BYBrett Younger

1. Article · Sep 9, 2026 · Brett Younger

   The spirit of New York (and your town, too) (opens the original)

   Excerpt · Critical tone · English

   Read excerpt

   New York steals your soul — sensory overload, hyper-competition and financial pressure. Constant noise, crowded streets and concrete surroundings are disheartening. My hometown is overpriced, overcrowded and overbearing. On bad days, the city chips away at your spirit. New Yorkers trade too high a percentage of our income for cramped apartments that offer little sanctuary from the city’s intensity. Our limited access to green spaces is disappointing. Everything is expensive — restaurants, grocer

   Feedback

2. Article · Aug 31, 2026 · Brett Younger

   Lonely people who need the church (opens the original)

   Excerpt · Neutral tone · English

   Read excerpt

   Please don’t tell me if The Martian makes it home or the Gone Girl is gone for good. For reasons I can’t explain I read novels 10 to 15 years after they are on the bestseller list. I just read A Man Called Ove, a 2012 Swedish bestseller with a 2013 English translation. The book became a Swedish film, then Tom Hanks starred in the American version, A Man Called Otto. Hanks’ Otto is a lonely, grumpy, routine-obsessed widower who plans to end his life after losing his wife to cancer. Otto tries to

   Feedback

Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.

Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.

• New York1 piece
• PRODIGAL SON1 piece