Impossible Owls: Essays
by Brian Phillips
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Description
"In his highly anticipated debut essay collection, Impossible Owls, Brian Phillips demonstrates why he's one of the most iconoclastic journalists of the digital age, beloved for his ambitious, off-kilter, meticulously reported essays that read like novels. The eight essays assembled here--five from Phillips's Grantland and MTV days, and three new pieces--go beyond simply chronicling some of the modern world's most uncanny, unbelievable, and spectacular oddities (though they do that, too). show more Researched for months and even years on end, they explore the interconnectedness of the globalized world, the consequences of history, the power of myth, and the ways people attempt to find meaning. He searches for tigers in India, and uncovers a multigenerational mystery involving an oil tycoon and his niece turned stepdaughter turned wife in the Oklahoma town where he grew up. Through each adventure, Phillips's remarkable voice becomes a character itself--full of verve, rich with offhanded humor, and revealing unexpected vulnerability." -- show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
I recently joined Netgalley and this collection of nonfiction essays was one of my first requests. Brian Phillips is journalist who has contributed to publications like The New York Times, Grantland, and more. He’s undeniably talented as a story teller and I love a good essay from an embedded journalist in unique parts of the world. However, there were only a few gems in this book while the rest felt like honest-to-God work to trudge through. My favorite essay is the very first one, where Phillips chronicles his breathtaking experience tracking the Iditraod in Alaska, via his bird’s eye view from a plane. I learned more about Phillips, his sense of humor, his commitment to exploration, than I did from any of his other essays show more combined. Most of his essays ended on a perfunctory note that left me feeling underwhelmed and disappointed. show less
Really enjoyed this essay collection, especially the observant travel writing that illustrated let characters as well as places.
Some of the best essays I have read. The sumo one was my favorite.
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Animals in the Title
498 works; 11 members
Author Information
3+ Works 185 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Alternate titles
- Impossible Owls: Essays From the Ends of the World
- Original publication date
- 2018
- Important places
- Alaska Territory, USA
- Important events
- The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
- Epigraph
- Shut your eyes and you'll burst into flames.
-Margaret Lanterman - Dedication
- For Siobhan
- Blurbers
- Whitehead, Colson; Hopper, Jessica; Klosterman, Chuck; Nair, Suprriya; Hsa, Hua
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 186
- Popularity
- 175,616
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.16)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 3
