Recommendations newsletter #6: Three Women, Anna Delvey, Lover, Melbourne’s worst restaurant, and Mount Everest madness
READING
Book: Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
What is it: A non-fiction book about three women who the author, Lisa Taddeo, researched and wrote about over eight years.
Taddeo went to extreme lengths to find and document these stories including driving across America six times, and moving to the towns her subjects lived in for months at a time.
The book is regularly described as a ‘non-fiction investigation of female desire.’
Thoughts: There is so hype much around this book. It is good, but it certainly isn’t a masterpiece in my mind. Then again, I can’t imagine ever praising something to the level many reviewers have when talking about this book.
It’s a strange premise, but I did find Three Women to be an easy read and was engaged by all three stories. My only issue was remembering which story belonged to each person, so I often started a new chapter confused about where the plot had previously concluded.
Given how much time Taddeo spent on the book, I would have liked it be longer also.
There’s lots of excerpts of the book you can read online, including this one following a glowing review on The Guardian.
4/5
Book: My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams
What is it: A non-fiction book by a close friend of Anna Delvey (actual name Anna Sorokin), the ‘wannabe New York socialite’ who scammed several people and is now serving a four to 12-year jail sentence.
It’s essentially one person telling a long story about their friend who turned out to be a con artist.
Thoughts: Given the well-written articles that have previously been published on Anna Delvey (including one by the same author as this book), I thought a whole book on the subject would be too much. I was wrong. Despite knowing the general plot going in, this book remains a page turner.
I have seen some online reviews dismissing the book because they can’t sympathise with the author, and yes, she does so some questionable things and was lucky to receive financial support, but that doesn’t detract from my appreciation of the story. However, the third quarter, which involves lots of back and forth text messages, is very grating!
Excerpts of the book can be read here and here.
3.75/5
Review: Pink. The Restaurant (Good Food)
What is it: A scathing review of the poorly executed Instagram grab that is Pink. The Restaurant, in Melbourne.
Thoughts: I love an Australian food critic who’s actually doing their job! I understand that Australia is relatively small and publications need to keep potential advertisers on their side, but gosh it is so refreshing to see such a critical restaurant review in a major publication.
Article: When Did Self-Help Become Self-Care? (The New York Times)
What is it: An article about how self-help has evolved to become wellness, and now self-care.
Thoughts: I don’t agree with all of the article, but it’s a good read. I remain convinced that self-care (the current version of the concept) sucks.
Edited excerpt:
On Instagram, the axis of millennial life, there are about two million posts tagged #selfhelp, while there are around 18 million for #selfcare. Those form a soft-focus sea of cups of tea, journals, hand-drawn quotations, bed-nests of blankets, books, cats and snacks — basically, anything that might make someone feel good. It’s far removed from the self-help-style wellness that emphasizes labor and self-denial: punishing exercise classes, cleanses, detoxes and restrictive diets. That all might feel increasingly irrelevant in the context of the low-wage, ultra-precarious and generally diminished economic circumstances that millennials have found themselves in, and in the context of the anxieties of this era. The self of established, self-improving, self-help seeks to conquer. The self of the newer, kinder, weirder self-care seeks nourishment instead…
…If self-help is about how to do, self-care is about how to not do…The literature of self-care-informed wellness lives much more iteratively and personally on Instagram, in (frequently misspelled and misattributed) inspirational quotations and super-long captions, and on lingering blogs.
Article: When Will Kirsten Dunst Get Her Due? (Buzzfeed News)
What is it: A feature about Kirsten Dunst’s career including her lack of recognition from critics
Thoughts: I love Kirsten Dunst and often think about how wonderfully diverse her career has been.
Newsletter: Deez Links
What is it: A daily email newsletter edited by Buzzfeed’s growth and trends editor, Delia Cai, linking to a standout piece of content.
Thoughts: Deez Links is essentially the better, daily version of my own newsletter. Subscribe here!
Article: Mountain madness: the fatal attraction of Everest (Good Weekend)
What is it: A reported piece about the rise of inexperienced people climbing, and dying, on Mount Everest.
Thoughts: As someone with no desire to do any adventurous physical activity, the popular goal to climb Everest fascinates and scares me.
Edited excerpt:
Perhaps all those people crawling towards the summit in the photo were there because, like Seamus Lawless, who died climbing the mountain, they dreamed about climbing Everest as kids. But Dutch mountaineer Arnold Coster would be surprised. “A lot of the clients aren’t mountaineers,” he says. “They’re more like trophy-hunters.” Tim Macartney-Snape agrees: “They’re more interested in talking about it at a cocktail party than actually being in the mountains. It’s a status-enhancing thing.” What disturbs him is the how-hard-can-it-be attitude that some bring to base camp. “A lot of people are very unrealistic about the dangers and difficulties.”
For The Himalayan Database, Billi Bierling interviews climbers in Kathmandu before they leave for Everest, and again when they return. “Some of them I don’t recognise because they’ve aged by 20 years,” she says. Some are exhilarated by the whole thing, but “some just look shocked. Not only have they lost 20 kilograms, they have a weird look in their eyes.” The worst affected tend to be the climbers who started with the least experience. “And more and more inexperienced people are coming,” Bierling says.
LISTENING
Album: Lover by Taylor Swift
I’ve learned from experience that I am a terrible music writer, but I need to talk about Lover.
As usual, the initial singles released off the album were thankfully, (but confusingly), misleading as to the rest of its contents.
My wish for Taylor to work with more women didn’t come true (with the exception of co-writing with St Vincent on the banger Cruel Summer, and singing some harmonies with the Dixie Chicks), although she did write three songs solo, including Lover, which is her best in years.
For better writing/talking on the matter, see this podcast episode of Popcast and Rob Sheffield’s Rolling Stone article.
Podcast: So Yesterday
One of my favourite podcasts to listen to back episodes of is this hilarious, obscure US one about nostalgic movies and shows from the hosts’ childhood.
My favourite episodes are those on Agent Cody Banks, Spy Kids, America’s Next Top Model and Christmas With The Kranks.
WATCHING
TV: Exposed: The Case of Keli Lane
This three-episode documentary series initially aired on ABC (Australia) last year, and has just been added to Netflix. I’d recommend it to anyone not familiar with the Keli Lane case as her story is truly wild. You can read a timeline of the key events in her case if you’re unfamiliar here.
TV: Bachelor Archive
This is for non-Americans like me who struggle to source international Bachelor franchise content. All episodes are uploaded onto this website shortly after they originally air on TV.
TV: Shrill
Just a note that this great show I’ve previously talked about will start airing in Australia at 9.30pm, Tuesday September 3, on SBS Viceland!