10 Terrifying Hours Inside a Hurricane

When Harvey began its assault on Houston, the only help in the sky for thousands of stranded Texans were four U. S. Coast Guardsmen out of Mobile, Alabama. [Image] [mayors]( The Untold Story of a Terrifying and Historic Coast Guard Rescue Mission Fifty feet above Pasadena, a working-class city on the southeast border of Houston, Coast Guard rescue swimmer Tyler Gantt crouched in the cabin of a hovering helicopter and readied himself for the first mission of his career. Violent gusts from Hurricane Harvey knocked the aircraft in every direction and drove rain through the seams of its fuselage. It felt like a roller coaster that could jump the tracks at any second. The moment aviation maintenance technician Chris Flores slid open the side door, water began pouring into the cabin and a bolt of lightning lit up the scene below. Cars up to their roofs in water lined the streets. Power lines and trees whipped in the wind. Holy crap, Gantt thought. This is it. By the week’s end, Harvey would dump more rain than any other hurricane on record in the United States. Rescue efforts would be equally historic, carried out by more than thirty-one thousand first responders from across the country. But at the moment, Gantt and his crew were the only help in the skies over Houston. [Read the Full Story]( [Image] [Image]( Carhartt WIP’s Tough-as-Hell Michigan Chore Coat Is an Icon for a Reason We know what you're thinking. What, another chore coat? How much is there left to say about these things? And we feel you, guy. No worries. By now you're more-than familiar with the style, so we’re going to take the liberty of skipping the impromptu history lesson and cut to the chase. You're a busy man. You appreciate brevity, don't you? If you're sick and tired of hearing us go on and on about the style you're in luck. This is the last time we’ll speak on it for a while. Because no, this isn't another chore coat. This is the chore coat. The end-all, be-all of the style. Carhartt Work in Progress' blanket-lined take on a silhouette the brand's been making in one form or another for pretty much ever, is one of the strongest contenders we’ve seen for the best damn version out there, and has been for a long, long time. And if you're still somehow on the fence about copping a chore coat for yourself, it seems only right that it be the style that finally convinces you take the plunge. Avidan Grossman gives you three good reasons to cop our latest Esquire Endorsement before fall hits. [Read the Full Story](  [Image]( Why Goats Head Soup Never Had a Chance to Be a Good Rolling Stones Album Let’s just get this out of the way, says Alan Light: Goats Head Soup—the 1973 Rolling Stones album being reissued as a box set this week—isn’t a very good album. Maybe it never had a chance. Between December 1968 and May 1972, the Stones had one of the greatest runs in rock & roll history, releasing four magnificent records—Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main St.—in rapid succession. They had persevered through the death of Brian Jones and the disaster of Altamont. The flash and excess of their 1972 American tour was documented in Robert Frank’s underground film Cocksucker Blues. Keith Richards was descending deeper into a drug haze, while Mick Jagger had married the glamorous Bianca Perez-Mora Macias and embraced the jet-set lifestyle. So when they gathered in late 1972 in Jamaica—one of the only countries that would still allow the group inside its borders—to get back to work, it’s no surprise that the Stones were exhausted and uninspired. Here, Light looks back on the album in context. [Read the Full Story]( [Image]( Jesse Plemons Is Not the Bad Guy. Jesse Plemons Is Not the Good Guy. Over the past two decades, Jesse Plemons has become known for capturing the soul of his characters, particularly when they’re living in these little pockets of the world. Finding their subtleties is half the battle. People who don’t "get" small towns like to label them as simple places, so the other half of his job is selling why these stories are worthwhile. That’s ironic considering how big-city culture commentators love to obsessively analyze Plemons’s repertoire of roles. Ed Blumquist in Fargo, the dutiful husband ready to sacrifice everything for his wife, Peggy, played by his real-life partner, Kirsten Dunst. Captain Robert Daly, who was the picture of toxic masculinity in Black Mirror. Then there’s Breaking Bad’s Todd, who…my God, let’s just say he’s Todd. Esquire’s Justin Kirkland hopped on Zoom with Plemons ahead of the premiere of his latest role in I'm Thinking of Ending Things to talk Charlie Kaufmann, Friday Night Lights, and the power of perception. [Read the Full Story](  [Image]( You May Not Know Ann Goldstein. But Without Her, You Might Not Know Elena Ferrante Either. Behind every world-renowned author is a largely unknown translator. Yet in the case of Elena Ferrante, Italy’s reclusive literary phenomenon, the translator has emerged from behind the curtain of quiet stewardship to become a quasi-celebrity in her own right. Ann Goldstein, a celebrated translator of Italian and the longtime chief of the copy department at The New Yorker, began translating Ferrante in 2004, when she won a contest to take on the translation of The Days of Abandonment. In the years to follow, Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet became a global sensation, selling over ten million copies in forty countries. All the while, the pseudonymous Ferrante has fiercely guarded her anonymity, saying, “I can say with a certain pride that in my country, the titles of my novels are better known than my name. I think this is a good outcome.” Adrienne Westenfeld spoke with the renowned translator about how she became the standard-bearer for the world's most reclusive literary superstar—and in the process, became a celebrity in her own right. [Read the Full Story]( [Image]( The Best Books to Elevate Your Reading List in 2020 Our favorite books of 2020 are the ideal place to start your self-made syllabus. Whether you’re looking to lose yourself in a novel that will transport you to another place or explore the multifaceted world of short stories, there’s something here for you. Our favorite reads of the year range from incisive reporting on hot button subjects like Silicon Valley and the housing crisis to exemplary, absorbing fiction about such diverse subjects as family, identity, and romance. With a slate of books this good, you'll have your homework cut out for you in no time. Watch this space—we'll be adding more as the year progresses. 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