I must start this newsletter with my first ever apology. You may recall that over the past few weeks, I have become deeply enmeshed in Below Deck: Sailing Yacht. Unfortunately, the minute I finished part one of the season four reunion, news broke that first mate Gary King has been accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct by members of production. I am genuinely sorry for being so enthusiastic about the show when the arguable star of its cast clearly behaves in a pretty appalling manner, particularly around women + gender marginalized individuals.
The very depressing thing is that both times I’ve written about this show, I’ve made some reference to Gary being a bit of a cad (and did notice his increasing creepiness throughout the most recent season), so learning this was far from a surprise, which means it probably should have been obvious from the get-go. I was talking with my fellow Below Deck aficionados Caroline and Cate about this, and Cate made the excellent point that because Gary’s whole character on the show is that he’s a womanizer, he probably gets away with inappropriate behavior because we’d think, “oh, that’s just Gary being Gary.” So it probably actually helps him to have that persona because it’s easier for us as an audience to turn a blind eye to his objectively gross behavior (not to mention that this is a reality show, where this behavior is mined for content).
And hindsight is 20/20 — when you learn that production crew members say he’s “next-level scary with women,” you go back through everything he does on the boat and you’re like okay, yeah, he’s actually really inappropriate towards his coworkers and was a little bit harrassing Mads in the laundry room every day! It also makes me even angrier that in every reunion, Captain Glenn lauds Gary’s work ethic says said that the messes he makes in his personal life (read: mistreatment of women on board) don’t impact his performance, but I don’t think he would reserve that generosity for someone who isn’t a man. (To be clear, I love Captain Glenn and this probably speaks more about gender and culture etc etc, but it is something I’ve noticed.)
Anyways, I’m sorry, and I won’t talk about Sailing Yacht anymore. I have decided to move on to Below Deck: Down Under, though after making this decision, I learned that they also had a sexual misconduct incident on their boat this season. Luckily, it was on camera and dealt with swiftly by producers and the cast members involved got fired on the spot. Dare I say that I agree with Bethenny Frankel for the first time in my life and we need a reality TV union?
reads
I finished Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing, and I could not recommend this book highly enough if you haven’t already read it. I knew I’d enjoy it, but I didn’t expect it to be so worthy of the hype. Put plainly, this book is one of the strongest showings of narrative nonfiction I’ve ever read. I became more and more invested in the story as the narrative continued, even as more and more people and diverging and converging storylines were introduced. It’s incredibly researched, but it has an insane amount of heart and empathy. I found myself wrestling with difficult feelings for pretty much every person named in the book at some point.
Some of Keefe’s discoveries in his research are actually gasp-inducing — especially a particular one at the end, which I will obviously not spoil — and I think their presentation speaks to the incredibly compelling narrative. I refrained from looking anything up about anyone described in it because I wanted him to tell me how things ended instead of Wikipedia, and my restraint was well worth it. This book is truly something that I think every reader can enjoy, from someone looking for an interesting true story to someone very well-versed in Irish history. I didn’t expect this, but Say Nothing emphatically deserves a readwithmith 4.7/5 stars (equivalent to a Goodreads 5, a true honor).
reviews
I finally posted!!! I wrote a double review on Mona Awad’s Bunny and Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under the Sea. To be honest, I was going to skip the instagram writeup for these two, but I had a rollercoaster of a journey with them both, and they deserved more time and thought. Plus, they’re rather similar in genre, which made them fun to combine into one and my life easier. Most importantly, I’ve heard VERY polarizing opinions on both and desperately want to know your thoughts!
I know I’ve been saying I’ll write something on Clint Smith’s Above Ground, and I’ll get to it soon (again, bad at reviewing poetry, stalling, accidentally sent my Libby copy back to the library), but I might keep this twofer train going and do a double-header romance review for Romantic Comedy and Love, Theoretically. The people want me to read smut, and I have not adequately delivered this year, and for that, I must atone.
on the docket
My parents came to visit this weekend, and, in advance of my impending move, very kindly took a large stack of my books to store in my childhood bedroom. I made sure to give them things I’ve already read, and I thought that maybe this would help me sort through my physical TBR, but, unfortunately, the pressure has only increased now that many of the books surrounding me have never been touched. Here are a few titles I absolutely must get to before the end of the year (you may think we have plenty of time, but it’s catching up on those of us who are severely behind on our Goodreads goals!!!!!):
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey — I actually grabbed this one several months ago at an event where she was doing a reading. I like to get at least one book from events like these, and they all sounded good, but her cover looked the coolest. (Idra Novey was also there reading Take What You Need, and I plan to pick that up as well because she’s awesome and I’ve heard great things.) Anyways, it’s been all the rage on bookstagram recently, and I’m excited to pick it up. I did see a review posted that noted its erasure of people of color, and while I don’t know the specifics of the plot, I’m certainly keeping this in mind while I read.
Either/Or by Elif Batuman — You know I’ve been foaming at the mouth for this. Bella gave me her copy when we went on our sojourn to The Ripped Bodice, and I’m ready to be hurt again. I have heard most people say they didn’t like it as much as its predecessor, which makes sense — it’s rare for a sequel to go full Empire Strikes Back or A Court of Mist and Fury (I’ll stand by it) — but I’ve seen overwhelmingly positive reviews overall and am very excited.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros — I guess I thought this was of an A Court of Thorns and Roses ilk when I first saw it (fantasy romance simple smut trope-y), but I’ve seen some pretty rave reviews from readers I trust with my literary life. You know when you’re on Libby and all of your library holds come in at once and you get overwhelmed and don’t read them so you have to check them out and get them on hold all over again? I have six days to read this, and if that means putting my Kindle on airplane mode to trick Amazon into thinking I own the book, so be it. Also, I’m sorry, I know a smart person could probably explain this, but why on earth aren’t there unlimited copies of e-books? Is this like the “why don’t they just print more money” economics question? (I do think we should print more money.)
ulysses corner
No Ulysses corner this week. I thought I read the fourth chapter but I’m actually not sure if I did because I don’t remember a single thing besides Leopold Bloom being horny (which, to be fair, is probably all one needs to glean from it). Sorry to all who wait eagerly every week for this section — I will make it up to you next time with more details about Leopold Bloom being horny.
other media
Friends, family, lovers, I am behind on most every trend, but I am here to hold my head up high and declare that I am currently addicted to Futurama. I’d seen episodes here and there (usually with the volume off at the gym), but never knew how iconic it was or even that it was created by the Simpsons man. (I’m putting this line in to see if my beau John actually reads my newsletter because if he does I’ll get an angry text saying “the Simpsons man? do you mean MATT GROENING?!)
Anyways, after sampling a couple of episodes with him — one with the most devastating final minute of a show I’ve ever seen, and one with one of the funniest lines and delivery of said line ever: “Have you ever tried simply turning off the TV, sitting down with your children, and hitting them?” — I’m now watching from the beginning. It’s funny and wonderful and moving and, tragically, every bit of social commentary made in the early 2000s is just as relevant today.
Well, looks like I didn’t do anything else this week. I’m literally looking around my room as if that will help me figure out what I’ve been doing and must conclude that I’ve literally been doing nothing but watching Futurama for the past several days and neglecting my laundry in a seriously visible way. Actually, I did go to a Mets game Monday and ate a hot dog and a pretzel so fast I got heartburn and hurt my jaw, so I guess watching that counts (they lost).
I’ll be away for the long weekend, so no newsletter next week because I don’t anticipate having anything to say except “wow, I wish I was still on vacation,” and “working for a living is unethical,” and “how are studios in New York with no oven and a mini-fridge over $2,500?” So I guess you better subscribe for more great takes when I get back!
Planet Money had a great episode on why libraries don't have unlimited copies of e-books, but mostly amounts to the balance of trying to make books accessible & affordable / while also making sure authors get a living wage and compensation for writing books. Also something about how a physical book at a library will eventually get worn out after a certain number of circulations, but an e-book could be checked out forever without degrading, so they have to limit the number of times it can be checked out