another day
h e l l o from t h e o
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this week’s style inspo:
Damselfrau is my inspiration for post-quarantine street style.
what I’m clicking:
Is this the end of tourism? | Is this the end of the girlboss? | Don’t call AOC a fluke | Want to tear down monuments to racism and segregation? Bulldoze the LA freeways | My body is a confederate monument | How The Wing’s empire was built on trauma, racism, and neglect | The memeification of Breonna Taylor’s death | Why American newsrooms are full of prejudice | Ziwe has mastered the art of putting white people on the spot | How to know you’re not insane (your coworkers are just racist) | This article from 2014 details exactly what the name “Redskin” means | Corporations say “Black Lives Matter”--here’s what they need to do to mean it | Defund facial recognition before it’s too late | Ms. Muslimah, USA | The Arctic is on fire and we should all be terrified | What happened in Bethel, Ohio? | The pandemic experts are not okay | Inside Ghislane Maxwell’s life on the lam | A summer of radical community
what I’m wanderlusting:
what I’m watching:
Somehow a new season of Insecure came out in 2020 and I totally missed it until now--what a delightful surprise!
what I’m coveting:
A marbled Texas Tuxedo from KKCO
what I’m preordering:
I ordered Kevin Kwan’s new book, Sex and Vanity and I’m so excited to read it. Slightly worried that it won’t live up to Crazy Rich Asians, but even if it’s just half as good I’ll be happy.
what I’m reading:
Gregory David Roberts
At the beginning of quarantine, I was sort of in this reading rut where anything new was too scary for me. I was craving books that were familiar, but I still wanted a sense of adventure in a foreign land. I decided to reread Shantaram, which I first read (and loved!) in college. Re-reading this book was SUCH a joy and it just reminded me of the thrill of traveling somewhere you’ve never been before and surrendering yourself to chaos. Reading it now as a travel writer is sort of hilarious because it is absolutely FILLED with colonialist stereotypes and travel writing cliches (it's basically a crash course in how white people should NOT be writing about India), but I still enjoyed it so much.
Did it make me cry: Yes.
Did it make me laugh: Yes, there are some funny parts.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s a book that will make you feel like you’re traveling even when you’re stuck in one place, so yes. Also it’s like 900 pages long so it’s a great way to pass the time.
Would I read it again: I don’t think so, but perhaps during the next time I can't go anywhere and want to do a bit of armchair travel.
Would it be a good movie: No, there’s way too much here for a movie. Maybe three movies? I’d prefer an HBO miniseries (as usual).
Gregory David Roberts
Usually when I talk about sequels or series in this newsletter, I group all of the books together to give an overall review of the series as a whole. But in this case, I feel really strongly about advising you NOT to read the second book. It makes no sense whatsoever. It’s like this weirdly goofy, 900-page epilogue that doesn’t even answer the questions that you actually care about. You get to spend a bit more time with the main characters (the ones that survive the first book, at least) but it’s probably the most unsatisfying sequel in the history of sequels. Do not waste your time with this one, people.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good pandemic book: No.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: No.
Liane Moriarty
This is the same person who wrote Big Little Lies so you know you’re in for some juicy juicy trash here, but I have to say I was disappointed because I kept waiting for a murder to happen and it never does. (Sorry for the spoiler.)
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: Possibly! She’s kinda funny sometimes.
Is it a good pandemic book: I really can’t say definitively. It felt like a waste of time for me, but maybe that’s just because I was waiting for a murder that never happened. When the book was over I was like “that’s it???”
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: I think the script needs a rewrite to include a murder and then YES!
L.S. Hilton
Imagine if Patricia Highsmith wrote a porno and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what to expect from this series involving sex parties, art heists, Russian oligarchs, the mafia, and a bunch of murders in fancy European vacation destinations.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s pure escapism of the most superficial kind, so yes, absolutely.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: Yes, omg yes. Eyes Wide Shut meets The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Ling Ma
Back in March when all of this started getting really apocalyptic, my coworker kept referencing Severance, so I bought it but didn’t get the nerve to read it until just now. I couldn’t put this book down and I highly recommend it (if you’re in the right headspace).
Did it make me cry: No. But it’s definitely sad and scary.
Did it make me laugh: Yes.
Is it a good pandemic book: Um, that depends I guess. It is an excellent book ABOUT a pandemic (just like my other favorite pandemic book, Station Eleven) but it’s probably not a great book to read DURING a pandemic unless you’re safe and happy and in the mood for a good scary story to keep you up at night.
Would I read it again: I read it in one day, so I would like to read it (maybe during our next pandemic!) a little bit slower next time.
Would it be a good movie: I guess that depends on how many sci-fi pandemic scripts are in the works already. We might be a little saturated.
Jesmyn Ward
Jesmyn Ward is officially one of my favorite writers. I have never sent fan mail to an author, but while reading her memoir, I just kept thinking of all the questions I wanted to ask her and things I wanted to talk about. I’m still thinking about sending her an email. I haven’t read that many memoirs by novelists, but it was really interesting to see what parts of her life inspired parts of other books, especially Salvage the Bones, which is probably one of my top 15 favorite books of all time. If you want to read this book, I think you should read some of her novels first.
Did it make me cry: Yes.
Did it make me laugh: No, this book is heart-wrenchingly sad.
Is it a good pandemic book: There are two pandemics facing Americans right now: coronavirus and racism. This is a book you need to read.
Would I read it again: I would rather read her other books again now that I’ve read her memoir.
Would it be a good movie: No, I don’t think movies really work for memoirs.
Camille Perri
This book is SO fun. It’s basically your average trashy New York City meet-cute book where work nemeses realize an attraction for one another--but with lesbians. It’s short and sweet and perfect.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: Yes, there are some funny lines.
Is it a good pandemic book: Like 50% of this book takes place in a rowdy bar, so it might make you too wistful for the Before Times. Read at your own risk.
Would I read it again: No, but I would read the sequel or another book by the author.
Would it be a good movie: Somebody PLEASE make this into a movie, for the bar scenes alone. This movie is a moneymaker, I promise.
Ray Bradbury
Somehow I made it through all of middle school and high school without ever actually reading this book (I’m not sure if it was never assigned to me or if I just didn’t do the reading) and I have to say that I do NOT understand the hype. I love a good dystopia, but this book offers literally no details. There’s mostly just poorly written dialogue and basically no descriptive words--I have no idea what this dumb place looks like or where it is or how it got there or who lives there. It’s unclear who’s in charge or why you should care about the characters at all. I think the ideas about censorship are interesting and pretty far ahead of their times, especially if you think about it in the context of Facebook and YouTube algorithms only showing us what we want to see and the ongoing Fox News talking points of hate speech as free speech. But it makes me sad to think about how this book is such an exalted example of the dystopian novel.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good pandemic book: No, it’s not a good book for any time.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: I don’t understand how this was made into a movie TWICE unless they literally rewrote the script and changed the plot. I don't really care enough about the story to spend time finding out.