New David Samuels piece

I came to appreciate David Samuels’s writing while reading his first essay collection, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, earlier this year. (See my review here.) Not long after I finished the book, he published an essay on Hollywood paparazzi in The Atlantic. His newest piece in that magazine is in the December issue. The deck reads:

Quinton Jackson wears a steel bicycle chain around his neck, has a tattoo of a black panther on his enormous bicep, and has a tendency to howl like a wolf. He is also born-again, the loving father of four children—and known for delivering the hardest blow in the history of professional sports. Now, in attempting to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship title, he is also trying to hold on to his sanity. An intimate portrait of a mixed martial artist—and of the growing American fixation with the warriors who earn their living beating each other bloody.

Although I’ve yet to read the piece (it’s term-paper time, after all!), I’m sure that while a large part of the article’s interest may reside in that “growing American fixation,” it’s worth reading whole.

Tags: David Samuels, The Atlantic