Alerts
Every month, a deluge of new books comes flooding out from big publishers, indie houses, and self-publishing platforms. So every month, The A.V. Club narrows down the endless options to five of the books we’re most excited about.
Advertisement
Image: Catapult
We’re big fans of essays that combine cultural criticism with memoir, and Larissa Pham’s
Pop Song especially sings when the writer turns her eye to art and pop culture. In her debut book of nonfiction memoir by way of interconnected essays Pham interweaves a recounting of her life thus far with her thoughts on James Turrell, Anne Carson, Frank Ocean, and Agnes Martin (extra points for not mentioning Maggie Nelson in “Blue,” Pham’s essay on Martin). Through her sensitive, curious telling, Pham lobbies for the way in which art can help people learn more about themselves.
In 2017, novelist Joshua Mohr released the memoir
Sirens, about his years of substance abuse, getting clean, fatherhood, and the congenital heart defect which led to a series of strokes that almost killed him. It was textbook Josh: gripping, thoughtful, and funny as hell. I took a particular interest in the development of the project. The first time he told me about it was after his heart surgery. We were standing outside a bar in Brooklyn where he d just done a reading. My daughter had recently been born with a congenital heart defect, and I felt a kinship with him over that.
BlogsCommunityMusicArtsScreenEat & DrinkLegals
Elissa Washuta casts a spell in the alluring ‘White Magic’
The author and Ohio State creative writing professor will celebrate the release of her new memoir with a virtual event via Two Dollar Radio tonight
As
White Magic opens, Elissa Washuta recounts purchasing a mood ring at the mall, describing the way the cheap trinket would change from black to green to orange on her finger, and how the those mysterious color shifts instilled in her a desire to explore magic and “bring change to the world using unseen forces.”
As the memoir unfolds, though, what emerges is a picture of how unseen forces bring change to the author, with a pivotal, post-sobriety breakup serving as the catalyst for a wellspring of self-discovery.
Imagining Generous, Black Futures With Hanif Abdurraqib
How and when do you divest yourself from an artist? What does it mean that we were all born under a different moon? This week, join host Lauren Korn and poet, essayist, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib in a conversation about his 2021 must-read,
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance.
From the multitude of miracles, magic, and wonder found in everyday moments to choosing to see and understand the world through lenses of generosity and gratitude, theirs is an energetic and uplifting back and forth.
About Hanif:
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in