Hello from Burnout Island. I’ve been writing a lot, freelancing is my full-time job, and while I have a few regular gigs it still requires a lot of admin to get enough work lined up to pay the bills. The industry is in decline, or at least in a lot of trouble—something that surprises no one. While there are only a few full-time, fully-employed book critics, I am a full time critic/journalist/writer. I just don’t get health insurance for my contributions. As such, I am trying to finish up a few big pieces soon. So, while I wish I could offer another essay or interview for you this week I am turning to a classic Substack genre. The recommendation list. I have mixed feelings on lists, perhaps because they’re often been a way for me to manage my anxiety or troubled ideas about canon (who’s in and who’s out), but I also think they can be a place of lifting others up and expanding. One rule—these are primarily things I am not writing about. Some some books I would recommend aren’t present below. Speculate away.
Articles:
“The Polycrisis,” Brandy Jensen, The Yale Review
Today a big theme is editors who are also great writers. This is one of the only good things written about polyamory. Read it. She also wrote a great piece on Nancy Lemann, whose Lives of the Saints is great and I just read.
A profile of Charli XCX for Vogue UK by Laura Snapes
Snapes is one of the best writers on pop music. Her recent profile of XCX is a master-class mash-up and she also just had me reconsider what I thought about the new Kacey Musgraves album. (She’s right, it’s genius.)
On Emma Cline by Jennifer Wilson for The Nation
Wilson is now at the New Yorker, but her book reviews for the Nation are what I turn to for inspiration. Clear, crisp, erudite, stylish and incisive.
Driving Academy by Nicolaia Rips for the Paris Review
The i-D writer and memoirist is so funny, she’s excellent at turning grief into tiny comic gems. Her recent essays are a treat.
On Neighbors by Tyler Foggatt for The New Yorker
Foggatt’s writing on Taylor Swift is some of the best, her criticism is so fun and ecstatic, the kind of thing that ropes you in like a lasso with its flashy subjects and careful critical consideration.
Rachel Syme on the Met Gala for The New Yorker
Definitive takes. Great context.
Also:
Naomi Kanakia on short stories and style, Centrist imaginations by Rayne Fisher-Quann, Rachel Aviv on Oliver Sacks, Jean Garnett on kid’s tv and divorce, Chris Gayomali on juicing, and Hermione Hoby on Infinite Jest.
Books:
A Left-Handed Woman, Judith Thurman
Her sentences are so lush and intricate without sacrificing anything. Their sparse perfection is so evocative. Read her on any and everything from Rachel Cusk to Commes des Garçons.
Wifey, Judy Blume
This was a trip. Raunchy, sexy, grim, funny. A slender, perfect novel that should be more widely-read. Where’s the reissue? I’d do an introduction on late-in-life affairs and the appeal of gross-out sex.
On Morrison, Namwali Serpell
I obviously have a soft spot for criticism. Serpell’s book is surprising, exacting, demanding, and beautiful. I love the way she weaves in Nettie Jones and Morrison’s editorial work. It’s a daring, pitch-perfect book with a lot to say about one of my favorite writers.
Murder Bimbo, Rebecca Novak
Alongside Famesick, this is one of the few books I’ve torn through recently. Novak has written a bleak comic satire with a lot to say about love, politics, and selling out. It’s fun, biting, and sharp. I want more. Novak’s bio about being a divinity school grad continues to shift the way I read this book.
The Crime of Sheila McGough, Janet Malcolm
She’s the best, what can I say? I’ve worked through all her books at this point and there’s simply no one like her. I’m excited for a biography I hear is coming later this year.
Image credit: Leonard Carrington.
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