I read a *ton* this summer, and lots of it was great, and much of it was medium, but there are two books I keep thinking about and have been dying to talk about: The Whispers by Ashley Audrain and Monsters by Claire Dederer.
Briefly: I think the idea of the “bad mom” is basically a scam, in much the same way as the “good mom” is, but I think Whitney, in The Whispers is genuinely . . . a bad mom. My theory about why she’s so unnerving is that she’s got every bad impulse all of us, but cranked up to 11. And the ending is riveting—dark and compelling, way better than Push, I think.
And Monsters! I’d been waiting for this book since I, like everyone else, read and immediately got obsessed with Dederer’s viral 2017 Paris Review essay that asked What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men? My pitch for Monsters is that, in addition to just being really smart and well-written, it’s the rare book that gets radically better and deeper and more interesting halfway through. I don’t want to say more, because watching Dederer’s brain work is really part of the experience of the book, but if you’re interested in making art and mothering and being a person in the world, I highly, highly recommend.
Lightsey Darst, on writing after having children (and if you want to read more about the idea of the “mommy brain,” which Darst briefly alludes to in her piece,
. Joanna’s a great writer and teacher, and she’s brought over a bunch of experienced and beloved instructors from Creative Nonfiction. This fall, they’re offering a five-week class taught by Megan Baxter called The Writer as Researcher and a ten-week class on personal essay form taught by Nancy McCabe called Shapes of Stories, and in January, Joelle Fraser will be teaching her course Thirty-Minute Memoir. You can get all the info about upcoming courses at The Muse.
Okay! Back to the conversation: what are you reading and loving so far this fall?
I've also been reading a ton lately but have been on a long string of fine but not amazing books. The one standout was Ink Blood, Sister Scribe which I read for book club and ended up liking more than I expected too. I do love a good magic-y book for the start of fall!
I also just loved Monsters, and completely agree that it gets better and better and that part of the pleasure is, as you put it, watching her brain work. When books can do that - feel like a record, in actual time, of the author's thinking/feeling and how it evolves and deepens and becomes more complex and layered as she genuinely sits with whatever her subject matter is - wow, it's magical. I also read and loved Kate Briggs' This Little Art, which approximately 300 friends have recommended to me over the years (they were right) and I'm excited about her novel which is coming out in the US this fall, and is about (in part) caretaking a newborn. And Mieko Kanai's Mild Vertigo which I also loved and found so intimate, strange, absorbing, painful at times but also funny and brilliant, and which I keep thinking about even though I finished it months ago now.
Our Missing Hearts and Everything I Never Told You, both by Celeste Ng, were incredible. Now that I’m thinking back, both have so much to do with motherhood guilt, duty and love.
I read "The Whispers" last week, and though it seemed shlocky to me at first, I found it incredibly engrossing, and revised my opinion. What struck me was the assumptions we make about the lives of other people, but can't truly know what's happening behind doors. There were some shocking revelations in the book that astounded me but rang true. Lovely fiction.
Another book about "bad" mothers is "The School for Good Mothers," by Jessamine Chan. I utterly loved that novel, beginning to end.
And here's one about parents and their decisions that I read a couple of years ago. "The Gifted School," by Bruce Holsinger.
Thanks for this thread, Nancy, I love to get suggestions for what to read. :)
You probably already read this book, I listened to the audiobook earlier this year: The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem by Julie Philips. Thanks for the book recommendations!
On the topic of motherhood, I just read The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar--a haunting and beautiful novel about the indescribable first weeks with a newborn. She does such an amazing job of making concrete/physical what is so hard to describe... I feel like I understand even a sliver more of what my new-parent friends went through after reading it!
Push was hard to get through emotionally but also hard to put down! I had to stop reading it before bed. Am I up for another one like that?? Is it really worth it? 😂
Monster sounds fascinating.
Right now I’m listening to How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key. Hilarious and sad at the same time. . . Loving it!
I've also been reading a ton lately but have been on a long string of fine but not amazing books. The one standout was Ink Blood, Sister Scribe which I read for book club and ended up liking more than I expected too. I do love a good magic-y book for the start of fall!
I also just loved Monsters, and completely agree that it gets better and better and that part of the pleasure is, as you put it, watching her brain work. When books can do that - feel like a record, in actual time, of the author's thinking/feeling and how it evolves and deepens and becomes more complex and layered as she genuinely sits with whatever her subject matter is - wow, it's magical. I also read and loved Kate Briggs' This Little Art, which approximately 300 friends have recommended to me over the years (they were right) and I'm excited about her novel which is coming out in the US this fall, and is about (in part) caretaking a newborn. And Mieko Kanai's Mild Vertigo which I also loved and found so intimate, strange, absorbing, painful at times but also funny and brilliant, and which I keep thinking about even though I finished it months ago now.
Our Missing Hearts and Everything I Never Told You, both by Celeste Ng, were incredible. Now that I’m thinking back, both have so much to do with motherhood guilt, duty and love.
I read "The Whispers" last week, and though it seemed shlocky to me at first, I found it incredibly engrossing, and revised my opinion. What struck me was the assumptions we make about the lives of other people, but can't truly know what's happening behind doors. There were some shocking revelations in the book that astounded me but rang true. Lovely fiction.
Another book about "bad" mothers is "The School for Good Mothers," by Jessamine Chan. I utterly loved that novel, beginning to end.
And here's one about parents and their decisions that I read a couple of years ago. "The Gifted School," by Bruce Holsinger.
Thanks for this thread, Nancy, I love to get suggestions for what to read. :)
I read Sea Wife by Amity Gaige for about the fifth time. Great novel about Motherhood and life at sea.
You probably already read this book, I listened to the audiobook earlier this year: The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem by Julie Philips. Thanks for the book recommendations!
On the topic of motherhood, I just read The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar--a haunting and beautiful novel about the indescribable first weeks with a newborn. She does such an amazing job of making concrete/physical what is so hard to describe... I feel like I understand even a sliver more of what my new-parent friends went through after reading it!
I read the whispers in 24 hours and that ending is still haunting me 🫣
Thanks so much for the mention, Nancy! Monsters has been on my list for awhile but I'm putting it on hold at the library now.
I've been sitting on The Whispers for awhile now, and am moving it up the list. And just this minute ordered Monsters on Audible!
"My Murder" and I literally bury it under the stack on my nightstand so I don't read it too fast. I'm really loving it so far.
Push was hard to get through emotionally but also hard to put down! I had to stop reading it before bed. Am I up for another one like that?? Is it really worth it? 😂
Monster sounds fascinating.
Right now I’m listening to How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key. Hilarious and sad at the same time. . . Loving it!