Contents
Introduction
James Bennet, editor in chief,
The Atlantic
Acknowledgments
Sid Holt, chief executive,
American Society of Magazine Editors
Fear of a Black President
Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Atlantic
WINNER—Essays and Criticism
Who in God’s Name Is Mitt Romney?
Frank Rich
New York
FINALIST—Columns and Commentary
It’s Not About the Law, Stupid and The Supreme Court’s Dark Vision of Freedom and Where Is the Liberal Outrage?
Dahlia Lithwick
Slate
WINNER—Columns and Commentary
The Innocent Man
Pamela Colloff
Texas Monthly
WINNER—Feature Writing Incorporating Profile Writing
18 Tigers, 17 Lions, 8 Bears, 3 Cougars, 2 Wolves, 1 Baboon, 1 Macaque, and 1 Man Dead in Ohio
Chris Heath
GQ
WINNER—Reporting
Did You Think About the Six People You Executed?
Robert F. Worth
New York Times Magazine
FINALIST—Reporting
A Life Worth Ending
Michael Wolff
New York
FINALIST—Essays and Criticism
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives
Mimi Swartz
Texas Monthly
WINNER—Public Interest
School of Hate
Sabrina Rubin Erdely
Rolling Stone
FINALIST—Public Interest
Atonement
Dexter Filkins
The New Yorker
FINALIST—Feature Writing Incorporating Profile Writing
The Big Book
Chris Jones
Esquire
FINALIST—Magazine of the Year
Terry Southern: The Art of Screenwriting
Interview by Maggie Paley
The Paris Review
WINNER—General Excellence, Print
Mega: Ten Days Inside the Mansion—and the Mind—of Kim Dotcom, the Most Wanted Man on the Internet
Charles Graeber
Wired
FINALIST—Feature Writing Incorporating Profile Writing
Portrait of a Lady and Social Animal and We’re All Helmut Newton Now
Daphne Merkin
Elle
FINALIST—Columns and Commentary
Over the Wall
Roger Angell
The New Yorker
FINALIST—Essays and Criticism
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation
Stephen King
Harper’s
WINNER—Fiction
The Living and the Dead
Brian Mockenhaupt
Byliner
FINALIST—Feature Writing Incorporating Profile Writing
State of the Species
Charles C. Mann
Orion
FINALIST—Essays and Criticism
 
Permissions
List of Contributors