Perfecting untruth, America's unhappiest city, tea with the Queen and more of the most read Geist stories of 2017!

1. South of Buck Creek by Terence Byrnes

A Canadian memoir of black and white in America's unhappiest city. Winner of a National Magazine Award for Photography: Photojournalism & Photo Essay.

2. 27 000 Cups of Tea by Jocelyn Kuang

Geist London correspondant goes shopping for a fascinator and has tea with the Queen!

3. 1827 Sul Ross #1 by Vanessa Stauffer

I could barely pay the rent. Mrs. Pimlott changed
the locks. I moved in with a friend.
When I walked by in spring the guy next door
wondered where I’d been & had I heard
about the tenant after me?

4. Yes Yes We're Magicians by Jonah Samson

Sombre, disquieting and humours images in the spirit of Waiting for Godot, sourced from eBay.

5. Stumped by Barbara Zatyko

A dog fight over a dehydrated chicken fillet ends with Barbara Zatyko losing her pinkie.

6. Star of the Sea by Shannon Webb-Campbell

"We wandered around the man-made “traditional Mi’kmaq village” together, in a haze. Hungover from the night before. I snuck into a teepee and folded myself into child’s pose. Eventually she found me, and we made up."

7. Harm Reduction by Henry Doyle

The copper on the bullhorn bellows
“Please stop telling the poor man to jump!”
Finally they talk the young dude down.
We all cheer as if the Canucks
have just scored the game-winning goal.

8. Reporting Lies by Alberto Manguel

Alberto Manguel on Canadian journalism and lying with the truth.

9. Ethnic Babies by Stephen Henighan

Stephen Henighan discusses the crude first steps to finding a new way to talk about racial reality.

10. Hitler's Taste Testers by Catriona Wright

Frieda concocted bold escapes. Eleonore recited verses
from the Book of Job. Lotte found her faith. Sonja lost hers.
We wrote each other’s obituaries, full of lewd jokes and accolades.