John Edgar Wideman’s deeply involving new book, Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File, is at turns beautiful, painful, and complicated. A plump excerpt can be found in the latest issue of Esquire. While you are at it, dive into our little gold mine of Wideman’s choice work for Esky.
Philip Caputo had a modest number of Esquire bylines (eight), but he sure did make them all count. Caputo wrote a handful of features that stand as a master’s class in immersive journalism and narrative storytelling. As a Marine who fought in Vietnam (and who wrote about it in the acclaimed memoir A Rumor of War) and a war correspondent who traveled the world, Caputo’s stalwart reporting is matched only by his storytelling ability and fine, unobtrusive style.
Before they became famous for writing Bonnie and Clyde, Robert Benton and David Newman collaborated for some of Esquire’s most irreverent send-ups, including the annual Dubious Achievement Awards. Benton was Esquire’s art director, Neman a young editor, but they clicked and their work remains punchy, sharp and fun.
Our appreciation of women has remained steadfast through the years, and the truth of it is, we couldn‘t stop loving them even if we tried. So dig into this collection of the bright, funny, sexy, and real women we love.
Esquire is famous for publishing fiction from literary royalty like Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Dos Passos, and Capote. They aren’t alone, of course, and as you bundle up against the winter chill, here’s a sampling of short stories from these masters to keep you warm.