In the magazine world, no recognition is more highly coveted or prestigious than a National Magazine Award. Annually, members of the American Society of Magazine Editors, in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, select the year's most dynamic, original, provocative, and influential magazine stories. The winning and finalist pieces in this anthology represent outstanding work by some of the most eminent writers in America as well as rising literary and journalistic talents.
This collection celebrates excellence in investigative reporting, features, profiles, criticism, and essays. The stories cover a variety of subjects from Elizabeth Kolbert's investigation into global warming and Mimi Swartz's look at tort reform in Texas to Chris Heath's remarkable profile of Merle Haggard and David Samuel's brilliant piece on how Yasir Arafat destroyed Palestine. Other writers include James Fallows, David Foster Wallace, Marjorie Williams, Hendrik Hertzberg, Joyce Carol Oates, Sven Birkerts, Alex Wilkinson, and Priscilla Long.
Wide-ranging in their style and subjects, these writers' stories inform, surprise, entertain, and provide new perspectives on our world. They also reflect elements that distinguish the best in magazine writing: moral passion, investigative zeal, vivid characters and settings, persistent reporting, and artful writing.
