Brow Beat

Thanks to Web sites like Longform.org and Longreads.com , the Twitter hashtag #longreads , and thepopularity of mobile apps like Instapaper and ReadItLater, it's easier thanever to find and celebrate excellent, deeply-reported, expansive pieces ofnonfiction writing.

But who's calling readers' attention to the beautifully briefand the perfectly pithy? This week, Slate inaugurates a new weeklyfeature, #Shortreads. Every Friday, we'll pick our favorite piece of writing fromthe prior week that has fewer than 1,000 words.

This week's #Shortreadsselection: "ALeg Man," Grant Stoddard's delightful account of wearing short-shorts inpublic — an appropriate subject for a diminutive piece (744 words).There's a baroque quality to the prose that makes this slim essay from the T Magazine blog feelvery rich. Plus it includes the great line, "Why are you wearing these littletrousers?" asked of Stoddard by a Swedish tourist.

Hat tip to @billwasik for bringing the piece to our attention.

Got a nomination for next week? Leave it in the comments ortweet a link with the hashtag #shortreads.

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