From comments made by Russian chess officials in July, following an incident at the Moscow Open in which a chess-playing robot broke the finger of its seven-year-old competitor. Translated from… ...

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Paul is Lily’s gay best friend and closest romantic confidant. Grating portmanteaus are a crucial part of their relationship. “Dickmatized?” I pronounce the word wrong so she knows I hate it. “That’s ...

I can’t name the seven major types of plastic, but I’m pretty sure I’ve thrown them all away. Crumpled them up, peeled them off the bottom of my shoe, chucked them like basketballs after saying, “For ...

From I’m Always Looking Up and You’re Jumping, which will be published next year by Random House.

From the Archive Timeless stories from our 175-year archive handpicked to speak to the news of the day.

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Before going up Millstone Hill the crowd waited in a field for darkness to fall. As the long summer day trailed on, they twirled colored ribbons and tossed devil sticks in the air, a jam band played, ...

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The case of the vanishing movie involving a murder, a forty-year drug sentence, Liz Taylor's repossessed fur coat, and possible skulduggery at the highest levels. The author of a satirical fantasy ...

From the Archive Timeless stories from our 175-year archive handpicked to speak to the news of the day.

This article is only available as a PDF to subscribers.