Emily S. > Recent Status Updates

Starting to lag a bit

I’m so eager to just finish this but holding strong. I relate to a lot about this book.

Rhythmic prose is so captivating

The section starting in the “White Men Can’t Jump” chapter hustling and “nostalgia as hustle” was so good and such a balm, in a way, after a week like this one in American politics.

Getting annoyed with Lacey

Early October but it still seems like the regular season…

Oh she’s REALLY Taylor Swift

Washed-up Orioles catcher + Swiftlike pop star + questionable Baltimore knowledge

A washed-up Orioles catcher and a Taylor Swift–esque popstar? Count me in. Excited to see how they portray Baltimore

The chapter on heartbreak and seeing your ex in a Target felt so random at the reading I went to, but it was so gratifying to see how it fit into the larger narrative about LeBron’s departure

Getting frustrated

These men need hugs

Miscalculated last time. Audiobook rocks. Going to have to buy Spotify credits to finish.

The audiobook is so rewarding—while Abdurraqib jumps from topic to topic as quickly as one of the ballers he writes about, he ties topics together with an impressively sly and agile thread. I love how he paints such a vivid portrait of local legends; I can’t stop thinking about how many elements of “war culture” were adopted as style signifiers in the 90s and 00s.

Loving the callbacks to Beautiful World: Simon Costigan mention, return to “God as aesthetic principle”…yes yes yes