There are some good insights here, but unfortunately they take a backseat to Genis’s solipsistic narration. Centering his own experience as an ‘over-eThere are some good insights here, but unfortunately they take a backseat to Genis’s solipsistic narration. Centering his own experience as an ‘over-educated’ white Jewish man in the US prison system, Genis never wholly owns this project as a memoir, but he instead turns his fellow inmates into objects of a sort of sociological study, and none of his (extensive) commentary on blackness or queerness in the prison industrial complex struck me as anything worth reading over similar accounts by black and queer incarcerated people. I don’t know, this whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth, and any goodwill I may have had toward this book evaporated when I switched to the audio halfway through (narrated by the author) and had to listen to Genis’s almost gleeful tone when he was reading particularly disturbing or shocking passages. I don’t doubt that this was a harrowing, profoundly challenging experience for Genis to have survived, but as a book this did not work for me at all. ...more
The Year of Lear focuses on one specific year as it pertains to Shakespeare's life and works--1606, the year he wrote Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, aThe Year of Lear focuses on one specific year as it pertains to Shakespeare's life and works--1606, the year he wrote Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, and King Lear. This is a historical rather than literary text--Shapiro doesn't give a line-by-line analysis of any of the aforementioned plays, but rather, he fills in the historical context surrounding their respective compositions, particularly highlighting the Gunpowder Plot and its aftermath.
It's an interesting text as long as you're compelled by this level of historical specificity. If you're looking for a literary analysis of Lear or a biography of Shakespeare's life, look elsewhere, but as a piece of historical nonfiction this is a fascinating snapshot into a turbulent piece of early modern history and the literature it directly and indirectly inspired. ...more
This is a competent, easily digestible primer on antiracism that I found to be a mostly valuable read. Some of the topics that Oluo discussed were alThis is a competent, easily digestible primer on antiracism that I found to be a mostly valuable read. Some of the topics that Oluo discussed were already familiar to me but enough were new or at least articulated in a new way that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking more toward the beginner side of antiracism nonfiction. I do think the actual writing style left a bit to be desired but it's a minor qualm; this book unarguably achieves what it sets out to achieve.
Part of the reason for my rating and certainly the reason it took me over two months to read this was because I hated the audiobook; I found the narrator's intonation aggravating to listen to for more than 10 minutes at a time and I should have switched to print a few hours in, mea culpa....more
If you're interested at all in Irish lit, this is SUCH a brilliant hidden gem. In this sort of offbeat biography, Tóibín digs into the lives of the fIf you're interested at all in Irish lit, this is SUCH a brilliant hidden gem. In this sort of offbeat biography, Tóibín digs into the lives of the fathers of Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, and James Joyce, with an emphasis on their relationships with their respective sons. The book is divided pretty evenly into three sections and each has its strengths and weaknesses - I was most compelled by Joyce's, somewhat to my surprise - but for a book that changes trajectory three times it's reassuringly steady in its aims: humanizing these men, contextualizing the way they manifested into their sons' writing, and creating a textured portrait of the history of literary Dublin. (Also, I can HIGHLY recommend the audio - Tóibín has a fantastic voice and his rendition of Joyce's Ecce Puer was chilling.)...more
A really incisive collection of essays about Hong's experience grappling with her identity as a Korean-American artist. Some hit harder than others (hA really incisive collection of essays about Hong's experience grappling with her identity as a Korean-American artist. Some hit harder than others (her essay about Theresa Hak Kyung Cha in particular was perfection), but all of these essays are worth reading....more
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls was a breath of fresh air. If you isolate many of its thematic elements and you read a lot of this type of meLong Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls was a breath of fresh air. If you isolate many of its thematic elements and you read a lot of this type of memoir, there's plenty of familiarity - coming of age, coming to terms with queerness, racial identity, sexual assault, trauma, drugs, love, family ties. But T Kira Madden does something completely unique with it, revealing enough of her life to the reader in each chapter to keep us absorbed, yet employing a non-linear structure so faultlessly that its full impact cannot be felt until you turn the final page.
Set mostly in Boca Raton where Madden grew up, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls chronicles a childhood marked both by privilege and instability (she grew up with many material comforts being related to the Steve Madden shoe dynasty, but under the guardianship of neglectful parents battling addiction). Each chapter, charting a different period of Madden's life, is in its own way fresh, dynamic, and heart-wrenching, but the titular chapter is probably the stand-out - the depiction of the tight bonds of teenage girlhood underscored by Madden's burgeoning sexual awakening made my heart hurt - as well as the final chapter that so brilliantly ties the whole book together.
It's hard to talk about this book without getting into specifics which would neuter some of the impact if you know too much of what to expect, but I can't say enough good things about it and about Madden's prose. It was gentle, visceral, intricate, and structured with a kind of careful deliberation that ultimately elevates what was already going to be an exquisite book....more
How you feel about this book is entirely going to depend on what you're expecting to get out of it. This is not a scientific text, nor is it an in-deHow you feel about this book is entirely going to depend on what you're expecting to get out of it. This is not a scientific text, nor is it an in-depth exploration of possible solutions to climate change. This is a rallying cry; a wake-up call to anyone who isn't paying attention to the catastrophic state our planet is in. If you're familiar with Greta Thunberg from the news or social media, you'll pretty much know what to expect from this, and it does deliver.
That said, my god did the repetition in this short book start to grate. It actually rather irritates me how poorly curated this essay collection is; the impact of Thunberg's words starts to neuter itself the further you read, by no fault of her own but because the editor saw fit to include near-identical speeches back-to-back on several occasions. ...more
This is a slim, hard-hitting book that doesn't dwell on the horrors that Loridan-Ivens experienced in Birkenau so much as examine their aftermath. RetThis is a slim, hard-hitting book that doesn't dwell on the horrors that Loridan-Ivens experienced in Birkenau so much as examine their aftermath. Returning to a family who was spared from the concentration camps while losing the only other family member who was sent to Auschwitz with her, she writes this memoir as an extended letter to her father, whose death overshadows her own survival. Sparse and poignant, But You Did Not Come Back is certainly worth a read even if you feel oversaturated with WWII lit....more
I'm pleased to report that it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. Jia Tolentino probes the oddities of modern [female] life with the precisioI'm pleased to report that it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. Jia Tolentino probes the oddities of modern [female] life with the precision of a scalpel; she's a tremendously talented writer and a skilled observer, a critical combination when it comes to this sort of essay collection. My favorite essay was the one about Tolentino's time on a reality tv show as a teenager, and my least favorite was the last essay about weddings, but I think each of those speaks to my personal interests more than objective quality. I don't think there was a weak essay in here and I look forward to reading anything by Tolentino in the future....more
This is a competent essay collection and it's not difficult to see why it's gotten so much critical acclaim; it's topical, to the point, and easily diThis is a competent essay collection and it's not difficult to see why it's gotten so much critical acclaim; it's topical, to the point, and easily digested. Some of these essays really worked for me; the standouts being the opening essay, Notes on Intemperance where Pine discusses her father's alcoholism and illness, and Something About Me - more on this one in a second - but ultimately this essay collection just fell a bit flat for me.
My problem with Notes to Self was that I never felt like Emilie Pine was bringing anything new to the table. The common theme among these essays seems to be 'let's talk about it': let's talk about period blood, let's talk about infertility, let's talk about the effect of divorce on young children, let's talk about alcoholic parents - but the problem is, it's a lot of talking without really saying anything. I'm not suggesting that personal essays need a moral, necessarily, or that they need to draw a conclusion, but I do think that for them to be effective, they need to bring in a unique perspective, and that's what I felt like this essay collection lacked. Emilie Pine is clearly an intelligent woman and a capable writer, but something kept getting lost in these essays for me. I wanted them to hook me, speak to me, challenge me, but they never did.
It's probably not incidental therefore that my favorite essay, Something About Me, was technically one of the messier ones in this collection. It's about Pine's rebellious teenage years, and structurally it's a bit all over the place, and it undergoes a radical tonal shift in its final pages. But I felt like it was one of the only essays where Pine was really showing herself; not just talking abstractly about topics that have affected her, but showing the reader a glimpse of herself that I felt otherwise remained hidden.
It's also quite possible that part of the problem was that this was so similar in tone and structure to Sinead Gleeson's Constellations, which is one of the best things I've read all year. I wouldn't dissuade others from picking up Notes to Self, but Constellations is the one I'd really point you toward if 'Irish memoirist essay collection about feminism, illness, and womanhood' is a premise that appeals to you. ...more
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