Author and Journalist

About

X
Wm5g9rnqxeo2rdxfomz7 author portrait small

I'm a writer, editor, and researcher who has reported from North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean, and West Africa covering culture, politics, history, and identity. I've written thousands of stories, ranging from the fight to preserve world heritage in Palmyra, Syria, to the story of the first American dictionary. My book Americanon is about how seemingly innocuous bestselling books have served quietly as blueprints for "the good American," molding our common language, culture, and customs. It was published by Dutton (Penguin-Random House) June 1, 2021.

My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington PostThe Nation, The Paris Review Daily, TIME, The Guardian, New York Magazine's The Cut, The New Republic, Fortune, Village VoiceInternational Business Times, CNN, the Los Angeles Review of Books, AFP Services, The Believer, Lapham's Quarterly, Teen Vogue, Business Insider, InStyle, DAME, LitHub, Bookforum, Thrillist and Travel + Leisure, among others. I used to be a staff reporter at Time Inc. and International Business Times.

I studied 19th century poetry at Yale (among other fascinating and profoundly impractical things). Since then I've interviewed U.N. diplomats, U.S. senators, former members of the Irish Republican Army, and the errant amateur witch. I covered the 2015 Paris attacks on the ground, meeting musicians, refugees, and other Parisians working toward the city's recovery.

I'm bilingual in French, and you can find me between New York City and Paris.

Anna Sproul-Latimer at Neon represents me.

Portrait by Mariah Tyler.

Highlights

X

Image illustrative de l’article The Guardian

 

 "You Can't Cancel Me"

 As a Tammy Faye for the TikTok generation, Brittany Dawn Davis is selling her version of Christianity and a lot of merch. Her former life as a fitness influencer has embroiled her in an upcoming $1m lawsuit and accusations of con artistry.

 "I Wouldn't Be Alive Without It

 At a stable in rural New York, traumatized soldiers and horses teach each other to leave the past behind.

 

  "Trust Your Dog"

 After grueling training, a rare few civilians and their dogs are allowed to participate in criminal   investigations by searching for cadavers.

 

Related image

 Why We Turn to the Word 'Surreal' Whenever Something   Terrible Happens

The dictionary offers its readers clarity, especially when grappling with events that feel inconceivable. Whether in the form of violence or disease, trauma can upend our understanding of life.

Dr. Werner Spitz, photographed in St. Clair Shores, Mich., on March 29, 2022 (Jarod Lew for TIME) The Medical Detective

 Death waits for no man—especially not a forensic pathologist. Meet Werner Spitz, the 95-year-old medical detective who examined cases ranging from JFK to JonBenet Ramsey. 

 

 

 

Writing (By Outlet)

X

 Once Extinct, Bison Are Now Climate Heroes, July 2022

Hazel Scott, Pioneering Black Star, Fought Jim Crow, April 2022

"Before Dale Carnegie taught Americans how to succeed, he was   haunted by failure," July 2021 

How women invented book clubs, revolutionizing reading and their lives, March 2021

Denied a teaching job for being ‘too Black,’ she started her own school —and a movement, February 2021

He fought for Black voting rights after the Civil War. He was almost killed for it, October 2020

The man who taught millions of Americans to read before being forgotten, May 2021

Why Aren't Women in the U.S. Also Protesting Against Femicide? March 2020

A Puritan Minister Incited Fury by Pushing Inoculation, March 2020

https://jobs.theguardian.com/getasset/14928961-45c2-4f50-9d05-c150248727e7/;w=600;h=315 'You can't cancel me': embattled Tiktok star reinvents herself as a warrior for JesusOctober 2022

I wouldn’t be alive without it’: wild mustangs and veterans find   healing together, August 2021

Trust your dog: extraordinary pets help solve crime by solving bodies, February 2020

 The Polanski protests have brought France’s #MeToo reckoning a step closer, March 2020

Related image Meet Werner Spitz, the Medical Detective, April 2022

 Why We Turn to the Word 'Surreal' Whenever Something Terrible Happens, June 2021

What It Was Like to Be an LGBTQ Activist Before Stonewall, June 2019

How 343 Women Made French HistoryNovember 2018

Image result for the paris review logoThe Nationalist Roots of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, March 2018

 

The French Plan to Fix Inequality — By Ignoring It, September 2018

 
Fortune Logo Redesign: Why We Did It | Fortune

Why Is Arkansas Rushing to Execute Its Prisoners? April 2017

 

 

 Old Paris Is No More, July 2019 

                               A Flower for Your Thoughts, January 2019

 

 
 

 Refugee Women Are Carrying More Than An Uncertain Future, April 2016

 What A Breakdown Of Free Travel Means For Europe's Economy, March 2016

French Anti-Radicalization Policy Questioned, January 2016

Beer, Wine, And Other Acts Of French Defiance, November 2015

One Syrian's Journey From Aleppo To Paris, November 2015

The Remaking Of Sinn Fein In Northern Ireland, October 2015

See Jess' full archive from IBT here: http://www.ibtimes.com/reporters/jess-mchugh​

The Story Behind the Most Colorful Building in NYC, September 2016

 

Dole Back On Hill to Try and Push Through U.N. Disability Rights Treaty, July 2014

Perry to Texas Reps: Don't Approve Obama Border Proposal, July 2014

Home - Believer MagazineThe Most Dangerous Moves From the Least Dangerous Game, October 2013

Writing (By Topic)

X

History

"Meet Werner Spitz, the Medical Detective," TIME 

"Our Best Sellers, Ourselves," The New York Times

"Why We Turn to the Word 'Surreal' Whenever Something Terrible Happens," TIME

How Hazel Scott, Pioneering Black Star, Fought Jim Crow, The Washington Post

"Before Dale Carnegie taught Americans how to succeed, he was haunted by failure," The Washington Post

"How women invented book clubs, revolutionizing reading and their own lives," The Washington Post

Denied a teaching job for being ‘too Black,’ she started her own school —and a movement, The Washington Post

He fought for Black voting rights after the Civil War. He was almost killed for it, The Washington Post

The Nationalist Roots of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, The Paris Review

Old Paris Is No More, Lapham's Quarterly

The man who taught millions of Americans to read before being forgottenWashington Post

A Puritan Minister Incited Fury by Pushing InoculationWashington Post

A Flower for Your ThoughtsLapham's Quarterly

How Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Defined American Cultural Beliefs, Bookforum

The U.S. Census Has a Long History of DiscriminationFortune

How 343 Women Made French HistoryTIME

Culture

'You can't cancel me': embattled Tiktok star reinvents herself, The Guardian

Once Extinct, Bison Are Now Climate Heroes, The Washington Post

Trust Your Dog: extraordinary pets help solve crime by finding bodies, The Guardian

‘I wouldn’t be alive without it’: wild mustangs and veterans find healing togetherThe Guardian

The Quiet Mysticism of Almanacs, Los Angeles Review of Books

How to Eat Alone (And Like It)The New York Times

How a Single Cookbook Shaped What It Meant to Be an “American Woman,” Lit Hub

Meet the Woman Who Designed These Modern ClassicsCitylab

Yoga Mats in the Squad Room, Pacific Standard

The Story Behind the Most Colorful Building in NYC, Village Voice

The Most Dangerous Moves From the Least Dangerous Game, The Believer

European Affairs

After a Violent Yellow Vest Anniversary, What's Next?  Fortune

Why France Is Losing the War on Anti-Semitism, The New Republic

The French Plan to Fix Inequality — By Ignoring ItThe New Republic

Refugee Women Are Carrying More Than An Uncertain FutureInternational Business Times

What A Breakdown Of Free Travel Means For Europe's EconomyInternational Business Times

Beer, Wine, And Other Acts Of French DefianceInternational Business Times

One Syrian's Journey From Aleppo To ParisInternational Business Times

The Remaking Of Sinn Fein In Northern IrelandInternational Business Times

See Jess's full archive from IBT here: http://www.ibtimes.com/reporters/jess-mchugh​

Women and Gender

Why Aren't Women in the U.S. Also Protesting Against Femicide? Washington Post

An Online Tool to Catch Workplace Sexual PredatorsThe Wall Street Journal

Her rape kit sat untested for over 20 years. She’s fighting to make sure that stops happeningWashington Post's The LIly

The Complicated Psychology Behind Bee-Stung Lips, New York Magazine (The Cut)

Surviving Summer TV: Gendered Depictions of PTSD, Avidly (Los Angeles Review of Books)

Policing Language Is Just Another Way to Silence Women, DAME Magazine

What Happens When Women Don't Smile, DAME Magazine

More Companies Are Openly Supporting Abortion Rights. That May Be Controversial, But It’s Also Good Business, Fortune

As abortion restrictions increase, these 10 states are seeking a new route to accessWashington Post's The Lily

Finding Open-Minded Health Care AbroadThe New York Times

Tips for  L.G.B.T.Q. Travelers to Visit the World SafelyThe New York Times

AMERICANON

X

Americanon by Jess McHugh

Overlooked for centuries, our simple dictionaries, spellers, almanacs, and how-to manuals are the unexamined touchstones for American cultures and customs. 

These books sold tens of millions of copies and set out specific archetypes for the ideal American, from the self-made entrepreneur to the humble farmer.

Click here to purchase

Praise for Americanon:

“In an increasingly divided nation, it seems reasonable to ask: What is the glue that holds us together?  It may be found here, in these bound pages.  Jess McHugh has written an elegant, meticulously-researched and eminently readable history of the books that define us as Americans.  For history buffs and book-lovers alike, McHugh offers us a precious gift, a reminder that our many narratives are intertwined and that – despite it all – they still bind us together.”—Jake Halpern, Pulitzer Prize Winner and New York Times Bestselling author     

“This more democratic canon is less about literary acumen and more about reading as mass self-revealment: Show McHugh the books Americans have flocked to over the course of history, she suggests, and she’ll show you what it means to be American… McHugh’s chapters, winningly, are not close readings of each book but mini-histories of the texts’ creation and reception, the authors’ biographies, the public’s moods, the contexts of various eras… McHugh has a knack for squeezing a lot of research into smallish spaces, and she sweetens the pot with throwaway but vivid details. (There are passing, tantalizing references to things like a “tuberculosis-fueled vampire panic” and a religious book against dancing called “From the Ball-Room to Hell.”)… Some of the conclusions about the composite American character — especially in its early years — won’t shock too many citizens. Americans are striving, competitive, materialistic, insecure, confident, proudly self-reliant, optimistic, performatively virtuous… But the book resoundingly and memorably establishes these qualities through reading habits, and it highlights two qualities that perhaps haven’t been as well covered: We are prescriptive and hypocritical. Without overdoing it, McHugh clearly delineates how good Americans are — or at least American authors are — at giving advice they don’t follow.”The New York Times
 
“With her usual eye for detail and knack for smart storytelling, Jess McHugh takes a savvy and sensitive look at the ‘secret origins’ of the books that made and defined us.  As McHugh shows, much of our American canon has to do largely with axe-grinding, reputation, redemption, and, often, who is permitted to tell the story—and you won’t want to miss a one moment of it.”—Brian Jay Jones, author of Becoming Dr. Seuss and the New York Times Bestselling Jim Henson

“We are what we eat, but we are even more what we read. Jess McHugh paints a rich and colorful portrait of America through the popular stories and reference books woven over decades into our cultural DNA. For book-lovers and historians alike, Americanon is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how famous books are made, and the lives they live long after they’re printed.”—Daniel Stone, author of The Food Explorer and writer for National Geographic

“What Jess McHugh has done with Americanon is draw a distinct, and necessary, line between our culture and our realities. The myths of what America is and what it means to be an American are strange, pernicious, and often inscrutable, but McHugh has managed a truly remarkable thing: finding actual and honest truth in the midst of it all.”—Jared Yates Sexton, author of American Rule

“The concept behind Americanon is nothing short of bril­liant, and journalist Jess McHugh delivers on her inspired premise with insight and aplomb… Some of the most astute observations in this penetrating history are about how these books’ creators did not always live by the same rules they imposed upon their rank-and-file readers. McHugh’s book is essential reading—illuminating, engaging and absorbing. You’ll never look at the dictionary or cookbook on your shelf in quite the same way.”BookPage (starred review)

“Journalist McHugh examines a long bookshelf of didactic books by which Americans have self-educated… A worthy, capably told look at a small canon of works demonstrating how to do well by doing good.”—Kirkus

“Journalist McHugh’s appealing cultural history dissects the American character through a close examination of ‘ordinary, instructional books that average Americans have consulted every day’… Brisk publication histories and author profiles enrich the cultural analysis, which is consistently on-point. This lucid survey entertains and enlightens.”Publishers Weekly

“In a work spanning literary criticism and history, journalist McHugh explores a series of popular nonfiction books that fostered stereotypical American values, such as entrepreneurship, individualism, or fealty to family and community, and also conveyed practical knowledge… McHugh’s work is distinctive and engaging as it describes American social history through the lens of mainstream nonfiction advice books, and explores how they define or redefine us.”—Library Journal

“With a snappy title and an earnest heart, Americanon, by journalist Jess McHugh, looks at 13 ‘American bibles’… Eschewing fiction, whose Hucks and Uncle Toms and March sisters might face conflicts all too obviously plucked from the tapestry of American history, the canny and erudite McHugh selects plotless but far better-selling instructional volumes—Webster’s Dictionaryfor goodness sake! McGuffey Readers!—and shows how these books reveal the inner objectives of striving Americans while at the same time helping their achievement… McHugh adroitly reveals how the DNA of each of these books can still be detected in an America that has in many ways evolved.”—Air Mail

[McHugh’s] not interested in nostalgia here, but a book-centric biopsy of the American soul. Sometimes that soul is bright and optimistic, and sometimes it’s dark and depraved. Often, and in each of her selections, it’s both at the same time. Of the thirteen books in McHugh’s analysis, not a single one is unequivocally praised or condemned. She not only investigates the history of each book but its messages and legacy as well… This is where Americanon excels: in celebrating the parts of each work that are worthy of celebration while not dismissing the problematic aspects of each work and its promulgated ideas… If you want a surprising book that isn’t afraid to sift through the good and the bad to handle the truth effectively, read Americanon.”—Parks & Recommendations

“75 Nonfiction Books You Should Read This Summer…We like to think that culture—be it national or regional—is a reflection of the highest echelons of artistic creation, that we are as worthy of our mythologies as they are of us. This is not the case. As Jess McHugh discovers in this deep dive into thirteen of America’s most owned books—from farmer’s almanacs to dictionaries to cookbooks to etiquette guides—a nation’s story is shaped and told from much humbler texts.”—LitHub

“One of the 10 best books of June…This delightful book argues that enduring bestsellers, including The Old Farmer’s Almanac and How to Win Friends and Influence People, have contributed to a unified national identity as much as revered founding documents like the Constitution.”—Christian Science Monitor

“Given the dominance of American power and culture over the last century, it may be difficult to grasp the idea that there was no such thing as an American when the Revolutionary War ended. The nation had been formed; now its people needed to be invented. In Americanon, Jess McHugh tells the story of this invention and the ongoing reinforcement and reinvention the American character has undergone since… Among McHugh’s accomplishments is the deft way she establishes the evolution of ideas across the books she explores… Jess McHugh’s achievement in Americanon is that she makes clear some of the problems with these aspirations are baked into their design and not a result of our frequently having fallen short of them.”—Washington Independent Review of Books

“Given the dominance of American power and culture over the last century, it may be difficult to grasp the idea that there was no such thing as an American when the Revolutionary War ended. The nation had been formed; now its people needed to be invented. In Americanon, Jess McHugh tells the story of this invention and the ongoing reinforcement and reinvention the American character has undergone since… Among McHugh’s accomplishments is the deft way she establishes the evolution of ideas across the books she explores… Jess McHugh’s achievement in Americanon is that she makes clear some of the problems with these aspirations are baked into their design and not a result of our frequently having fallen short of them.”—The New Republic

 

Contact

X

 

For all PR inquiries or interview requests related to Americanon, please contact Emily Canders, ecanders@penguinrandomhouse.com 

My agent is Anna Sproul-Latimer, anna@neonliterary.com.

Compliments, opportunities, and pictures of dogs can go to jessmchugh3@gmail.com

 

 

Press

X

Praise for AMERICANON:

“The concept behind Americanon is nothing short of bril­liant, and journalist Jess McHugh delivers on her inspired premise with insight and aplomb… Some of the most astute observations in this penetrating history are about how these books’ creators did not always live by the same rules they imposed upon their rank-and-file readers. McHugh’s book is essential reading—illuminating, engaging and absorbing. You’ll never look at the dictionary or cookbook on your shelf in quite the same way.”BookPage (starred review)

“This more democratic canon is less about literary acumen and more about reading as mass self-revealment: Show McHugh the books Americans have flocked to over the course of history, she suggests, and she’ll show you what it means to be American… McHugh’s chapters, winningly, are not close readings of each book but mini-histories of the texts’ creation and reception, the authors’ biographies, the public’s moods, the contexts of various eras… McHugh has a knack for squeezing a lot of research into smallish spaces, and she sweetens the pot with throwaway but vivid details. (There are passing, tantalizing references to things like a “tuberculosis-fueled vampire panic” and a religious book against dancing called “From the Ball-Room to Hell.”)… Some of the conclusions about the composite American character — especially in its early years — won’t shock too many citizens. Americans are striving, competitive, materialistic, insecure, confident, proudly self-reliant, optimistic, performatively virtuous… But the book resoundingly and memorably establishes these qualities through reading habits, and it highlights two qualities that perhaps haven’t been as well covered: We are prescriptive and hypocritical. Without overdoing it, McHugh clearly delineates how good Americans are — or at least American authors are — at giving advice they don’t follow.”The New York Times

“Journalist McHugh examines a long bookshelf of didactic books by which Americans have self-educated… A worthy, capably told look at a small canon of works demonstrating how to do well by doing good.”—Kirkus

“Journalist McHugh’s appealing cultural history dissects the American character through a close examination of ‘ordinary, instructional books that average Americans have consulted every day’… Brisk publication histories and author profiles enrich the cultural analysis, which is consistently on-point. This lucid survey entertains and enlightens.”Publishers Weekly

“In a work spanning literary criticism and history, journalist McHugh explores a series of popular nonfiction books that fostered stereotypical American values, such as entrepreneurship, individualism, or fealty to family and community, and also conveyed practical knowledge… McHugh’s work is distinctive and engaging as it describes American social history through the lens of mainstream nonfiction advice books, and explores how they define or redefine us.”—Library Journal

“With a snappy title and an earnest heart, Americanon, by journalist Jess McHugh, looks at 13 ‘American bibles’… Eschewing fiction, whose Hucks and Uncle Toms and March sisters might face conflicts all too obviously plucked from the tapestry of American history, the canny and erudite McHugh selects plotless but far better-selling instructional volumes—Webster’s Dictionaryfor goodness sake! McGuffey Readers!—and shows how these books reveal the inner objectives of striving Americans while at the same time helping their achievement… McHugh adroitly reveals how the DNA of each of these books can still be detected in an America that has in many ways evolved.”—Air Mail

[McHugh’s] not interested in nostalgia here, but a book-centric biopsy of the American soul. Sometimes that soul is bright and optimistic, and sometimes it’s dark and depraved. Often, and in each of her selections, it’s both at the same time. Of the thirteen books in McHugh’s analysis, not a single one is unequivocally praised or condemned. She not only investigates the history of each book but its messages and legacy as well… This is where Americanon excels: in celebrating the parts of each work that are worthy of celebration while not dismissing the problematic aspects of each work and its promulgated ideas… If you want a surprising book that isn’t afraid to sift through the good and the bad to handle the truth effectively, read Americanon.”—Parks & Recommendations

“75 Nonfiction Books You Should Read This Summer…We like to think that culture—be it national or regional—is a reflection of the highest echelons of artistic creation, that we are as worthy of our mythologies as they are of us. This is not the case. As Jess McHugh discovers in this deep dive into thirteen of America’s most owned books—from farmer’s almanacs to dictionaries to cookbooks to etiquette guides—a nation’s story is shaped and told from much humbler texts.”—LitHub

“One of the 10 best books of June…This delightful book argues that enduring bestsellers, including The Old Farmer’s Almanac and How to Win Friends and Influence People, have contributed to a unified national identity as much as revered founding documents like the Constitution.”—Christian Science Monitor

“Given the dominance of American power and culture over the last century, it may be difficult to grasp the idea that there was no such thing as an American when the Revolutionary War ended. The nation had been formed; now its people needed to be invented. In Americanon, Jess McHugh tells the story of this invention and the ongoing reinforcement and reinvention the American character has undergone since… Among McHugh’s accomplishments is the deft way she establishes the evolution of ideas across the books she explores… Jess McHugh’s achievement in Americanon is that she makes clear some of the problems with these aspirations are baked into their design and not a result of our frequently having fallen short of them.”—Washington Independent Review of Books

“Given the dominance of American power and culture over the last century, it may be difficult to grasp the idea that there was no such thing as an American when the Revolutionary War ended. The nation had been formed; now its people needed to be invented. In Americanon, Jess McHugh tells the story of this invention and the ongoing reinforcement and reinvention the American character has undergone since… Among McHugh’s accomplishments is the deft way she establishes the evolution of ideas across the books she explores… Jess McHugh’s achievement in Americanon is that she makes clear some of the problems with these aspirations are baked into their design and not a result of our frequently having fallen short of them.”—The New Republic

 

Interviews and Events with Jess

American Library in Paris, Evenings With an Author

The American Writers Museum, A Conversation With Jess McHugh

Thoughts From a Page Podcast

Interview with WDET (NPR)

Speaking of Writers Podcast

Twitter

X

Share this site