Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
San Francisco : McSweeney's, [2013]
Description
Weaving together his brilliant analyses of literature, art, and music with fearless insights on race, gender, and history. The result is an extraordinary, complex portrait of "white girls," as Als dubs them--an expansive but precise category that encompasses figures as diverse as Truman Capote and Louise Brooks, Malcolm X and Flannery O'Connor. In pieces that hairpin between critique and meditation, fiction and nonfiction, high culture and low, the theoretical and the deeply personal, Als presents a stunning portrait of a writer by way of his subjects, and an invaluable guide to the culture of our time.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jbealy
This is THE best book of essays (a mashup of fiction, non-fiction, critique) by a fearless writer who can put words together that leave your jaw dropped. On top of that, Als is the queen of brilliant first sentences.
LibraryThing member Eoin
Star-rating does not apply to this work. The best of it is flat-out stunning - funny and brilliant and thrilling as a new truth, like a joke that cuts so surprisingly deeply laughing is not enough. It is, however, a bit uneven, occasionally cruel, and sometimes over-reaching in either technique or
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conclusion. Still, a colossal achievement and absolutely worth reading. Show Less
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2014)
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist — 2013)
Publishing Triangle Awards (Finalist — Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction — 2014)