The Perfect Man
Billy Mitchell is really, really good at Pac-Man – his high score is 3,333,360 – a perfect game. The unusual way his mind works is gently unpicked in this profile.
How Drowning Happens
A woman called Merav tells the author the story of how she narrowly escaped from drowning after an impromptu swim at an Australian beach in 1970.
The Third Person
A story looking at the professionals hired by wives in China to deal with their husbands’ mistresses.
Chasing the Pearl of Lao Tzu
The dizzying, multi-layered story of a huge pearl that has been at the centre of elaborate hoaxes, claims and counter-claims, and havoc in the lives of those connected to it for over 80 years. http://bit.ly/atlantic-pearl
An Island Presence
An arresting excerpt from Howard Cunnell’s memoir Fathers & Sons, exploring what it is to grow up, to have a family, to be a parent, and through this to examine what he terms (in a phrase borrowed from a poem by another writer) “the shaping axe” of love. A fine piece of writing.
In Conversation: Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones is fantastically indiscreet in this interview, covering everything from his relationship with the Trumps, to Michael Jackson’s alleged theft of songs and The Beatles’ lack of musical talent.
The Last Death-Defying Honey Hunter of Nepal
A look at the life and work of Mauli Dhan and his fellow hunters, who climb rope ladders hundreds of feet up Himalayan cliffs to harvest “mad honey”, a naturally hallucinogenic honey that sells for high prices on the black market.
The Big Business of Being Gwyneth Paltrow
An often surreal peek inside the highly successful world of Goop. Gwyneth Paltrow started the business in her kitchen as an aspirational newsletter focusing on fashion and food, but it has now become a ‘wellness’ behemoth, offering a dizzying array of products and services. http://bit.ly/nyt-goop