CHARLES P. PIERCE has been a writer-at-large forEsquiresince 1997 and is a frequent contributor toAmerican ProspectandSlate. His work has also appeared inTheNew York Times Magazine,theLos Angeles Times Magazine, The Nation, TheAtlantic,and theChicago Tribune, among other publications, and he is a regular on NPR’sWait, Wait, Don’t Tell MeandOnly a Game.