The conceit of the book is a strange coincidence. Naomi Klein and Naomi Wolf have similar names. Additionally, both of them write and speak about political and societal issues. As a result, people often get the two of them confused. Naomi Klein recently wrote a genre-blending memoir and dive into political and popular culture called Doppelganger: A Trip Into the...
I have come to appreciate the staid, fact-obsessed biographer. The one who would put you to sleep—were their subject not so interesting. You can usually trust such a biographer. The truth may be boring in its perpetual minutial onslaught, but never in its larger patterns that emerge over time. I recently attempted to read a biography that purported to be...
Here’s a fun novel, published last year. The Rachel Incident, by Caroline O’Donoghue, is about a college student who works at a bookstore along with her best friend. It’s about them and their love interests—and there’s tons of drama where that’s concerned. Also, the book is set in Ireland, and some fun Irish slang is tossed around. And this novel...
My preferred type of novel both creates something stylistically new with language and enlightens my worldview by revealing a new perspective. But I recently read and loved a book that doesn’t really do either of those things. It’s almost purely plot and emotion. Sadness! Fear! Love! Hope! Guilt! Trauma! Contentment! It’s all there in the internationally bestselling 2016 German novel...
Book reviewers are calling it a “manifesto,” and even sometimes a “jeremiad.” That’s some strong language. I’m usually skeptical about inflammatory words—are such reviews overblown? Is the book itself overblown? In the case of the 2023 masterpiece of which I speak, the answer is no and no. And, yes, it’s a manifesto. It would be a jeremiad, too, if it...
You know how novels are sometimes split into sections? Part I, part II, part III? Or maybe the sections aren’t numbered, but have titles? And each section’s number or title appears on a page of its own? I just read a novel like that. Flipping through the opening pages, past the copyright page, the dedication page, the epigraph page, and...
For the first time, I read an ebook in its entirety. Oh, yes, I do prefer physical books. Reading this ebook made me realize how often I flip around in physical books to remind myself what I have already read. And how often I rely on remembering visually where words lay on the physical page in helping me remember concepts....
It’s a sickening feeling. That feeling that you don’t belong. That you exist precariously, on the edge of the world, always waiting to be called out as foreign, an imposter. That your existence is dependent on your ability to be a servant or slave, or is entirely called into question. Study for Obedience, by Sarah Bernstein, is a slim and...
The book title comes from the words of a vigilante named Simon. “‘I’m really not a bad guy,’ said Simon. ‘I’m not all bad. Some people need killing.'” Some People Need Killing, by Philippine journalist Patricia Evangelista, is about the democratically elected presidency of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. He served from 2016 to 2022. Duterte campaigned on a controversial...
From Brazil comes a slim novel told in a unique writing style. The style evokes a dreamlike, wistful state. As if it were possible to distill life’s complexities into the simplicity of the way things are, when you are who you are. As, of course, it is. The protagonist, Raimundo, is forced to escape from his home in rural Brazil....
You know me—I’m not a big movie or TV watcher, since I always have my nose in a book. I’ve only seen a few minutes of the hit 2007 film Juno. I haven’t seen anything else Elliot Page has done, either. So I didn’t come to the 2023 memoir Pageboy as a fan of his acting performances, but as someone...
If you’ve ever noticed your stream-of-consciousness thoughts, either through meditation or through being alive and observing what you’re thinking, you’ve probably noticed that you often sound a little crazy inside your head. Thoughts come so quickly, and so unbidden. A transcription of them would reveal a fount of irrationality, emotionality, and impulsivity. Fortunately, we have the ability to edit much...
I was drawn to it because I’d heard it was a biography . . . told in reverse. A life story written backwards. How can you tell the story of a person’s life backwards? Isn’t a life story, by definition, a moving forward through time? And even if you do succeed in writing a backwards life story, won’t that just...
Which is better, Emma Cline’s The Guest (her 2023 novel, which I previewed two days ago in the post How to Make Yourself Unwelcome) or The Girls (her debut novel, published in 2016 to critical acclaim)? If I were to recommend just one of these, which would I choose? Though I love to make judgments like this, I cannot decide...
Alex’s job is to make herself welcome in other people’s lives and spaces. As an attractive 22-year-old, she can get away with this. Or rather, she can get away with it sometimes. At other times, her personality intervenes—almost without her knowledge or consent—and she inadvertently makes herself unwelcome. Which is a problem when making yourself welcome is your profession. I...
Reality Winner was only 25 when she leaked a single NSA intelligence report to the media. The report was about Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. She was arrested on June 3, 2017, and convicted on August 23, 2018. She was released from prison on June 2, 2021. Kerry Howley, the author of Bottoms Up and the...
It’s interesting to think about who you are as a person, versus who the internet thinks you are. Who NSA thinks you are. A friend told me recently he fears Google knows him too well. I said, I don’t think Google knows me at all. He said he is too predictable, that’s why. He told me my wide-ranging interests are...
To illustrate the creative brilliance of Nikolai Gogol, I will quote from one of his best short stories, “The Nose.” Gogol keeps his readers alert; they must race to keep up with him. Notice, as you read the following passage, how he defies your expectations. Also note that the passage seems like it should be the beginning of the story,...
Here is a classic author who straddled two cultures that today are in conflict. Two distinctive worlds—Ukraine and Russia—are brought together in one book, The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. (I am excited to announce that, after going on a nonfiction spree, I have begun reading fiction again.) Nikolai Gogol, a master of...
At age 11, Jennette McCurdy creates a resume, with help from her mom. It lists her past performances and includes a Special Skills section. The most prized Special Skill for a child actor, according to McCurdy, is crying on cue. McCurdy learns this skill, as she describes in her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, with the help of her...
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Books previewed
Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow Steve Almond
Doppelganger Naomi Klein
King Jonathan Eig
The Rachel Incident Caroline O’Donoghue
The End of Loneliness Benedict Wells
Poverty, by America Matthew Desmond
The Trees Percival Everett
The Great Experiment Yascha Mounk
Study for Obedience Sarah Bernstein
Some People Need Killing Patricia Evangelista
The Words That Remain Stênio Gardel
Pageboy Elliot Page
Post-Traumatic Chantal V. Johnson
Stuart: A Life Backwards Alexander Masters
The Girls / The Guest Emma Cline
Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs Kerry Howley
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol
I’m Glad My Mom Died Jennette McCurdy
Unlearn Your Pain Howard Schubiner with Michael Betzold
The Way Out Alan Gordon with Alon Ziv
The Best Minds Jonathan Rosen
Monsters Claire Dederer
Spare Prince Harry
As I Lay Dying William Faulkner
Rebuilt Michael Chorost
Losing Music John Cotter
Kokoro Natsume Sōseki
Party Going / Living / Loving Henry Green
Chatter Ethan Kross
Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stay True Hua Hsu
The Invisible Kingdom Meghan O’Rourke
How to Be Perfect Michael Schur
Orfeo Richard Powers
Unwinding Anxiety Judson Brewer
The Confidence Men Margalit Fox
Liberation Day George Saunders
Pandora’s Jar Natalie Haynes
Night of the Living Rez Morgan Talty
The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm
Mislaid Nell Zink
Exercised Daniel E. Lieberman
Lapvona Ottessa Moshfegh
Empire of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe
Furious Hours Casey Cep
First Person Singular Haruki Murakami
Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro
Dead Souls Sam Riviere
The Pale King David Foster Wallace
Lightning Flowers Katherine E. Standefer
Beautiful World, Where Are You / Normal People / Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney
Swan Dive Georgina Pazcoguin
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
Doppelganger Naomi Klein
King Jonathan Eig
The Rachel Incident Caroline O’Donoghue
The End of Loneliness Benedict Wells
Poverty, by America Matthew Desmond
The Trees Percival Everett
The Great Experiment Yascha Mounk
Study for Obedience Sarah Bernstein
Some People Need Killing Patricia Evangelista
The Words That Remain Stênio Gardel
Pageboy Elliot Page
Post-Traumatic Chantal V. Johnson
Stuart: A Life Backwards Alexander Masters
The Girls / The Guest Emma Cline
Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs Kerry Howley
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol
I’m Glad My Mom Died Jennette McCurdy
Unlearn Your Pain Howard Schubiner with Michael Betzold
The Way Out Alan Gordon with Alon Ziv
The Best Minds Jonathan Rosen
Monsters Claire Dederer
Spare Prince Harry
As I Lay Dying William Faulkner
Rebuilt Michael Chorost
Losing Music John Cotter
Kokoro Natsume Sōseki
Party Going / Living / Loving Henry Green
Chatter Ethan Kross
Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stay True Hua Hsu
The Invisible Kingdom Meghan O’Rourke
How to Be Perfect Michael Schur
Orfeo Richard Powers
Unwinding Anxiety Judson Brewer
The Confidence Men Margalit Fox
Liberation Day George Saunders
Pandora’s Jar Natalie Haynes
Night of the Living Rez Morgan Talty
The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm
Mislaid Nell Zink
Exercised Daniel E. Lieberman
Lapvona Ottessa Moshfegh
Empire of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe
Furious Hours Casey Cep
First Person Singular Haruki Murakami
Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro
Dead Souls Sam Riviere
The Pale King David Foster Wallace
Lightning Flowers Katherine E. Standefer
Beautiful World, Where Are You / Normal People / Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney
Swan Dive Georgina Pazcoguin
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
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