Writer.
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel isn't what its title would suggest, or at least not right away. Reflecting on the experiences of coming into his queerness, becoming an activist, maintaining a garden, preserving a relationship, and more, Alexander Chee teaches his readers how to cultivate a writer's life in this collection of essays.
A fascinating look into the past century of LGBTQ music, David Bowie Made Me Gay is a rallying cry in the connections it makes between queer people, music, and the ways we've used the art form to express ourselves even in our darkest times. It documents the music of greats like Ma Rainey and Billie Holiday to …
Continue reading "“David Bowie Made Me Gay” by Darryl W. Bullock"
After reading "Maurice," I was excited to read more Forster. "A Passage to India" juxtaposes the prosperity of colonizers with the peril colonialism imposes on those subjugated by them. On a human level, the desperation of humans across cultures to connect fights against the social boundaries over which they obsess so deeply, creating heartbreaking conflicts …
I haven't been to California since I was four years old. As a New Yorker, I've come to slightly resent the state over the years as more and more friends move from the erratic city to the sun-kissed West Coast. Joan Didion's collection of essays, primarily about the transformation of California between the 1940's and …
Continue reading "“Slouching Towards Bethlehem” by Joan Didion"
Historian and journalist Timothy Snyder's latest work is urgent and informative. He tracks the destabilization of democracy in Russia, Europe, and the United States from the late 2000s to now. It also contextualizes how rigged democracies and fascism became the norm in Russia within decades after the October Revolution, as well as outlining the specific …
Continue reading "“The Road to Unfreedom” by Timothy Snyder"
The City and the Pillar was originally published in 1948. I account for history when I read pieces like this, so the ending I read (Vidal published a second ending after the first was criticized by even the book's admirers) was relatively expected. Vidal's narrative voice is exquisite but I found it harder to devour his fiction …
I'm currently halfway through this work and it's absolutely thrilling. In documenting the evolution of gay life and gay rights in America, Kaiser defines decades through anecdotes, rather than presenting a sterile or long-winded regurgitation of events. This format not only helps the reader retain defining characteristics of each decade from the 1940's to …
