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Trick Mirror
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
158 posts | 104 read | 3 reading | 92 to read
A breakout writer at The New Yorker examines the fractures at the center of contemporary culture and identity with verve, deftness, and intellectual ferocity--for readers who've wondered what Susan Sontag would have been like if she had brain damage from the internet. Jia Tolentino has become a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts and contradictions and sea changes that define us and our time. Now, in this dazzling and entirely original collection of nine essays, written with a rare combination of give and sharpness, wit and fearlessness, she delves into the forces that warp our vision, demonstrating a stylistic potency and critical dexterity found nowhere else. Trick Mirror is an enlightening, unforgettable trip through the river of self-delusion that surges just beneath the surface of our lives. This is a book about the incentives that shape us, and about how hard it is to see ourselves clearly in a culture that revolves around the self. In each essay, Jia writes about the cultural prisms that have shaped her: the rise of the nightmare social internet; the American scammer as millennial hero; the literary heroine's journey from brave to blank to bitter; the mandate that everything, including our bodies, should always be getting more efficient and beautiful until we die. Gleaming with Jia's sense of humor and capacity to elucidate the impossibly complex in an instant, and marked by her desire to treat the reader with profound honesty, Trick Mirror is an instant classic of the worst decade yet.
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review
jack777
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
Pickpick

INSANELY GOOD. Such cool essays that jump around a lot but in a super insightful way. Especially liked “Ecstasy.“

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REPollock
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

I absolutely inhaled this book. It‘s reminiscent of Joan Didion‘s The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem, in that it‘s a collection of essays that capture the zeitgeist written by an intelligent erudite analytical woman.

5feet.of.fury Gorgeous photo! 13mo
REPollock Thank you @5feet.of.fury ❗️ It‘s my AeroGarden with exotic flower pods. I love it! 12mo
5feet.of.fury @REPollock oooh! I had one of those for herbs, I never saw one was flowers 12mo
REPollock @5feet.of.fury I used to do herbs and cherry tomatoes/peppers in this one but I realized I was growing way more than we would ever use. Then my partner bought me a box of flower pods and this is what it became! It‘s been so lovely throughout the winter that I think I‘ll keep doing it! 💐 12mo
5feet.of.fury @REPollock that‘s a great idea! And I agree I had so much mint, is was taking over my kitchen. It wasn‘t humanly possible to make that many mojitos. 12mo
19 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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ju.ca.no
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Panpan

Unfortunately this was not for me. I expected new ideas, new insights or thought provoking statements, but there was nothing new for me. Maybe if you have never thought or read about media, feminism or the internet, this would be a good book to start, but as I have had many touchpoints with these topics it was boring. There was not one new thing for me. Some stories about her life were interesting to read so 2/5⭐️

42 likes1 stack add
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ju.ca.no
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Currently listening/reading this and am about 20% in. I did read mainly good reviews, but so far I‘m a bit unimpressed. It‘s much less thought provoking and smart as I expected. But we‘ll see, maybe it‘ll be different later on.

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ChaoticMissAdventures
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

Really enjoyed this. Half memoir half cultural essays, Tolentino is a staff writer for The New Yorker. This collection ranges in topics from social media, to college rape culture, to analyzing the reality show she was on as a teen and more. It is thoughtfully written and though very left wing feminist I found myself bristling occasionally and having to look at situations differently which is also great.

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ChaoticMissAdventures
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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"I would see myself in Jo March, but the world's Jo Marches would rarely, if ever, be expected or able to see themselves in me".

This is a fantastic essay not only about heroines, but about the history of literature and the effects of representation on culture.

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Carlottadeviba
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed it. If that is something one can say when a very clear and honest voice points to a lot of awful things that happened and continue to. One or two of the essays didn‘t capture me entirely - mainly because of the subject matter not being my thing. I loved her voice, the humor, the self deprecation and yet somehow it felt like there is some hope left. Even if it is just about the fact that a voice like this is being printed and read.

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AileenRR
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Mehso-so

As in most essay collections, I liked some more than others. Felt smart reading it and had to look up the meaning of a few words. I thought it would deal with more superficial topics like the cosmetic industry, but religion, rape, and the roles of the wife are interesting too.

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Bookalong
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Mehso-so

3🌟 I think Talentino is a smart writer and this collection was well researched but it took a lot of me as a reader to get through. This is not a negative on the author. I think she did a great job mixing memoir and cultural criticism. I found some essays were better than others. But my favorite one was Pure Heroines, it was absolutely brilliant! How she examines classic female heroines in literature blew my mind! #bookreview #essays

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Soubhiville
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

I finished this today for my bookclub meeting next week. It‘s a collection of very good essays about the internet, campus rape culture, feminism during Trump‘s term, and several other topics. It made me think and made me angry, which I think was it‘s purpose, so good job Jia Tolentino!

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Leftcoastzen
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Bought this today , again , I was in a B&N to buy something for someone else .😂Definitely a blame it on Litsy & blame it on @vivastory and his amazing review !

vivastory I will happily take the blame! 3y
wanderinglynn Sounds interesting. @vivastory did write a compelling review. Stacked! #blameitonlitsy 3y
vivastory @wanderinglynn I hope that you like it! The first piece in the book is one of the best I've ever read about life online 3y
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Hooked_on_books Scott is right, this is a great book! 3y
vivastory This is non book related, but I was just looking at the lineup of releases on Criterion & I see that American Movie is going to be on there. Have you watched it? 3y
Leftcoastzen @vivastory it‘s been on the radar for years & haven‘t watched it .Thanks for the heads up! 3y
vivastory I have watched it a couple of times but it's been years since I've seen it. I think I'll watch it again. It's pretty humorous. 3y
47 likes7 comments
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vivastory
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

Rebecca Solnit has this to say about Tolentino's work, “In these nine essays, single sentences flash like lightning to show something familiar in a startling way, but she also builds extended arguments with her usual, unusual blend of lyricism & skepticism.“ For me, this quote really gets to the heart of what I found so fascinating about Tolentino's smart & thought provoking essays. It is the same quality that I find so intriguing about Didion's👇

vivastory work. Both writers are very much of their zeitgeist & are writing insightful essays about the pressing topics of their times, yet are unafraid to also swim against the current. Yet it is never for the mere sake of being a contrarian, rather it is fearlessly pursuing their argument wherever it takes them while simultaneously keeping an eye on the bigger picture of their subject. I have been posting my 10 faves of the year so far. My final post will 3y
vivastory be tomorrow. If I was to take Trick Mirror into consideration I would have most likely eliminated one of the books I already posted. I checked this out from the library, but word on the street is that SA Cosby's “Razorblade Tears“ will be a July BOTM selection. Since I have 1 unused credit I plan on selecting that & also selecting Trick Mirror as an add-on as it's definitely a book I will be returning to. This is the second essay collection that I (edited) 3y
vivastory read in a row. One was pub in 2019 & the other was pub in 2020. Upon finishing both I was left with an overwhelming need to see what the authors made of the events of the past 2 years, esp. Tolentino. I look forward to her essays about the pandemic. 3y
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vivastory
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Read half of this book today. The opening essay, "The I in the Internet" is one of the most insightful pieces I've read about life online in quite awhile. Also loved "Pure Heroines" & "Ecstasy." A very thought provoking collection.

Tanisha_A Yesss! This book is so insightful 3y
vivastory @Tanisha_A A new fave essay collection for sure 3y
Tanisha_A @vivastory Definitely 🙌 3y
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Tanisha_A
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

Recommended!

“I was learning that in the 21st century it would sometimes be impossible to differentiate between the pretext for an experience, the record of that experience, & the experience itself.”

Jia has written a sharp collection of essays encompassing contemporary problems, attitudes, & behaviours although some have been steeped in society for a long while. These essays are intertwined but very wholesome in their individual messaging 👇🏽

Tanisha_A (and aptly subtitled) ranging on multitude of subjects – how internet and social media has shaped our personhood, creating and controlling a self that is under a veneer of external influences, the changing definitions of an “ideal” woman, heroines from literature and how they taught the value of self and sometimes not, observances on religious and chemical ecstasy, the ultimate consumerism and the culture it has now produced leading to scams etc., 3y
Tanisha_A sexual assault and how it‘s still perceived, obsession with lavish spending on weddings and how women are put on a pedestal to celebrate it. 3y
Centique This sounds fascinating! Stacked. How are things with you T? 💕 3y
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Tanisha_A @Centique Hi Paula! Things are okay so far! We have got our first shot of Covid-19 vaccine. Things have started to open a bit, but long way to go in terms of overall vaccination! Thanks for checking in, love! ❤️ How are you and family doing? 3y
Centique @Tanisha_A we‘re good thank you. Our vaccine roll out is only just starting (only border staff and health workers done so far). I‘m looking forward to my dad getting his jabs soon I hope. No Covid here at the moment but we all want to get our borders opened again. Hopefully the vaccine program will be robust enough to get us there 🤞🤞 Love & hugs to you 💕 3y
Tanisha_A @Centique I am glad to hear that the vaccination process has started there! It‘s so important at this point (don‘t see a way out otherwise). All the love to you! ❤️ Keep posting here! 3y
vivastory What an insightful review! 3y
54 likes2 stack adds7 comments
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Havinghope10
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Mehso-so

I'm a little late to the party, but here we (finally) are. Some of these essays forced me to look at things from a different perspective than my typical own, and for that, I'm always grateful. Relatable (to an extent), and smartly written, Tolentino gives a fuck about what she writes about; thoroughly explored, acknowledged, and summed up that nothing is ever perfect...

A scattered review, but hey! I read it over the course of a year! 💁🏼‍♀️

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KimmyM
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

4⭐ This was a challenging read for me and I enjoyed taking my time with it and really thinking about what I was reading. The essays were dense and much more thought-provoking than those in other essay collections I've read lately.

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ONH
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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I rarely listen to books on tape, but I had a road trip to do and this turned out to be an excellent choice. Interesting commentary on sociocultural structures and how we players in them see ourselves... how we delude ourselves. At one point I even pulled my car over to write down something Tolentino said 😂 So much to consider and reflect on here. I‘m very impressed with the author‘s insight and self-awareness— I wish I were more like her!

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BekaReid
Pickpick

Excellent volume of essays. I especially liked "Pure Heroines" and "Ecstasy" but found all to be interesting.

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Tanisha_A
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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batsy Lovely photo 😍 4y
Taylor What a cover 4y
Tanisha_A @batsy Tree, sunset, book = good stuff 😃 4y
Tanisha_A @Taylor Yesss, it's pretty cool 4y
45 likes4 comments
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Gogobooks
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Pickpick

Essays on society from a youthful& formidable voice. 30something take on life today was fascinating to me. Her Intelligence pops. Learned many valuable things. Favorite: Pure Heroines #thenewyorker #currentevents #femininism #socialcommentary

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sarahlandis
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
Pickpick

TW: Book contains sexual violence, rape. I found these essays absolutely brilliant. She is like an easier to read Rebecca Solnit. Writing about growing up religious, feminism in politics, social media, the role of the literary heroine, etc, she seamlessly discusses her life connections to intense and complicated topics involving sex, gender, and race. She was relatable, intelligent, and strong in her words. Also her last essay on marriage helped..

sarahlandis ...put words to my beliefs on getting engaged/having a wedding/being married. Just scrolled through reviews and was shocked to see so many so-so's given to this. I couldn't stop reading this book. 4y
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youneverarrived
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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I‘ve been really wanting to read this but so far it‘s been a mixed bag. The first essay didn‘t resonate with me, the second I liked and the third has me mostly bored. I guess essays are like that 🤷‍♀️

BarbaraBB That seems a pretty tough read with a baby distracting you all the time 😀😘 4y
youneverarrived @BarbaraBB he sleeps so well at night I get a few hours to read! I just hope it lasts 😆 4y
KatieB I felt the same way. I ultimately put it aside and wonder if maybe essay collections aren‘t my thing? 4y
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Megabooks I didn‘t really care for this. 4y
youneverarrived @KatieB it‘s not that often I read them but heard so many good things about this! 4y
youneverarrived @Megabooks I‘m going to read a few more but definitely a mixed bag so far. 4y
50 likes6 comments
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Heatherleegee
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

LOVED THIS. Jia Tolentino is one of the sharpest writers of my generation. I value her insights so much and would encourage everyone to read this

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Billypar
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

Tolentino's essays excel at taking familiar flashpoints of culture wars-- e.g. social media, feminism, sexual violence-- and peeling back the layers of popular views to find fresh insights. She achieves this end in some essays via exploring her personal history, as in one that chronicles her stint on a reality tv show, and structures others in creative ways that enhance her analysis. The perfect antidote to tired media tropes disguised as debate.

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thestarlesscasea
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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"In my journal, I...overestimate the impressions that I'm making on other people...wondering how my friends and classmates see me, and then trying to control whatever they see. This is, I write, an attempt to be more honest...But I worry that I'm more interested in narrative consistency...that all this self-monitoring has made me...too conscious of what 'Jia' would do in this situation--that I'm in danger of becoming a 'character to myself.'" ?

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Verity
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Mehso-so

Meh. Emphatically meh. I know others have found this revelatory but for me it was just trying really hard. 🤷‍♀️

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ManyWordsLater
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Ended up in the middle of three books again.

Not pictured: picnic at hanging rock

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Nitpickyabouttrains
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

Amazing read.

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ephemeralwaltz
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I'm high on Jia Tolentino these days, after reading Trick Mirror. Her New Yorker essays are fierce ✨

batsy I love her literary essays! Haven't read Trick Mirror yet but I hope she releases one just focusing on her writing on books. 4y
Pruzy Wow, of course she would write an essay about this! Can‘t believe I missed this! I read Disgrace last summer and my thoughts were that it definitely has not aged well. 4y
ephemeralwaltz @Pruzy I still have to read it, I have a paperback copy waiting for me. Should I?? I feel like it's a literary reference that I do want to know, even if it's aged. 4y
Pruzy @ephemeralwaltz Yeah, I‘d still read it. It‘s short enough, and maybe your take away will bring something unique to the conversation around the book 4y
42 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Kimberlone
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed some of the essays in this collection, but there were a few that I totally skipped because they weren‘t on a topic that interested me. I thought the audiobook was well done, as Tolentino narrated it herself. Goodreads: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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alisonrose
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
Mehso-so

Uhhhhhhh my brain is tired and I don‘t feel like trying to condense my GR review even further than I did because I‘m just too BLEH to form many thoughts. This was good in parts, frustrating in others, needed better editing, yadda yadda. Go read my GR review for very slightly more scintillating thoughts or whatever. Semi-recommend, I guess. 3/5 ⭐️

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alisonrose
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

No crime is confounding and punitive the way rape is. No other violent offense comes with a built-in alibi can instantly exonerate the criminal and place responsibility on the victim. [...] The best-case scenario for a rape victim in terms of adjudication is the worst-case scenario in terms of experience: for people to believe you deserve justice, you have to be destroyed.

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ephemeralwaltz
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Pickpick

TRICK MIRROR / 5 ⭐
It took me a while to finish this one but that doesn't mean I enjoyed it any less. These are essays about being a young woman in the age of the internet, virtual communication, industries that feed of of sex, reality TV, the pressures surrounding time- and body-optimization and Tolentino writes from a critical lense, examining how the world we live in has deformed our constructed images of the self.

ephemeralwaltz One of the best essays is about female characters in literature! 4y
Chelsea.Poole Pretty cover of this. I enjoyed it too 😊 4y
ephemeralwaltz @Chelsea.Poole it is! I read it in English but this is the recently-released Spanish edition :) 4y
Pruzy @ephemeralwaltz I agree, that essay was phenomenal not only because it blended classic literature, with contemporary literature, but also because I had already read so many of the books she was mentioning in the essay! SO glad you enjoyed this! 4y
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alisonrose
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

I was learning that in the twenty-first century it would sometimes be impossible to differentiate between the pretext for an experience, the record of that experience, and the experience itself.

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alisonrose
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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I set a goal this year to read at least two nonfiction books each month, and I realized today it‘s the 22nd and I haven‘t read any in March, sooooooo rectifying that 😬 I‘ve only read a bit from Tolentino here and there online, but I‘ve generally found her to be a sharp observer. Have heard mixed but mostly good things about this collection. #nowreading

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Jen2
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

Good audiobook!!

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brandierickson
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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“The nature of a revelation is that you don‘t have to re-experience it; you don‘t even have to believe whatever is revealed to hang onto it for as long as you want.” I am LOVING this book.

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Come-read-with-me
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Mehso-so

I started with very high hopes for this book. I usually enjoy the pieces Tolentino writes and some of the essays met that expectation, but sadly most did not. There were several of the essays that could have been edited to be a bit more concise, because it is never a good thing when you think “This story isn‘t done yet??” Not a win for me 🌟🌟 1/2.

Megabooks Yes, it could‘ve been a lot tighter. 4y
Come-read-with-me Glad you felt the same way. Thanks for the affirmation! 😘 4y
rather_be_reading exactly!! 4y
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Chelsea.Poole
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Pickpick

I am on a quest to read essay collections, very current ones. This book certainly fit the bill and I enjoyed each essay. I have avoided books about the current state of the world for too long and now run headfirst into the truth seekers and "cultural critics" like Jia. Her observations are smart, and present a challenge for all of us to hold a mirror up to our own lives. Now accepting further reading...drop your favorite (fairly recent) recs ⬇️

alisonrose Highly recommend ——> 4y
Come-read-with-me THICK is amazing! An absolute must read. 4y
Hooked_on_books A third vote for Thick—so good! Lindy West‘s Shrill and The Witches are Coming are great. Right now I‘m reading The Good Immigrant which is terrific, as is American Like Me. 4y
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Hooked_on_books Anything by Rebecca Solnit is great. My most recent read of hers is Whose Story is This?, which I couldn‘t put down. Nasty Women is from a couple years ago and is great. Another recent read is Shrewed, which I also enjoyed. I love essay collections, if you can‘t tell. 😬😆 4y
Chelsea.Poole @alisonrose @Come-read-with-me @Hooked_on_books thank you all! It's funny I was just looking up that one the other day but it wasn't available on audio at the library so I put it on the back burner. I guess I'll have to read the book! 😊 4y
Chelsea.Poole @Megabooks thank you x3!! 4y
Chelsea.Poole @Hooked_on_books I read Witches but not Shrill which I really need to move up in my list! And thanks for all the other recs! Adding them all! I haven't heard much about Rebecca Solnit, so heading over to add those to my list! 🤗🤗🤗 4y
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Chelsea.Poole
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Newest #audiobook on #libby. I've been waiting on this for awhile and ready to see what Jia has to say!
#nonfiction #essays

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

Last line: Here, as in so many other things, the “thee“, that I dread may have been the “I“ all along.

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

NTS: kakistocratic

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

...deliciously twisted empowerment...

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

...cultural consumers...

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

...reading celebrity lives like tea leaves.

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

...creating the idea that harsh criticism of a woman is itself always sexist, and furthermore, more subtly, that receiving sexist criticism is in itself an indication of a woman's worth

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

I wish I had known...that the story didn't need to be clean, and it didn't need to be satisfying; that, in fact, it wold never be clean or satisfying, and once I realized that, I would be able to see what was true.

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

....chimera--a grotesque, mismatched creation; a false way of making a real problem visible.

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rather_be_reading
Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino
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Who is Antiope? Or is this a typo?

Butterfinger I had to look her up on Wikipedia. 4y
nanuska_153 It's correct, just one of the many victims of Zeus. There is a very famous play written by Euripides about it if you are interested in old Greek tragedies 4y
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