ONE HELL OF A STORY

[beeranyone]

Get your Kleenex ready. Skip Hollandsworth knocks one out of the park.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-05-01/feature2.php

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

I don't have time to read it all now but Hollandsworth's a helluva writer.

 

[poindexter]

Wow. I am speechless. I have nothing to say that wouldn't be a cliche.

Click on the link at the end of the story for "more pictures".

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

That mag's good for one story a month that makes my subscription worth three times what I'm paying.

 

[sbordow]

That is an incredibly well-written story. I don't know Skip but what a job he did. He didn't over-write it, which would be so tempting. He let the story breathe and by the end I felt like I intimately knew each member of the family. Simply a terrific piece of journalism.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

If you don't read that and tear up at least once, you're not human.

 

[Angola!]

Holy ****.

Now that is a ****ing magazine story.

Great read.

 

[pseudo]

If you don't read that and tear up at least once, you're not human.

I kept it together until the middle of Page 5, and the scene between the two brothers ... then, no way, nohow.

I suspect Mr. Hollandsworth would say it's about telling the story, not winning prizes, but I look forward to seeing this on the list for next year's National Magazine Awards.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

If you don't read that and tear up at least once, you're not human.

I kept it together until the middle of Page 5, and the scene between the two brothers ... then, no way, nohow.

I suspect Mr. Hollandsworth would say it's about telling the story, not winning prizes, but I look forward to seeing this on the list for next year's National Magazine Awards.

My grip started to slip when the Mom started asking to live just one day longer than her son. And it's starting to slip again just typing about it.

 

[Dirk Legume]

Unbelievable.

What that woman went through. What that family went through.

Amazing story, and I am glad someone took the time to tell it.

 

[Killick]

Jesus, did it get dusty in here. Really dusty. A couple of times.

 

[Andy _ Kent]

Thanks for posting this story beer. Your title is very appropriate. I had to stop a few times to tend to my 5-year-old son, and then he asked me why I was crying. I didn't know what to tell him other than I loved him and that I would always be there for him. Those words have new meaning after reading this.

 

[PeteyPirate]

People can do such amazing things. I am humbled before John and his mother.

 

[imjustagirl]

Tears running down both of my cheeks.

A fantastic job by Mr. Hollandsworth.

 

[Shaggy]

Amazing story. Well done by Skip.

 

[sirvaliantbrown]

Weird to read that today, hours after reading this.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/641866

 

[PCLoadLetter]

If you don't read that and tear up at least once, you're not human.

I kept it together until the middle of Page 5, and the scene between the two brothers ... then, no way, nohow.

I suspect Mr. Hollandsworth would say it's about telling the story, not winning prizes, but I look forward to seeing this on the list for next year's National Magazine Awards.

Yeah, I was fine until that exact point.

Wow. That is one hell of a story.

 

[Double J]

We use "wow, just wow" around here a lot to depict something that astonishes us.....generally in a negative way.

After reading that powerful, powerful story and seeing the pictures.....I'm sorry, but I have nothing to offer other than....wow. Just wow.

 

[sirvaliantbrown]

I'll reluctantly dissent a little from the consensus. I enjoyed the writing very much, and the story was certainly excellent, but I didn't feel like I knew John as well as I should have by the end. There were some terrific glimpses of his thoughts about his difficult existence - "Can you tell me what sex is like" was rather heartbreaking - but he never seemed nearly as three-dimensional to me as his mother did.

 

[shotglass]

Thank you, beer. That story reminds me of why we try to be great writers.