In the magazine world, no recognition is more highly coveted or prestigious than a National Magazine Award. Annually, members of the American Society of Magazine Editors, in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, select the year's most dynamic, original, provocative, and influential magazine stories. The winning and finalist pieces in this anthology represent outstanding work by some of the most eminent writers in America as well as rising literary and journalistic talents.

This year's selection includes William Langewiesche's probing investigation in Vanity Fair of the slaughter of twenty-four Iraqis in Haditha; C. J. Chivers's chilling account in Esquire of the 2004 hostage crisis in Beslan, which killed 331 people, 186 of them children; Susan Casey's revelation in Best Life of a virtually unknown, Texas-sized garbage dump resting at the bottom of the Pacific ocean; and Andrew Corsello's harrowing portrait in GQ of Robert Mugabe's mad rule and two men-a white farmer and a fiery black priest-who strive for forgiveness instead of hate. Nominations also include Vanessa Grigoriadis's hilarious portrait of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld in New York Magazine; Todd Purdum's richly textured portrait of Dick Cheney in Vanity Fair; Fareed Zakaria's analysis of the failed U.S. policy in Iraq in Newsweek; and Christopher Hitchens's profiles of traumatized Ugandan children, survivors of Agent Orange, and the late interviewer Oriana Fallaci in Vanity Fair. Sandra Tsing Loh's book reviews inthe Atlantic Monthly are also featured, along with fiction by Jhumpa Lahiri ( New Yorker), Stephen King ( Playboy), and Margaret Atwood ( Playboy and Zoetrope: All-Story).

"All of the essays in the series' eighth year exhibit a timeless prose in the midst of meeting deadlines. But many also resonate with a special sense of timeliness, such as the insightful 'Rules of Engagement' by William Langewiesche, a detailed study for Vanity Fair of the U.S. massacre of Iraqi citizens in the town of Haditha. Other essays have a similar sense of urgency: 'Inside Scientology' by Janet Reitman for Rolling Stone — the result of a nine-month investigation — is a terrific and balanced look at an organization whose top leaders assert that false ideas, 'including the concepts of God, Christ, and organized religion,' date back 75 million years to the work of 'an evil galactic warrior named Xenu.' C.J. Chivers's 'The School' for Esquire is a harrowing account of the three-day siege by Chechen terrorists of a grammar school in the Russian town of Beslan. Other, lighter pieces include Vanessa Grigoriadis's skillful depiction for New York of the crazy-like-a-fox business and personal lifestyle of 'Karl Lagerfeld, Boy Prince of Fashion.'" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Annually, members of the American Society of Magazine Editors select the years most dynamic, original, provocative, and influential magazine stories. The winning and finalist pieces in this anthology represent outstanding work by some of the most eminent writers in America as well as rising talents.

This year's selection includes William Langewiesche's probing investigation in Vanity Fair of the slaughter of twenty-four Iraqis in Haditha; C. J. Chivers's chilling account in Esquire of the 2004 hostage crisis in Beslan, which killed 331 people, 186 of them children; Susan Casey's revelation in Best Life of a virtually unknown, Texas-sized garbage dump resting at the bottom of the Pacific ocean; and Andrew Corsello's harrowing portrait in GQ of Robert Mugabe's mad rule and two men-a white farmer and a fiery black priest-who strive for forgiveness instead of hate.

The collection also includes Vanessa Grigoriadis's hilarious portrait of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld in New York Magazine; Christopher Hitchens's profile of survivors of Agent Orange in Vanity Fair; Sandra Tsing Loh's coverage of the stay-at-home-mommy debate in the Atlantic Monthly; Paul Theroux's thoughts on the dangers of anthropomorphism and our misconceptions about birds in the Smithsonian; Janet Reitman's unraveling of the mysteries of Scientology in Rolling Stone; and the work of nine other exceptional writers.