Welcome to Litsy!

Wish I‘d heard more about this very well-researched and -written book (which did win some awards and was nominated for others). It‘s such a window into undocumented life in LA. Hard to imagine anyone not growing in empathy after reading this (and it holds special meaning for me because I began teaching sociology to incarcerated men in SoCal this year). Great audio narration by the author.

As I‘ve mentioned, I have appreciated Carter for years. I especially loved Vanity Fair when he was editor from 1992-2017. So I am partial to enjoying this book. If you didn‘t get to experience the brilliance of the writers & articles in VF you probably won‘t like this. Everyone he talks about is familiar to me, it feels a bit gossipy, and really ramps up halfway through. The money spent! The parties orchestrated! And Trump and his short fingers!

I think only those who read Vanity Fair during the time that Carter was in charge will appreciate this book. I read those issues cover to cover. In this paragraph he starts by talking about Marie Brenner and the amazing reporting she did but he also mentions some of the other brilliant writers on staff. I miss those times.

If you want to know the order in which Anna Wintour executes her morning preparation for work, read this. Otherwise it is a remarkably unreflective memoir. A friend of mine refered to it as a “ rehydrated diary”, which is very fair. The level of detail does give you the impression that he opened his diary and said “Oh yeah, let me write about that time.”

#tuesdaytunes

I haven't watched the 5-hour documentary yet, but I've rocked out to the 7-hour soundtrack.

Billy Joel's debut solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, was notoriously poorly mixed, sped up for a chipmunk-like sound. It was re-mixed in 1983, without Joel's participation, and was a mild improvement. For this soundtrack, there is a new mix of 'Got to Begin Again' and 'Tomorrow is Today', and they are excellent!

https://youtu.be/yHw2rv2qJMg

This first part of this book jumps around a lot, but if you skip to chapter 10 there is some great writing on the issues facing rural ag communities, including: population loss, worldwide immigration, corporate farming practices, pollution and the urgent need for more sustainable solutions. If you want to better understand food, US politics, and climate; read this book.

23-4 Jul 25 (audiobook)
If I could choose my dream career it would have been magazine editor during the golden age of magazines in the 1980s and 90s. I loved them and spent many teenaged hours reading from cover to cover and then selecting images to decorate my school books and college room walls. So this memoir, read by the author, was fascinating to me. I don‘t think I would have had the requisite ego to be editor in chief at Vanity Fair though

June #storygraph book report, right on track for 52 books this year!

#camplitsy25 pick Wild Dark Shore and a Murderbot novel take first place!

I think that‘s the last of the Murderbot novels. I hope Martha Wells‘ health improves and that she can possibly write more, I‘m obsessed with the series.

#2025Book24