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David Brooks

By David Brooks

Opinion Columnist

Welcome to the 21st edition of the Sidney Awards. Every year, I give out extremely nonlucrative prizes, in honor of the philosopher Sidney Hook, celebrating some of the best nonfiction essays of the year, especially the ones published in medium-size and small magazines. I figure this is a good time to take a step back from the Trump circus and read some broader reflections on life. The Sidneys are here to help.

The first Sidney goes to Aaron Parsley’s “The River House Broke. We Rushed in the River” in Texas Monthly. It’s an account of the July 4 flood of the Guadalupe River that killed all those children at Camp Mystic. His extended family had gathered at their house on the Guadalupe, and he describes what happened minute by minute, as the waters rise, as they seek to escape and as they get dumped into the surging river as the house disintegrates. Here’s Parsley’s description of one moment:

I latched onto a tree with branches large enough to support me and pulled myself out of the water. My breathing was frantic but my mind was focused. I considered the........

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