-Walter Benjamin ILLUMINATIONS
-Kate Colby DREAM OF THE TRENCHES
-Leslie Jamison MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN
-Zadie Smith FEEL FREE (caveat: only once I get past her centrism and credulous fascination with Zuck/Jay-Z)
-Dubravka Ugresic AMERICAN FICTIONARY
-David Foster Wallace [any/all]
-THE STORY ABOUT THE STORY ed. J.C. Hallman (caveats: Frank O’Connor’s essay on Katherine Mansfield is ridiculously sexist and homophobic, and proto-Nazi D.H. Lawrence’s essay on MOBY DICK is entertaining right up until the last page when he says it’s about the destruction of the white race)
Probably They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib. Halfway through I made myself go back to the start and reread before I'd even finished it, just so I could take it all in again, which I don't think I've ever done with any other book.
I also really like Alice Walker’s in Search of Our Mother’s Gardens, but haven’t read it in ages. Of recent stuff, How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler is great.
One that I've recommended to others recently is Ursula K. LeGuin's No Time to Spare. Food for thought about aging, writing, and generally making time to enjoy being alive in the world as a woman over 40. Also some ideas on writing, obviously. https://www.ursulakleguin.com/no-time-to-spare
I came here to rec The Wave in the Mind (also Le Guin), but as someone who's just hit that age bracket, thank you for the reminder that I should find a copy of No Time to Spare!
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee - the final essay especially, incredible piece on the value of keeping on writing and teaching even when things are terrible.
Not sure if either of these are exactly what you’re looking for, but “The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green is a lot of fun, and “On Writing” by Stephen King is the book I’ve given away as a gift most often during my lifetime.
Comments
Trick Mirror - Jia Tolentino
Both are ✨✨
-Kate Colby DREAM OF THE TRENCHES
-Leslie Jamison MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN
-Zadie Smith FEEL FREE (caveat: only once I get past her centrism and credulous fascination with Zuck/Jay-Z)
-Dubravka Ugresic AMERICAN FICTIONARY
-David Foster Wallace [any/all]
For context: they explore why current explanations for the rise of average weight of humans are inadequate and offer a new hypothesis.
Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists, edited by Eleanor Mills
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/284314.Journalistas
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1525484
From multiple authors: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Immigrant
Medium Raw - Anthony Bourdain
My Own Devices - Dessa