The Girl Hobbit, Washington Post, July 3, 2018.
An Orphan’s Odyssey. Men’s Journal. October 2017.
The Geology of Family. Men’s Journal. May 2017.
Northfield’s Secret Scotch Tasting Club, Minnesota Monthly, October 2016.
North Shore, Minnesota Monthly, June 2016.
I, Robot, Minnesota Monthly, April 2015
Man Camp, Guernica, March 2015.
The Worst-case Scenario, Poets & Writers, March/April 2015
Feckless Pondering, Poets & Writers, January/February 2015
The Indelible Image: Moments Make Movies, Moments Make Stories, Writers’ Chronicle, January 2014
Modulation, Poets & Writers, December 2013/January 2014
Dance of the Flaming Chainsaws, Glimmer Train Bulletin, January 2014
Literary Outlaw: a profile of Daniel Woodrell, Esquire, September 2013.
How a Percy Gets Old, Esquire, April 2013
Babby Daddy, GQ, February 2013
In Defense of the Short Story, Esquire, February 2013
Urgency in Fiction, Poets & Writers, January/February 2013
Don’t Look Back: the problem with backstory, Poets & Writers, November/December 2012
The Wrestler, a Profile of John Irving, Time Magazine, May 14, 2012
The Final Cut, GQ, March 2012
Calendar Girl Esquire, March 2012
Lonesome, Oxford American, Annual Southern Music Issue, December 2011.
Get a Job: the importance of work in prose and poetry, Poets & Writers, Nov/Dec 2011
September 11, (as one of eleven American writers asked to contribute to a feature on the 10th anniversary of the attacks), Oest-France newspaper, September 11, 2011
Jackson Hole: Take Monday Off, The Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2011
Biking and Boozing the Willamette Valley, Outside, August 2011 (print edition; view online edition here)
Profile of musicians (and first-time novelists) Steve Earle and Josh Ritter, Poets & Writers, July/August 2011
Up in the Air, Outside, February 2011 (print edition; view online edition here)
A Conversation with Peter Straub, Tin House, Mysterious Issue, Spring 2011
Taking Tree-Hugging to New Heights, The Wall Street Journal (Weekend Edition), October 9, 2010
Consider the Orange: Writing Meaningful Repetition, Poets & Writers, November/December 2010
The Art of Violence Part II (with Aaron Gwyn), Poets & Writers, July/August 2011
Spilling Blood: The Art of Writing Violence Part I (with Aaron Gwyn), Poets & Writers, May/June 2011
The Savage Reader, Esquire, August 2010
Home Improvement: Revision as Renovation, Poets & Writers, May/June 2010
Never Been, Outside Magazine, May 2010
Zeitgeist of Doom, Orion Magazine, January/February 2010
The Disrespected, Esquire, November 2009
Go the Distance: What Rocky Taught Me About Submission, Poets & Writers, November/December 2009
Triangulate Dialogue, Poets & Writers, July/August, 2009
Contributor to the 50 Funniest Books Ever Written. Micro-essays on Airships by Barry Hannah and Dogwalker by Arthur Bradford, Esquire UK. February, 2009.
Rabbit Remembered: Obit for John Updike, Esquire.com, January 2009.
The Lost Geek Conquering Hollywood With Comic Books, Esquire, December, 2008.
Real Men Drive Dodges, Esquire, July 2008
Exit Devil, Men’s Journal, February 2008.
The Virtual Workout, Men’s Journal, January, 2008
The Great Novel I Never Read, Slate, October 30, 2007
I Heart Bacon, Esquire, December, 2007
Voice of the Ozarks, Esquire, October 2007
Daddy’s Got a Gun, Esquire.com, September 2007
Profile of Hayward, Wisconsin as part of Best Telecommuting Towns feature, Men’s Journal, March 2007