Every Sunday this month, I’ll post a link to one of my favorite pieces of nonfiction. These are the stories that make you want to curl up with a cup of coffee and stay put until you’ve finished the last word. Happy reading!

Jon Franklin’s harrowing account of a woman’s brain surgery won the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1979. More than 30 years later, “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” lives on as one of the pillars of narrative nonfiction writing.

I use this piece as a model for my feature writing students. Franklin expertly weaves together background, complex medical description, and sensual details (smells, sounds) into a narrative in which the ticking away of minutes is palpable. The piece is one of the best examples of how truly great nonfiction writers can craft stories that read better than fiction.

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