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Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays
Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays | Leslie Jamison
14 posts | 13 read | 23 to read
From the "astounding" (Entertainment Weekly), "spectacularly evocative" (The Atlantic), and "brilliant" (Los Angeles Times) author of the New York Times bestsellers The Recovering and The Empathy Exams comes a return to the essay form in this expansive new book.With the virtuosic synthesis of memoir, criticism, and journalism for which she has become known, Leslie Jamison offers us fourteen new essays that are by turns ecstatic, searching, staggering, and wise. In its kaleidoscopic sweep, Make It Scream, Make It Burn creates a profound exploration of the oceanic depths of longing and the reverberations of obsession.Among Jamison's subjects are 52 Blue, deemed "the loneliest whale in the world"; the eerie past-life memories of children; the devoted citizens of an online world called Second Life; the haunted landscape of the Sri Lankan Civil War; and an entire museum dedicated to the relics of broken relationships. Jamison follows these examinations to more personal reckonings -- with elusive men and ruptured romances, with marriage and maternity -- in essays about eloping in Las Vegas, becoming a stepmother, and giving birth.Often compared to Joan Didion and Susan Sontag, and widely considered one of the defining voices of her generation, Jamison interrogates her own life with the same nuance and rigor she brings to her subjects. Indeed, this refusal to hide -- this emotional and intellectual frankness -- is precisely the quality that makes her questing and irrepressible voice impossible to resist.
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IuliaC
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Pickpick

What a lovely collection of essays! A great capacity to make use of some of the most common things, such as a relationship, a photo, an online game or a breakup, to attract the reader's empathy and compassion. My favorite was the one about stepmothers.

"Don't assume the contours of another person's heart. Don't assume its desires."

"one more definition of love: committing to a story you can't fully imagine when it begins."

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AlizaApp
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Pickpick

Another set of thoughtful essays from Leslie Jamison. Didn‘t love this collection quite as much as The Empathy Exams, but still some winners. I particularly enjoyed the one about stepmothers.

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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

I find Jamison‘s essays to be gripping—emotion-filled, immediate, vital. Some of them truly take my breath away. She somehow really hits my sweet spot, I guess. There‘s one essay in here of literary criticism that doesn‘t fit at all and I found it dull, but the others are great. I do have some concerns about her stepdaughter reading the final essay—I think there will be fallout from that.

Leftcoastzen 🐶❤️ 5y
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MallenNC
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Pickpick

This was my book club‘s choice for December. I don‘t always love essay collections but this one worked for me. The essays in each section built on each other and the whole book went moved to a much more personal focus by the end. I had favorites in each part and it all sparked great conversation for our group.

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Christine
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Some of these essays I loved; others didn‘t fully grab me, but really just because of their topics, not because they weren‘t well-written. I always find Jamison‘s writing rich and engaging. It‘s a little pretentious, but somehow in a likable, honest-seeming way (authentically pretentious? 😜). I‘ll continue to follow her work.

ChasingOm Authentically pretentious. 🤣 5y
Christine @ChasingOm 😝 Makes no sense yet somehow feels right to me. 5y
Hooked_on_books What @ChasingOm said. 👆🏼😆 I like Jamison, too. This one is sitting on my shelf, waiting patiently, hopefully to be picked up soon. 5y
Christine @Hooked_on_books Nice! I‘ll be interested in your review, when you get to it. 5y
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kbuggle
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Mehso-so

The star of this collection is the first essay about the whale.. because whales are the best. And that‘s that. 🐋
I haven‘t read The Empathy Exams, but I‘m bumping it up on my list.

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britt_brooke
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Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️ This collection is a mix of journalistic endeavors and personal essays. I usually prefer one or the other rather than a blend because organization can feel clunky and uneven. That was the case here. IMO, the strongest essays were the first and last, “52 Blue” and “The Quickening,” respectively.

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Erin01
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I am in the middle of so many books right now that I had to make sure I had marked them all as currently reading on goodreads so I could visualize them all. I'm hoping to get at least one of these finished today / early this week though - some of these library loans will expire soon & I know it will be awhile till I have the chance to borrow them again

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britt_brooke
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▶️🎧🏃🏼‍♀️ It‘s a foggy and chilly morning, and there wasn‘t another soul on the greenway. We‘re back from vacation and getting back into a routine.

Bookzombie This is a cool photo! Also, it‘s hard to come back from vacation. (edited) 5y
batsy Love the pic! 5y
britt_brooke @Bookzombie Thanks! 💚 Yes, it‘s tough getting back on track. It wasn‘t a great run, lol. 5y
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britt_brooke @batsy Thank you!! 5y
cathipink I just bought a Jamison - I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on this one 🙂 5y
britt_brooke @cathipink Hoping to finish it today. 🤞🏻 It‘s my first time reading her. 5y
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Erin01
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starting this this morning with some reading & a pumpkin chai latte 📖

charl08 Ooh, looks so warm! 5y
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ReadingEnvy
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This essay collection comes out next Tuesday, and I have a copy from the publisher.
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I feel like Jamison has matured in how she views relationships and other people. These essays seem more interested in other people's motivations and quirks than her own, and she comes across as curious and empathetic. ⤵️

ReadingEnvy "52 Whale" is a favorite in this collection, and I really liked "The Real Smoke" which is about Vegas culture and our unrealistic expectations of relationships. 5y
Ruthiella Interesting! I‘ve only read her debut collection but I know what you mean about some writing being more about her than anything else. 5y
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underground_bks
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Mehso-so

I just wasn‘t wowed by this. This collection of essays felt disconnected and at times too “essay-ie,” like I could imagine the author flying around forcing meaning from random situations. There were many moments when I enjoyed the meanings Jamison was presenting, and I definitely enjoyed learning about the loneliest whale and the museum of broken relationships and Jamison‘s experience as a stepmother, but the book as a whole never gelled for me.

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Bookalong
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5/5🌟So insightful and thought-provoking! It is divided into three sections Longing, Looking and Dwelling. Jamison, a masterful essayist weaves together personal narrative with well researched fact. The subject matter within these essays are interesting, quirky and at times deeply personal. Themes of lonliness, obsession, loss, marriage, relationships, motherhood, and more. I appreciated her objectivity in each essay. Out Sept 24th!#bookreview

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Liberty
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I thought today couldn‘t get more exciting but (SPOILER) I was wrong! This is one of my most anticipated books of the fall!📚❤️📚

Christine Ooh, exciting!! And a great cover. 6y
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