so one of the art assignments in Sara's
book you are an artist which by the way
comes out to date huzzah
can I drink champagne on YouTube without
being demonetised apparently yes so one
of the assignments in Sara's book is
from the artist Nina katchadourian who
encourages us to sort book spines into
portraits of people that's what I needed
this morning like here's my portrait of
Sara understanding poetry magic and loss
keeping an eye open making art together
and here is a self-portrait I made about
the current historical moment the PAC's
party a supposedly fun thing I'll never
do again by the way I dressed up to feel
like a person anyway good morning Hank
it's Tuesday horror abounds in every
direction and today I would like to tell
you about some books I have found
helpful in this time including of course
Sara's book which will get you sorting
your library and collaborating with
friends across time and space and
generally engaging with the world in
thoughtful and artistic ways I'm so glad
it's here at last Sara's virtual book
tour begins tonight more info in the
doobly-doo but I've also been reading
much else including another book that
comes out today Lulu Miller's stunning
and brilliant and completely unsung
don't exist I love this book so much
like if any of y'all enjoy my podcast
the Anthropocene reviewed why fish don't
exist is what the Anthropocene reviewed
wants to be when it grows up
it's simultaneously an extremely
personal search for meaning and this
like sweeping history of taxonomy and
the astonishing life of Stanford
University's first president David Starr
Jordan another non-fiction book I've
loved in these times the cholera years
an analysis of the 19th century color of
pandemics in New York City the book is
almost 60 years old but it shows how
1832 and 2020 are not so different at
least when it comes to snake oil cures
and conspiracy theories and blaming the
victim for the disease instead of the
structural and political failures that
allowed the disease to spread then
there's fiction one of the chief
pleasures of middle age is getting to
have extremely long term relationships
with certain books so when hard times I
often return to old favorites I've
recently reread both Sula and the
general in his labyrinth both of which
get better every time I read them and
also they take me back to the people I
was when I
read those books in the past the
pretentious college sophomore the
perpetually terrified 24 year old the
bleary-eyed new father and so on I also
have to recommend one way a novel I
reread to ease my anxiety I am still
alive by Kate Alice Marshall which is a
survival story in which a girl has to
survive alone in like the Arctic
wilderness a lot of books I read right
now feel kind of sad because like a
scene will take place in a crowded
McDonald's and I'll be like oh I
remember the halcyon days of crowded
McDonald's which is not something I
thought I would yearn for in my life but
here we are anyway I am still alive with
its frigid Arctic hunger pangs contains
absolutely none of that
then there's poetry I really need poetry
right now like Nicole C Lee's beautiful
book ordinary beast where she writes
there's a name for the animal love makes
of us named I think like rain for the
sound it makes and I really really need
Paige Lewis's book space struck this
book gives language to the overwhelming
anxiety I'm feeling as when they write
I'm the vice president of panic and the
president is missing so Hank that's what
the vice president of panic has been
reading to help me through I'd love to
know what you are reading or looking at
or listening to to help you let me know
in comments I hope to see lots of you at
Sarah's virtual book tour in the coming
days and Hank I will see you on Friday