Publications
I
began my career as a journalist, writing long-form news features, profiles and think pieces for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated, among many other publications. I wrote the book Slaphappy; and for many years was a newspaper reporter and columnist, writing hundreds of articles for the (Raleigh) News & Observer, the (New York) Daily News and The Austin Chronicle.
Books and book chapters
Slaphappy: Pride, Prejudice and Professional Wrestling (ethnography, reportage and critical theory; Ecco/HarperCollins), 2006
Passion Play: Play, Free Will and the Sublime, The Philosophy of Play (Routledge),2012
True Tales of Crime and Rascality, Books: The Essential Insider’s Guide, 2009
Selected articles
Man of the House of Happiness, Southern Cultures, 2013
The Masters Presents a Phony, Sanitized South, Salon, 2013
The Racism of “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” The New Republic, 2013
Game of Love, Sports Illustrated, 2007
Speed Demon, The New York Times Magazine, 2000
The Execution of Barry Winchell: The Real Story Behind the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Murder (nominated by the magazine for the National Magazine Award in Feature Writing), Rolling Stone, 2000
Bringing the Law to Life, Ford Foundation Report, 2000
Dead in the Water, The New York Times Magazine, 1999
Risking the Future of Our Cities (cover story), Ford Foundation Report, 1999
Media Circus, Salon, 1997
Kingdom Come (nominated by the magazine for the National Magazine Award in Feature Writing), Wigwag, 1990
Notes and Comment (editorial essay), The New Yorker, 1991
Fire (Reporter at Large), The New Yorker, 1989
Tumalo (The Talk of the Town), The New Yorker, 1988