Thanks to my brilliant friends at @cake_zine for letting me write about Ozempic, my unfortunate YouTube habit, and Fogo de Chao for their beautiful new issue. Special gratitude to @will.this.make.me.happy for her terrific edits, and to @longreads for sharing it widely.
It was such an honor to serve as President of the National Book Critics Circle this year. NBCC Awards week is a bit like simultaneously throwing a wedding and taking a final exam, but our brilliant board made it happen. Special gratitude to all of our terrific finalists, and congratulations to the winners. Thanks also to the wonderful Beowulf Sheehan for these photos!
A total pleasure to re-read and write about one of my very favorite novels, Robert Coover’s UNIVERSAL BASEBALL ASSOCIATION INC. for the New York Times. A captivating, prescient book, recently re-issued by NYRB
Our @bookcritics shortlists are here! They are the product of a year of careful reading and debate, culminating in an all-day meeting last weekend that, as one board member put it, felt like being part of the best book club in the world. Those passionate yet collegial hours made me very proud to be President of this group of brilliant critics - and I cannot wait to celebrate these wonderful books at our free awards ceremony at the New School on 3/26. Join us!
This fall, I had the pleasure of re-reading Karl Ove Knausgaard’s work for the New York Times. I’m grateful for the assignment, the brilliant editing, and Knausgaard, for giving me so much to think about, as always.
It’s longlist week for the @bookcritics Awards! I’m very proud of the passion and effort our board put into reading and discussing hundreds and hundreds of books this year. We are rolling out two a day, starting with our fiction list. I loved serving on this committee, guided by the brilliant @heatherscottp - and am delighted with the results.
What a pleasure to interview the brilliant @jonashassenkhemiri for @bombmag - THE SISTERS is a massive achievement, a novel that isn’t quite like anything I’ve read. The majority of our conversation took place in Paris at my favorite Finnish cafe, but we’ve added a coda, since THE SISTERS was recently longlisted for a National Book Award.
Thank you to The Bergman Estate on Fårö for two extraordinary weeks in Sweden—I woke up every morning, crossed a little courtyard, sat at the desk where Ingmar wrote Fanny and Alexander, and got to work. I also watched Smiles of a Summer Night and Winter Light at Bergman’s private cinema (a converted barn that still saves his seat for him), found his devils all over his house, and enjoyed his VHS copy of Singin’ in the Rain. Best of all was the uncanny silence of his office, the solitude of Hammars, and the sea with its many rock stacks. Bergman Island forever!
I am very moved that the board of the National Book Critics Circle has chosen me to serve as our next President. It’s a wonderful group of @bookcritics - friends and geniuses - and I can’t wait to get to work.
Reading and judging for @bookcritics is a huge honor and responsibility - the board voted to release our prize longlists for the first time this year, which makes me very happy. Two of my three committees (fiction and criticism) were announced today - excited to share the lists and start the conversation about these fabulous books.
Got to write about two of my favorite recent movies - Drive My Car and Barn Burning - for the @gagosian Quarterly - alongside new work by Rachel Cusk, Amit Chaudhuri, and Sofia Coppola
