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Summary
Summary
"The essay collection everyone's talking about."--New York
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024: Elle, The Millions, LitHub, Nylon, BookPage, PureWow, and more
From the national bestselling novelist and essayist, a groundbreaking collection of brand-new pieces about the role of cultural criticism in our ever-changing world.
In her writing for Harper's, the London Review of Books, The New Yorker, and elsewhere, Lauren Oyler has emerged as one of the most trenchant and influential critics of her generation, a talent whose judgments on works of literature--whether celebratory or scarily harsh--have become notorious. But what is the significance of being a critic and consumer of media in today's fraught environment? How do we understand ourselves, and each other, as space between the individual and the world seems to get smaller and smaller, and our opinions on books and movies seem to represent something essential about our souls? And to put it bluntly, why should you care what she--or anyone--thinks?
In this, her first collection of essays, Oyler writes with about topics like the role of gossip in our exponentially communicative society, the rise and proliferation of autofiction, why we're all so "vulnerable" these days, and her own anxiety. In her singular prose--sharp yet addictive, expansive yet personal--she encapsulates the world we live and think in with precision and care, delivering a work of cultural criticism as only she can.
Bringing to mind the works of such iconic writers as Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, and Terry Castle, No Judgment is a testament to Lauren Oyler's inimitable wit and her quest to understand how we shape the world through culture. It is a sparkling nonfiction debut from one of today's most inventive thinkers.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
"There is never no judgement, and certainly not in this book," writes cultural critic Oyler (Fake Accounts), setting the mission statement for her irreverent collection. In a style reminiscent of David Foster Wallace and Vivian Gornick, Oyler opines on the injustices of the Goodreads ratings system, struggling to tame her anxiety, and her skepticism toward bestseller Brené Brown's understanding of vulnerability. In "Embarrassment, Panic, Opprobrium, Job Loss, Etc.," Oyler defends gossip as the "comparing and contrasting and development of interpretation." Reflecting in "Why Do You Live Here" on the quirks of her life as an American expat in Berlin, Oyler describes moving to the city "for no good reason" after college and wrestling with how she and other expats are changing what counts as "authentic" Berlin. Elsewhere, Oyler pushes back against claims that autofiction is indulgent, arguing that anything can be worth writing about--"it just has to be interesting." Oyler's commentary is incisive, and her prose is lucid and playful. "I heard a crazy story recently," she concludes the piece on gossip. "I wouldn't sacrifice the knowledge for even the highest moral high ground in the world--but I would also never, in a million years, tell you." This is as intellectually stimulating as it is fun to read. Agent: Alia Habib, Gernert Co. (Mar.)
Booklist Review
The title is ironic. "There is never no judgement, and certainly not in this book," states cutting-edge cultural critic and novelist Oyler (Fake Accounts, 2021), who takes on such thorny topics as revenge, gossip, vulnerability, fake news, and autofiction in this collection of new and substantial essays. These peppery inquiries are rigorously informed, deftly composed, and deeply conceptualized interpretations of human foibles and endeavors in a world feverish with social media and hooked to the "attention economy." Her look into the rise and fall of Gawker casts light on numerous journalistic and personal conundrums. A dive into Goodreads and its star rating system includes a foray back to the game-changing, late-eighteenth-century travel guides created by English writer Mariana Starke, who used exclamation points to rank tourist sites. Whatever Oyler's focus, from trends to works of literature and art, it is the perversity of human nature that most intrigues her, and she does not spare herself. A self-described "snob, highbrow, elitist," she is scorching on all counts as she writes about why she and others live as expats in Berlin. And lest anyone think this comes easily to her, she reveals the intensity of her chronic anxiety. Oyler is frank, fierce, funny, and brilliant; her brainy, passionate criticism exhilarating.
Table of Contents
| Introduction: On Revenge | 1 |
| Embarrassment, Panic, Opprobrium, Job Loss, Etc | 5 |
| My Perfect Opinions | 49 |
| Why Do You Live Here? | 103 |
| I Am the One Who Is Sitting Here, for Hours and Hours and Hours | 142 |
| The Power of Vulnerability | 193 |
| My Anxiety | 225 |
| TK Kicker | 257 |
| Further Reading | 263 |
| Acknowledgments | 273 |