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eadunker's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Took some time to get through because I think you need to sit with it often. I know I highlighted a ton that I wanted to revisit later. It’s on that will stick with me.
ananyazharotia's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
I think this book came to me at the right time because i kept looking to it for answers, a cure to lonliness. I felt loosely attached to these experiences because I did not share the lives of these people but i did share their fear. Ultimately the answers came to me personally just as they did in the book. It’s a beautiful moving book with incredible depth and emotion attached and it’s one of the best books i’ve read so far. It can change you and how you see the world and how you see fear, hope, art and the human experience.
maxamaris's review against another edition
5.0
Heck and dang, I saw this at McNally Jackson and thought it looked fun and jumped right into it like a FOOL. This is a gorgeous book, but more a warning and exercise in empathy than anything actionable to make connection in your own life, which is not a critique!! Olivia please save us from self help. But it unexpectedly broke my heart. Especially the chapters on, respectively, Henry Darger and the AIDS crisis had me crying on a plane. Also had unexpected discussion of trans identity that I loved. Recommend, but take it slow.
cerysejones's review against another edition
4.0
Took me a long time to read but I quite liked taking it in chunks so I had a chance to reflect on and look into each artist she focused on. I liked the interweaving of her own thoughts with the lives and criticisms of artists (would’ve been cool to have at least some focus on female artists too tho). Also I found the depiction of the (male focused) LGBT narrative insightful. An interesting investigation into what loneliness and isolation really means, but am curious about how positive it was meant to be because I am not feeling particularly uplifted. Also the last chapter was wild people are so weird.