Longreads Best of 2012: Andrea Pitzer

Andrea Pitzer is the author of the forthcoming nonfiction book The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov.

安德里亚·皮策尔是即将出版的非小说类书籍《弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫秘史》的作者。

Best Innocence Story

最佳纯真故事

“The Innocent Man” (Pam Colloff, Texas Monthly)

“无辜的人”（帕姆·科洛夫，德克萨斯月刊）

What if you were convicted of murdering your wife, and you didn’t do it?

如果你因谋杀妻子而被定罪，但你并没有这么做怎么办？

What if, after decades in prison, you learned that the prosecution had held proof of your innocence but never let it see the light of day?

如果在入狱几十年后，您得知检方掌握了您无罪的证据，但从未将其公之于众，该怎么办？

Lone Star State treasure Pam Colloff once again uses restraint to powerful advantage as she indicts Texas justice.

孤星州宝藏帕姆·科洛夫（Pam Colloff）在起诉德克萨斯州司法时再次利用克制获得了强大优势。

The last time he had seen her was on the morning of August 13, 1986, the day after his thirty-second birthday.

他最后一次见到她是在1986年8月13日早上，也就是他三十二岁生日的第二天。

He had glanced at her as she lay in bed, asleep, before he left for work around five-thirty.

五点三十分左右他去上班之前，她躺在床上睡着了，他看了她一眼。

He returned home that afternoon to find the house cordoned off with yellow crime-scene tape.

那天下午他回到家，发现房子被黄色犯罪现场胶带封锁起来。

Six weeks later, he was arrested for her murder.

六周后，他因谋杀她而被捕。

He had no criminal record, no history of violence, and no obvious motive, but the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, failing to pursue other leads, had zeroed in on him from the start.

他没有犯罪记录，没有暴力史，也没有明显的动机，但威廉姆森县治安官办公室未能追查其他线索，从一开始就盯上了他。

Although no physical evidence tied him to the crime, he was charged with first-degree murder.

尽管没有物证证明他与犯罪有关，但他被指控犯有一级谋杀罪。

Prosecutors argued that he had become so enraged with Christine for not wanting to have sex with him on the night of his birthday that he had bludgeoned her to death.

检察官辩称，他对克里斯汀非常愤怒，因为他不想在生日那天晚上与他发生性关系，以至于他用棍棒将她打死。

When the guilty verdict was read, Michael’s legs buckled beneath him.

当宣读有罪判决时，迈克尔的双腿在他身下弯曲。

District attorney Ken Anderson told reporters afterward, “Life in prison is a lot better than he deserves.”

地方检察官肯·安德森事后告诉记者，“监狱里的生活比他应得的要好得多。”

Best Southern Gothic Nonfiction

最佳南方哥特式非小说类小说

“Vietnam vet’s 300-pound emotional support pet — a pig — divides Largo neighborhood” (Will Hobson, Tampa Bay Times)

“越南兽医的 300 磅重的情感支持宠物——一头猪——分裂了拉戈社区”（威尔·霍布森，《坦帕湾时报》）

In just over 1200 words, Will Hobson stages a community drama with all the comedy and horror of a Flannery O’Connor story.

威尔·霍布森在短短 1200 多字的时间内上演了一部社区戏剧，其中充满了弗兰纳里·奥康纳故事的喜剧和恐怖。

Meet Bernie Lodico and his neighbors.

认识伯尼·洛迪科和他的邻居。

You won’t forget them.

你不会忘记他们。

“It is our understanding that you have a pot belly pig living in your back yard,” wrote park manager Cliff Wicks on Sept.

公园经理克里夫·威克斯 (Cliff Wicks) 在 9 月 17 日写道：“据我们了解，你的后院里住着一头大腹便便的猪。”

26.

26.

“This is not allowed.

“这是不允许的。

Please place the pig somewhere else.”

请把猪放在别的地方。”

Lodico replied with a letter from a psychiatrist at James A.

洛迪科回复了詹姆斯·A·洛迪科 (James A.

Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa.

位于坦帕的海莉退伍军人医疗中心。

Lodico, 59, was a Marine who served in Vietnam.

59 岁的洛迪科是一名在越南服役的海军陆战队员。

The pig is his “emotional support animal,” the letter explained, a pet protected by federal law.

信中解释说，猪是他的“情感支持动物”，是受联邦法律保护的宠物。

Best Campaign Season Story

最佳竞选季故事

“Fear of a Black President” (Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic)

“对黑人总统的恐惧”（Ta-Nehisi Coates，《大西洋月刊》）

I can’t come up with another journalist whose insight and ability to think so motivate me to read his work.

我想不出第二位记者的洞察力和思考能力能够激励我阅读他的作品。

I know other Longreaders have picked and will pick this piece from two months before the election, but it really has to be included.

我知道其他长读者已经并将在选举前两个月挑选这篇文章，但它确实必须包括在内。

Part of Obama’s genius is a remarkable ability to soothe race consciousness among whites.

奥巴马的部分天才在于安抚白人种族意识的非凡能力。

Any black person who’s worked in the professional world is well acquainted with this trick.

任何在职业界工作过的黑人都熟悉这个技巧。

But never has it been practiced at such a high level, and never have its limits been so obviously exposed.

但它从来没有被实践到如此高的水平，也从来没有如此明显地暴露过它的局限性。

Best ‘The World Is Not Simple’ Story

最佳“世界并不简单”故事

“Everyone Is an Immigrant” (Eliza Griswold, Poetry)

“每个人都是移民”（伊丽莎·格里斯沃尔德，诗歌）

In the language of the poet and the conflict journalist that she is, Griswold ponders the business of refugees on the island of Lampedusa.

格里斯沃尔德用诗人和冲突记者的语言思考兰佩杜萨岛难民的处境。

Luciforo has been driving this bus for more than a year.

卢西福罗驾驶这辆巴士已经一年多了。

Before that, he worked for a Christian volunteer group called Misericordia.

在此之前，他曾在一个名为 Misericordia 的基督教志愿者组织工作。

Workers collected on the dock during refugee season.

难民季节期间，工人们聚集在码头上。

The name Misericordia is familiar.

Misericordia 这个名字很熟悉。

I realize I heard it last week when I was with fellow Civitella artists touring the Umbrian town of Sansepolcro.

我意识到上周我和其他奇维泰拉艺术家一起游览翁布里亚小镇圣塞波尔克罗时听到了这首歌。

There, in the famous Piero della Francesca triptych, a hooded man kneels at the base of the cross.

在著名的皮耶罗·德拉·弗朗西斯卡三联画中，一个戴兜帽的男人跪在十字架的底部。

He looks like a hangman, but in fact he’s a member of this group, Misericordia.

他看起来像一个刽子手，但实际上他是这个组织“Misericordia”的成员。

While they were doing charity work among the sick and dying, they wore black masks to protect against disease, and to protect their identity so they couldn’t be thanked.

当他们为病人和垂死者做慈善工作时，他们戴着黑色口罩来预防疾病，并保护自己的身份，以免别人感谢他们。

I imagine Luciforo in his yellow hazmat suit and a hood.

我想象路西福罗穿着黄色防护服，戴着兜帽。

“Luciforo, what have you seen that you can’t forget?” I ask.

“路西弗罗，你看到了什么让你无法忘记的事情？”我问。

“One night, I watched mothers throw their babies into the sea.

“一天晚上，我看到母亲们把她们的孩子扔进海里。

They popped up like corks,” he says.

它们像软木塞一样突然出现，”他说。

Best Story You Thought You Knew But Didn’t

你以为你知道但其实不知道的最佳故事

“Did This Man Really Cut Michael Jordan?” (Thomas Lake, Sports Illustrated)

“这个人真的砍了迈克尔·乔丹吗？” （托马斯·莱克，《体育画报》）

Everyone has heard the story of how Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team by coach Clifton “Pop” Herring.

每个人都听说过迈克尔·乔丹如何被教练克利夫顿·赫林从他的高中篮球队除名的故事。

But it turns out we didn’t know the story at all.

但事实证明我们根本不知道这个故事。

We pull up at the ramshackle house and step into a blinding afternoon, 97º, vibrating with the song of cicadas.

我们在摇摇欲坠的房子前停下来，踏入一个令人眼花缭乱的下午，97度，伴随着蝉鸣的声音。

Pop carries the pizza box in one hand and the bag of King Cobra and cigarettes in the other.

波波一手拿着披萨盒，另一只手拿着眼镜王蛇袋和香烟。

We walk toward the picnic table under the spreading oak, where several ragged men cool their heels in the fine gray sand.

我们走向橡树下的野餐桌，几个衣衫褴褛的男人在细小的灰色沙子里凉凉的脚后跟。

Collectively they are known as the Oak Tree Boys.

他们统称为“橡树男孩”。

They are here morning and night.

他们早晚都在这里。

Some are homeless.

有些人无家可归。

One has a wild shock of white hair and another is missing his middle lower teeth, so he seems to have fangs.

其中一个长着一头狂野的白发，另一个的中下牙缺失了，所以他似乎长着尖牙。

They have nowhere else to go.

他们无处可去。

Read more guest picks from Longreads Best of 2012

阅读 Longreads 2012 年度最佳嘉宾精选