Joyride by Susan Orlean, Bluets by Maggie Nelson, Paper Girl by Beth Macy, Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith
Been a while since I’ve done one of these. (Self-aware pattern recognition: I guess I say that every time.) Here’s a roundup of nonfiction I’ve read lately**.
Joyride: A Memoir (Susan Orlean): Loved this peek at the prolific writer’s tenacity and subsequent success with basically just writing about whatever she finds interesting. (#goals) No memoir by Orlean would be complete without addressing her Drunk Twitter Moments and her incredible Rudolph Schindler-designed house in LA — she does both without making them the stars. (Because of course they aren’t.) Note to self: Read The Orchid Thief (I never have) and then re-watch Adaptation.
Bluets (Maggie Nelson): I don’t know…didn’t hit me right? I often enjoy writing that can be described as “fragmented” or “experimental,” but these sparse reflections on the color blue made me feel…blue. #amunsophisticated? (Big fan, though, of Wave Books, publisher of Bluets. One of these days I’ll write about Mary Ruefle, also published by Wave.)
Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America (Beth Macy): Straightforward account of What Went Wrong ™️ in Macy’s hometown of Urbana, Ohio using the death of local media as a thread. Although there was nothing particularly surprising or earth-shattering about Paper Girl, occasionally a direct retelling of someone’s life underscored by the domino effect of different policies makes for a satisfying read.
Dead and Alive: Essays (Zadie Smith): I haven’t really read Zadie Smith since her second novel, On Beauty. What? Why? Smith balances the right tone of academic-y and pop-culture-y while her meandering (that’s a compliment) essays explore technology v personhood/identity, performative reading, art, colonialism, “othering,” politics, other writers, aging. Etc! Her ability to “step in another’s shoes” as a novelist (which she addresses) allows her to engage with — and even understand — counterpoints without diluting or weakening her own point. This collection made me want to run to my laptop and type away. But also: She seems to enjoy picking apart the idea of “the algorithm,” as do I, so … besties?
** “Lately” = over several months. See pic below.
originally published on instagram