Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik has been a writer for The New Yorker since 1986. He is the author of the essay collections Paris to the Moon and Through the Children’s Gate, both of which include many of his pieces from the magazine, and also two children’s novels, The King in the Window and The Steps Across the Water. His other works include Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life and The Table Comes First: On Family, France, and the Meaning of Food.

What ‘LOL’ Means

No Laughing Matter

Writer Adam Gopnik learned Internet chat from his son, Luke, and quickly caught on to such lingo as ‘brb’ and ‘gtg.’ But he didn’t get the hang of ‘LOL’—to disastrous effects. Read Adam’s funny and heartwarming story, originally a broadcast on the radio show The Moth, excerpted from the new book The Moth: 50 True Stories, out Tuesday.

Adam Gopnik