I have read 40 books this year. This one was the best. You should read it. If you are a White liberal and you think you know what "identity politics" means and are very clear about why you think it's a "distraction" from "more pressing economic concerns," I implore you, as one who used to … Continue reading We Were Eight Years in Power: American Tragedy – Ta-Nehisi Coates
All Posts by Date
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
I believe this is the first book labelled as "Young Adult" I have ever read - when I was a kid, when I was a young adult, now. It's not that when I was younger I read lots of "grownup" books - it's more that I didn't read. It's also not that I have anything … Continue reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The Intuitionist
Sometime last year I read The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead's speculative historical fictional piece which asks what if that railroad were a railroad, and underground? That premise opened up into a very present-regarding look at how people and social structures work (or don't) under oppressive conditions. It also had a sense of the uncanny about it … Continue reading The Intuitionist
The Handmaid’s Tale
This was one of those books I ended up reading because is has recently been made into a movie (actually TV show). But I've done this before - decided to read something because other people were watching it (then I usually don't see the movie/show) . I remember reading Sense and Sensibility for the first time … Continue reading The Handmaid’s Tale
Autumn – Karl Ove Knausgaard
For some reason, Volume 6 of Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle has been delayed until next year. Having read and enjoyed the first five (I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with them - they're good, I like reading them, I look forward to the final volume), I turned to Autumn not knowing what to expect. It's still in … Continue reading Autumn – Karl Ove Knausgaard
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Though more than 1.3 billion people live in China, I am embarrassed to say that Do Not Say We Have Nothing is one of three books I've read that have any sustained connection to that country. The other two are The Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses, both by Amy Tan. And I'm not 100% I … Continue reading Do Not Say We Have Nothing
James Baldwin – Going to Meet the Man and Some Mid-60’s Essays
"The American situation is very peculiar and it may be without precedent in the world. No curtain under heaven is heavier than that curtain of guilt and lies behind which white Americans hide" (James Baldwin, "White Man's Guilt") One of my earliest James Baldwin reading experiences was "Sonny's Blues," a short story that forms the centerpiece of Going to Meet … Continue reading James Baldwin – Going to Meet the Man and Some Mid-60’s Essays
James Baldwin – The Fire Next Time
The words of "My Dungeon Shook" ring in my ears almost every single day. Somehow the centerpiece of that ringing is a simple imperative sentence about 3/4 of the way through the final, two-page paragraph: You, don't be afraid. That paragraph, itself, lays out almost every needed inch of the conceptual and emotional terrain needed to make … Continue reading James Baldwin – The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin – Another Country
Another Country is James Baldwin's third novel, and is is quite a bit longer than Baldwin's first two, maybe even longer than both of them combined. It's interesting to me that it basically covers a lot of the same ground that his essays of the time do, but does so in the language of fiction. The reason that's interesting … Continue reading James Baldwin – Another Country
James Baldwin – Nobody Knows My Name (and some other essays from the early 60’s)
The greatest takeaway for me from Nobody Knows Your Name is "Fifth Avanue, Uptown: A Letter from Harlem." In this essay Baldwin explores the phenomenology of police violence - again, if you don't care what I have to say, at least read these words of Baldwin's for yourself [next I'll be reading Another Country, Baldwin's 1962 … Continue reading James Baldwin – Nobody Knows My Name (and some other essays from the early 60’s)
Original Positions 