Essays
The deracination of literature
unherd.com
She has said she is against “the self-promotion obsessively imposed by the media. This demand for self-promotion diminishes the actual work of art, whatever that art may be...” Thus, she continues to absent herself from the marketing of her work. While acknowledging her position is extreme, she maintains “that a book has to absolutely make it on it... See more
GD Dess • “Good books are stunning charges of vital energy” —Elena Ferrante
"Prose-forward,” though, goes a long way toward explaining what books are counted as literary in the real world. Not just as a term that explains what unites the surrealism of Donald Barthelme, the Kmart realism of Ann Beattie, the lush prose of Toni Morrison, and [insert infinite other examples here]. But also what genre authors are counted among ... See more
Lincoln Michel • On "Prose-Forward" Writing and the Pleasures of Different Genre Conversations
"Silence is the artist's ultimate other-worldly gesture; by silence, he frees himself from servile bondage to the world, which appears as patron, client, consumer, antagonist, arbiter, and distorter of his work." The Aesthetic of Silence, Susan Sontag.
Apropos of nothing.
Luxury surveillance is a phenomenon where "some people pay to subject themselves to surveillance that others are forced to endure and would, if anything, pay to be free of." You might buy a GPS bracelet to track your biometric data (which will be used by other firms), while others might be forced to wear one (and still pay for it) as part of their ... See more
Super Apps Are Terrible for People—and Great for Companies
It’s intended as a nuanced, edgy twist on “the discourse”, and a reference to intersectional theory to highlight and preclude the most privileged women’s likelihood to ignore the varying needs of those yet less fortunate. However, especially given its popularity with the pregnancy-causing half of the population, it reads more as an ignorant and unt... See more