Break In Case of Emergency is funny. You’ll read it and laugh at the satire of office life. You’ll laugh a little at the portrayal of income inequality in 30 something friend groups (that sudden realization that your friends make way more (or less) money than you do; or that your friend inherited a heap of money and so never has to think about whether to replace their air conditioner). You’ll chuckle at the representation of hipster politics: the effort to be *seen doing good. It’s the story of Jen – 30 something artist, who starts the novel unemployed and begins working at a (parody of) nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of (all) women. The novel offers sharp observations on white, middle class feminism, on the changing dimensions of female friendship and a whole heap of a lot about fertility. Jen wants a baby. A lot. And she’s infertile. (and some stuff about New York, but who cares).
I guess if you’re an any-age someone you could stand to read this novel for how it demonstrates the extent to which (young-ish) women are bombarded All. The. Time. by messages about their (in)fertile bodies, the judgements heaped upon these bodies for reproducing (or not), the myriad of outrageous and hurtful things that get said out of assumptions about why you have (or more obviously haven’t) had a baby. Continue reading
Summer Reading List: Get Excited for Reviews?
Thanks for all the suggestions on what to read this summer. I’ve collected your suggestions and decided what to read:
- Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace (because there’s only so many times it can be recommended before I’m a fool not to read it)
- Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Madeline Thein (as suggested by many, plus I loved Thein’s other stuff)
- The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck (chosen for bookclub and because Buck uses a middle initial)
- Kindred, Octavia Butler (because fantasy and classic and feminism combine)
- The Noise of Time, Julian Barnes (because L. told me to read it and I’ll read anything she tells me to read.And then ask for a gold star.)
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secret and some other parts of the title (chosen by A. who is hip and young and so must be listened to)
- Ancillary Justice (beccause L. and K. agreed and I did say I wanted fantasy)
I’m stopping at seven to make space for the collasal investment of time that will be Infinite Jest. And because maybe I’ll want to read something else inbetween.
Want to read one of these with me? Let me know your choice and we can do some virtual (or physical) book clubbing.
Filed under Uncategorized
Catcher in the Rye: The book my bookclub actually talked about
I re-read J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye for bookclub. It was a good choice for bookclub because a) it was easy to get copies of the book (in fact I read a .pdf version the day-of) and b) it invited sustained discussion (I’ll be the first to admit our bookclub has the tendancy to wander off into talk of breastfeeding and the lastest Justin T. photo-op). S. gave the book high reviews, as did most others (though L. didn’t like it one bit), but in the discussion we circled around how much of liking the book was because we thought we *should* like the book given it’s canonical status (and adolescent attachment for those who had read it in their teen years). Continue reading
Filed under American literature, Bestseller, Book Club, Fiction, Prize Winner
The Last Town on Earth: A Lengthy Post Worth Reading Because Trump Isn’t Mentioned
Thomas Mullen’s The Last Town on Earth opens 1918 in Washington state as the Spanish flu outbreak begins. Historical fiction, the novel imagines the lives of the citizens in the fictious Commonwealth after the town votes to ‘reverse’ quarantine: as no one in the town is yet sick, they vote to forbid entry or exit from the town and post guards to ensure the quarantine is followed. It closely follows the Worthy family, the patriarch of whom, Charles, is the mill owner and unelected leader of the town; the (adopted) son, Philip, is our protagonist. Continue reading
Filed under American literature, Book Club, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Prize Winner
Literary Vice 