Postcard Rex: Filthy Animals
As in Merry Christmas, ya
Hi, all.
Happy day after Christmas/festive season! I hope you found ways to celebrate this year despite the wobbling-tightrope uncertainties of 2021. Wishing you all a bright 2022 with plenty of good books in store. (That much can probably be relied on.)
Filthy Animals, Brandon Taylor
Look, if you are feeling fragile about the state of the world right now then mayhaps the emotional gut-wrench of this interwoven short story collection is not the thing. But if you want to watch someone twist the knife but good, then please please read. Brandon Taylor is a brilliant observer of social tensions, his characters’ inner dialogues floodlighting all the unspoken anxieties, trauma, and memories that fuel our interactions as humans. (“He could see how other people saw him the moment they heard it and how they appraised his life as it was by the metric of what it had once been.” Ooof.) Taylor’s sharp prose creates both pain and empathy; returning to certain characters and situations, he creates a feeling like picking at a scab: you keep drawing blood, but oh, the release.
If you like it
Like Taylor, Edith Wharton is an incredible writer whose short stories show off her skill at nuanced and devastating social dissection just as much as her novels do. I also highly recommend Taylor’s emotive, essaying newsletter.
If you don’t
If you’re looking for a more seasonal read that still packs plenty of emotional punch, Clare Keegan’s novella Small Things Like These follows an Irish family in the lead up to Christmas as they face the conflicts of faith, finances, and complicity with the Catholic Church’s social control. If you’re not familiar with the story of the Magdalen laundries…I’m sorry to enlighten you. [SPOILERS: this one does have a more uplifting, if unlikely, ending.]
The full 2021 booklist
Things I’ve written lately:
Best LA Art Shows of 2021: ‘Citizen 13660: Mine Okubo’s Masterpiece,’ Hyperallergic (I wrote about this book in last year’s newsletter; seriously, go see it if you can)
Sundance Returns in 2022, Park City Magazine
Top Five Winter Arts Events, Park City Magazine
Things I’ve written this year(!):
Art/History
Winold Reiss in New York: What Does It Mean to Be Modern?, Observer
The Spiritual and Erotic Role of Touch in Early Modern Art, Hyperallergic
Book Review: Lover’s Eyes, Artillery Magazine
Summer Arts Events Roundup, Park City Magazine
Photography
Cara Romero on Redefining Contemporary Native Art, Hyperallergic
Catherine Opie on her First Monograph, “a Map of My Mind”, Hyperallergic
A History of Protest Photography That Plays it Too Safe, Hyperallergic
Whimsy and Personality in Early American Photography, Hyperallergic
Food & Drink
How Museums are Making Meals Out of Art, The Economist
Eating Your Way Through Art History, Hyperallergic
Local Kombucha Brewers You Should Know, Park City Magazine
The Best Local Bakeries In and Around Park City, Park City Magazine
Wine
The Art of Wine Labels, Wine Enthusiast
Divinity, Drunkenness, and Desire: the Story of Wine in Art, ArtUK