Hi,
A few more thoughts on some recent reading that won't make it into a full review.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (December 2020)
I first read this book in 2014, and the experience prompted me to write some profound nonsense a few years later (1). I return today in the aftermath of my recent rereading with nothing to add to those thoughts despite a lengthier set of book notes. Instead, I offer a reemphasis of a point Boo observes throughout her book - the powerless are defined by their collective inability to come together, and in the worst-case scenario will compete among themselves for meager and temporary gains.
Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly (January 2021)
I feel no compulsion to provide a recommendation, one way or the other, for these fifty-two "micro-memoirs" because the time commitment for any reader is comparable to a couple weeks of TOA - by the time you decide whether my endorsement was right or wrong, the book will be over. I should note that I reread "Bad Break" and "Another Missing Chapter in the Parenting Handbook", which happened to be among the two longest essays in the book, so read into that what you will (2). One comment I scribbled into my book notes may resonate with recent TOA readers - the length of these essays necessitated what I described as the cold open, and I felt many of Fennelly's pieces demonstrated the value of this tactic when there is no time to waste.
Not Quite Not White by Sharmila Sen (July 2019)
I regret not posting my thoughts on this book earlier, a feeling generated by the range of comments in my book notes, the universal truth that it's hard to retain the thread of any work a year and a half after the fact, and perhaps most importantly the reality that the world has changed in some tangible ways since I read this book; it's feasible I could discuss Sen's ideas in the workplace. Her memoir tells the story of trying to find her place in American culture after emigrating from India at the age of twelve, with much of this book illuminating the shadows between the lines of America's neat racial designations; the unseen space is where you find the stories of convenient minorities - they fit into the dominant culture but retain enough difference to reprise a role as the necessary scapegoat. As Sen notes, the lines that separate society require constant maintenance, and the work makes groups of people invisible to each other - her book is an example of how storytelling is a powerful tool to break apart the categories that divide us.
Footnotes
1) OK, I'll actually say for once - I was surprised to find a mostly coherent, occasionally intelligent post from May 2017; I had potential, as they say.
2) What I would conclude is - I prefer longer essays. While I'm here, I should admit that I technically also reread Richard Russo's blurb on the back cover, which claimed something along the lines of "reading this book is better than 95 of the 100 things you enjoy doing most". Is that the single worst endorsement in the history of literature, or do I need to find better things to do? As always, I suspect the latter.
