h e l l o from t h e o
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this week’s style inspo:
Joan Holloway from Mad Men (which I finally watched for the first time this year).
what I’m clicking:
My trans mother | A serial con artist | Beauty secrets from a poet and sex worker | Surprise, Jake Paul is a shitty boss | TikTok and the vibes revival | LinkedIn’s alternate universe | Girl, wash your timeline | Oatly: the new coke | The end of Kimye’s wild ride | The plight of the middle-aged rapper | Fake ingredients at a famous restaurant | The limits of food as protest | The case for a national vacation | A mysterious suicide cluster at a college in Missouri | Return the National Parks to the tribes | A fleeting balm for a mother’s unspeakable grief | Why the world should worry about India | The power and heartbreak of Ma’Khia Bryant’s TikToks | Arundati Roy on India’s covid catastrophe
what I’m wanderlusting:
The golden city of Jaisalmer, in the Rajasthani desert. I can’t stop thinking about India right now - here’s how you can donate.
what I’m watching:
Promising Young Woman is probably the best new movie I’ve seen since Parasite. I stayed up late watching it one night and it was so enthralling I watched it again the next night. It’s scary and uncomfortable and funny and you really have to watch it.
what I’m coveting:
‘Tis the season for a crochet bikini.
what I’m recommending:
Somehow during quarantine I became a person who wears makeup. I blame it on Ilia, a clean beauty brand that I’ve really fallen in love with--so much that I wrote about it in Conde Nast Traveler. My favorites are the super serum skin tint, the limitless lash mascara, and color haze liquid blush/lip stain.
what I’m reading:
Torrey Peters
This book is MESSY, but in the absolute best way possible. It’s like a trainwreck you can’t look away from, one giant cringe wrapped up in some juicy-ass gossip, full of characters making supremely weird decisions about their romantic entanglements. But beyond the gossip factor, it’s also smart, funny, beautiful, and thought-provoking. It’s basically a perfect book and I want you all to read it so we can talk about it together.
Did it make me cry: I can’t remember if I cried, but there are definitely some heartbreaking scenes.
Did it make me laugh: Yes, it’s really funny sometimes.
Would I recommend it: Yes! If you’re looking for something smart and gossipy, this is the book for you.
Would I read it again: Definitely, and I also have already gone back to read some of the pages that talk about the misogyny and social politics that trans women have to navigate.
Would it be a good movie: I don’t know if the energy of this book can be captured well on film (it might turn out to just be really, really sad) but I would love to see somebody try. It’s sort of like the trans version of Girls.
What does it smell like: The extremely expensive candle burning in your favorite vintage store in Brooklyn.
Chris Bohjalian
I hate Chris Bohjalian! I think everything he writes is dumb and trite and he has no capacity for understanding the minds of young women. All of his female characters are like cardboard cutouts and everytime I read anything he writes, I’m afraid my eyes are going to roll out of my head. So why did I read this book? I bought it during a moment of panic at the airport and I wanted to read it before I watched the HBO show.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No, but actually there was one part where the flight attendants were talking shit about passengers and I loled.
Would I recommend it: No.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: Yes.
What does it smell like: Tequila, blood, and regret.
Kiese Laymon
I had a visceral reaction to the last 50 pages of this book. The whole thing is beautiful and raw and disturbing, but the last 50 pages sucked me in and suffocated me with second-hand anxiety. I don’t think a book has ever made me feel that way before and it felt extremely weird picking up another book after that.
Did it make me cry: Yes.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Would I recommend it: I think this is an important book to read, especially if it’s a new perspective for you. Will you enjoy it? I don’t know, but it will definitely make you feel something.
Would I read it again: No, I’m afraid to go through that again.
Would it be a good movie: Memoirs aren’t good movies!
What does it smell like: Hot pavement and chlorine in the summer.
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
I bought this book thinking it might be a little bit like Crazy Rich Asians (nightlife! Singapore! Young people looking for love!) but I was quite wrong. I almost didn’t finish it after I read a few pages and realized that I was going to have to learn a whole new language to understand what I was reading. But I am allergic to not finishing books, so I kept reading.
Did it make me cry: This isn’t the kind of book that’s going to make you cry, but it is existentially depressing. I’m not sure if this book knows how sad it is. It’s framed as this light-hearted story about party girls but the main characters seem to be sexual assault, white supremacy, misogyny, and addiction.
Did it make me laugh: No! Despite what the cover seems to be promising, this is not a fun book!
Would I recommend it: I think I would only recommend this book to people who are imminently planning on visiting Singapore because it’s a very interesting look at the nightlife culture there.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: Visually it would be fun, but the ending would have to change. I think the use of Singlish slang would be great on camera.
What does it smell like: Franigpani, sweat, and vodka.
Anna North
This book is hard to pinpoint, but that’s what makes it fun. It’s like a wild west version of Handmaid’s Tale, featuring a group of lady/enby bandits trying to create a utopia.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No, but there is something kind of fun about it.
Would I recommend it: Not really.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: My main critique of this book is that it introduces you to this fascinating little world, but then it barely scratches the surface. I think a TV series could have SO. MUCH. FUN. with this book and I’d like to see that happen.
What does it smell like: Horseback riding through a field of sagebrush.