The Stories We Tell

The Stories We Tell celebrates the work of twenty women who have made major contributions to the cannon of American magazine writing.

While each has her own style, the women in these pages share the attributes of all good writers: meticulous research and reporting, attention to detail, a talent for choosing the perfect word. Above all, they are astute observers and sticklers for accuracy. Over the years, they have been both prolific and versatile, writing about a wide range of topics, including Joan Didion’s landmark story about a suburban California woman convicted of burning her husband to death in their family Volkswagen, Susan Orlean’s profile of a female bullfighter, Lillian Ross’s stylish Talk of the Town pieces, Janet Malcolm’s profile of the brilliant young pianist Yuja Wang, Gloria Steinem’s memorable piece about Jackie Kennedy after the death of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, and Robin Marantz Henig’s poignant account of the determination of one Alzheimer’s victim to end her life on her own terms.

Stories by: Madeleine Blais, E. Jean Carroll, Joan Didion, Melissa Fay Greene, Lis Harris, Robin Marantz Henig, Gerri Hirshey, Elizabeth Kaye, Jeanne Marie Laskas, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Jill Lepore, Suzannah Lessard, Janet Malcolm, Susan Orlean, Lillian Ross, Susan Sheehan, Gloria Steinem, Mimi Swartz, Joyce Wadler, Isabel Wilkerson.

The Stories We Tell is part of The Sager Group’s Women in Journalism series, which honors the contributions women have made (and continue to make) to the evolution of graceful literary reportage.

Blurbs and Reviews:

“The caliber of work makes this collection a master class in long-form journalism.” –Kirkus Reviews

“It only took 50 years for the women of long-form journalism to really get their due in an anthology, the newly published The Stories We Tell: Classic Tales by America’s Greatest Women Journalists. . . The anthology is a feast of great writing by 20 journalists at the top of their game.”–Harvard’s Neiman Storyboard

Constance Hale, who teaches writing and editing at Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley, has listed The Stories We Tell first on her list of Anthologies of Narrative Journalism.

“What a treasure trove! The fact that these stories are all written by women makes this book even more intriguing. How wonderful to be part of this vibrant and beautiful anthology.” –Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief

“This is the collection I wish I’d had when I was starting out as a writer. Back then, non-fiction was the purview of men; here’s an unequivocal affirmation that it no longer is.” –Elizabeth Kaye, author of Lifeboat No. 8.

Patsy Sims is the author of three nonfiction books, including The Klan and Can Somebody Shout Amen! Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Revivalists , named a noteworthy book of 1988 by The New York Times Book Review . She is also the editor of Literary Nonfiction: Learning by Example and coauthor of the narration for Academy Award–nominated documentary The Klan: A Legacy of Hate.

Prior to writing books, she worked as a staff writer and editor for The New Orleans States-Item, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Magazine, Oxford American, Texas Observer, among other publications. She has been a recipient of creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and two Associated Press Awards for investigative-interpretive reporting. “No Twang of Conscience Whatever,” about the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, was named a Notable Essay of 2014 by The Best American Essays. She directed Goucher College’s MFA program in creative nonfiction from 2001–2014