Longreads Best of 2016: Essays & Criticism

We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories.

我们请几位作家和编辑在不同类别中选择一些他们今年最喜欢的故事。

Here, the best in essays and criticism.

这里有最好的论文和批评。

* * *

** **

Kiese LaymonA Professor of English and Creative Writing at University of Mississippi, and author of forthcoming memoir, Heavy.

Kiese Laymon 密西西比大学英语和创意写作教授，即将出版的回忆录《Heavy》的作者。

## Chicago State of Mind (Derrick Harriell, LA Review of Books)

## 芝加哥心态（Derrick Harriell，洛杉矶书评）

Derrick Harriell wrote a piece on Chicago State that challenged my understanding of what’s possible with form and content in the long lyric essay.

德里克·哈里尔（Derrick Harriell）写了一篇关于芝加哥州的文章，挑战了我对这篇长抒情文章的形式和内容的可能性的理解。

The piece narrativizes educational place and the journey of learning in a beautiful black place that’s trying to survive.

这部作品讲述了教育场所和在一个美丽的黑人地方试图生存的学习之旅。

Mira PtacinWriter whose work has appeared in NPR, New York Magazine, Guernica, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Tin House, The Rumpus, and more.

Mira PtacinWriter，其作品曾出现在 NPR、New York Magazine、Guernica、McSweeney’s Internet Tendency、Tin House、The Rumpus 等媒体上。

Author of the memoir Poor Your Soul, and teacher of memoir to women at the Maine Correctional Center.

回忆录《可怜的灵魂》的作者，也是缅因州惩教中心女性回忆录的教师。

## On Domestic Disobedience (A.N.

## 关于家庭不服从 (A.N.

Devers, The New Republic)

德弗斯，《新共和》）

I nominate this sharp-eyed and insightful piece not only because it brilliantly gave us a taste of Claire-Louise Bennett’s collection, but it gives it its proper place in the family tree of nature-writers by blowing “nature-dude” writing out of the water.

我提名这篇目光敏锐、富有洞察力的作品，不仅因为它出色地让我们领略了克莱尔·路易丝·贝内特的作品集，而且通过将“自然花花公子”的写作从水中吹出来，它在自然作家的家谱中占据了适当的位置。

Devers shows readers how important and triumphantly Bennett’s penmanship is, even in its simplicity: how even writing about the goings-on in the microcosm of a kitchen can dip into great depths to the mind and soul.

德弗斯向读者展示了贝内特的书法是多么重要和成功，即使它很简单：即使是写厨房微观世界中发生的事情也可以深入思想和灵魂。

Tobias CarrollFreelance writer, managing editor of Vol.1 Brooklyn, and author of the books Reel and Transitory.

托拜厄斯·卡罗尔（Tobias Carroll）自由作家、《布鲁克林》第一卷的总编辑以及《Reel》和《Transitory》两书的作者。

## Advanced Search (Franceska Rouzard, Real Life Magazine)

## 高级搜索（Franceska Rouzard，现实生活杂志）

The right essay can turn an object or memory that I’d previously found mundane into the stuff of gripping narrative.

正确的文章可以将我以前认为平凡的物体或记忆变成扣人心弦的叙述。

Such is the case here, as Rouzard’s essay opens with descriptions of AOL dial-up in the mid-1990s before segueing into a capsule history of social media, and then extending into broader questions of identity and the sacred.

这里的情况就是如此，鲁扎德的文章首先描述了 20 世纪 90 年代中期的 AOL 拨号，然后进入社交媒体的简要历史，然后延伸到更广泛的身份和神圣问题。

It neatly parallels its author’s life with broader societal questions, keeping the two in perfect balance, and leaving me with a greater sense of both–I can’t ask a great essay to do more than that.

它巧妙地将作者的生活与更广泛的社会问题联系起来，使两者保持完美的平衡，让我对两者都有更深刻的认识——我不能要求一篇伟大的文章能做更多的事情。

Sara BenincasaScreenwriter, comedian, and writer, whose books include Agorafabulous, Great, DC Trip, and Real Artists Have Day Jobs.

萨拉·贝宁卡萨 (Sara Benincasa) 编剧、喜剧演员和作家，著作包括《Agorafabulous》、《Great》、《DC Trip》和《Real Artists Have Day Jobs》。

## Southern Fried Pride: What Hattiesburg’s First Pride Means in the Deep South (Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Medium)

## 南方油炸骄傲：哈蒂斯堡的第一个骄傲在南方腹地意味着什么（茉莉花海滩-费拉拉，Medium）

The Reverend Jasmine Beach-Ferrara of the United Church of Christ is a wife, a mother, a lesbian, a former college professor (I took her class at Warren Wilson College), and the executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality.

基督联合教会的茉莉花比奇-费拉拉牧师是一位妻子、一位母亲、一位女同性恋者、一位前大学教授（我在沃伦威尔逊学院上过她的课），以及南方平等运动的执行董事。

In this piece, Jasmine takes a road trip across the Deep South to visit Hattiesburg, Mississippi on the occasion of its very first Pride parade.

在这篇文章中，贾斯敏踏上公路之旅，穿越南方腹地，前往密西西比州哈蒂斯堡，庆祝首次骄傲游行。

People like Jasmine do the work that all Americans need, whether they accept it or not.

像茉莉花这样的人所做的工作是所有美国人都需要的，无论他们是否接受。

In her peaceful, dignified but impassioned manner, she fights for equality for all Americans.

她以平和、庄严但充满激情的方式为所有美国人争取平等。

That she happens to be a damn fine storyteller is just icing on the deep-fried cake.

她碰巧是一个非常擅长讲故事的人，这只是锦上添花。

## More Than Coffee: New York’s Vanishing Diner Culture (George Blecher, The New York Times)

## 不仅仅是咖啡：纽约正在消失的餐饮文化（乔治·布莱彻，《纽约时报》）

George Blecher paints a wonderful portrait of the diner he loves the most.

乔治·布莱彻为他最喜欢的餐馆描绘了一幅精彩的肖像。

He also gives a great bit of history about the rise of the diner in New York City.

他还讲述了纽约市餐馆兴起的大量历史。

I grew up in New Jersey, which has its own brilliant and thriving diner culture but I lived in New York for many years.

我在新泽西州长大，那里有自己辉煌而繁荣的餐饮文化，但我在纽约生活了很多年。

The old diner joints there are just as important as George says.

正如乔治所说，那里的老餐馆同样重要。

Here in my newer home in Los Angeles, a city I love, I’ve got a few diners I can depend on: in Silverlake, Sunset Junction Coffee Shop; in Los Feliz, House of Pies; and more scattered around town.

在我位于洛杉矶这个我热爱的城市的新家中，我有一些可以信赖的食客：在 Silverlake 的 Sunset Junction Coffee Shop；在 Silverlake 的 Sunset Junction Coffee Shop；在 Silverlake 的 Sunset Junction Coffee Shop；洛斯费利斯 (Los Feliz) 的 House of Pies；并且更多地分散在城镇周围。

And in Manhattan, at 100th and Broadway, George has the Metro – for now.

在曼哈顿，100 街和百老汇交汇处，乔治拥有地铁——目前是这样。

Emily GouldHalf of the Coffee House Press imprint and e-bookstore Emily Books, and the author, most recently, of the novel Friendship.

Emily GouldHalf 是 Coffee House Press 出版社和 Emily Books 电子书店的作者，也是小说《友谊》的作者。

## H.: On Heroin and Harm Reduction (Sarah Resnick, n+1)

## H.：论海洛因和减少危害（莎拉·雷斯尼克，n+1）

This year I started teaching writing workshop classes for the first time, and a lot of students want to learn how to do exactly what Sarah Resnick does here–and so do I!

今年，我第一次开始教授写作研讨会课程，很多学生都想学习如何准确地完成莎拉·雷斯尼克在这里所做的事情——我也是！

Addressed to a relative with a longstanding heroin habit, as well as a host of other problems, Resnick’s essay goes down several different paths, ultimately illuminating a lot of what’s circuitous and maddening about addiction and recovery as they’re currently understood in America, and how harm reduction programs work.

雷斯尼克的文章是写给一位长期吸食海洛因并存在许多其他问题的亲戚的，他的文章走了几条不同的路，最终阐明了美国目前对成瘾和康复的许多迂回和疯狂的理解，以及减少伤害计划的运作方式。

The essay’s idiosyncratic, personal approach makes it more convincing than a straightforward argument for a new understanding of addiction could be.

这篇文章独特的、个人化的方法使其比直接论证对成瘾的新理解更有说服力。

Reading it is memorable the way an experience is.

阅读它就像一次经历一样令人难忘。

## Perhaps Having Kids Saves You From Mourning the Person you Might Have Been (Laura Hazard Owen, Medium and tinyletter)

## 也许有了孩子可以让你免于哀悼你可能成为的人（劳拉·哈扎德·欧文，Medium andtinyletter）

Owen publishes her essays about parenthood via newsletter as well as on Medium.

欧文通过时事通讯和 Medium 发表了有关为人父母的文章。

She’s a journalist with expertise in publishing, tech and the business of journalism, and she brings the same kind of skepticism about received wisdom and eye for detail to her observations about children and parenting culture as she does to her other work.

她是一名在出版、科技和新闻业方面拥有专业知识的记者，她对儿童和育儿文化的观察和其他工作一样，对公认的智慧和对细节的关注持怀疑态度。

In this one, she takes on the hardest question of all — whether having children could be a mistake, whether parents can allow themselves to think it might have been.

在这一篇中，她回答了最难的问题——生孩子是否可能是一个错误，父母是否可以允许自己认为这可能是一个错误。

She writes about ambition so well.

她把野心写得很好。

I will always remember the line here about lying on a couch reading in a beautiful house.

我将永远记得这句关于躺在漂亮房子里的沙发上读书的台词。

Porochista KhakpourAuthor of the forthcoming memoir, Sick (Harper Perennial, August 2017) and the novels The Last Illusion, and Sons & Other Flammable Objects, whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bookforum, Elle, Spin, Slate, and many other publications around the world.

Porochista Khakpour 是即将出版的回忆录《Sick》（《Harper Perennial》，2017 年 8 月）和小说《最后的幻觉》和《Sons & Other Flammable Objects》的作者，其作品曾发表在《纽约时报》、《洛杉矶时报》、《华尔街日报》、Bookforum、Elle、Spin、Slate 和世界各地的许多其他出版物上。

## The Weight of James Arthur Baldwin (Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Buzzfeed)

## 詹姆斯·阿瑟·鲍德温的体重（Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah，Buzzfeed）

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah has become my favorite writer of my generation since I first read her writing about Dave Chappelle in The Believer several years ago (it was a National Magazine Award finalist, collected in The Best American Nonrequired Reading as well as The Believer’s anthology Read Harder).

自从几年前我第一次读到雷切尔·卡齐·甘萨 (Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah) 在《信徒》(The Believer) 中关于戴夫·查佩尔 (Dave Chappelle) 的文章以来，雷切尔·卡齐·甘萨 (Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah) 就成了我这一代人中我最喜欢的作家（该书入围了国家杂志奖，收录在《美国最佳非必读读物》以及《信徒》的选集《Read Harder》中）。

Since then I’ve been a fan of every piece of hers and this chronicle of traveling to the home of James Baldwin in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France is no exception.

从那时起，我就一直是她的每一件作品的粉丝，这本前往詹姆斯·鲍德温位于法国圣保罗德旺斯的家的旅行纪事也不例外。

(It’s a highlight of what I consider one of the best books of the year, the Jesmyn Ward-edited The First This Time).

（这是我认为今年最好的书之一，Jesmyn Ward 编辑的《The First This Time》的一大亮点）。

Ghansah writes about Baldwin from all different angles and with every emotion, braided with her own issues of identity.

甘萨从不同的角度和各种情感来描写鲍德温，并与她自己的身份问题交织在一起。

The result is a hard, rough, beautiful diamond of piece, pushed to brilliance from considerable pressure.

其结果是一颗坚硬、粗糙、美丽的钻石，在巨大的压力下变得光彩夺目。

Ghansah is perhaps one of the only writers we have today who can live up to Baldwin in so many shades of style and substance.

甘萨也许是当今唯一能在风格和内容上与鲍德温相媲美的作家之一。

## Who are All the Trump Supporters?

## 特朗普的支持者都是谁？

(George Saunders, The New Yorker)

（乔治·桑德斯，《纽约客》）

Saunders has always been one of my favorite writers–it’s physically impossible for me to not read a piece by him–but this classic from last summer will be surely studied for decades if not centuries in the future.

桑德斯一直是我最喜欢的作家之一——从身体上来说，我不读他的作品是不可能的——但这部去年夏天的经典著作肯定会在未来几十年甚至几个世纪里被人们研究。

Trump and his supporters are a perfect match for Saunders, who although a liberal, often sketches the America Trump supporters know well in his fiction.

特朗普和他的支持者与桑德斯是绝配，桑德斯虽然是一名自由主义者，但经常在他的小说中描绘特朗普支持者所熟知的美国。

The trademark Saundersian dark absurdism is a perfect fit for taking to the campaign trail and interviewing Trump supporters at rallies in Arizona, Wisconsin and California.

标志性的桑德斯黑暗荒诞主义非常适合在亚利桑那州、威斯康星州和加利福尼亚州的竞选活动中采访特朗普的支持者。

The result is as funny as it frightening.

结果既有趣又可怕。

It’s doubly a punch in the gut to read it now that Trump is, somehow, our president-elect.”Although, to me, Trump seems the very opposite of a guardian angel, I thank him for this: I’ve never before imagined America as fragile, as an experiment that could, within my very lifetime, fail,” Saunders writes, and ends almost prophetically: “But I imagine it that way now.”

不知何故，特朗普成为了我们的当选总统，读到这本书真是双重打击。“尽管对我来说，特朗普似乎与守护天使截然相反，但我为此感谢他：我以前从未想象过美国如此脆弱，就像一个在我有生之年可能会失败的实验，”桑德斯写道，并几乎预言性地结束了：“但我现在就是这样想的。”

Emily PerperEmily Perper is a writer, bookseller and contributing editor at Longreads.

Emily PerperEmily Perper 是一位作家、书商和 Longreads 的特约编辑。

In addition to word-work, they’re on the board of The Frederick Center, which provides resources for queer people in central Maryland.

除了文字工作之外，他们还是弗雷德里克中心的董事会成员，该中心为马里兰州中部的酷儿群体提供资源。

## My Son, the Prince of Fashion (Michael Chabon, GQ)

## 我的儿子，时尚王子（Michael Chabon，GQ）

Both of my “best of” personal essay nominations concern the reaches and limits of parenthood.

我的两篇“最佳”个人论文提名都涉及为人父母的范围和局限性。

At GQ, novelist Michael Chabon writes about his trip to Paris Men’s Fashion Week, where his young son, 13-year-old Abe, catches a glimpse of his future and yearns after his tribe.

在《GQ》中，小说家 Michael Chabon 讲述了他参加巴黎男士时装周的旅程，他 13 岁的儿子 Abe 在那里瞥见了自己的未来，并对自己的部落充满了向往。

I’d never presume to understand the intricacies of childrearing, but Chabon treats his son with a blend of kindness and respect we’d all do well to emulate with the young folks in our own lives–taking their desires, ideas and motivations seriously, and fostering their artistic instincts.

我从来没有想过理解养育孩子的复杂性，但查邦对待他的儿子充满了善意和尊重，我们都应该向自己生活中的年轻人效仿——认真对待他们的愿望、想法和动机，并培养他们的艺术本能。

And Chabon is simply an excellent writer, blending gentle self-deprecation with astute observation.

查邦简直就是一位出色的作家，将温和的自嘲与敏锐的观察融为一体。

He doesn’t need paragraphs of adjectives to transport the reader to the studios and runways of Paris.

他不需要形容词段落就能将读者带入巴黎的工作室和跑道。

You are there, sweating in the French summer.

你在那里，在法国的夏天挥汗如雨。

You are there, checking out the throngs of stylish young men loitering outside shows.

你在那里，观察着时装秀外闲逛的时尚年轻人。

And you there, beaming (Guardedly!

而你在那里，笑容满面（小心翼翼！

Be cool!) at your son, when he recognizes and is recognized.

当你的儿子认出并被认出时，对他保持冷静！）

## Mother, Writer, Monster, Maid (Rufi Thorpe, Vela)

## 母亲、作家、怪物、女仆（鲁菲·索普、维拉）

Novelist Rufi Thorpe upends traditional discourse around the ponderous/condescending/exhausting query, “Can women have it all?” Instead, she makes a distinction between the selfishness of the artist’s way and motherhood’s requisite selflessness.

小说家鲁菲·索普颠覆了围绕沉闷/居高临下/令人疲惫的问题的传统话语：“女人能拥有一切吗？”相反，她区分了艺术家方式的自私和母性所必需的无私。

Beyond her powerful and honest observations, the energy behind her language is distinct and exciting; it’s why I’ll read anything she writes.

除了她有力而诚实的观察之外，她的语言背后的能量是独特而令人兴奋的。这就是为什么我会读她写的任何东西。

When I read the line “Children are a hinge that only bends one way,” I gasped.

当我读到“孩子是一个只能向一个方向弯曲的铰链”这句话时，我倒吸一口冷气。

Cheri Lucas RowlandsStory Wrangler, WordPress.com and Longreads

Cheri Lucas RowlandsStory Wrangler、WordPress.com 和 Longreads

## Champagne in the Cellar (John Temple, The Atlantic)

## 地窖里的香槟（约翰·坦普尔，《大西洋月刊》）

During the Second World War, John Temple’s parents hid in a basement in Budapest with a French doctor, underneath a home that German soldiers had made their headquarters.

第二次世界大战期间，约翰·坦普尔的父母和一位法国医生一起躲在布达佩斯的一个地下室里，该地下室位于德国士兵作为总部的房屋下面。

After they separated from the doctor, they never reconnected.

与医生分开后，他们就再也没有联系过。

For the next 70 years, they wondered what had happened to this man who saved their lives.

在接下来的70年里，他们想知道这个救了他们生命的人发生了什么事。

After his parents’ death, Temple turns to the internet to search for this man, known to him only as Dr. Lanusse.

父母去世后，坦普尔开始在互联网上寻找这个人，他只知道他的名字是拉努斯博士。

This is a touching story about history, family, memory, and — ultimately — a lasting bond between two families, connected by extraordinary circumstances.

这是一个关于历史、家庭、记忆的感人故事，以及最终两个因特殊环境而联系在一起的家庭之间的持久纽带。

Krista StevensEditor, Automattic

Krista StevensAutomattic 编辑

## My Last JDate (Esther Schor, Tablet Magazine)

## 我的最后一次 JDate（Esther Schor，平板电脑杂志）

Esther Schor leaves her husband after 30 years,“for no one at all!” Online dating after decades of marriage is fraught and Schor’s sometimes awkward wobble toward intimacy is at times charming and sweet, like a toddler learning to walk.

Esther Schor 在 30 年后离开了她的丈夫，“根本不为任何人！”结婚几十年后，网上约会充满了烦恼，肖尔有时在亲密关系中摇摆不定，有时又迷人又甜蜜，就像一个学走路的小孩。

What’s stuck with me about this piece is the realization that as we age and eventually fall ill — sometimes terminally — we just don’t have the luxury of time to allow intimate relationships to grow slowly and to naturally shed the pretenses that ignited attraction in the first place.

这篇文章让我印象深刻的是，随着年龄的增长，我们最终会生病——有时是晚期——我们只是没有足够的时间让亲密关系慢慢发展，也没有时间自然地摆脱最初激发吸引力的伪装。

What you lack together in time, you make up for in intensity.

你们在一起所缺乏的时间，可以通过强度来弥补。

Sari BottonWriter, contributing editor to Longreads, editorial director of the non-profit TMI Project, and owner of Kingston Writers’ Studio.

Sari BottonWriter，Longreads 的特约编辑，非营利组织 TMI 项目的编辑总监，以及 Kingston Writers’ Studio 的所有者。

## What I Pledge Allegiance To (Kiese Laymon, The Fader)

## 我宣誓效忠的对象（Kiese Laymon、The Fader）

Kiese Laymon is expert at conveying the dangers and complexities of being black in both White and Black America.

基斯·雷蒙 (Kiese Laymon) 擅长传达美国白人和黑人中黑人的危险和复杂性。

He also lays devastatingly bare the minds of white folk, from patriotic bullies to the well-meaning liberals, many of them morally lacking and clueless as to “how to justly win or gently lose.” A new professorship brings Laymon back to Mississippi after twenty years away–to a much whiter university town than his native Jackson.

他还毁灭性地揭露了白人的思想，从爱国的恶霸到善意的自由主义者，他们中的许多人道德上缺乏，对“如何公正地获胜或温和地失败”一无所知。一个新的教授职位将雷蒙带回了阔别二十年后的密西西比州——一个比他的家乡杰克逊白人得多的大学城。

On the porch of his university-owned house he finds a weather-worn American flag and a state magnolia flag.

在他大学拥有的房子的门廊上，他发现了一面饱经风霜的美国国旗和一面玉兰州国旗。

In considering whether it’s safe to remove them, and whether he’d want to, he reflects on his experiences of identity in different places and different points in his life.

在考虑移除它们是否安全以及他是否愿意时，他反思了自己在不同地方和生活中不同时刻的身份体验。

## The Drug of Choice for the Age of Kale: How Ayahuasca, an Ancient Amazonian Hallucinogenic Brew, Became the Latest Trend in Brooklyn and Silicon Valley.

## 羽衣甘蓝时代的首选药物：死藤水（一种古老的亚马逊致幻啤酒）如何成为布鲁克林和硅谷的最新趋势。

(Ariel Levy, The New Yorker)

（阿里尔·利维，《纽约客》）

Ariel Levy is one of my favorite writers.

阿里尔·利维是我最喜欢的作家之一。

As someone who’s fascinated with, but also terrified of, psychedelic drugs, I very much appreciated getting to have a sort of vicarious experience of an Ayahuasca journey via Levy’s essay about hers.

作为一个对迷幻药物着迷但又害怕的人，我非常感激通过利维关于她的文章获得了一种死藤水之旅的替代体验。

Like much of her writing, the piece is smart, funny and viscerally alive.

和她的大部分作品一样，这篇文章聪明、有趣、充满活力。

## Reefer Momness: I Got High With My Mom at Hempcon (Taffy Brodesser-Akner, GQ)

## 冷藏妈妈：我在 Hempcon 上和妈妈一起嗨起来（Taffy Brodesser-Akner、GQ）

This is another of the essays that has stuck with me all year.

这是另一篇让我印象深刻的文章。

And Taffy Brodesser-Akner is another of my favorite writers.

塔菲·布罗德瑟-阿克纳是我最喜欢的另一位作家。

Dragging her insomniac, anxiety-ridden Hassidic mother to a weed convention in California turns what might otherwise be a humorous but hollow piece of reporting into a humorous reported essay with heart.

拖着她失眠、焦虑的哈西德派母亲去参加加州的大麻大会，把本来可能是幽默但空洞的报道变成了一篇幽默的、用心报道的文章。

## What Goes Through Your Mind: On Nice Parties and Casual Racism (Nicole Chung, The Toast)

## 你的想法：关于美好的派对和偶然的种族主义（Nicole Chung，《吐司》）

In this essay–sparked by a thoughtless comment by one of her in-laws’ friends saying she looks like the entire cast of Fresh Off The Boat–Nicole Chung captures the insult added to injury when people of color find themselves weighing their responses so as not to hurt the feelings of well-meaning but clueless white people.

在这篇文章中，妮可·钟（Nicole Chung）的一位姻亲朋友轻率地评论说她看起来像《初来乍到》中的所有演员，在这篇文章中，妮可·钟捕捉到了当有色人种发现自己在权衡自己的反应以免伤害善意但无能的白人的感情时，这种侮辱和伤害。

Mike DangLongreads Editor-in-Chief and Editor at WordPress.com / Automattic.

Mike DangLong 担任 WordPress.com / Automattic 的主编和编辑。

## 427: Ten Years Without Jen, Twenty-Six With (Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com)

## 427：十年没有 Jen，二十六年有（Matt Zoller Seitz，RogerEbert.com）

Matt Zoller Seitz’s wife, Jennifer, died of a heart attack on April 27, 2006, and this essay, published on the 10th anniversary of her death, is not a typical story about grief.

马特·佐勒·塞茨的妻子詹妮弗于 2006 年 4 月 27 日因心脏病去世，这篇在她去世 10 周年之际发表的文章并不是一篇典型的悲伤故事。

He tells the reader that up front: “This is not another love letter to Jen…Nor is this a meditation on Jen and the experience of losing Jen by way of criticizing somebody else’s art…It is not an advice piece.” What follows is a piece about Seitz’s “experience of being without Jen,” about not dwelling on bad moments, about giving “yourself permission to just live,” about trying to not force meaning into a date, about how it’s OK to be OK 10 years later.

他预先告诉读者：“这不是另一封写给 Jen 的情书……也不是对 Jen 的沉思，也不是通过批评别人的艺术而失去 Jen 的经历……这不是一篇建议。”接下来是一篇关于 Seitz 的“没有 Jen 的经历”的文章，关于不要沉迷于糟糕的时刻，关于给予“自己允许生活”，关于尝试不强迫约会的意义，关于 10 年后如何安然无恙。

Though Seitz insists he’s not offering any advice, there are plenty of lessons to take away from this piece.

尽管塞茨坚称他没有提供任何建议，但从这篇文章中可以学到很多教训。