Morgan Sykes is a nomadic writer currently rooted in Asheville, North Carolina.
In his essay "Jack My Heart," from our just-released Summer issue, William Giraldi confesses to a long obsession with Jack White. . . However, he also frames obsession in a more encompassing scope, questioning the demographics of permitted preoccupation ("If you're a prepubescent lass with Bieber eyes, infatuation is fine"), its strange glamorization, and obsession's omnipresence in literature. Building on these themes, I caught up with Giraldi via email this past month and asked him to riff a bit more on the fever of obsession.
An OA trip to the Tupelo Elvis Festival, where hundreds of Elvis Tribute Artists (ETAs) gather to compete in a variety of competitions and to celebrate the King.
A former dancer goes to the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, an event that's startling as world-class ballerinas and danseurs keep falling onstage.