Show & Tell: I Saw Wicked. I Have Notes.
Unstacked Digest for the week of November 25 - December 1
This is Show & Tell where I tell you some things I loved from the week and the one thing I hated, plus round up everything else going on around these parts. The first half of Show & Tell is free to all. The adoration and hateration are for paid subscribers only.
Yes, I finally saw Wicked. I have a lot of thoughts for you. I hope you’re ready. I won’t be spoiling things, but I will be giving critique. Read at your own risk. Also, Happy Thanksgiving, or whatever. I saw Wicked though. That’s the headline.
It is worth noting today is my brother’s birthday, but I do not have to wish him a happy birthday here, because, unlike my mother, he does not read my newsletter. Sometimes it be your own people, huh?
This Week on Unstacked
Did I mention I went to the National Book Awards?
I dropped a mini-bonus episode. All book recommendations all nonfiction.
The end of the month means pairings for all The Stacks episodes we released.
December book club is here!
Books I Read This Week
It's Okay to Laugh: (Crying Is Cool Too) by Nora McInerny
A collection of essays from Nora McInerny about the death of her father, husband, and loss of a pregnancy in very close succession. I love the way McInerny writes about grief. She has a strong point of view and it is refreshing. She is funny and snarky and also really unbelievably vulnerable and relatable. Some of the essays feel redundant here and there but overwhelmingly this is a fantastic debut collection especially about something that in less exacting hands could drag on as one note general sadness, as the title suggests, McInerny gives us permission to laugh (and someone to laugh with).
Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad
This book is a speech Hammad delivered nine days before the events of October 7, 2023, about Palestine and the power of narratives. It is smart and interesting and too short. I need this as an entire book, an essay collection perhaps. I felt like Hammad could’ve done so much more, and I’d have been willing to wait for it. It is smart cultural and literary criticism tied together in a way that I wish so much more literary criticism was. It provides insight and opens doors to even deeper thinking.
Madoff: The Final Word by Richard Behar
A biography of the life and crimes of Bernie Madoff. Behar spent years interviewing Madoff (sections of which you can hear on the audiobook) about his massive ponzi scheme. I struggled with this book because I know nothing about money and while *I think* Behar explains the crime well, I couldn’t say for certain, all the financial stuff just washed over me. And the book is at least 50% financial stuff. Did I read this book? I don’t know. I still have no clue what Madoff did or how. Like, I know he stole money, and not in a bank robbery, but that’s about it. The second half of the book was much more interesting to me. Behar talks about the psychology of Madoff and the trial of the people who worked or him, those parts are good. He gets a little too ahead of himself when he spends a while comparing Madoff to Donald Trump. It’s not that I don’t think a book about that would be fascinating, it is just out of Behar’s depth and also comes so late in this book, it feels like he is trying to do it to be timely, and we don’t need it.
Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer by Rax King
A collection of essays about, you guessed it, tackiness. Actually, this is more of a memoir in essays if you ask me. I think the title and subtitle are a bit misleading. Tacky is a lot about sex and coming of age and desire. I loved the sections about pop culture and wish there had been more. That being said, the way King is able to shift between subject and tone feels deeply rooted in a need to tell these stories. The essay on Jersey Shore was far and away my favorite. The one on Creed was pretty great, too.
Fave of the week!
Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha
A poetry collection about life in Gaza from a Palestinian poet forced to flee his home following the relentless bombings from Israel that began after October 7. 2023. These poems are emotional as hell. I didn’t cry, but I certainly welled up. More than once. There is a lot of range in this collection while still remaining extremely accessible, even fore a poetry newb like me.
Housekeeping
The Stacks Book Club episode on Luster was as a fun and chaotic as the book. Thanks to Justine Kay for joining the show to the break this messy novel down.
Did you know you can now gift subscriptions to The Stacks Pack on Patreon. You can also gift subscriptions here on Substack too (you always could do that here). If you’ve got any book lovers in your life you need a gift for, send them my way.
I got to talk about my process in making The Stacks with the folks at Writer’s Bone. I also gush about The Stacks community. You all are truly the best.
I’ll be a bookseller in residence on December 15th at Reparations Club. So if you’re in LA and need a book recommendation for yourself or for a holiday gift, come say hi.
Things I Love…
Book News
The New York Times released their “100 Notable Books of 2024”. I love these lists. They left off some of my faves (justice for Carvell Wallace) and included some books I truly hated (Knife, I’m looking at you), but overall this feels like a solid list from the year. I think the distinction of the word “notable” is important here. These are not the best books but the ones that are worthy of note (at least that is how I am justifying some inclusions here). Also worthy of note, the Times took some of the functionality from their Best Books of the 21st century list and lent it to this list. You can check off what you’ve read and make a TBR of what you’d like to read.
The thing that matters most is that from these 100, ten will be picked (five fiction, five nonfiction) for their 100 Best Books for 2024. My most favorite list of any year. Yes, even more than the National Book Award longlists.
Politics
Joe Biden pardoned Hunter Biden and, you know what, I love it. Like if I had the power to pardon a Mini Stack I would in a heartbeat. But also, I would never pretend to be anything other than a corrupt nepotism cult leader of a president, so do no vote for me if given the chance.
Pop Culture
Ok, so I saw Wicked (part one….*eye roll*) and I have notes. This is going to be long, just like the movie.