Longreads Best of 2012: Howard Riefs
Howard Riefs is a prolific Longreader and a communications consultant in Chicago.
霍华德·里夫斯 (Howard Riefs) 是一位多产的长篇读者，也是芝加哥的一名传播顾问。
Best Series
最佳系列
This Land, Dan Barry, The New York Times
《这片土地》，丹·巴里，《纽约时报》
“The dateline is Elyria, Ohio, a city of 55,000 about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland.
“日期界线是俄亥俄州的伊利里亚，这座拥有 55,000 人的城市，位于克利夫兰西南约 30 英里处。
You know this town, even if you have never been here.
即使您从未来过这里，您也了解这个小镇。
A place buffeted by time and the economy, a place where the expectations have been lowered, but not hopes for better days to come.
一个受到时间和经济冲击的地方，一个期望降低的地方，但不希望未来有更好的日子。
A place where politicians, in this election year, say the American dream is still possible.”
在这个选举年，政客们表示美国梦仍然是可能实现的。”
Best Profile
最佳简介
“We Are Alive,” David Remnick, The New Yorker
“我们还活着”，大卫·雷姆尼克，《纽约客》
“A bunch of songs later, after a run-through of the set-ending ‘Thunder Road,’ Springsteen hops off the stage, drapes a towel around his neck, and sits down in the folding chair next to me.
“唱完一堆歌曲后，在演完了片尾曲《雷霆之路》后，斯普林斯汀跳下舞台，在脖子上挂了一条毛巾，坐在我旁边的折叠椅上。
“ ‘The top of the show, see, is a kind of welcoming, and you are getting everyone comfortable and challenging them at the same time,’ he says.
“‘你看，演出的顶部是一种欢迎，你让每个人都感到舒适，同时也给他们带来了挑战，’他说。
‘You’re setting out your themes.
‘你正在设定你的主题。
You’re getting them comfortable, because, remember, people haven’t seen this band.
你让他们感到舒服，因为，记住，人们还没有见过这个乐队。
There are absences that are hanging there.
那里挂着缺席的情况。
That’s what we’re about right now, the communication between the living and the gone.
这就是我们现在要做的，生者与逝者之间的沟通。
Those currents even run through the dream world of pop music!’ ”
这些潮流甚至贯穿了流行音乐的梦想世界！’”
Best Collection of Stories From a Writer in 2012
2012年最佳作家故事集
Thomas Lake, Sports Illustrated
托马斯·莱克，《体育画报》
“The Boy They Couldn’t Kill”
“他们杀不了的男孩”
“On Feb.
“二月。
17, 2000, Rae Carruth’s attorney filed an answer to Saundra Adams in Mecklenburg District Court.
2000 年 12 月 17 日，雷·卡鲁斯 (Rae Carruth) 的律师向梅克伦堡地方法院提交了对桑德拉·亚当斯 (Saundra Adams) 的答复。
It was one of the more brazen counterclaims in the annals of U.S. jurisprudence: a demand for permanent custody of Chancellor Lee Adams.
这是美国法学史上最无耻的反诉之一：要求永久拘留总理李·亚当斯。
‘The Defendant,’ the filing read, ‘is a fit and proper person to exercise care, custody and control of the minor child and it is in the best interest and welfare of the minor child that his care, custody and control be vested with the Defendant at the conclusion of the Defendant’s legal proceedings.’
文件中写道，“被告是对未成年子女进行照顾、监护和控制的合适人选，在被告的法律诉讼结束时，将其照顾、监护和控制权归被告所有，这符合未成年子女的最大利益和福利。”
“No, it wasn’t enough that Saundra Adams had to spend 28 days watching her only child die.
“不，桑德拉·亚当斯不得不花 28 天看着她唯一的孩子死去，这还不够。
Had to watch her grandson spend the first six weeks of his life in a tangle of wires and machines.
不得不看着她的孙子在一堆电线和机器中度过了生命的前六周。
Had to become a single mother again at age 42.
42岁时不得不再次成为单亲母亲。
Had to hide from reporters day and night.
不得不日夜躲避记者。
Had to worry about more than $400,000 in medical bills that her descendants had racked up while fighting for their lives.
不得不担心她的后代在为生命而奋斗时积累的超过40万美元的医疗费用。
None of that was enough.
这些都还不够。
Now she would have to draw from the little time and energy and money she had left and fight to keep the sole remaining heir to the Adams name away from the man who had wanted him dead.”
现在，她必须利用所剩无几的时间、精力和金钱，努力让亚当斯家族唯一的继承人远离那个想要杀死他的人。”
“The Legacy Of Wes Leonard”
“韦斯·伦纳德的遗产”
“After the autopsy, when the doctor found white blossoms of scar tissue on Wes Leonard’s heart, he guessed they had been secretly building there for several months.
尸检后，当医生在韦斯·伦纳德的心脏上发现白色的疤痕组织花朵时，他猜测这些疤痕组织已经在那里秘密建造了几个月。
That would mean Wes’s heart was slowly breaking throughout the Fennville Blackhawks’ 2010—11 regular season, when he led them in scoring and the team won 20 games without a loss.
这意味着韦斯的心在芬维尔黑鹰队的 2010-11 赛季常规赛中慢慢破碎，当时他在得分上领先球队，球队赢得了 20 场比赛不败。
It would mean his heart was already moving toward electrical meltdown in December, when he scored 26 on Decatur with that big left shoulder clearing a path to the hoop.
这意味着他的心已经快要崩溃了，12月份他在迪凯特拿下26分，宽大的左肩为篮下扫清了道路。
It would mean his heart swelled and weakened all through January (25 against Hopkins, 33 against Martin) even as it pumped enough blood to fill at least 10 swimming pools.”
这意味着他的心脏在整个一月份都会肿胀和虚弱（对阵霍普金斯25，对阵马丁33），尽管它泵出的血液足以填满至少10个游泳池。”
“Did This Man Really Cut Michael Jordan?”
“这个人真的砍了迈克尔·乔丹吗？”
“The most infamous roster decision in high school basketball history came down 33 years ago on the edge of tobacco country, between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, in an old town full of white wooden rocking chairs.
“高中篮球历史上最臭名昭著的阵容决定发生在 33 年前，地点是烟草之乡的边缘，开普菲尔河和大西洋之间，一座布满白色木制摇椅的老城区。
The decision took physical form in two handwritten lists on a gymnasium door, simultaneously beautiful for the names they carried and crushing for the names they did not.
这一决定以实物形式体现在体育馆门上的两份手写清单上，同时，它们所带有的名字很漂亮，而那些没有的名字则令人心碎。
A parade of fragile teenage boys passed by, stopping to read the lists, studying them like inscriptions in stone.
一群脆弱的十几岁男孩走过，停下来阅读清单，像刻在石头上的铭文一样研究它们。
Imagine these boys in the time of their sorting, their personal value distilled to a binary question, yes or no, and they breathe deeply, unseen storms gathering behind their ribs, below their hearts, in the hollows of fear and exhilaration.
想象一下这些男孩在分类时，他们的个人价值被提炼成一个二元问题，是或否，他们深呼吸，看不见的风暴在他们的肋骨后面、在他们的心下面、在恐惧和兴奋的空洞中聚集。
“The chief decision-maker loved those boys, which made his choice all the harder.
“主要决策者喜欢这些男孩，这让他的选择变得更加困难。
He gave them his time seven days a week, whether they needed shooting practice at six in the morning or a slice of his wife’s sweet-potato pie.
他每周 7 天都给他们时间，无论他们是需要早上六点进行投篮练习，还是吃他妻子做的一块红薯馅饼。
His house was their house and his old green Ford Maverick was their car and his daughter was their baby sister, and he liked the arrangement.
他的房子是他们的房子，他的旧绿色福特小牛是他们的汽车，他的女儿是他们的小妹妹，他喜欢这样的安排。
He was tall and slender, like the longleaf pines that covered Cape Fear, and when he smiled in pictures, his dark eyes were narrow, hazy, as if he’d just awakened from a pleasant dream.
他身材高大，修长，就像覆盖恐惧角的长叶松，照片中他微笑时，漆黑的眼睛眯着，朦胧，仿佛刚刚从美梦中醒来。
His nickname, Pop, evoked some withered old patriarch, but Clifton Herring was only 26, one of the youngest varsity coaches in North Carolina, more older brother than father to his boys, still a better player than most of them.
他的绰号“波普”让人想起一些枯萎的老族长，但克利夫顿赫林只有 26 岁，是北卡罗来纳州最年轻的校队教练之一，对他的孩子们来说，更像是哥哥而不是父亲，但仍然是比他们中的大多数人更好的球员。
They’d never seen a shooter so pure.
他们从未见过如此纯粹的射手。
One day during practice he made 78 straight free throws.”
有一天，在训练中他连续罚球 78 次。”
Best Election Story
最佳选举故事
“Obama’s Way,” Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair
《奥巴马的方式》，迈克尔·刘易斯，《名利场》
There are no wide-open spaces in presidential life, only nooks and crannies, and the front of Air Force One is one of them.
总统生活中没有开阔的空间，只有角落和缝隙，空军一号的前部就是其中之一。
When he’s on his plane, small gaps of time sometimes open in his schedule, and there are fewer people around to leap in and consume them.
当他在飞机上时，他的日程安排中有时会出现一些小间隙，而周围可以参与其中的人也越来越少。
In this case, Obama had just found himself with 30 free minutes.
In this case, Obama had just found himself with 30 free minutes.
“What you got for me?” He asked and plopped down in the chair beside his desk.
“你给我带来了什么？”他问道，然后一屁股坐在办公桌旁边的椅子上。
His desk is designed to tilt down when the plane is on the ground so that it might be perfectly flat when the plane is nose up, in flight.
His desk is designed to tilt down when the plane is on the ground so that it might be perfectly flat when the plane is nose up, in flight.
It was now perfectly flat.
现在它已经完全平坦了。
“I want to play that game again,” I said.
“我想再玩一次这个游戏，”我说。
“Assume that in 30 minutes you will stop being president.
“假设 30 分钟后你将不再担任总统。
I will take your place.
我会代替你的位置。
Prepare me.
让我做好准备。
Teach me how to be president.”
教我如何当总统。”
Best New Writer Discovery
最佳新人发现作家
“The Most Amazing Bowling Story Ever,” Michael J.
“有史以来最精彩的保龄球故事”，Michael J.
Mooney, D Magazine
穆尼，D 杂志
“Most people think perfection in bowling is a 300 game, but it isn’t.
“Most people think perfection in bowling is a 300 game, but it isn’t.
Any reasonably good recreational bowler can get lucky one night and roll 12 consecutive strikes.
Any reasonably good recreational bowler can get lucky one night and roll 12 consecutive strikes.
If you count all the bowling alleys all over America, somebody somewhere bowls a 300 every night.
If you count all the bowling alleys all over America, somebody somewhere bowls a 300 every night.
But only a human robot can roll three 300s in a row—36 straight strikes—for what’s called a ‘perfect series.’ More than 95 million Americans go bowling, but, according to the United States Bowling Congress, there have been only 21 certified 900s since anyone started keeping track.
但只有人类机器人才能连续投出 300 球（36 次连续击中），形成所谓的“完美系列赛”。超过 9500 万美国人打保龄球，但根据美国保龄球大会的数据，自从有人开始追踪以来，只有 21 个经过认证的 900 球。
“Bill Fong’s run at perfection started as most of his nights do, with practice at around 5:30 pm.
“Bill Fong’s run at perfection started as most of his nights do, with practice at around 5:30 pm.
He bowls in four active leagues and he rolls at least 20 games a week, every week.
他在四个活跃的联赛中打保龄球，每周至少打 20 场比赛。
That night, January 18, 2010, he wanted to focus on his timing.”
That night, January 18, 2010, he wanted to focus on his timing.”
Best Business Story
最佳商业故事
“How Companies Learn Your Secrets,” Charles Duhigg, New York Times Magazine
“How Companies Learn Your Secrets,” Charles Duhigg, New York Times Magazine
“There are, however, some brief periods in a person’s life when old routines fall apart and buying habits are suddenly in flux.
“There are, however, some brief periods in a person’s life when old routines fall apart and buying habits are suddenly in flux.
One of those moments — the moment, really — is right around the birth of a child, when parents are exhausted and overwhelmed and their shopping patterns and brand loyalties are up for grabs.
其中一个时刻——实际上是在孩子出生前后，父母们疲惫不堪、不知所措，他们的购物模式和品牌忠诚度都面临着争夺。
But as Target’s marketers explained to Pole, timing is everything.
But as Target’s marketers explained to Pole, timing is everything.
Because birth records are usually public, the moment a couple have a new baby, they are almost instantaneously barraged with offers and incentives and advertisements from all sorts of companies.
由于出生记录通常是公开的，因此当一对夫妇有了新生儿的那一刻，他们几乎立即就会收到来自各种公司的优惠、激励和广告。
Which means that the key is to reach them earlier, before any other retailers know a baby is on the way.
这意味着关键是要在其他零售商知道婴儿即将出生之前尽早联系他们。
Specifically, the marketers said they wanted to send specially designed ads to women in their second trimester, which is when most expectant mothers begin buying all sorts of new things, like prenatal vitamins and maternity clothing.
具体来说，营销人员表示，他们希望向处于妊娠中期的女性发送专门设计的广告，此时大多数准妈妈开始购买各种新东西，例如产前维生素和孕妇装。
‘Can you give us a list?’ the marketers asked.”
‘Can you give us a list?’ the marketers asked.”
Best Obligatory Stories from David Grann and Chris Jones
Best Obligatory Stories from David Grann and Chris Jones
“The Yankee Comandante,” David Grann, The New Yorker
“The Yankee Comandante,” David Grann, The New Yorker
“One day in the spring of 1958, while Morgan was visiting a guerrilla camp for a meeting of the Second Front’s chiefs of staff, he encountered a rebel he had never seen before: small and slender, with a face shielded by a cap.
1958年春天的一天，摩根在参观游击队营地参加第二方面军参谋长会议时，遇到了一个他以前从未见过的叛乱分子：身材矮小、苗条，脸上戴着帽子。
Only up close was it evident that the rebel was a woman.
Only up close was it evident that the rebel was a woman.
She was in her early twenties, with dark eyes and tawny skin, and, to conceal her identity, she had cut her curly light-brown hair short and dyed it black.
她二十岁出头，深色的眼睛和茶色的皮肤，为了隐藏自己的身份，她把一头浅棕色的卷发剪短了，染成了黑色。
Though she had a delicate beauty, she locked and loaded a gun with the ease of a bank robber.
虽然她有着精致的美貌，但她却像银行劫匪一样轻松地锁枪上膛。
Morgan later said of a pistol that she carried, ‘She knows how to use it.’
摩根后来谈到她携带的手枪时说，“她知道如何使用它。”
“Her name was Olga Rodríguez.”
“她的名字叫奥尔加·罗德里格斯。”
“Animals,” Chris Jones, Esquire
《动物》，克里斯·琼斯，《时尚先生》
“(Sargent Steve) Blake was parked near downtown Zanesville, sipping his coffee, when his radio crackled shortly after five o’clock, two hours into just another shift.
“（史蒂夫·萨金特）布莱克把车停在曾斯维尔市中心附近，喝着咖啡，五点过后不久，他的收音机突然响了，距离另一个轮班还有两个小时。
‘I had no idea that was going to be one of the worst calls of my life,’ he says.
“我不知道这将是我一生中最糟糕的电话之一，”他说。
He flicked on his lights and sirens.
他打开了灯和警报器。
Maybe ten minutes after five he was at the start of Thompson’s driveway, where the fence narrowed into a pipe gate, still locked in place.
Maybe ten minutes after five he was at the start of Thompson’s driveway, where the fence narrowed into a pipe gate, still locked in place.
Deputy Jonathan Merry, an open-faced twenty-five-year-old, arrived only a minute or two after him.
Deputy Jonathan Merry, an open-faced twenty-five-year-old, arrived only a minute or two after him.
They stood at the bottom of the driveway and saw the bear, now circling down by the gate.
他们站在车道尽头，看到那只熊正在门口盘旋。
The lion was farther up and to their right.
狮子在他们右边更远的地方。
Blake told Merry to go to the Kopchak house, the second house down the road, and take a statement from Dolores Kopchak.
布莱克让梅里去科普切克的房子，即沿路的第二栋房子，并听取多洛雷斯·科普切克的陈述。
She might help them form a clearer picture of what they now faced, and clarity was important in a situation like this.
她可能会帮助他们更清楚地了解自己现在面临的情况，而在这种情况下，清晰的认识很重要。
He also told Merry that if the bear or the lion pushed its way through the fence, he should shoot it.
He also told Merry that if the bear or the lion pushed its way through the fence, he should shoot it.
“Sam Kopchak could see across to the bottom of the driveway from the little window in the door to his tack room, tucked away in a corner of his barn.
萨姆·科普切克（Sam Kopchak）可以从门上的小窗户看到车道的底部，一直到他的马具室，马具室藏在谷仓的一角。
He saw the officers talking to each other and thought, They’re going to need more than two.”
他看到警察们互相交谈，心想，他们需要两个以上的人。”
Best Food Story
最佳美食故事
“Chicken of the trees,” Mike Sula, Chicago Reader
“树上的鸡”，迈克·苏拉，《芝加哥读者》
“ ‘The favor of your company is requested,’ read the invitation, ‘for the most local of harvest meals.’ I sent this to a healthy mix of 30 eaters both adventurous and particular, and set a date.
“‘请贵公司帮忙，’请柬上写着，‘请享用最当地的收获餐。’我把这道菜发给了 30 名喜欢冒险又特别的食客，并设定了日期。
On the menu: juleps made with the mint growing from my compost pile, coconut curry simmered with the mysterious squash that had taken over the backyard, dinosaur kale, cornbread, and the main event: a thick burgoo, featuring ‘heirloom tomato, tree nut, and alley-fattened wild caught game.’
菜单上有：用我的堆肥堆里长出的薄荷制成的冰镇酒、用占据后院的神秘南瓜炖的椰子咖喱、恐龙羽衣甘蓝、玉米面包，还有重头戏：浓浓的布尔古，特色是“传家宝番茄、树坚果和巷子里肥肥的野生捕获的野味”。
“I didn’t expect nearly all of the invitees to accept, but evidently curiosity about urban squirrel’s viability as a protein source isn’t merely a weird, solitary obsession.
“我没想到几乎所有的受邀者都会接受，但显然对城市松鼠作为蛋白质来源的可行性的好奇不仅仅是一种奇怪的、孤独的痴迷。
A few days before the event I defrosted and cut up the legs and saddles, seared them off in a pot, and deglazed it with Madeira, a la James Beard.
活动前几天，我解冻并切碎了腿和马鞍，将它们放入锅中烘烤，然后用詹姆斯比尔德的马德拉酒给它去釉。
I sauteed diced bacon, onions, and garlic, added homemade chicken stock and the squirrel pieces, and braised them slowly.”
我炒了培根丁、洋葱和大蒜，加入自制鸡汤和松鼠片，慢慢炖。”
Best Stunt Story
最佳特技故事
“What Happens When A 35-Year-Old Man Retakes The SAT?” Drew Magary, Deadspin
“当一个 35 岁的男人重新参加 SAT 考试时会发生什么？”德鲁·马加里《Deadspin》
“Many times, I had to skip a question because I couldn’t figure out the answer, and then I got that paranoia that’s unique to someone taking a standardized test.
“很多时候，我不得不跳过一个问题，因为我无法找出答案，然后我就会产生一种偏执，这是参加标准化考试的人所特有的。
I became fearful that I had failed to skip over the question on my answer sheet.
我开始担心自己没有跳过答卷上的问题。
So every five seconds, I’d double-check my sheet to make sure I didn’t fill out my answers in the wrong slots.
因此，每隔五秒钟，我就会仔细检查一下我的表格，以确保我没有在错误的位置填写答案。
One time I did this, and so I had to erase the answers and move them all forward.
有一次我这样做了，所以我不得不删除答案并将它们全部向前推进。
Only I had a shitty eraser, which failed to erase my mark and instead smeared the mark all over the rest of my sheet.”
只是我有一个劣质的橡皮擦，它没能擦掉我的标记，反而把标记弄脏了我的床单的其余部分。”