Collect Love And Ruin: Tales Of Obsession, Danger, And Heartbreak From The Atavist Magazine Originated By Evan Ratliff Distributed As Volume

variety of different stories very interesting in different ways I got this from the library's Blind Date With a Book program, where you pick a book wrapped in brown paper with a vague description written on it, check it out, and then take it home to see what it is.


I liked it! As with most collections, I liked some bits more than others, but, on the whole, this was fun to read and informative and I didn't dislike any of it.
I'm glad I picked it up, All of these stories were really interesting and it was a great collection, I had never heard of The Atavist before this and now I definitely want to read more, I don't think there was a story in this collection that I wasn't invested in, I randomly ran across this book in the public library, I had never before heard of "The Atavist Magazine", but I was in a reading rut and needed to break out, I love the skilled writing in this book, termed "long form nonfiction", about an eclectic variety of subject matter, from a lonely whale to a move in the United States Congress, following Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, to import hippopotami as a meat source, to the memoir about a bipolar, but loving, mother.
I liked the book so much I wanted to subscribe to "The Atavist Magazine" but found it was online only, I usually prefer to have a hard copy in my hand but this book was such a treasure, I guess I will read the magazine online since I have no choice.
I do heartily recommend the anthology "Love and Ruin" edited by Evan Ratliff, It's different!
Some were five and some were three! I had trouble getting going after the first excellent story, that is but the latter half was a breeze.
I think Ive realized that I tend to like long form stuff like this that is about humans and what they do and feel.
And less so ones about a thing or a concept, Listen, were all learning and growing here, I checked this out of the library just before the beginning of summer, but had to put it aside until I finished my summer bookbingo because it didn't fit any category.
What a treasure! I can't believe my library let me renew it so many times, More people need to know about this collection of long form articles from the online magazine The Atavist,

I was attracted by the cover and title, but stayed for the stories, There wasn't a dud in the bunch, Have you heard ofHertz, the loneliest blue whale What about the plan to raise hippopotamuses in Louisiana to solve the meat shortage before the advent of factory farms Me neither, but now I do.
Extraordinary stories of crime, passion, and adventure from The Atavist magazine, the trailblazing leader in longform narrative writing,

Since its founding in, The Atavist has garnered an unprecedented eight National Magazine Award nominations and was the first alldigital publication to win in feature writing.
This collection presents the finest examples of a new kind of nonfiction storytelling as practiced by a young generation of longform experts.
The collection includes Leslie Jamisons landmark portrait of a lonely whale named “Blue,” Matthew Shaers harrowing account of a shipwreck during Hurricane Sandy, and James Verinis prizewinning tale of romance and courage in Afghanistan.


The fascinating and original writing in Love and Ruin demonstrates why The Atavist has become the leader in publishing “remarkable.
. . cant look away pieces of multimedia journalism” New York Times, This book is an anthology of articles that appeared in the online magazine “The Atavist, ” Id never heard of it before I picked up the book, but it turned out I was familiar with some of the editors other work: his podcast “Longform” in which he interviews journalists about their craft.
Most of the stories in the collection were about quirky tidbits in history, and two were personal family stories, but the biggest pageturner was of the true crime variety.
If you like slightly offbeat nonfiction, youll like this collection, And if you generally prefer fiction to nonfiction, you may want to try this anyway, The stories are so characterdriven, even the most diehard devotee of fiction will enjoy them,: The Search for the Loneliest Whale in the World

There is no way to find what we've been looking for, onlyperhapsto find what that thing has become.
Some great essays, and some I could have done without, Hm Inte riktigt min smak. . Contains some good pieces that made me interested in subjects I didn't think I would be, I love the genre which I've called Creative Nonfiction but the head editor makes a strong case for renaming 'magpie journalism' in her intro.
This is truly magpie in naturethere's something for every flavor of the genretrue crime, adventure, history, science and nature, travel, memoirthey're all in

here.


You will start with an old school adventure, weaving modern politics in Afghanistan with a history of the Victorian scholar/adventurer, then journey to the poetic meaning of theHz blue whale, an elegy to a withering leper colony in Hawaii, eavesdrop on the FBI and the bomber they're trying to catch, run into two lushly painful investigations of family and mothers, and survive the sinking of the tall ship Bounty, among others.
Each essay has a strong voice, prose so rich and evocative that it gives me new hope for the genre, and a strong presencethey have a story to tell and a shape to tell it in.
This is not a book to zoom througheach essay demands your attention and heart, and each needs breathing space to digest,

I had not, I confess, heard of Atavist before picking up this volume on a whim, at a visit to the Strand but needless to say, I am now a devotee.
I sincerely hope they release another volume, The absolute perfect read for nonfiction longread fans, The essays were almost all stellar and stayed with me and were almost all the perfect bedtime read length, and I know Ill be pushing this amp Atavist subscriptions on friends and library patrons for years to come.
LONGREADS FOREVER. LONG LIVE LONGREADS. Some great longform stories in here, including Leslie Jamison's "Blue," which is a gorgeous essay on metaphor, loneliness, and a whale, Overall, there were some others that felt a little more of a slog, ! won this book on Goodreads!
Never heard of The Atavist Magazine before I received this book, Now i check it out onlins all the time!
Journalism at its finest by gifted writes,Bookexplores the difference between obsession and curiosity, The true stories collected here were mostly mildly interesting, but the standout was AMERICAN HIPPOPOTAMUS by John Mooallem, Recommended only for those who enjoy history and long journalistic pieces, I won this book in a Goodreads contest, The stories were all interesting and well written,
The collection was a mix of all different types of genres so anyone would be able to enjoy a few of the stories no matter what they liked to read.
An exceptional collection of longform journalism/creative nonfiction/nonfiction narrative, Regardless of what you call it, if that's your thing, I highly recommend this book and Atavist Magazine, Interesting from start to finish, I won this in a contest and it was a good read, Thank you! Many of the writers involved in this book I admire and follow, so this was a disappointment, The last few stories saved the first few, I am unsure how they selected, but they need a better process because there are so many good longform stories out there.
. . and they selected maybe, at most, one or two of them for this book, If you followed my notes and status reports, you know I LOVED this book, I've been looking for something like this for a long time: highquality narrative nonfiction/longform journalism, I didn't realize, until I saw this book on the shelf at the library, that The Atavist magazine is just this sort of publication.


The book is a collection of pieces from The Atavist, richly varied and immersive, There was not an overarching theme here other than writers and journalists who like to dig in to their subjects or into history and I really liked that.
Each story was aboutpages long, and served as the perfect book to carry along with me on a long trip away from home.
Since each piece is truly standalone, I will offer my ratings and a few comments on each piece,

Love and Ruin, American expatriates in Afghanistan these people truly have a passion for the country, its people and its culture,

Bluestarsstars! My favorite of the book, The science and the culture of the very real whale who sings at a frequency that no other whale can hear, The blue whale, singing athertz is unable to communicate with fellow whales, . . and when this story was reported in scientific journals, what came next was truly amazing, A meditation on sound and being alone,

Fort of Young Saplings Unmemorable for me, . . Very short compared to the other stories,

American Hippopotamusstarsstars! Second favorite in the book, What a crazy ride through history filled with largerthanlife but all so real! characters, Really loved this one!

Mother, Stranger Sad story about the author's mother and her struggle with mental illness.


When We Are Called to Part A beautiful story about the remaining members of the leper colony on Moloka'i.


My Mother's Lover A man retraces and rediscovers the pilot who his mother fell in love with during WWII.
A very poignant look at love and the long shadow of history,

A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite This one had an interesting plot, but failed to grab me early on.
I skimmed it and skipped ahead, Other reviewers really liked it, so maybe it just wasn't the right time for me,

The Oilman's Daughter, Engaging read about a woman who discovers her birth father was a wealthy Texas oilman, It became tedious in the end with all the legal suits, etc,

Sinking of the Bounty, Reallife adventure story about the tall ship replica of thethcentury HMS Bounty that set sail and ran straight into Hurricane Sandy in.
Stories from the survivors and the Coast Guard rescue quite good to read,


This is such a special book and I highly recommend it! If any of these standalone pieces sound good to you, pick up the book OR you can read them all online.
Just search the title and The Atavist, Not all of these impeccably researched features were winners, but the ones that were blew me away, My favorites were The Sinking of the Bounty, When We Are Called To Part,Blue and the title piece, An anthology of quality narrative nonfiction originally published in The Atavist Magazine, Love and Ruin is a collection worth your time, money, and affection.
I've been following The Atavist for a while, so I was familiar with their work and had high expectations, I bought myself the book for my birthday, let it sit for a while, and finally read it from cover to cover.


Each piece is focused on something entirely different, The only common thread is that described in the title and subtitle: Love and Ruin: Tales of Obsession, Danger, and Heartbreak, Each story is broken up into short "chapters" that make this easy to pick up and put down between meetings, over lunch breaks, and while traveling.
The stories are distinct from each other in subject matter there's a story about the United States' last leper colony and one about a historic push to ranch hippopotamuses in the American Southwest hence, the hippo on the cover.
In some stories, the writer is an invisible observer, In others, he or she is part of the story,

I'm a big fan of narrative nonfiction, in general, because I enjoy stories more than data points and reading true stories feels like it has more utility than a collection of fiction though I enjoy that as well.
Love and Ruin certainly delivered on my expectations, Each story read smoothly. Rarely did I ever find myself rereading the same passage over and over again because I was confused or zoned out, The stories are gripping. Each one makes you sit back and wonder, Really This happened in real life

I intend to keep this on my shelf for a long time.
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