatra’s aura through the people around him.

Autobiographical Notes by James Baldwin — NYT Archive

We don’t really know how we found this. But it’s lovely, and you should read it. It’s about his life and connection to the act of writing.

The Really Big One by Kathryn Schulz — The New Yorker, 2015

A gripping scientific feature about the overdue megaquake that could devastate the Pacific Northwest.

The Falling Man by Tom Junod — Esquire, 2003

A haunting meditation on a single 9/11 photo and the ethics of looking. One of the most powerful pieces on national trauma.

Shipping Out by David Foster Wallace — Harper’s, 1996

A luxury cruise becomes a darkly comic meditation on dread, boredom, and American excess.

The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy by Michael Paterniti — Esquire, 2000

A deeply human, technically precise narrative of an aviation disaster. (Link may be broken; reply back to us and we’ll try to find this one).

What My Mom Told Me About America Before Roe by Molly Jong-Fast, 2022

Sharp, urgent personal narrative reflecting on reproductive rights in modern America.

American Hunger by Eli Saslow — The Washington Post, 2014

A Pulitzer-winning story of poverty and food insecurity in the U.S., told without pity or judgment.

Letting Go by Atul Gawande — The New Yorker, 2010

Explores palliative care and what it means to die well in the American healthcare system.