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Freeman's #6
Freeman’s: cele mai bune texte noi despre California
The sixth volume in the series that has been hailed by NPR, O Magazine, and Vogue, Freeman's: California features stunning new work from a broad selection of writers, revealing everything that is most important, most fascinating, and most revealing about our populous state.
In Freeman's: California, Lauren Markham describes how four generations of her family have lived in and tried to manipulate the water in one of the driest parts of the state and how water and land means everything. Rabih Alameddine recounts becoming a bar tender in the mid-1980s as his friends began to die of AIDS. Rachel Kushner reminisces on all the amazing cars she's owned and their peculiar, vivid personalities. Natalie Diaz narrates the process of making her body into as a professional basketball player, and how that assembly stalled some of the internal vulnerabilities she'd feel as a gay native woman growing up where she did. And Elaine Castillo goes to visit her brother in prison.
Amid the raging the forest fires plaguing California, William T. Vollmann drives to the Carr fire and sees how fire has become the new state of normality for California. And Jaime Cortez riffs on pulling over at a rest-stop and smelling the fires of Paradise burning.
Meanwhile home is in transition as Karen Tei Yamashita recalls a Japanese-American who goes to Japan after the dropping of the bomb, writing back and forth home. Reyna Grande explores how her mother, who crossed with their family, fell out of society and became a woman who collects recycling, while she and her siblings have become model immigrants.
Also featuring a haunting ghost story from Oscar Villalon, bold new fiction from Tommy Orange, and stunning poems from Mai Der Vang, Juan Felipe Herrera, Maggie Millner, and more--Freeman's: California assembles a diverse list of brilliant writers.
In Freeman's: California, Lauren Markham describes how four generations of her family have lived in and tried to manipulate the water in one of the driest parts of the state and how water and land means everything. Rabih Alameddine recounts becoming a bar tender in the mid-1980s as his friends began to die of AIDS. Rachel Kushner reminisces on all the amazing cars she's owned and their peculiar, vivid personalities. Natalie Diaz narrates the process of making her body into as a professional basketball player, and how that assembly stalled some of the internal vulnerabilities she'd feel as a gay native woman growing up where she did. And Elaine Castillo goes to visit her brother in prison.
Amid the raging the forest fires plaguing California, William T. Vollmann drives to the Carr fire and sees how fire has become the new state of normality for California. And Jaime Cortez riffs on pulling over at a rest-stop and smelling the fires of Paradise burning.
Meanwhile home is in transition as Karen Tei Yamashita recalls a Japanese-American who goes to Japan after the dropping of the bomb, writing back and forth home. Reyna Grande explores how her mother, who crossed with their family, fell out of society and became a woman who collects recycling, while she and her siblings have become model immigrants.
Also featuring a haunting ghost story from Oscar Villalon, bold new fiction from Tommy Orange, and stunning poems from Mai Der Vang, Juan Felipe Herrera, Maggie Millner, and more--Freeman's: California assembles a diverse list of brilliant writers.
314 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
14 people are currently reading
877 people want to read
About the author
John Freeman
55 books286 followersNote: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Freeman is an award-winning writer and book critic who has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. Freeman won the 2007 James Patterson Pageturner Award for his work as the president of the National Book Critics Circle, and was the editor of Granta from 2009 to 2013. He lives in New York City, where he teaches at NYU and edits a new literary biannual called Freeman's.
John Freeman is an award-winning writer and book critic who has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. Freeman won the 2007 James Patterson Pageturner Award for his work as the president of the National Book Critics Circle, and was the editor of Granta from 2009 to 2013. He lives in New York City, where he teaches at NYU and edits a new literary biannual called Freeman's.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 28, 2020
O antologie marca John Freeman, care adună mai mulți scriitori care trăiesc, scriu în sau despre California. John Freeman a avut de unde alege și a creat o antologie excelentă, care îmbină poezia cu proza scurtă, ficțiunea cu non-ficțiunea, subiecte obișnuite cu semnale de alarmă asupra minorităților Californiei și lumii. Mi-a plăcut mult non-ficțiunea de aici, pentru că este general valabilă și ne oferă câteva priviri din interior despre ceea ce se întâmplă în această zonă a lumii: vorbim despre incendiile californiene, la fel cum vorbim despre discriminările rasiale, fie că vorbim despre negri, fie că vorbim despre urmașii indienilor. Deși nu citesc, de obicei, antologii și prea puțină proză scurtă, recomand această carte.
October 14, 2023
I've read almost all of the Freeman's and I think this one is at the top. Each piece was so so good
November 28, 2019
I read this collection on a trip down to the California coast. It had some authors I've already read this year and I was pleased to discover some new authors writing interesting stories.
The best stories were by Tommy Orange, Lauren Markham, Heather Smith, Shobha Rao and Matt Sumell. They all take place in and are about California. They all illuminate the wild history of the state and do an excellent job on characterizing the lived experience of Californians today. I'll make sure to check out some other work by these particular authors.
I don't know much about John Freeman as an editor - but he should get into the Sufjan Stevens game and do one about Oregon next. It's a great way to read about a place...
The best stories were by Tommy Orange, Lauren Markham, Heather Smith, Shobha Rao and Matt Sumell. They all take place in and are about California. They all illuminate the wild history of the state and do an excellent job on characterizing the lived experience of Californians today. I'll make sure to check out some other work by these particular authors.
I don't know much about John Freeman as an editor - but he should get into the Sufjan Stevens game and do one about Oregon next. It's a great way to read about a place...
March 5, 2020
California, as we know, is not exactly that gleaming golden that it once was. What's so appealing about this book of new California writing is the ease with which it captures the diverse experience of living here in the still accurate Carey McWilliams coined "island on the land." There is a great selection of writers, I was lured in by favorites-- Rabih Alameddine, Geoff Dyer, Jennifer Egan, Rachel Kushner, Hector Tobar--but also was introduced to others whose work I didn't know. These are vivid tales of immigrant experience, pot smoking, car culture, eco and cultural histories. What's not so present is that ubiquitous cliché of the Hollywood dream. It may infuse the subtext, but the state of mind is shifting in fascinating ways.
August 5, 2022
I received this anthology with my subscription to Alta Journal, which "demystifies [California and the West] with provocative essays, cultural commentary, deeply reported investigations, original fiction and poetry, sumptuous photos, topical cartoons, and more."
This sixth volume of Freeman's features short fiction, essays, photography, and poetry about California by notable authors, such as Jennifer Egan, Hector Tobar, Rachel Kushner, and Tommy Orange. I kept it by my bedside, where I could finish an individual work before going to sleep. I really enjoyed the variety of works, which were interesting, edifying, and/or entertaining.
This sixth volume of Freeman's features short fiction, essays, photography, and poetry about California by notable authors, such as Jennifer Egan, Hector Tobar, Rachel Kushner, and Tommy Orange. I kept it by my bedside, where I could finish an individual work before going to sleep. I really enjoyed the variety of works, which were interesting, edifying, and/or entertaining.
September 10, 2022
Un'antologia di testi contemporanei ambientati in California. Le poesie non mi hanno colpito, mentre tra i racconti e i memoir ho trovato varie piccole perle.
In generale si legge molto volentieri, perché quasi tutti i testi sono brevi e il tono spesso è leggero e informale, anche quando si trattano temi seri.
Un punto di vista stimolante, seppur parziale, per capire che aria tira in certi ambienti culturali della California.
In generale si legge molto volentieri, perché quasi tutti i testi sono brevi e il tono spesso è leggero e informale, anche quando si trattano temi seri.
Un punto di vista stimolante, seppur parziale, per capire che aria tira in certi ambienti culturali della California.
February 1, 2020
loved reading this! made me nostalgic and proud and mournful in the best ways. i should read more anthologies.
picked it up at City Lights in SF the month it was published i think.
favorite fiction: susto, the o ring. nonfiction: seven shorts, the california pageant, my mother’s california. poetry: monterey, columbine.
picked it up at City Lights in SF the month it was published i think.
favorite fiction: susto, the o ring. nonfiction: seven shorts, the california pageant, my mother’s california. poetry: monterey, columbine.
May 29, 2020
When I won this book I didn't know there were others like this. I liked this book. It is a collection of short stories and poems talking about California. I wish there were more stories in this book.
August 16, 2019
Excellent book!!!
October 3, 2019
This book was okay. Some of the writers I enjoyed, while others I did not enjoy. I thouhgt that some of the essays were too long, but for the most part found the book to be somewhat enjoyable.
October 16, 2019
Excellent collection of essays, stories and poetry from CA authors. One of the few journals I’ve read cover to cover. Pick this one up, then seek out some of its authors.
Want to read
October 18, 2019just arrived in my mailbox. Look forward to the book being from the east coast. Will rate when completed. Thank you for this book to add to my library. :)
December 11, 2019
Hadn’t heard of this publication before. Pretty decent. I might subscribe.
August 30, 2020
My Fav:
How to Bartend by Rabih Alameddine
Facts From the Story by Elaine Castillo
My Mother’s California by Reyna Grande
Copperopolis by Tommy Orange
How to Bartend by Rabih Alameddine
Facts From the Story by Elaine Castillo
My Mother’s California by Reyna Grande
Copperopolis by Tommy Orange
March 21, 2021
how to bartend (rabih alameddine)---the california pageant (lauren markham)--and bodies built for game (natalie diaz) particularly stood out.
March 14, 2022
Let's not sleep on this book!! I find that most anthologies I've read are mixed bags of hits and misses, but not this one—the works here are almost all hits, and even the "misses" can hardly be described as such. A California-themed collection could have gone just about anywhere, but Freeman chose well.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews