Jason Fagone is an American journalist and author. His work has appeared in GQ Magazine, Esquire Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, and the New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, among other places. In 2002, Columbia Journalism Review named him among the “Ten Young Writers on the Rise”.

His first book, Horsemen of the Esophagus

Horsemen of the Esophagus

Horsemen of the Esophagus by Jason Fagone is a nonfiction book about the sport of competitive eating and the outsized American appetite. Horsemen follows three American "gurgitators" during a year on the pro eating circuit: Ohio housepainter David "Coondog" O'Karma, South Jersey truck driver Bill...

, is about competitive eating

Competitive eating

Competitive eating, or speed eating, is a sport in which participants compete against each other to consume large quantities of food in a short time period. Contests are typically less than 15 minutes in length, with the person consuming the most food being declared the winner...

. Of the phenomenon, Fagone writes, "you hate to see all these very clear human desires poured into something like an eating contest. But it’s kind of inspiring that we’re creative enough and resilient enough to make it work. It’s both an American horror show and an American success story."