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birdykinsreads's review against another edition
2.0
Acerbic essays with an off-putting tone only magnified when listening to the audiobook read by the author. She feels like the type of person who would corner you at a party and talk at you for hours, uninterested in anything but the sound of her own voice. I believe that she believes she’s the smartest person in the room. I fell asleep once listening to this, oops, and found myself tuning out a lot despite making an honest attempt to focus and give it a shot. We did not vibe.
In one of the essays she discusses review culture and Goodreads, (hiiiiiii) and uses the book American Dirt to illustrate how elitism and bad reviews in certain spaces didn’t translate to sales. Felt a bit egregious to discuss this book while completely ignoring the reason it received such backlash in the first place—the author misrepresented herself. She identified as white only until she started marketing this book and then mentioned a Puerto Rican grandmother when she realized it might be a problem. The book was called out for problematic storylines and stereotypical characters by Latinx authors and readers to rightly point out the problems with platforming and supporting a white author writing a book about Mexican migrants instead of choosing to support #ownvoices books with the same vigor and marketing budget. It was a big part of an important conversation and feels strange to talk about it in this capacity without any mention of that. It wasn’t elitism that was trying to discourage reading and platforming this book as much as it was marginalized voices expressing their discontent with the status quo, and actually it’s not a surprise at all that those issues would be ignored by most readers and do nothing to prevent it becoming a bestseller. I never read it for that reason.
This was towards the beginning of the book and was the moment I realized oooooh I’m not going to enjoy this one, nope nope nope! Especially when she writes with what feels like a very condescending air. I found the essays about review culture (minus the above) and auto-fiction interesting but not enough to balance out the tedious more personal ones about her life in Berlin, the movie Tár (haven’t seen it) and her anxiety. And I did not appreciate her opinions enough to make up for the general (for me) ick of her tone.
I’m sure there’s plenty of people who this collection might appeal to, but it was not for me. If you plan on reading it, you might want to avoid the audiobook.
In one of the essays she discusses review culture and Goodreads, (hiiiiiii) and uses the book American Dirt to illustrate how elitism and bad reviews in certain spaces didn’t translate to sales. Felt a bit egregious to discuss this book while completely ignoring the reason it received such backlash in the first place—the author misrepresented herself. She identified as white only until she started marketing this book and then mentioned a Puerto Rican grandmother when she realized it might be a problem. The book was called out for problematic storylines and stereotypical characters by Latinx authors and readers to rightly point out the problems with platforming and supporting a white author writing a book about Mexican migrants instead of choosing to support #ownvoices books with the same vigor and marketing budget. It was a big part of an important conversation and feels strange to talk about it in this capacity without any mention of that. It wasn’t elitism that was trying to discourage reading and platforming this book as much as it was marginalized voices expressing their discontent with the status quo, and actually it’s not a surprise at all that those issues would be ignored by most readers and do nothing to prevent it becoming a bestseller. I never read it for that reason.
This was towards the beginning of the book and was the moment I realized oooooh I’m not going to enjoy this one, nope nope nope! Especially when she writes with what feels like a very condescending air. I found the essays about review culture (minus the above) and auto-fiction interesting but not enough to balance out the tedious more personal ones about her life in Berlin, the movie Tár (haven’t seen it) and her anxiety. And I did not appreciate her opinions enough to make up for the general (for me) ick of her tone.
I’m sure there’s plenty of people who this collection might appeal to, but it was not for me. If you plan on reading it, you might want to avoid the audiobook.
thiefofmemory's review
funny
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Oyler has a writing style that feels like you’re being talked down to but like, in a hot way? There were a handful of essays that appealed to me directly, namely My Perfect Opinions which expertly dissects the world of book reviewing. But because of the varying degrees in topics I found it a bit jarring to go from a personal anecdote, to a criticism of online gossip, then to a diary of an expat. Each essay was extremely well written and had the type of quippy verbiage I love, but if there was a clear central theme tying them together I would have enjoyed it more. Kinda sorta wanna be friends with her though because I feel like she’d give the best unfiltered advice.
casskrug's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
medium-paced
3.75
thanks to harperone and netgalley for the digital galley!
lauren oyler explores gossip, goodreads, living in berlin, autofiction, vulnerability, and mental illness in this essay collection. my favorite pieces were: my perfect opinions; i am the one who is sitting here, for hours and hours and hours; and my anxiety. no shock to anyone that the one about goodreads and the one about autofiction were top tier for me!
i thought this was a great mix of both personal and researched writing - lauren’s own anecdotes and the examples she pulls from other sources are all used in an entertaining and intriguing way. these are longer essays that reference a lot of other works (both essays and books). i added a lot of new stuff to my list of things to read, and find myself keen to read more essays published outside of the typical essay collection format, starting with a bunch of the ones mentioned in this book! it really stands out to me that i have a genuine interest in doing further reading, because that doesn’t always happen for me with super referential work - it’s a signifier that i was pulled in by the topics discussed here.
no judgment is a very realistic look at the subjects of each essay. oyler is skilled at unpacking the opposing viewpoints, while maintaining the strength of her opinions. i appreciate that she’s able to make conceits where necessary and acknowledge the multifaceted and sometimes hypocritical nature of humans beings. the tone is funny, verging on millennial humor but in a self aware way. lauren and i both love a dash, a semicolon, and a parenthetical, but certain sentences felt a bit overwritten and hard to follow so i welcomed those moments of levity. overall a solid collection and i really need to check out her novel fake accounts!
lauren oyler explores gossip, goodreads, living in berlin, autofiction, vulnerability, and mental illness in this essay collection. my favorite pieces were: my perfect opinions; i am the one who is sitting here, for hours and hours and hours; and my anxiety. no shock to anyone that the one about goodreads and the one about autofiction were top tier for me!
i thought this was a great mix of both personal and researched writing - lauren’s own anecdotes and the examples she pulls from other sources are all used in an entertaining and intriguing way. these are longer essays that reference a lot of other works (both essays and books). i added a lot of new stuff to my list of things to read, and find myself keen to read more essays published outside of the typical essay collection format, starting with a bunch of the ones mentioned in this book! it really stands out to me that i have a genuine interest in doing further reading, because that doesn’t always happen for me with super referential work - it’s a signifier that i was pulled in by the topics discussed here.
no judgment is a very realistic look at the subjects of each essay. oyler is skilled at unpacking the opposing viewpoints, while maintaining the strength of her opinions. i appreciate that she’s able to make conceits where necessary and acknowledge the multifaceted and sometimes hypocritical nature of humans beings. the tone is funny, verging on millennial humor but in a self aware way. lauren and i both love a dash, a semicolon, and a parenthetical, but certain sentences felt a bit overwritten and hard to follow so i welcomed those moments of levity. overall a solid collection and i really need to check out her novel fake accounts!
hein's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
When I’m reading Lauren Oyler, there’s nowhere I’d rather be. Her essay on gossip ("Embarrassment, Panic, Opprobrium, Job Loss, Etc.") takes a million brilliantly sharp corners.
Her incredibly honest, maddeningly clever exploration of life as an artsy-American-in-Berlin, "Why Do You Live Here?" explains why expats like her desperately distinguish themselves from tourists: "Tourists harsh the vibe."
She titles her piece about online reviews and book criticism “My Perfect Opinions,” and she’s not wrong.
Her incredibly honest, maddeningly clever exploration of life as an artsy-American-in-Berlin, "Why Do You Live Here?" explains why expats like her desperately distinguish themselves from tourists: "Tourists harsh the vibe."
She titles her piece about online reviews and book criticism “My Perfect Opinions,” and she’s not wrong.
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