202. READ. LOOK. THINK.
Using up whole days, the beforetime, spectating bitch-self, heterosexual vortex, $17 tears, careful or you'll end up in my novel.
Leila’s Shop keeping cool.
Dear friends,
Here is a northern hemisphere summer edition of RLT. Thank you so much to all the people who subscribed in recent weeks, this newsletter is sporadic but I hope you find something to enjoy.
READ.
‘And then we had our normal family life—struggles and hard times. That takes up a lot of time, hard times. Uses up whole days.’
‘The fundamental miscommunication between mothers and daughters from the perspective of the daughter/writer in [Lydia] Davis's texts is that the mother is not teaching but telling: there is no room for dialogue or indeed for any kind of reciprocal listening. When the persona of the story is switched, however, and the narrator occupies the role of the mother, the position of that motherhood becomes a shockingly vulnerable one: that of a learner, who is willingly taught by the act of nurturing an infant.’
'...as a child, I had felt oppressed by the news: by the way the mood in the room shifted when men came on TV, to speak of the great deeds of other men, and by the aura of gravitas that surrounded these deeds, which seemed to annihilate every other aspect of life, the whole domestic sphere, all the things that children and women took seriously.' / Also Elif Batuman, this time on the great film The Souvenir: ‘Why can’t [the character of Julie] go to Venice by herself? With her loving family and friends, her youth and sensitivity and thoughts and opportunities, why isn’t she enough for herself? Why does she have to make a movie about a boy from Sunderland?’
Yiyun Li on the beforetime.
‘Maybe this was my erotic life now, these late-night vigils at my laptop, hitting a joint just until the spectating bitch-self got stupid…’
'The older I’ve got, the more I’ve understood how often sexual freedom imposes itself on people who don’t seek it out—no marriage contract, religion, posture of tradition, or abortion ban will protect a person from having to contend with the sexual possibilities of the present.'
‘… there is more singing, more ukulele — an increasingly depressing spectacle to witness…’ Heterosexual vortex.
'I can’t fall asleep till my skin—sweaty, sticky, sizzling with bacteria, random fungal itches, swellings, vague histamine eruptions—has been unified by a bath or shower...'
As for books, I’ve only been reading nonfiction stuff for my novel- in- progress (novel- massively- hampered- by- third- parties- and- galling- events- outside- my- control).
LOOK.
Beautiful house (with a Bloomsbury connection).
Fanny Singer’s tiny, perfect Silver Lake apartment.
Careful or you’ll end up in my novel.
'Sometimes, when I feel stuck and forgotten and emotionally constipated, as I did in Los Angeles, I take out my tear stick and experience a release that feels as though it’s making room for something real.' The best fake tears $17 can buy.
Burning is a very good documentary about Australia’s horror 2019/2020 bushfire season available to watch in the UK on Prime.
YouTube vid of a Rachel Cusk interview, perfect length to watch with lunch. She basically says her writing process was so twisted by her personal commitments that she doesn’t even know what an ideal practice would look like.
THINK.
Here is the woman in question: ‘He interrupted my quiet time, filmed and uploaded a video without my consent, turning it into something it wasn’t...’
‘If I ever thought of these as lies, I soon came to see them as part of the etiquette of poverty — a means of getting by for the poor, and also a gift we give to the rich; a practice that lets us avoid talking about the uncomfortable differences between us.’
Women naming their babies after themselves.
Hearing from an old friend makes people happy and grateful, research shows.
On the Westminster Insider podcast, David Cameron reveals he considered beta blockers to stop blushing during Prime Minister’s Questions.
How funny, no articles about Boris Johnson. Bye bitch!
Jess X
PS. I had lots of new people subscribe after A Great Hope was recommended on the brilliant podcast Highly Enthused. Thank you to both Sophies! Below is some info about my book so I don’t have to type it out. Australians can buy anywhere. People abroad should buy from Readings.
PPS. And here is a review I am very proud of from the journal of Australia’s public education trade union! ‘...perhaps the greatest joy is seeing the streets of our town rendered so faithfully on the page, especially when done through this unapologetically union lens.' 💛