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The debut novel from Raven Leilani tackles it all: race, class, sex, depression, loneliness, and New York City. Edie, the narrator, is a 23-year-old black orphan trying to figure it out. After making some inappropriate sexual choices, she loses her admin job in the publishing industry and finds herself with nowhere to go - until the wife of her married lover takes her in. Her relationships are fraught and strange, warm and raw. The voice is honest and sharpโa must-read.
Jan 26, 2021
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about person in their 20s navigating life and art
Apr 17, 2024
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Luster by Raven Leilani - Edie starts hooking up with a married middle aged white man and moves in with his wife and daughter. HBO needs to hurry up with that adaptation they announced.
Severance by Ling Ma - Candance Chen grapples with her unfulling life and job as a virus begins to spread and turns people into these zombie-like indivuals. Released in 2018 but somehow encapsulates a lot of that COVID quarantine panic.
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews - Sneha is struggling out here with jobs, evictions, and complicated relationships but she has plans to fix everything.
Apr 24, 2024
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I am not a stay-at-home mom secretly exploring sex work (Normal Women by Ainslie Horgarth), but I know a calling to motherhood and a fear of financial dependence.
I am not an apparition stuck in time on the NYC subway after years of fighting for queer rights (One Last Stop by Casey Mcquinston), but I have felt adrift while searching for belonging.
I am not manipulating a rich older man to live in his mansion and steal his pills (The Guest by Emma Cline), but I have been desperate and an unreliable narrator to myself.
I should probably try to find a book about a man next I guess.
Sep 13, 2024
Top Recs from @chris-black
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It feels odd recommending a newsletter in a newsletter, but stick with me here. I, like I am sure most of you, have hit newsletter fatigue. Every bozo with a MacBook Air and a liberal arts degree wants you to pay them for their unedited thoughts. But when a professional, like Rachel Tashjian, tackle the medium (no pun intended), it is a thing of beauty. She writes about style, clothing, life, and maximal interiors, like no one else. The best part of the first "natural style" newsletter is that you have to be approved by the creator herself. You can't just sign up, and you can't pay $5 a month; you have to be deemed worthy! Content with a velvet rope. Exclusivity isn't dead. Figure out a way to subscribe and be prepared to be blessed every Sunday.
Jan 26, 2021
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This is my favorite Instagram ephemera shop. My man has the best eye, and his prices aren't outrageous. The selection is all over the map, from a wild group of Herman Miller branded drinking vessels, to Yashica pens, to an eight-piece set of Picasso salad plates. I know I just gave up my source, but everyone needs this in their lives. We can all bond over the fact that we missed the Adobe harmonica!
Jan 26, 2021
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The Verve is about as good as a song gets. Released in 1997 on their seminal album "Urban Hymns," a day after Princess Diana tragically died, it helped capture Britain's spirit. Lyrically, it means different things to different people, as most great songs do. Is he talking about his recreational drug use or the passing of his father - who died from a blood clot when he was 11 years old - or his wife Kate Radley's father, who died of cancer? Probably all three. Ashcroft still plays solo but doesn't perform this song. This is the best version I have ever found onlineโa masterpiece.
Jan 26, 2021