55
Or, The Thing with Feathers
Reader,
I’ll try to keep this short because I hope to have another instalment out in under seven days and we know how that goes. Also, this has been the week when PMDD hit hard so I’m glad to be here &c &c.
YB, two of my friends and I went to see the extended grief sequence that is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever last week and I’m still sitting with it. This year hasn’t been a big one on the film-watching front for me and it was only the second or third time I’ve been in a theatre since the pandemic began so there was a lot going on. Maybe the best thing, coming into the film, was having read this article before and knowing what to expect sans spoilers. I’m no longer the superhero/ comic book universe film watcher I once was but cultural writing that speaks to the merits of every production will always be a joy to read.
Still on the topic of films: a conversation with Don led me to the Manhood, Now series by Death, Sex & Money which included a resource list (I love those! Making and checking them out, both; see: the mental health directory Wanini and I helped create years ago) that included films, books, and so on. YB and I watched The Mask You Live In together and were equally concerned and contemplative at the end; always a good thing. I’m looking forward to going over more of those resources; maybe even making a season of manhood, if only so I can know something of it but not think of it actively once it’s done. This is especially in light of recent reads, including this piece, paired with this review of The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by C.J. Hauser, which have me reconsidering a certain writing of womanhood as victimhood; as the site of discontent over the things men do. I say this as a person who has gone hard for such work in the past (see: how I felt about ‘Hunger Makes Me’ by Jess Zimmerman and ‘The Crane Wife’) and now feels disconnected from it. Maybe it’s age, who knows.
The workers at HarperCollins Publishers are on strike (we love unions! We love workers!) and, as a person who lives in the Global South, the only way I can think to support the strike is to boost their message because we’re often not in the sights of publishers. The CEO put out an open letter that really was nothing to write home about (just pay workers, Brian!) and I hope this radicalises those of us who, by virtue of book marketing and the working of capitalism, are disconnected from the labour that goes into the things they love.
Some things that happened since I last wrote to you that I’d like to share:
I saw art with MJ, who I had a buddy read with that I am yet to finish (uh oh)
I made some Advent calendars with Don and a mutual friend and it made me want to get back into my craft bag
I listened to this interesting episode on friend-making as an adult (pair it with this)
I swam with the group (we’re back!) and in the process connected with someone new over books and stayed in town longer than expected watching Morocco beat Portugal
I finished 3 books last week: The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by C.J. Hauser (read by the author), I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider and Higher Love (Love After, #1) by Alexandria House (read by Jakobi Diem & Mari). I discuss them in the latest video.
As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading this week — it’s always a great time talking about books.
Enjoy the rest of the week and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!