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Nobody's Looking at You: Essays
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. A 2019 NPR Staff Pick.
"Malcolm is always worth reading; it can be instructive to see how much satisfying craft she brings to even the most trivial article." --Phillip Lopate, TLS
Janet Malcolm’s previous collection, Forty-One False Essays on Artists and Writers , was “unmistakably the work of a master” ( The New York Times Book Review ). Like Forty-One False Starts , Nobody’s Looking at You brings together previously uncompiled pieces, mainly from The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books .
The title piece of this wonderfully eclectic collection is a profile of the fashion designer Eileen Fisher, whose mother often said to her, “Nobody’s looking at you.” But in every piece in this volume, Malcolm looks closely and with impunity at a broad range of subjects, from Donald Trump’s TV nemesis Rachel Maddow, to the stiletto-heel-wearing pianist Yuju Wang, to “the big-league game” of Supreme Court confirmation hearings. In an essay called “Socks,” the Pevears are seen as the “sort of asteroid [that] has hit the safe world of Russian Literature in English translation,” and in “Dreams and Anna Karenina,” the focus is Tolstoy, “one of literature’s greatest masters of manipulative techniques.” Nobody’s Looking at You concludes with “Pandora’s Click,” a brief, cautionary piece about e-mail etiquette that was written in the early two thousands, and that reverberates―albeit painfully―to this day.
"Malcolm is always worth reading; it can be instructive to see how much satisfying craft she brings to even the most trivial article." --Phillip Lopate, TLS
Janet Malcolm’s previous collection, Forty-One False Essays on Artists and Writers , was “unmistakably the work of a master” ( The New York Times Book Review ). Like Forty-One False Starts , Nobody’s Looking at You brings together previously uncompiled pieces, mainly from The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books .
The title piece of this wonderfully eclectic collection is a profile of the fashion designer Eileen Fisher, whose mother often said to her, “Nobody’s looking at you.” But in every piece in this volume, Malcolm looks closely and with impunity at a broad range of subjects, from Donald Trump’s TV nemesis Rachel Maddow, to the stiletto-heel-wearing pianist Yuju Wang, to “the big-league game” of Supreme Court confirmation hearings. In an essay called “Socks,” the Pevears are seen as the “sort of asteroid [that] has hit the safe world of Russian Literature in English translation,” and in “Dreams and Anna Karenina,” the focus is Tolstoy, “one of literature’s greatest masters of manipulative techniques.” Nobody’s Looking at You concludes with “Pandora’s Click,” a brief, cautionary piece about e-mail etiquette that was written in the early two thousands, and that reverberates―albeit painfully―to this day.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 19, 2019
173 people are currently reading
2533 people want to read
About the author
Janet Malcolm
25 books516 followersJanet Malcolm was a journalist, biographer, collagist, and staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of
In the Freud Archives
and
The Crime of Sheila McGough
, as well as biographies of Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Plath, and Anton Chekhov.
The Modern Library chose her controversial book The Journalist and the Murderer — with its infamous first line — as one of the 100 best non-fiction works of the 20th century.
Her most recent book is Forty-one False Starts .
The Modern Library chose her controversial book The Journalist and the Murderer — with its infamous first line — as one of the 100 best non-fiction works of the 20th century.
Her most recent book is Forty-one False Starts .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
August 25, 2021
This is basically a bunch of essays she wrote for The New Yorker. There's some about american politics (Palin family, I really don't care), Rachel Maddow( I love her but this essay gave me nothing). Also there's one on Tolstoy and I love poking into his grandeur, but it was mainly about how Richard Pevear is a crappy translator for him (I really don't care, having read all Tolstoy in Russian)
The only one I kind of enjoyed was about Yuja Wang and her genius and loneliness.
So just read this one essay in New Yorker.
The only one I kind of enjoyed was about Yuja Wang and her genius and loneliness.
As Yuja had been a musical wunderkind at six, at twenty-nine she is a kind of existential prodigy, already undergoing the crisis that ordinary people undergo in midlife. “I’ve been doing this for twenty-nine years. Do I want to go on doing it, or is there something else waiting for me?” She spoke of her sense of alienation from people who don’t have to constantly and relentlessly study music and practice, of feeling like an outsider, sometimes even “I don’t like to say but almost like a prisoner. I haven’t ever enjoyed my free time. It’s always like I am challenging myself. I must be a little masochistic.”
When I commented on her melancholy, she denied—and then acknowledged—it: “It’s a very depressing thought. Just touring and playing—the same things or different things. But in society people don’t allow you to be sad or depressed. It’s like a bad thing. It’s why I’m antisocial. I feel this negative energy. ‘She just complains a lot.’ Excuse me, that’s part of what I do. You feel all these things. As a musician, you probably feel them more intensely. But society wants me to be happy. My parents. They are the most unintrusive parents. ‘I don’t care what you do—just be happy.’” She made an urrrgghh sound and laughed.
So just read this one essay in New Yorker.
March 25, 2022
There were essays I really liked: “Performance Artist,” on the eccentric pianist Yuja Wang; “Three Sisters,” namely Judith Lowry, Naomi Hample, and Adina Cohen, who own and run the Argosy Bookshop; “Dreams and Anna Karenina,” on Tolstoy as a comic writer; or “Socks,” on how the couple Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky butcher their way through Russian literature, “putting it into flat, awkward English.”
There were other essays I did not care for, mostly about the US socio-political climate or TV personalities. It was interesting to see how you approach a piece when your subject is reluctant to let you in, entering the interview room flanked by people, like in the collection’s title essay, “Nobody’s Looking at You,” which is a lovely but failed attempt to portray in any way the glamorous and stylish Eileen Fisher.
Would I say that every essay deserved to be in this collection? Probably not, but in an age where we only read the title of an article before sharing it or skim the first two paragraphs of a review before forming an opinion, this was a welcome exercise.
3,5 stars actually
There were other essays I did not care for, mostly about the US socio-political climate or TV personalities. It was interesting to see how you approach a piece when your subject is reluctant to let you in, entering the interview room flanked by people, like in the collection’s title essay, “Nobody’s Looking at You,” which is a lovely but failed attempt to portray in any way the glamorous and stylish Eileen Fisher.
Would I say that every essay deserved to be in this collection? Probably not, but in an age where we only read the title of an article before sharing it or skim the first two paragraphs of a review before forming an opinion, this was a welcome exercise.
3,5 stars actually
December 11, 2021
Some of these portraits, or essays were wonderful, some other parts I was really not interested at all. I am very curious of reading more of Malcolm, for sure.
February 16, 2019
Janet Malcolm has an intense curiosity which, when combined with her impressive scholarship, has resulted in essays that go above and beyond any surface treatment of a subject. Also, being a lifelong New Yorker, she has had privileged access to those kind of behind-the-scenes situations that further illuminate the lives of those she writes about. It was as fascinating to read about the confirmation of a Supreme Court Judge as it was to learn about Yuja Wang and the importance of her concert wear. She breathes life into such material.
The pieces that originally appeared in the New Yorker are character studies, while those from the New York Review of Books are reviews, but reviews that examine much more than content. For example, in several pieces she examines the sexism quotient in such divergent works as a scathing biography of Ted Hughes and the comic No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. But in another she goes into, at great length, the different styles of various translators of Russian literature, the effect "modernization" has on a classic and the interpretation of Tolstoy. After reading this, I will definitely read her first compilation.
The pieces that originally appeared in the New Yorker are character studies, while those from the New York Review of Books are reviews, but reviews that examine much more than content. For example, in several pieces she examines the sexism quotient in such divergent works as a scathing biography of Ted Hughes and the comic No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. But in another she goes into, at great length, the different styles of various translators of Russian literature, the effect "modernization" has on a classic and the interpretation of Tolstoy. After reading this, I will definitely read her first compilation.
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March 27, 2019‘Malcolm as a whole sets a gold standard of performance for any journalist…It’s wise to expect the unexpected.’
Australian
‘Few writers pay attention with the precision, acuity and patience [Malcolm] has exhibited during her career of telling stories...Her work was hybrid before hybrid was a thing: It balances her skills as a reporter (avid, nosy attention) with those of a scholar (writing about anything, it’s clear she’s read everything), a literary critic (tuned to how language, written or spoken, foregrounds its maker’s gifts and faults) and, above all, a storyteller. She is uncommonly concerned with finding a form that delivers the force of the story she is telling.'
New York Times
‘If Malcolm’s stories were items of clothing, then you would scarcely be able to see the stitching. So seamless and well-structured are they that the research and hours and effort that must have occurred behind the scenes are virtually undetectable. Nobody’s Looking at You is an enlightening, rewarding read from one of the greats.’
Good Reading Magazine
'What unites these pieces is a mood—heavy, autumnal, nostalgic...There is stirring, beautifully structured writing here, particularly in the title essay, a profile of Fisher, which combines many of the writer’s signal interests—our unconscious aggression and the way we methodically and unknowingly recreate the world of our childhood in our adult lives.’
New York Times
'Every word of Janet Malcolm’s latest nonfiction collection, Nobody’s Looking at You, is a pleasure to read, even if you have no built-in interest in her topics. The author of The Journalist and the Murderer comes off like a proponent of the 'Life is short, eat dessert first' philosophy, placing her snappiest pieces in the first section...[The essays] show off Malcolm’s way with quick, vivid word pictures...and her gift for the telling detail...[and] reveal the breadth of Malcolm’s wit and insight[.]’
Star Tribune
'Malcolm brings [the] same moral seriousness to every topic she addresses…[H]er calm, brilliant essays are the perfect tonic for our troubled times.’
Associated Press
'Nobody's Looking At You is brimful of all the eloquence, erudition and insight a thoughtful reader could want.’
NPR
‘[R]uthlessly artful…[H]er magazine profiles of noted personalities are peerless when it comes to unraveling what makes people tick. She’ll deliver the factual goods with brisk efficiency, while happily leaving mysteries in place.’
Seattle Times
Australian
‘Few writers pay attention with the precision, acuity and patience [Malcolm] has exhibited during her career of telling stories...Her work was hybrid before hybrid was a thing: It balances her skills as a reporter (avid, nosy attention) with those of a scholar (writing about anything, it’s clear she’s read everything), a literary critic (tuned to how language, written or spoken, foregrounds its maker’s gifts and faults) and, above all, a storyteller. She is uncommonly concerned with finding a form that delivers the force of the story she is telling.'
New York Times
‘If Malcolm’s stories were items of clothing, then you would scarcely be able to see the stitching. So seamless and well-structured are they that the research and hours and effort that must have occurred behind the scenes are virtually undetectable. Nobody’s Looking at You is an enlightening, rewarding read from one of the greats.’
Good Reading Magazine
'What unites these pieces is a mood—heavy, autumnal, nostalgic...There is stirring, beautifully structured writing here, particularly in the title essay, a profile of Fisher, which combines many of the writer’s signal interests—our unconscious aggression and the way we methodically and unknowingly recreate the world of our childhood in our adult lives.’
New York Times
'Every word of Janet Malcolm’s latest nonfiction collection, Nobody’s Looking at You, is a pleasure to read, even if you have no built-in interest in her topics. The author of The Journalist and the Murderer comes off like a proponent of the 'Life is short, eat dessert first' philosophy, placing her snappiest pieces in the first section...[The essays] show off Malcolm’s way with quick, vivid word pictures...and her gift for the telling detail...[and] reveal the breadth of Malcolm’s wit and insight[.]’
Star Tribune
'Malcolm brings [the] same moral seriousness to every topic she addresses…[H]er calm, brilliant essays are the perfect tonic for our troubled times.’
Associated Press
'Nobody's Looking At You is brimful of all the eloquence, erudition and insight a thoughtful reader could want.’
NPR
‘[R]uthlessly artful…[H]er magazine profiles of noted personalities are peerless when it comes to unraveling what makes people tick. She’ll deliver the factual goods with brisk efficiency, while happily leaving mysteries in place.’
Seattle Times
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September 21, 20212.5ish
The essays on Yuja Wang (available here) and the New York bookshop Argosy (available here!) were interesting but I didn't really care for many others. I didn't feel this book was quite up to the standard I'm used to from Janet Malcolm, and the essays felt somewhat randomly cobbled together. Being pieces taken from publications like the New York Review of Books or New Yorker most were quite brief and many didn’t seem to go anywhere.
If her work interests you I'd suggest starting with The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes or The Journalist and the Murderer, both of which are long form reads that were much more satisfying than these slight pieces.
The essays on Yuja Wang (available here) and the New York bookshop Argosy (available here!) were interesting but I didn't really care for many others. I didn't feel this book was quite up to the standard I'm used to from Janet Malcolm, and the essays felt somewhat randomly cobbled together. Being pieces taken from publications like the New York Review of Books or New Yorker most were quite brief and many didn’t seem to go anywhere.
If her work interests you I'd suggest starting with The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes or The Journalist and the Murderer, both of which are long form reads that were much more satisfying than these slight pieces.
January 10, 2022
It took me forever to get through this because I abandoned the f out of it.. somehow tho it was still there in my mind and I’m glad that it was because it turned out to be a somewhat intriguing compilation of essays that she worked on mainly with the New Yorker and then eventually with the New York Review of Books.
I like Janet Malcolm’s inquisitive writing style — she manages to center all her subjects and disarm you with tidbits that reveal the core of who they are and it’s always something more relatable than you think. For example, her profile on Rachel Maddow examines how she’s able to use her storytelling ability to turn bad press around and use that to make herself better, to make her outlet better. Similarly, how powerhouse clothier Eileen Fisher stuck to her guns incorporating Japanese aesthetics into her designs, speaking up and out regarding her company, the company she built from the ground and how and treating her workers in an ethical manner, created a cult following of “elegant plainness”. I got put hip to the game on how Eileen Fisher turned into a mogul inspiring young designers, and working with young women on sustainability and slow-growing an empire.
Janet Malcolm lets the work speak. She lets the stage set itself and asks the right questions. Her reviews are thoughtful and she’s opened me up to some worlds, some artists and some books and designers that I didn’t know anything about.
My main complaint is that everything is so white. Real talk, outside side of discussing Yuja Wang, her innovative fashion sense and miraculous talent as a pianist, there isn’t that much diversity in my opinion.
It always feels like something is missing when the lens doesn’t zoom out far enough. She was writing for the New Yorker for crying out loud. There is so much talent and absurdity of all shades.
RIP Janet Malcolm.
I decided to check out some Janet Malcolm, Eve Babitz and Joan Didion (RIP all around) at the same time to see who’s writing I enjoyed most. I have to say Janet Malcolm takes the cake.
I like Janet Malcolm’s inquisitive writing style — she manages to center all her subjects and disarm you with tidbits that reveal the core of who they are and it’s always something more relatable than you think. For example, her profile on Rachel Maddow examines how she’s able to use her storytelling ability to turn bad press around and use that to make herself better, to make her outlet better. Similarly, how powerhouse clothier Eileen Fisher stuck to her guns incorporating Japanese aesthetics into her designs, speaking up and out regarding her company, the company she built from the ground and how and treating her workers in an ethical manner, created a cult following of “elegant plainness”. I got put hip to the game on how Eileen Fisher turned into a mogul inspiring young designers, and working with young women on sustainability and slow-growing an empire.
Janet Malcolm lets the work speak. She lets the stage set itself and asks the right questions. Her reviews are thoughtful and she’s opened me up to some worlds, some artists and some books and designers that I didn’t know anything about.
My main complaint is that everything is so white. Real talk, outside side of discussing Yuja Wang, her innovative fashion sense and miraculous talent as a pianist, there isn’t that much diversity in my opinion.
It always feels like something is missing when the lens doesn’t zoom out far enough. She was writing for the New Yorker for crying out loud. There is so much talent and absurdity of all shades.
RIP Janet Malcolm.
I decided to check out some Janet Malcolm, Eve Babitz and Joan Didion (RIP all around) at the same time to see who’s writing I enjoyed most. I have to say Janet Malcolm takes the cake.
February 17, 2019
I read several of these essays when they were first published; returning to them after several years was like meeting up with an old friend on the street. Janet Malcom subtly illuminates the everyday. Even when her subject is a celebrity, she walks with them through the mundane, and gives us a fascinating glimpse of their personalities and quirks. Malcolms writing is spare and elegant, and always on point. Her review of “Send” is an eloquent reflection on writing by a writer’s writer.
I’m a little slow to review this collection, because a rationed myself to one or two essays a day. They are really that good!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I’m a little slow to review this collection, because a rationed myself to one or two essays a day. They are really that good!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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April 28, 2020Malcolm has this way of pulling out details that- if you know her codes- are filled with condemnatory meaning, but she leaves them hanging there without drawing the conclusion. For example, she tells us that Rachel Maddow suffers from life long depression but has never taken medication and has never been in therapy. And then quotes Maddow saying that she doesn't want to talk about herself for an hour, as she is being interviewed talking about herself for a New Yorker profile.- This from the author of In The Freud Archives...all the insinuations are present- ditto in profiles of Eileen Fisher and others. I wish she would make the leap and land what she sets up. Love her long works: especially the book on Gertrude Stein and Vichy.
August 28, 2020
There is literally no reason for this book to exist. All these essays have been published before, they don't make any sense together, and a lot of them are super dated (including a review of a book about how to write emails that was published in 2007??? in a book published in 2019???? why?!).
August 2, 2024
Love her style. Long-form journalism is a dying art but I'll sit with long essays as long as I live.
Skipped the book reviews (too much like grad school reading which I've done enough of in this life).
Loved reading the essay on Sarah Palin's reality show (which I've never seen).
"New York, of course, is code for all things that Palin-style populism is against. I don't have to tell my fellow Commies what these things are."
Skipped the book reviews (too much like grad school reading which I've done enough of in this life).
Loved reading the essay on Sarah Palin's reality show (which I've never seen).
"New York, of course, is code for all things that Palin-style populism is against. I don't have to tell my fellow Commies what these things are."
January 2, 2020
Most of the pieces in this collection could be called "profiles," though the two dimensions of that description do not do them justice. Malcolm's approach is to develop her subjects through accreted background, observed details, and conversation. Her subjects grow more nuanced—and often more ambiguous—as the essays continue. Some readers may regard her methods as artless because she seldom seems to obey a clear organization or established thesis. She loves the barely tethered digression. Yet the remarkable consistency of her essays and the clarity of her prose suggests shrewd composition. The danger of collecting any writer's work is revealing that writer's habits, and there's will be some familiar Malcolmian vocabulary and strategies by the time a reader reaches the end. That said, for a master stylist like Malcolm, imitating herself is hardly dissatisfying.
July 12, 2025
Es totalmente el raspado de la olla, pero qué olla.
February 17, 2024
A couple early essays are brilliant, obviously an amazing writer. A few essays sis t have ‘punch’ for me 15-20 years after original publish date.
November 19, 2023
I love her,Yuja wang essay is iconic in the emmaverse
May 4, 2019
This collection of reviews, essays and profiles form New Yorker contributor Janet Malcolm is a real treat. Elegantly and clearly written, the articles in this collection cover a range of subjects and I found all of them interesting and thought-provoking. From fashion designer Eileen Fisher, of whom I had never heard but who comes alive here on the page, to Tolstoy (and Malcolm writes particularly intelligently about Russian authors) and from the Argosy Bookshop in New York to British author Alexander McCall Smith, there must surely be something for everyone to relish here. I read all of them and enjoyed each and every one. I hope the New Yorker issues more such collections.
May 6, 2021
It seemed to have such promise. Not.
July 29, 2019
Some of Malcolm ‘s observations are interesting. I just wanted to find out more about her style. I have read some of her articles before and have found them up and down. These are more consistent in quality but not necessarily interesting unless you have a specific interest in the work or person. It’s hard with essays to have the right type of writing that will bring a reader with you even if the reader isn’t aware or interested in the topic. So, for me these were highly anticipated but in actual fact, hit and miss, either too long or without a perspective. I sometimes disagreed with her analysis of the subjects, for example , Maddox( sounded like a bit of a celeb crush there) , but that’s ok. They are essays after all. So for me, I couldn’t go higher than 3 stars, as I wasn’t “wowed” in any way. I hope because of her profession she understands....
November 5, 2019
Janet Malcolm is an excellent writer of the character study. For the most part these collected essays are worth the time, although the two pieces on Anna Karenina felt at times tiring; and a stronger closing piece than I Should Have Made Him for a Dentist would have rounded the collection nicely. Overall a great collection of journalism.
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January 16, 2020Typically, I do not read a book of essays, however this title and cover image are fascinating. I loved the stories of designer Eileen Fisher, Argosy Bookstore sisters, pianist Yuga Wang, and immigrant George Jellinek. The remaining essays and book reviews did not interest me. I read 75% of this title and skimmed the remaining pages.
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August 7, 2021I only actively decided to start reading Malcolm after her death, but in picking up this collection, I realized I'd read (and remembered) a lot of her essays published after 2000 already. I definitely enjoyed this collection and will read more of her work, although it was also good to read a variety of her writing and see what is already holding up and what seems more fleeting.
August 30, 2020
Nobody’s Looking at You is Malcolm toned down, or perhaps mellowed by old age. The jaded, adversarial tone that distinguished the pieces in Forty-One False Starts is mostly sanded away. Still worth reading, especially for the third section of book reviews.
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May 30, 2023enjoyed!!!!!! re: several comments about part ii of this… i don’t understand why people are so averse to reading what janet malcolm thought about books they haven’t read or heard of. what do you think reviews are for.
January 12, 2024
Yup; I’ve become a Janet Malcolm fan, through and through. Where’s the next book?
July 1, 2019
I liked this book, but it was kinda hard to get through. Learned it was necessary to take a break between essays; it's not really possible to go straight through.
IMO it got worse as it went along. My favorite piece in the book was the second essay, about the concert pianist Yuja Wang. (Probably, I'll admit, because I play piano myself.) One of the most interesting parts was Malcolm's discussion of Wang's clothing. Malcolm tells us that Wang wears skin-tight, short, strappy dresses when performing, accompanied by stiletto heels. There;'s an excellent discussion of the effect on pp. 40-41, including a quote from one reviewer: "It turns a recital into a performance" (Zachary Woolfe, New York *Times*, quoted in Malcom, *Nobody' s Looking At You*). I don't have anything to add to the discussion, really, except to say that fashion is absolutely Art and ought to be treated as such. (Also, the picture of Wang on the book's cover is spectacular.)
The Wang piece is sandwiched between similar 'enigmatic commentary profile etc' essays, on Eileen Fisher (the namesake founder and the company) and the Argosy bookshop, in New York City. The Argosy piece has a section that exemplifies what I love about this style, although I'm not sure why I do. Malcolm devotes two and a half pages to a son - Zack - of Naomi, one of the three sisters and co-owners of the Argosy. The section includes a lengthy digression on Zack's principal hobby (he works at the Argosy part-time): ball hawking, or collecting baseballs. Malcolm connects his obsession with ball hawking to a meticulous attention for detail that he applies to his work at the Argsoy. OK, makes sense. But the last paragraph of this section... it's incredible. I'm just going to type it all out for you.
> Early in our talk, a messenger had come in and handed Zack a letter, which he glanced at and put aside. Now he picked it up and said, "I think this is a piece of *hate mail*. I recognize the handwriting. In 2009, I had an unfortunate experience with a fan at Yankee Stadium. I caught a lot of ball during batting practice, and some guy in the stands took exception. He said something rude, and what I should have done was just walk away. But for some reason I chose to engage, and it just escalated and got ugly. Now this guy sends me hate mail. Of all the things in the world that are horrible and cause suffering to other people, you wouldn't think that catching baseballs was one of them."
(emphasis mine)
And then it just ends! That's it! Malcolm moves on to a new topic; there's a section break! (It isn't the end of the essay.) This is astounding to me. What conclusion am I supposed to draw?? It's an essay about an antique bookstore. I hate that, but I also love it. Like, you're the writer, shouldn't you be making a point? And she just doesn't! It's practically a power move.
After the Argosy come another two profiles. One is of the Hungarian-born George Jellinek, who for for thirty-six years (though no longer) curated and narrated the hour-long radio program *The Vocal Scene*, on WQRX, which was an opera showcase. It was fine; it's interesting to read about opera, but I'm not particularly interested. More accurately, then: it's interesting to know how interested some people are in opera. This is the subculture thing. The last profile is of Rachel Maddow; it's also fine. Thus ends Part I.
Part II starts with a history of Supreme Court confirmation hearings. It was interesting, but published in 2006; it felt flat in a world where the Kavanaugh and [Obamas last nomination] confirmations happened and didn't, respectively.
There's then a bizarre review of a bizarre Sarah Palin docuseries, a boring review of the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, and a weird review of an email how-to and étiquette manual. (The last one is IMO kind of a juvenile treatment of the subject.) Thus ends Part II.
Next, two essays on *Anna Karenina*. The first, discussing the comedy in the plot, I skipped; the second, about the relative quality of different translations, was interesting but I found I didn't really care, because I've never read it. I hope I'll remember to review Malcolm's recommendations when I do.
That's followed by a super weird profile-review about the writing of a dude named Joseph Mitchell. Mitchell wrote a bunch: essays (many in the *New Yorker*) and books; evidently he toed the line between fiction and non-fiction. Malcolm doesn't condemn this as strongly as I would've liked. (Although, I remember being kind of bleary while reading this one; I was confused the whole time. It's possible I just missed or misinterpreted it.)
To close out, a series of book reviews (I guess the previous was a book review, too, which is part of the reason I was so confused). First, a woman who got really mad at two university students for making a fuss after (mostly/all, don't remember) verbal sexual harassment by a professor; Malcolm (correctly) sides with the students. It's mostly just annoying to read because the woman is so obviously wrong. Then, one about how sexual relations between students and professors can be empowering for the students. Read it with a grain of salt, but it certainly seems a much more mature handling of the situation than the previous review's book. It also has some interesting comparisons between the author's relationship(s) with her professors when she was a student and her relationship(s) with her students today, as a professor. Then, a book about (I think) the life and family of Virginia Woolf, written by a nephew. It seemed interesting, but the review was written for people who had more knowledge of the whole situation going in than I did. Then a review of an unauthorized biography; it's kinda fun to watch Malcolm slowly come to the conclusion that the author is a bellend and realize she's thought that the entire time. A series about a firm of lady detectives in Botswana follows; Malcolm's last paragraph of glowing praise was unexpected after a much for restrained body. Finally, a reissue of the Norman Podhoretz memoir *Making It*. This was interesting for it's discussion of a Writer's life and the New York literary scene (i.e. this, from p. 285: "We follow Norman's campaign to gain acceptance into 'the family'--the mostly but by no means exclusively Jewish intellectuals associated with *Partisan Review*--with the sort of interest we reserve for favorite sports teams."). Thus ends Part III.
One of my favorite things about this book was Malcolm's use of "psychotherapy" and "psychotherapist" instead of "therapy" and "therapist." It's charming. I was also interesting by the editing; each of the pieces is dated and they're definitely not in chronological order. I see the major arcs -- profiles, misc (cultural reviews), reviews -- but I'd be curious to know how those were decided on, how they were ordered, how pieces were selected, and how each Part was ordered within itself.
I'll leave with this: Malcolm is certainly an excellent writer. I was befuddled sometimes, sure, but I felt the whole time like I ought to be thanking her. The words roll by on the page.
IMO it got worse as it went along. My favorite piece in the book was the second essay, about the concert pianist Yuja Wang. (Probably, I'll admit, because I play piano myself.) One of the most interesting parts was Malcolm's discussion of Wang's clothing. Malcolm tells us that Wang wears skin-tight, short, strappy dresses when performing, accompanied by stiletto heels. There;'s an excellent discussion of the effect on pp. 40-41, including a quote from one reviewer: "It turns a recital into a performance" (Zachary Woolfe, New York *Times*, quoted in Malcom, *Nobody' s Looking At You*). I don't have anything to add to the discussion, really, except to say that fashion is absolutely Art and ought to be treated as such. (Also, the picture of Wang on the book's cover is spectacular.)
The Wang piece is sandwiched between similar 'enigmatic commentary profile etc' essays, on Eileen Fisher (the namesake founder and the company) and the Argosy bookshop, in New York City. The Argosy piece has a section that exemplifies what I love about this style, although I'm not sure why I do. Malcolm devotes two and a half pages to a son - Zack - of Naomi, one of the three sisters and co-owners of the Argosy. The section includes a lengthy digression on Zack's principal hobby (he works at the Argosy part-time): ball hawking, or collecting baseballs. Malcolm connects his obsession with ball hawking to a meticulous attention for detail that he applies to his work at the Argsoy. OK, makes sense. But the last paragraph of this section... it's incredible. I'm just going to type it all out for you.
> Early in our talk, a messenger had come in and handed Zack a letter, which he glanced at and put aside. Now he picked it up and said, "I think this is a piece of *hate mail*. I recognize the handwriting. In 2009, I had an unfortunate experience with a fan at Yankee Stadium. I caught a lot of ball during batting practice, and some guy in the stands took exception. He said something rude, and what I should have done was just walk away. But for some reason I chose to engage, and it just escalated and got ugly. Now this guy sends me hate mail. Of all the things in the world that are horrible and cause suffering to other people, you wouldn't think that catching baseballs was one of them."
(emphasis mine)
And then it just ends! That's it! Malcolm moves on to a new topic; there's a section break! (It isn't the end of the essay.) This is astounding to me. What conclusion am I supposed to draw?? It's an essay about an antique bookstore. I hate that, but I also love it. Like, you're the writer, shouldn't you be making a point? And she just doesn't! It's practically a power move.
After the Argosy come another two profiles. One is of the Hungarian-born George Jellinek, who for for thirty-six years (though no longer) curated and narrated the hour-long radio program *The Vocal Scene*, on WQRX, which was an opera showcase. It was fine; it's interesting to read about opera, but I'm not particularly interested. More accurately, then: it's interesting to know how interested some people are in opera. This is the subculture thing. The last profile is of Rachel Maddow; it's also fine. Thus ends Part I.
Part II starts with a history of Supreme Court confirmation hearings. It was interesting, but published in 2006; it felt flat in a world where the Kavanaugh and [Obamas last nomination] confirmations happened and didn't, respectively.
There's then a bizarre review of a bizarre Sarah Palin docuseries, a boring review of the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, and a weird review of an email how-to and étiquette manual. (The last one is IMO kind of a juvenile treatment of the subject.) Thus ends Part II.
Next, two essays on *Anna Karenina*. The first, discussing the comedy in the plot, I skipped; the second, about the relative quality of different translations, was interesting but I found I didn't really care, because I've never read it. I hope I'll remember to review Malcolm's recommendations when I do.
That's followed by a super weird profile-review about the writing of a dude named Joseph Mitchell. Mitchell wrote a bunch: essays (many in the *New Yorker*) and books; evidently he toed the line between fiction and non-fiction. Malcolm doesn't condemn this as strongly as I would've liked. (Although, I remember being kind of bleary while reading this one; I was confused the whole time. It's possible I just missed or misinterpreted it.)
To close out, a series of book reviews (I guess the previous was a book review, too, which is part of the reason I was so confused). First, a woman who got really mad at two university students for making a fuss after (mostly/all, don't remember) verbal sexual harassment by a professor; Malcolm (correctly) sides with the students. It's mostly just annoying to read because the woman is so obviously wrong. Then, one about how sexual relations between students and professors can be empowering for the students. Read it with a grain of salt, but it certainly seems a much more mature handling of the situation than the previous review's book. It also has some interesting comparisons between the author's relationship(s) with her professors when she was a student and her relationship(s) with her students today, as a professor. Then, a book about (I think) the life and family of Virginia Woolf, written by a nephew. It seemed interesting, but the review was written for people who had more knowledge of the whole situation going in than I did. Then a review of an unauthorized biography; it's kinda fun to watch Malcolm slowly come to the conclusion that the author is a bellend and realize she's thought that the entire time. A series about a firm of lady detectives in Botswana follows; Malcolm's last paragraph of glowing praise was unexpected after a much for restrained body. Finally, a reissue of the Norman Podhoretz memoir *Making It*. This was interesting for it's discussion of a Writer's life and the New York literary scene (i.e. this, from p. 285: "We follow Norman's campaign to gain acceptance into 'the family'--the mostly but by no means exclusively Jewish intellectuals associated with *Partisan Review*--with the sort of interest we reserve for favorite sports teams."). Thus ends Part III.
One of my favorite things about this book was Malcolm's use of "psychotherapy" and "psychotherapist" instead of "therapy" and "therapist." It's charming. I was also interesting by the editing; each of the pieces is dated and they're definitely not in chronological order. I see the major arcs -- profiles, misc (cultural reviews), reviews -- but I'd be curious to know how those were decided on, how they were ordered, how pieces were selected, and how each Part was ordered within itself.
I'll leave with this: Malcolm is certainly an excellent writer. I was befuddled sometimes, sure, but I felt the whole time like I ought to be thanking her. The words roll by on the page.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2019
Janet Malcolm's Nobody's Looking at You is a collection of previously published essays, from profiles to book reviews to general cultural commentary. Malcolm is a fluid, beautiful writer. She has a delightful way of putting things - take, for example, her description of Dianne Feinstein: "a thirties-move character in her own right, with her Mary Astor loveliness, and air of just having arrived with a lot of suitcases." I love that so much.
My favorite section was the profiles - including one on Eileen Fisher (her description of the company's insular corporate-speak is hilarious) and another on Rachel Maddow. The most fascinating to me, though, was the profile of Yuja Wang, an amazingly talented pianist I'd never heard of before. (That's her on the cover of the book, which is actually what drew me to it.) Malcolm's essay on Supreme Court justice nomination hearings was excellent, but it was published in 2006; I would've liked a coda discussing everyone's least favorite beer loving justice, just to hear Malcolm's thoughts on that whole horrible debacle. Her book reviews were great as well - I particularly liked the one discussing the translators Pevear and Volokhonsky, who have translated a lot of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I previously enjoyed their work but am now very curious to read the translations that Malcolm prefers, by Garnett. (She was very convincing in regards to the superiority of Garnett's work.) I also very much enjoyed her evisceration Jonathan Bate's biography of Ted Hughes. All in all, a beautifully written collection.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
My favorite section was the profiles - including one on Eileen Fisher (her description of the company's insular corporate-speak is hilarious) and another on Rachel Maddow. The most fascinating to me, though, was the profile of Yuja Wang, an amazingly talented pianist I'd never heard of before. (That's her on the cover of the book, which is actually what drew me to it.) Malcolm's essay on Supreme Court justice nomination hearings was excellent, but it was published in 2006; I would've liked a coda discussing everyone's least favorite beer loving justice, just to hear Malcolm's thoughts on that whole horrible debacle. Her book reviews were great as well - I particularly liked the one discussing the translators Pevear and Volokhonsky, who have translated a lot of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I previously enjoyed their work but am now very curious to read the translations that Malcolm prefers, by Garnett. (She was very convincing in regards to the superiority of Garnett's work.) I also very much enjoyed her evisceration Jonathan Bate's biography of Ted Hughes. All in all, a beautifully written collection.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
January 30, 2020
This is a collection of essays, written over time, that shows the architecture of building a legacy. This book is divided in 2 parts. Part one features [mostly New Yorkers] : A clothing designer, an opera commentator, [my favorite] a trio of rare book dealers (and others) star in this section. The writing is good and I felt transported into the offices and living room settings described. For a moment, you are there, meeting new friends and learning about professions and lifestyles foreign to you. Part 2 dives into the deep end of recent politics: Supreme Court judge nominees, and a very weird and long play by play description of the docuseries Sarah Palin’s Alaska. The essay selection under this title is baffling. I loved Part 1 and lamented the weird turns in Part 2 and Part 3.
July 27, 2019
The New Yorker profiles are the strongest part of the book, the piece on Yuja Wang is my favorite.
June 9, 2019
I really really love Janet Malcolm’s writing style! I’m going to have to tackle some more of her full-length books.
September 25, 2019
Janet Malcolm is the Alice Munro of non-fiction. Taking away one star because the last section of the book, which is mostly literary criticism/essays, doesn't quite shine like the rest.
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