An incredibly beautiful and insightful narrative that blends memoir with queer theory, focusing on motherhood within the queer experience. It is a book I still think about long after I finished.
Morgan
Esme Wang won the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, as well as the Whiting Award for Nonfiction for her book, The Collected Schizophrenias. She writes about schizophrenia related illnesses from her own lived experience, which is a perspective not often enough given a voice. As such, her writing has the beauty and thorough consideration of someone who’s life is personally impacted by the illness as well as someone who’s an amazing author.
Seamus
This reads more like a memoir in essays than a collection of cultural criticism. By delving into certain pieces of pop culture, King reveals the way “low culture” makes an indelible mark on us. From her introduction to Hot Topic as an antidote to the popular clique, to the bond she shares with her father over Jersey Shore, these “love letters” argue that just because something isn’t “good” doesn’t mean they aren’t perfect.
Dave
I’ve read a lot of books on ‘how to write,’ and this is the first one that genuinely resonated with me. George Saunders employs his straight-talking, big-hearted sense of humor as he guides you through the Russians. He slowly deconstructs the each story with discussions and suggested exercises that uncover the core strategies writers use to make good fiction. Keep a pencil nearby because you will take notes. Great for readers and writers alike.
Wendy
This is the perfect gift for a recent graduate. Full of great quotes from famous commencement speakers like Neil Gaiman, David Foster Wallace, Spike Lee, Gloria Steinem, John Waters, Barack Obama and Oprah, it's both inspiring and yet amusing. This charming book relays all the wisdom of those eloquent commencement speakers into sage advice for grads of all ages.
Nathan
Jonny Sun has the amazing ability to write about anxiety in a way that makes you feel settled, and loneliness in a way that makes you feel less alone. From scrambled eggs to plants to jazz to the end of the world, these illustrated essays are deeply personal but encompass the universal. They made me laugh, cry, contemplate life, and breathe a little deeper.
Kate
An absolutely brilliant essay collection from an Emerson professor.
Sarah
Grieving is a hard read, but the central idea is so beautiful, the heart-punches you take along the way are worth it. To be human is to be vulnerable but we can envelop that vulnerability in community so that no one is helpless. Though directly about the tragedies surrounding the drug war in Mexico, Grieving illuminates more general human experiences of trauma, national myth, and politics. And I might read the last chapter, "Keep Writing," once a month to help me keep going.
Josh
You've seen those author interviews where the question is inevitably asked, "if you were to host a dinner party and could invite anyone you wanted who would you invite and why?" In this volume, Erica Heller, daughter of author Joseph Heller, makes it lunch and brings together the responses of 50 notable personalities like Michael Douglas, Daniel Bellow, and Bob Balaban to name a few. Questions one has always wanted answered by a loved one or admired mentor are fully fleshed out over a shared meal. Lovely distracting reading for our current times.
Ellen
Lindy West is a brilliant cultural critic and in this collection she tackles an array of subjects from Adam Sandler to #metoo to abortion rights to (of course) Trump and the right wing. This book is broader in its ambit than Shrill, her last one, but what really makes it delicious to read is her incisive observation, brilliant wordcraft, and laugh-out-loud hilarity. She is making deep and important points and reading will make you laugh and be furious at the same time.
David
