Have you ever fallen in love? What about with a color? Exquisite prose detailing the nuances and meanings of the color blue as a metaphor of personal Have you ever fallen in love? What about with a color? Exquisite prose detailing the nuances and meanings of the color blue as a metaphor of personal suffering, this piece honors emotion and color in a lyrical and stunning way....more
Ross Gay and his book of delights are a bright light in this world, a real gem of an essay collection. He collects daily delights in the world, but itRoss Gay and his book of delights are a bright light in this world, a real gem of an essay collection. He collects daily delights in the world, but it’s not all joyful revelries, Gay critiques American values and racism, gender norms, and other issues as part of his exploration of delight. Delight can be a way of addressing social and political problems in our world. I found myself using the word ‘delightful’ a lot more after reading this. It’s sweet and varied, full of micro-essays and poetic musings....more
The title essay is a succinct description of the predicament faced by many with student debt. It explains the shame, predatory lending, and harassmentThe title essay is a succinct description of the predicament faced by many with student debt. It explains the shame, predatory lending, and harassment employed by debt collectors and lenders, and the debilitating circumstances caused by getting a undergraduate degree. The collection centers around the contemporary moment as well, including representation in reality TV, queer culture, freelance jobs, money, and media. ...more
Don’t let the length of this essay collection mislead you. Pulitzer Prize Winning author N. Scott Momaday manages to encompass the complexity and wondDon’t let the length of this essay collection mislead you. Pulitzer Prize Winning author N. Scott Momaday manages to encompass the complexity and wonder of the natural world along with his peoples’ connection to the American landscape in a mere 65 pages. Each essay acts as “an offering to the earth,” and “a declaration of belonging.” Momaday shares the stories of his childhood with generosity and tenderness. Blending reverence with warning, Momaday reminds us of the unending gifts these landscapes offer and our role in honoring and protecting them. I can’t tell you how many quotes from this collection I wrote down, carefully folded in my pocket to carry with me into the world. ...more
The word Anthropocene is the name for the current geological age we exist in, primarily viewed as the era in which human activity has had the most impThe word Anthropocene is the name for the current geological age we exist in, primarily viewed as the era in which human activity has had the most impact on climate and the environment. In the Anthropocene Reviewed, based on his podcast of the same name, popular YA author John Green's first foray into writing for adults, writes, reviews, and rates certain aspects of our human-centered world. This includes the wonder of the Lascaux Cave Paintings, the excitement of scratch 'n' sniff stickers, the wild turn of events that led to the creation of the QWERTY keyboard, and much more. Written in part during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Green's essays center on finding connection and humanity in seemingly mundane and ordinary things. Bonus: the audiobook is excellent, is read by the author, and includes a few extra essays. I give The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green four and a half stars....more
Curious about flash nonfiction? This collection features broad examples of form and subjects found in flash nonfiction published over the last twenty Curious about flash nonfiction? This collection features broad examples of form and subjects found in flash nonfiction published over the last twenty years in Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction. I appreciated the additional resources for teachers and writers at the back....more
American poet and teacher Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s prose ode to her muses in the natural world is beautifully written, and the cover and interior illusAmerican poet and teacher Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s prose ode to her muses in the natural world is beautifully written, and the cover and interior illustrations by Fumi Mini Nakamura will delight and sometimes astonish readers—the vampire squid is especially haunting.
The book’s true allure is in Nezhukumatathil’s ability to blend personal and natural history, such as discovering that a teacher in Phoenix considered peacocks non-American, and relating how a flamingo reminded her of careless years as a coed. As the daughter of a South Asian American father and a Filipina American mother, and as a “brown” American girl who grew up in Kansas, Arizona and New York and who now lives with her husband and two sons in Mississippi, she has experienced many a habitat and culture.
Covering a range of subjects from the natural world, ribbon eels to dragon fruit to comb jelly, each essay will give readers a reason to sit and think. The most poignant of these, to my mind, is “Questions While Searching for Birds with My Half-White Sons, Aged Six and Nine, National Audubon Bird Count Day, Oxford, MS.” For readers who enjoyed Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine by Alan Lightman or Searching for Consciousness by Oliver Sacks....more
Unique and quirky, this one follows the funny/serious/awkward life of Scaachi as she contends with what it means to move through the world as a nonwhiUnique and quirky, this one follows the funny/serious/awkward life of Scaachi as she contends with what it means to move through the world as a nonwhite woman. She is a culture writer at Buzzfeed Canada and is characteristically dry and vulnerable, much loved by other essayist-writers like Lindy West and Samantha Irby. What made me laugh about this one in particular was how unsparingly honest it was, dissecting issues like her fear of flying, the ins and outs of Indian marriage, and her relationship with her hairy body....more
This book is really beautiful, and has so many layers to work through that it’s going to be hard to put down. Wang invites us into the scary world of This book is really beautiful, and has so many layers to work through that it’s going to be hard to put down. Wang invites us into the scary world of her reality in the last ten years, including moving from one diagnosis to another, through phases and episodes, to her final resting place today. This is more than just mental health — it’s a careful exploration of what makes a person, how our interactions form and are formed around what we consider is “normal,” and much more. One of my favorites this year....more
This book is raw and beautiful, and chronicles the author's difficult experiences with obesity, food disorder, family abuse, trauma, and racism. He poThis book is raw and beautiful, and chronicles the author's difficult experiences with obesity, food disorder, family abuse, trauma, and racism. He posits that the only way for this country to prosper is for it to reckon with its own contributions to black suffering, and he says: ""There can be no liberation when our most intimate relationships are built on and really infected by deception, abuse, misdirection, anti-blackness, patriarchy, and bald-faced lies."" This is a special book, one to be cherished and digested slowly. Laymon is an incredible writer with a beauty and critical eye unmatched in other memoirs....more
This compilation is an important primer for those seeking to hear more voices and understand the various ways that rape culture manifests itself, travThis compilation is an important primer for those seeking to hear more voices and understand the various ways that rape culture manifests itself, traversing boundaries like race, gender, and class. For Roxane Gay, rape culture underlies daily life, but rarely do we engage with what it actually means: “What is it like to live in a culture where it often seems like it is a question of when, not if, a woman will encounter some kind of sexual violence? What is it like for men to navigate this culture whether they are indifferent to rape culture or working to end it or contributing to it in ways significant or small?” These are the kinds of questions that she encourages us to start navigating, and each story poses a different factor to consider. The authors tell their own stories, highlighting the uniqueness of their experiences, but also point to the various themes that connect them all: victim-blaming/shaming, lack of support structures, cat-calling, intergenerational violence, toxic masculinity, power, control of women’s bodies, and many more.
Known for her experimental fiction and short stories, Valeria Luiselli has diverged from her standard form to take on an explanation of a continuing cKnown for her experimental fiction and short stories, Valeria Luiselli has diverged from her standard form to take on an explanation of a continuing crisis in America. Her newest book is written as an essay organized in the structure of the forty questions asked to children during their intake questionnaire for unaccompanied child migrants when they come to the United States.
Luiselli became aware and involved in this process while on a family trip from New York to the American Southwest in the summer of 2014. It was her method of distraction while waiting for her family’s green cards to come through. During the trip, reports of a large wave of children arriving alone and undocumented from Central America began streaming in through their car radio. Her family listened closely when they were able to get radio reception, and the horror of the reported treatment of these children began to envelop Luiselli.
Upon returning home, she began working with New York’s federal immigration court as a Spanish translator, transcribing the stories of unimaginable adversity, abuse, and terror that children experience escaping their home countries to venture to the United States. In this position she is required to somehow express to the courts, through translation, how much a child needs to stay in this country, how the experiences in their former home make it impossible for them to return, how they have made this dangerous journey without knowing what will happen on the other side, and how much they need the family that they have connected with in the United States.
Valeria Luislelli’s book explains our broken immigration system so sharply and personally, paralleling her experience applying for status as a legal permanent resident and the experience and treatment of these undocumented children. Though the immigration process is often incredibly difficult to understand, this book uncovers the system’s faults and provides the heart wrenching personal stories to show the cruel and permanent impact United States immigration procedures have on people’s lives.
The title of this work, Tell Me How it Ends, emerged from telling these tales to her own children who then expressed their need for a conclusion and a happy ending. Luiselli perfectly illustrates the convoluted feelings about the U.S. immigration system in an imagined response to the question of: Does she find inspiration as a writer in the United States? She writes “No, we do not find inspiration here, but we find a country that is as beautiful as it is broken, and we are somehow now a part of it, so we are also broken with it, and feel ashamed, confused and sometimes hopeless, and are trying to figure out how to do something about all that.” This book sticks with you completely when you finish it and forces you to become engaged and invested in the repair of our system.
Wow, what a powerful book, an amazingly moving, heartbreaking, inspiring and shattering collection of essays and poems. This is one of the most importWow, what a powerful book, an amazingly moving, heartbreaking, inspiring and shattering collection of essays and poems. This is one of the most important books on the African American experience that I have ever read. Somewhat easier than Coates' powerful Between the World and Me, but no less hard hitting.
Jamison’s series of essays examines empathy and emotion through a variety of topics including artificial sweetener, Morgellons condition, and tour busJamison’s series of essays examines empathy and emotion through a variety of topics including artificial sweetener, Morgellons condition, and tour buses led through South Central by ex-gang members. The writing is cognizant and meditative and explores empathy from a variety of thoughtful and interesting perspectives. Jamison illuminates the human condition in all its glory, absurdity, and curiosity as she explores getting punched in the face in Nicaragua and ultramarathons in the backwoods of Tennessee.
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