The Best of Diablo From These Pages

It's not every day when a former staffer wins an Academy Award. In honor of Diablo Cody's Oscar for best original screenplay, we've collected the top five stories she wrote during her time at City Pages.

For more from Diablo, you can also always check out her author archive for stories or the blog archive. Also, don't miss our feature interview with the Juno author and companion slideshow from late December.

5. "The Dirty Parts"
"His engorged maleness pressed urgently against her throbbing delta." No, Diablo didn't write that. But it's Diablo Cody writing about bodice-ripper romance novels, so you know there's something of interest inside. The story, not the bodice. Well, probably the bodice, too.

4. "Crossing Bridges of Hope and Taking Leaps of Faith With the Painter of Light"
Diablo Cody, meet Thomas Kinkade. Mr. Kinkade, you may not know what hit you. From June 2005.

3. "Finding My Religion"
What's a lapsed-Catholic former sex worker who doesn't like religious dogma to do when she finds out she still believes? I can think of at least one person to ask.

2. "Anarchy and Apron Strings"
This feature about crafty girls muses on multiple waves of feminism, the knitting needle and the New Domesticity involving hipsters.

1. "Are You There, Hollywood? It's Me, Diablo"
A cover story from August 2005, the inimitable Ms. Cody recounts her adventures up to that point in the trade. This bit seems prescient:

I don't need to be Charlie Kauffman, or Nora Ephron, or "the next Zach Helm," as one agent is fond of saying. All I ask is that they let me play for a few more rounds. I love writing screenplays and knowing they could plausibly evolve into a real, visual microcosm. I love talking to people who've been involved with movies that I loved as a fan, not a participant.