Longreads: Daily Beast Picks Week’s Best for Oct. 22, 2011

The Kids Are Actually Sort of AlrightNoreen Malone, New YorkMy screwed, coddled, self-absorbed, mocked, surprisingly resilient generation.

Peyton’s PlaceJohn Jeremiah Sullivan, GQWhen John Jeremiah Sullivan and his wife leveraged everything they had to buy a big brick neo-Colonial in Wilmington, N.C., their realtor made an irresistible proposal: By allowing a popular teen TV show to film at the house a few days a month, they could pretty much get the mortgage covered.

Inside Obama’s War RoomMichael Hastings, Rolling StoneHow he decided to intervene in Libya—and what it says about his evolution as commander in chief.

Dropbox: The Inside Story of Tech’s Hottest StartupVictoria Barret, ForbesThe rapid rise of the file-storage company that is now worth billions and has a new user joining every second.

Changing TimesKen Auletta, The New YorkerJill Abramson takes charge of the Gray Lady.

My Walk Through the Valley of DeathJanine di Giovanni, NewsweekWhen Janine di Giovanni arrived in Libya, she hoped to find a triumphant nation basking in newfound freedom. Instead she was confronted with a land haunted by the ghosts of Gaddafi’s reign of terror.