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ClareR (5726 KP) rated The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020 in Books

Apr 18, 2021  
The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020
The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020
Rachel Kushner | 2021 | Essays
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Hard Crowd is a collection of essays about culture and politics. I had read Rachel Kushner's novel The Mars Room and loved it (even went on to buy it for a friend), so I was intrigued to read this collection. There really is a mix here - something for everyone.
The opening essay about Kushner’s participation in an illegal motorbike race on the Baja Peninsula was probably my favourite - it sounded terrifying and exciting all at once. She does seem to like anything to do with motors, as a later essay showed. This one wasn’t really for me, but this is a collection where there is something for everyone. The chapter on wild cat strikes was interesting, as were the ones where she describes her formative years in her hometown and the music concerts she went to (loved these too). The last essay in the book played out as though it was on a film in my head.
The essay about prison reform was really thought provoking, as was that of when Kushner visited a Palestinian refugee camp. I could easily have read more of this one - no matter how saddening it ultimately was.
Rachel Kushner really can write. As she did in The Mars Room, each of these essays really evoked a time and place and made this book pretty hard to put down.
Many thanks to Jonathan Cape for inviting me to read this via NetGalley.
  
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Dana (24 KP) rated A Serious Proposal to the Ladies in Books

Mar 23, 2018  
AS
A Serious Proposal to the Ladies
Mary Astell | 2002
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was a very interesting read. It is a compilation of, primarily, two essays directed at the women of the Restoration and Revolution period in London, England. While it mainly speaks to women to be more free in their religions, it also talks about women's political freedoms. This seems to be an early feminist essay which calls to give women more power over their lives.

I did enjoy the first essay more than I did the second because the second got a lot more religious and quite repetitive. But it was still interesting.

If you are interested in early feminist lit or in religious literature, check this book out. I think you would thoroughly enjoy it.
  
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Daniel Pinchbeck recommended A Walker in the City in Books (curated)

 
A Walker in the City
A Walker in the City
Alfred Kazin | 1969 | Biography, History & Politics
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Kazin’s book is a wonderful depiction of life in the world of Jewish immigrants. His wanderings through the city are described in loving, careful detail. Like Woolf’s essay on her childhood, Kazin captures aspects of consciousness that seem so subtle as to be impossible to express. This book is a neglected masterpiece."

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John Krasinski recommended A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again in Books (curated)

 
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
David Foster Wallace | 1998 | Humor & Comedy
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"A fantastic introduction to one of the greatest authors ever. This 1997 collection of essays is one of Wallace’s best works. I can confidently say that the title essay is the single funniest thing I have ever read on paper. I can also confidently say … no one will ever write the way he did."

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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Apr 2, 2020 (Updated Apr 2, 2020)  
"When I was sixteen, I shredded six pounds of paper in one night."

Read a highly interesting excerpt for the poetry and essay book VIOLENCE/JOY/CHAOS by Jane Marshall Fleming on my blog, and enter the GIVEAWAY to WIN your own signed copy of the book!

 https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/04/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway.html
      
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Peter Strickland recommended The Favourite (2018) in Movies (curated)

 
The Favourite (2018)
The Favourite (2018)
2018 | Biography, History
7.0 (31 Ratings)
Movie Favorite Watch

"How Yorgos Lanthimos sneaked Olivier Messiaen and Luc Ferrari into an Oscar-winning film is one of modern cinema’s greatest mysteries. Mr. Lanthimos doesn’t get enough credit for his soundtracks, which often work brilliantly counter to the proceedings in his films. The use of music in “The Favourite” deserves a whole essay in itself. The acting isn’t bad, either."

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