The locker rooms of winning teams are crowded with coaches, family, and fans; in contrast, the locker rooms of the losing teams are quiet and awkward, and reporters tend to leave quickly. But as Mary Pilon and Louisa Thomas argue, losing is not a phenomenon to be overlooked—from the Olympic gymnast who was forced to surrender her spot to another teammate, to the legacy of Bill Buckner's tenth-inning error in the 1986 World Series, to LeBron James's losing record in the NBA Finals. Offering insights and wit on a fundamental human experience, the 22 writers here include Gay Talese, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bob Sullivan, Abby Ellin, Mike Pesca, and Louisa Hall.