paul arthur > Recent Status Updates

philip gourevitch is such a gifted writer i am genuinely in awe

i initially started that larry james book on this because this one didn’t have an audiobook available, but ive found it very interesting to read that book critically/between the lines, in conjunction with this. i should read irl unreliable narrators more often

i’m rly enjoying how much of this book is, like, awkward roommate situations, and putting out pest traps, and stressing about work contracts. makes it feel somehow more universal and relatable, which helps with the immersion that is so vital to a book like this

i’ve decided to read a tiny bit less about real life atrocities and a little more enjoyable schlock. growth 😌

if you saw me add three new books to my currently-reading list that already had seven books on it no you didn’t (there are some on there that i like more in theory than in execution and i need to dnf or power thru..)

i am so allergic to the romanticization of suffering. even when i notice it popping up in my thought patterns, i reject it outright. i don’t begrudge other people trying to make meaning out of their suffering but the idea that there is any meaning or redemption or lesson or learning in this kind of suffering.,……. it makes me want to box like i’m de niro in raging bull 1984. anyway giving this a shot

i have no idea what’s happening yet and i’m going in blind as possible but i’m locked the fuck in like two chapters in. this one is for the boys who read the atavist magazine on the bus to school in eighth grade

i love reading exquisitely rendered short stories straight out of joy williams and andre dubus or whatever but they’re actually about PEOPLE like ME!!!!

sometimes all you can possibly do is read a dishy gossipy thoughtful years-spanning clever novel. to read a novel is the most important tbing you can do

perfect book i want to live. i miss my love. i swear ill buy this book when it comes out like an upstanding member of society i just needed it yesterday and every day of my life

it’s genuinely reassuring to know that blerner (or at least his autofictionsona as constructed across the 2.5 books of his that i’ve read) and i have the exact same brain and he turned out alright. he’s also very funny

i can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite books. it’s like with The Red Arrow where it’s almost painfully good and feels very personal For Me. guess we will see