In our afternoon reading: an interview with Nino Cipri, great music from 2024, and more.
Transcendence Has a Cost: On Tara Isabella Burton’s “Here In Avalon”
In October, I sat inside James Turrell’s installation Hind Sight for the first time. This is what it was like: I followed a railing along a winding pathway before arriving at a chair, where I sat. I then stared across the room at something imperceptible: something made out of light, something not designed to be perceived by human eyes under normal light. I left the room with a greater understanding of friends and family who have had genuinely religious experiences. In Hind Sight, there was the sense of perceiving something utterly ineffable and yet utterly present.
Morning Bites: Nisi Shawl’s Latest, Tim Kinsella on Creativity, Huggy Bear’s Book, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on Nisi Shawl’s new book, an interview with Tim Kinsella, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Charlie Jane Anders on Narrators, Emma Straub on 2024, James Blackshaw Returns, and More
In our afternoon reading: notes on craft from Charlie Jane Anders, Emma Straub on the year in books, and more.
We’re taking the weekend off for the holidays; normal posting will resume on Monday.
Morning Bites: Anita Felicelli on Writing, Revisiting Smog, Lauren Groff Interviewed, and More
In our morning reading: an interview with Anita Felicelli, Blake Butler on book events, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Marlon James on TV, Dan Kois’s Latest, Jersey Devil Poetry, and More
In our afternoon reading: exploring Marlon James’s new TV show, the Jersey Devil in poetry form, and more.
Constant Delirium: Reading Jean-Pierre Martinet’s “With Their Hearts In Their Boots”
Credit where credit is due: I picked up Jean-Pierre Martinet’s With Their Hearts In Their Boots (translated by Alex Andriesse) in no small part due to the fact that its introduction was by William Boyle. Boyle’s cultural recommendations, whether literary or cinematic, are often spot-on, and reading his description of this “[h]hard-boiled, funny, dangerous” short novel piqued my interest for what was to follow.
Morning Bites: Revisiting Scott McClanahan, Bhanu Kapil on Poetry, Karl Kesel on Comics, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on a reissued book by Scott McClanahan, interviews with Bhanu Kapil and Karl Kesel, and more.