196. READ. LOOK. THINK.
Vent my hideous spleen, My Phantoms, four ingredient bix, Twitter defensiveness, feeling seen, posting through a crisis, fascist fitness.
Scomo sucks by MALI BAKES. (A frankly upsetting TikTok that juxtaposes footage of Australia’s rolling national disasters with Scott Morrison’s speech in parliament where he brandished a lump of coal — yes, it’s real.)
READ.
'Yes, I’m an older woman, a calm woman, I’ve written enough things, I’m at peace, my days of partying on Milanese rooftops are over, my days of typing every damn thing with the fingers in my mind are over. I’m here to serve, to sit and listen, to comfort, to care for, to encourage . . . not to vent my hideous spleen, not to worry that I might not live much longer, not to rearrange words like a child.'
'It’s taste, that’s all it is. And people want me to “unpack” it, like it’s some kind of psychological disorder.' (Paul Mendez being fascinating in Fantastic Man.)
My Phantoms is a work of genius, truly.
LOOK.
Regret to reveal I have been watching Byron Baes on Netflix.
Via CARBS' Laura Goodman, a four ingredient biscuit recipe to rival Nigella's Granny Boyd b's.
Outrageously expensive and beautiful water filter/vessel thing.
A new Women Cook For Me | Food @ellies.table.
I’m going to listen to this episode of Lit Up with Sheila Heti.
The first episode of a new culture podcast from Kate Jinx and Brodie Lancaster is about Joanna Hogg’s Souvenir: See Also.
Charmed by this internet consumption diary by a TIkTik star I’ve never heard of?
8 episode podcast about how Australia spent decades fighting change instead of global warming.
THINK.
‘I felt anti-feminist for wanting to be pregnant at a moment when more radical forms of kinship are being imagined.’ A powerful essay on Black motherhood and infertility
To be or feel seen doesn’t need to happen, every time we read. / 'We want to be “seen,” but in the most flattering light.' (Really good and wide ranging convo with Ayesha A. Siddiqi)
Why it all feels like too much. | You don’t need to post through a crisis. | (“The wheat for much of Europe’s flour is grown in Ukraine; thus the germ of this joy is in their pain”? No.) | Against catastrophe fetishism.
Yes, capitalism is why you're sad and anxious. Now what? / The internet doesn't have to be miserable either. / Things could be good. / ‘We think a lot about those black lines: the roads not taken, the opportunities missed, the ones that got away. But most of us greatly underestimate the size of the lush green tree of possibilities that lie ahead of us.’
'It isn’t appropriate to say, “we are all doomed and the apocalypse is imminent”, nor is it desirable to tell them everything is perfectly fine; better to say that concern is appropriate, and that you can understand they are worried.' How to talk to children about Ukraine.
‘Fascist fitness’: how the far right is recruiting with online gym groups.
A GREAT HOPE.
In the window at Readings ❤️
I’ve been absolutely blown away by the amount of good attention my book has been getting. The kindest and most open, generous, emotional reactions. It has already exceeded any and all dreams I had about the response. Thank to everyone who has read it and told people about it.
If you want to make your book club read it, here is a Book Club Discussion Guide, beautifully put together by the publishers. (Don’t click the orange button to download the PDF unless you’ve read A Great Hope, MANY spoilers.)
Review of my dreams from Stella Charls.
'After ten pages I was totally hooked and tore through the rest... If I still worked in a bookstore I’d be recommending this for almost anyone—age, gender, politics—it’s even a great novel for people who usually prefer nonfiction.' — Bri Lee in her fantastic newsletter.
'We’re already mentally casting Australian actors in the miniseries that has to be made of this book.' Obviously same.
‘I love it so much, if what you’ve been craving is a real, genuine BOOK, it doesn’t get better than this.’ — the angel Hannah-Rose Yee (and here is our interview in Australian Vogue.)
‘a fascinating and insightful journey through these women’s lives’ — Herald Sun
‘never boring’ (lol!) — Australian Book Review.
Here are all the links to buy it. If you’re in the UK, the US etc, the best place to order it is Readings.
Please keep atting me your pix and reax, I love it! @dailydoseofjess.
Jess X