“The Best Magazine Articles Ever” – Sure the list is subjective. It’s all in English, and heavily slanted toward male writers. But you can’t quibble with this. This curated collection features pieces by some of the finest American writers of the past generation. We’ve highlighted 10 notables ones from a much longer list available here.
1 ) John Updike, “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.” The New Yorker, October 22, 1960.
2) Norman Mailer, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket.” Esquire, November 1960.
3) Tom Wolfe, ”The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson. Yes!” Esquire, March 1965.
4) Hunter Thompson, ”The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.” Scanlan’s Monthly, June 1970.
5) Stewart Brand, “Space War: Fanatic Life and Symbolic Dearth Among Computer Bums. Rolling Stone, December 7, 1972.
6) David Foster Wallace, “The String Theory.” Esquire, July 1996.
7) Jon Krakauer, “Into Thin Air.” Outside Magazine, September 1996.
8) Susan Orlean, “Orchid Fever.” The New Yorker, January 23, 1995.
9) Malcolm Gladwell, “The Pitchman.” The New Yorker, October 30, 2000. (Yup, he’s Canadian, I know.)
10) Katie Hafner, “The Epic Saga of The Well.” Wired, May 1997.
via @caitlinroper
http://essayist.tumblr.com/ has well selected classic articles, and some interesting niche stuff from outside the US