Every Friday Vulture finds a great story that's a little too long to read on the computer screen. Fiction, long-form narrative journalism, epic blog sagas — any of these could be your Weekend Read. Print it out on the office printer, smuggle it home, and curl up with it after brunch.

Ann Patchett is the author of one of the best novels we've read in the past five years, Bel Canto, as well as the lovely memoir Truth & Beauty and the upcoming novel Run. So when we heard about her short essay in The Washington Post Magazine, "The Wall," our first response was surprise that such a gentle and funny writer once attempted to qualify for the Los Angeles Police Academy. But, following in her father's footsteps, Patchett did, and the resultant story of unexpected success is harrowing and exceptionally well told. "The Wall" is today's Weekend Read.

The Wall [WP]