Everything I Read & Where I Read It: July 27-August 3
Do I like backpacking? Thank you for asking. I’m never really sure. On the one hand, pristine, untouched, uncrowded scenery; bonding with friends without any intermediary phone time; brain washed clean of any distractions. On the other hand: camping. Trying to snap the poles together for a tent while a storm threatens nearby; cooking a massive pan of canned tuna, peppers, and onions (?) for six people in a tiny pan with a snap-on handle; trudging a quarter of a mile to rinse said tuna bowls
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Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellor
This was a hardcover library book. Great for travel! No, it was fine, actually. I brought it to Teton Village with me one morning while everyone else was “working” on their “laptops” and read about 300 pages in one sitting.
I liked this one more than Blue Sisters, I think. I liked that there was one central relationship for all the characters to orbit around, and I liked the multifaceted way Cleo and Frank related to each other. It wasn’t just a romantic relationship or a familial relationship, but some muddled mess of the two. If there was a clear theme for me in this book, then it was a message about beauty: the beauty of love and of youth; the beauty of appreciating someone’s lens on the world, and the way that beauty can isolate people from each other. I didn’t really need Eleanor’s perspective in the story–however, those chapters were some of my favorite, writing-wise, so I’ll forgive it. 4/5.
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Allison Espach
Another hardcover library book–I never learn. I read this one on our flight from Jackson to LA. (Interesting flight path: Wyoming to LA to New York.) I was really nauseous on this flight for no particular reason, and this book effectively distracted me from it. In my brief breaks from reading, Scott and I watched a woman in front of us watch a movie about four very attractive people who get trapped in a sauna. Riveting.
I loved this one. Writing about the narrative voices I love has made me realize that I really love a narrator who is completely and constantly baffled by the absurdity of the world. It’s a trait I associate with The Idiot by Elif Batuman, among other books. This book sucked me in completely: the complex family dynamics, the funny and sharp way everyone talked to each other, the almost-not-quite love story throughout. It all really worked for me. 5/5.
Billionaire Wilderness by Justin Farrell
I actually read this book in 2020, and decided to reread part of it while I was in Jackson. It was definitely the right setting to read it again: I got to look at all the multi-million dollar homes around Teton Village while I read about development and real estate in Jackson.
I’m not totally sure why I decided to reread this one because I remember not loving it in 2020. Maybe I thought my tastes would have changed? Regardless, this is one of those books that’s ostensibly interesting but also totally unsurprising. Some of the stark facts about Jackson and its wealth disparities were worth learning, but the interviews the author conducted—with a lot of preamble about how groundbreaking this mode of sociological research is, with “twinned” interviews of both the ultra-wealthy and the working class/poor—were underwhelming. Like, for example, a big part of the book is about easements, which is when you commit part of the land that you own to conservation, promising not to develop it. This is done under the guise of ecological stewardship, but, according to interviews and just, like, common sense, is actually a way for the ultra-wealthy to protect/enhance their wealth: easements confer tax benefits, and make developable land in Jackson even scarcer than it already is, which makes the landowners’ land more valuable in the long run. Interesting, yes, but also perhaps the least surprising thing I can think of: rich people protecting their wealth. So, in that way, I feel like this could have been…an article? As opposed to an entire book? It was okay—I enjoyed reading it while in Jackson, but it didn’t really reveal anything to me that isn’t immediately clear upon visiting. 3/5.
Leather & Lark by Brynn Weaver
I started this one on Sunday when we got home, and DNFed after about 100 pages. I really strongly disliked what I read of this. The characters were boring to me. Nothing interesting going on aside from the fact that they’re both very, very violent? I also thought that the family drama and super sudden forced marriage were unconvincing and strange. Not into it.