Writer Emily Gould: My Top 5 Longreads of 2011
Emily Gould is the author of And The Heart Says Whatever and the co-owner of Emily Books, and also she can’t stop blogging for some reason.
艾米丽·古尔德（Emily Gould）是《心随心所欲》（And The Heart Says What What）一书的作者，也是艾米丽图书公司（Emily Books）的共同所有者，而且由于某种原因，她无法停止写博客。
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1.
1.
“Letter from Astana,” by Keith Gessen (New Yorker, sub.
《来自阿斯塔纳的信》，基思·格森（Keith Gessen）（《纽约客》，sub.
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The New Yorker‘s “Letter From” essays, though they’re always entertaining and executed with finesse, can leave the reader with an impression that’s basically: “Kazakhstan (or wherever), how wacky.” Keith showed exactly how and why Kazakhstan’s history and political situation have created a unique way of life, and also those crazy skyscrapers in the middle of the steppe that make Williamsburg’s waterfront look tasteful.
《纽约客》的“来信”文章虽然总是很有趣，而且写得也很巧妙，但基本上会给读者留下这样的印象：“哈萨克斯坦（或任何地方），多么古怪。”基思准确地展示了哈萨克斯坦的历史和政治局势如何以及为何创造了独特的生活方式，以及草原中部那些让威廉斯堡海滨看起来很有品位的疯狂摩天大楼。
And he ate horse ham.
他还吃了马火腿。
2.
2.
“Dangerous Worlds: Teaching Film In Prison,” by Ann Snitow (Dissent Magazine)
“危险世界：监狱里的电影教学”，作者：Ann Snitow（异议杂志）
Feminist critic and longtime New School professor Ann Snitow “leapt to join” a program that brings New School teachers to a correctional facility upstate out of “boredom”—she craved a challenge less played-out than trying to get college students to care about feminism, which she says is “everywhere and nowhere” in their lives.
女权主义评论家、新学院的长期教授安·斯尼托（Ann Snitow）出于“无聊”而“跃然加入”了一个项目，该项目将新学院的教师带到北部的惩教所——她渴望一个不那么无聊的挑战，而不是试图让大学生关心女权主义，她说女权主义在他们的生活中“无处不在”。
The result is one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever read.
结果是我读过的最有趣的事情之一。
Snitow confronts her own preconceived notions and white liberal guilt head-on, but also gives herself credit for being a good teacher.
斯尼托直面自己的先入为主的观念和白人自由主义的负罪感，但也相信自己是一名好老师。
She evokes her students’ complexity by describing their surprising, varied responses to the movies she assigns.
她通过描述学生对她布置的电影的令人惊讶的、多样化的反应来唤起他们的复杂性。
At one point she gives them a speech: “I know in all your classes and workshops you’re being taught to take responsibility for what you’ve done, and I’m not saying no to that.
有一次，她给他们做了一次演讲：“我知道在你们所有的课程和研讨会上，你们都被教导要对自己所做的事情负责，我并不是对此说不。
But responsibility is different from shame.
但责任与羞耻不同。
Best to see the endless tale of one’s badness as an inadequate story, meant to make you feel like a worm.
最好将无休止的关于一个人的坏事的故事视为一个不充分的故事，旨在让你感觉自己像一条蠕虫。
OK, take responsibility, but also move on.
好吧，承担起责任，但也要继续前进。
Everyone is dependent; total independence is a myth.
每个人都是依赖的；完全独立是一个神话。
Inside or out, dependency is the human condition.” “This hectoring lecture hasn’t convinced anyone,” she writes, but I think she underestimates herself.
无论内在还是外在，依赖都是人类的处境。” “这种恐吓性的演讲没有说服任何人，”她写道，但我认为她低估了自己。
3.
3.
“The Smelliest Block In New York,” by Molly Young (New York Magazine, not single-page)
“纽约最臭的街区”作者：Molly Young（《纽约杂志》，非单页）
I’m obsessed with smells and with New York, which contains maybe the world’s best and worst smells, often in the same two-block radius.
我对气味和纽约着迷，这里可能拥有世界上最好和最差的气味，而且通常都在同一个两个街区的半径内。
Molly Young’s descriptions of smells are a joy.
莫莉·杨对气味的描述令人愉悦。
Her descriptions in general are a joy.
她的描述总的来说是一种快乐。
She’s just getting better and better and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
她越来越好，我迫不及待地想看看她下一步会做什么。
(My fantasy would be a regular column about smells, but that’s probably unrealistic.)
（我的幻想是关于气味的常规专栏，但这可能不现实。）
4.
4.
“Willis and Happiness,” by Rich Beck (n+1)
《威利斯与幸福》作者：Rich Beck (n+1)
Here, Rich Beck breaks down and rearticulates one of groundbreaking radical feminist and pop culture critic Ellen Willis’s most powerful—and most confusing—arguments.
在这里，里奇·贝克（Rich Beck）分解并重新阐明了开创性的激进女权主义者和流行文化评论家艾伦·威利斯（Ellen Willis）最有力且最令人困惑的论点之一。
This is a must, must, must, must read for anyone interested in the past, present and future of the fight for equality.
对于任何对争取平等的斗争的过去、现在和未来感兴趣的人来说，这是一本必须、必须、必须、必须阅读的书。
5.
5.
“The Aquarium,” by Aleksandar Hemon (The New Yorker, sub.
《水族馆》，亚历山大·赫蒙（Aleksandar Hemon）（《纽约客》子版）
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This and #2, I would recommend if it’s been a while since you last wept uncontrollably.
这个和#2，如果你上次失控哭泣已经有一段时间了，我会推荐你。
There’s really not a lot else to say about this.
关于这一点，确实没有什么可说的。
It’s an unsentimental examination of a cosmically unfair event, the the kind of thing no one wants to acknowledge is possible, but which happens regularly.
这是对宇宙不公平事件的冷静审视，没有人愿意承认这种事情是可能发生的，但却经常发生。
I have no idea how the author could stand to write it, unless he also couldn’t stand not to write it.
我不知道作者怎么忍心写它，除非他也无法忍受不写。
The parts about his daughter’s imaginary friend are also very funny, incredibly.
关于他女儿的假想朋友的部分也很有趣，令人难以置信。
Bonus!
奖金！
(Kindle Single edition)
（Kindle 单机版）
• “How A Book Is Born,” by Keith Gessen ($1.99)
•《一本书是如何诞生的》，作者：基思·格森（Keith Gessen）（1.99 美元）
I didn’t want to be disgusting and pick 5 things by my boyfriend but I wish I could assign anyone who thinks he or she might someday publish a book to read this long examination of how publishing works.
我不想让我的男朋友感到厌恶并挑选出 5 件事，但我希望我可以指派任何认为自己有一天可能会出版一本书的人来阅读这篇关于出版如何运作的长篇大论。
The combination of virtue and talent coinciding with luck—the endless variables that combine to make a “literary” bestseller—just boggles the mind.
美德和才华与运气的结合——无数的变数结合在一起，形成了一本“文学”畅销书——简直令人难以置信。
This is stuff that many people who work in publishing or who work in novel-writing either don’t know or don’t allow themselves to consciously know.
这是许多从事出版工作或从事小说写作的人不知道或不允许自己有意识地知道的东西。
Buy this as a gift for your friend the corporate lawyer who keeps saying he’s going to take a sabbatical year to “write his novel.”
买这个作为礼物送给你的朋友，他是一位公司律师，他一直说他将休假一年来“写他的小说”。
• “American Juggalo,” by Kent Russell ($1.99)
• 肯特·罗素的《美国魔术师》（1.99 美元）
Psychic forecast: the year-end Longreads best-of list next year will be everything people are saying right now about John Jeremiah Sullivan, but for the words “John Jeremiah Sullivan” substitute “Kent Russell.”
心灵预测：明年的年终朗读最佳名单将是人们现在谈论的关于约翰·杰里米亚·沙利文的一切，但将“约翰·杰里米亚·沙利文”一词替换为“肯特·拉塞尔”。
(photo credit: Stephen Deshler)
（照片来源：斯蒂芬·德什勒）