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literarycrushes's review against another edition
5.0
There is so much to love about Pop Song by Larissa Pham. This collection of essays is heart breaking and beautiful in the way that a really great breakup album is. It’s both vulnerable and analytical. Her writing style reminded me of some of my favorite authors, Rebecca Solnit and Maggie Nelson (both of whom she references throughout), particularly as she writes about intimacy and desire. Each sentence was like a love poem, and I wanted to highlight every other line in the book. In one essay, Pham writes about getting a tattoo that reads, simply, ‘sensitive,’ which would have been a fitting alternate title.
katellison's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the essays toward the beginning -- On Running, Crush, Camera Roll (Notes on Longing) -- but the momentum peters out from middle to ending, I think because the interjections about "you" get more frequent, and the more that's revealed about the narrator's relationship to this person, the less interesting it becomes. The visual art criticism alone, without the ongoing tension of this object of desire, might not be strong enough to hold my attention.
sam_bizar_wilcox's review against another edition
5.0
I feel like Larissa Pham and I would be friends if we knew each other, but I also feel like she would be too cool to want to be seen with me.
This collection of essays is deeply disturbing in how easily it feels as if one's personal thoughts are reflected and printed on the page, written by another writer. Which isn't to say that Pham's experiences are generalized. Rather, these are very intimate movements written as confession from the writer to the reader - from the very specific perspective of Pham herself. Yet, often I found myself shaken by how similarly we have thought of or responded to the world and experience. Disturbance comes from an encounter with the self, reflected back in ways so precise and honest as if to feel not like an essay at all, but instead like one's nighttime thoughts - fleeting, meditative, touching on the profound, seemingly inarticulable.
I think about Larissa Pham almost daily now. This is the best kind of book as a force of introduction and self-reflection. A getting to know someone else, and a getting to know oneself, too.
Other things I should say about these essays but can't quite fit in critical prose:
Smart. Larissa Pham connects to lots of art and literature and it makes me feel smart for reading the book (emphasis on "feel"). Definitely proves that she has a big brain.
Sexy. There's so much attention to the body and desire. Also cruelty and trauma. But also sadism and kink.
Liminal.
Like whispers from a close confidant.
Uncomfortable reading, but paradoxically comforting in its ability to create discomfort? Or comforting in the articulation of unique experience. Unique-yet-shared experience.
Basically, Pop Song is amazing, and you should read it.
(I initially gave it 4 stars because I can't process my emotions but really really good nonetheless. I'll probably be thinking about this book indefinitely.)
This collection of essays is deeply disturbing in how easily it feels as if one's personal thoughts are reflected and printed on the page, written by another writer. Which isn't to say that Pham's experiences are generalized. Rather, these are very intimate movements written as confession from the writer to the reader - from the very specific perspective of Pham herself. Yet, often I found myself shaken by how similarly we have thought of or responded to the world and experience. Disturbance comes from an encounter with the self, reflected back in ways so precise and honest as if to feel not like an essay at all, but instead like one's nighttime thoughts - fleeting, meditative, touching on the profound, seemingly inarticulable.
I think about Larissa Pham almost daily now. This is the best kind of book as a force of introduction and self-reflection. A getting to know someone else, and a getting to know oneself, too.
Other things I should say about these essays but can't quite fit in critical prose:
Smart. Larissa Pham connects to lots of art and literature and it makes me feel smart for reading the book (emphasis on "feel"). Definitely proves that she has a big brain.
Sexy. There's so much attention to the body and desire. Also cruelty and trauma. But also sadism and kink.
Liminal.
Like whispers from a close confidant.
Uncomfortable reading, but paradoxically comforting in its ability to create discomfort? Or comforting in the articulation of unique experience. Unique-yet-shared experience.
Basically, Pop Song is amazing, and you should read it.
(I initially gave it 4 stars because I can't process my emotions but really really good nonetheless. I'll probably be thinking about this book indefinitely.)
dr_aimz's review against another edition
Not what I expected from a memoir titled Pop Song. The focus is much more on visual art than music and I wasn’t expecting the main drive to be on unrequited infatuation. The narrative driver appears to be this very 20-something understanding of the informed self through another’s gaze. And that’s not really my jam, right now. Maybe when I’m ready to examine my own car crash 20s, I’ll come back to this. But not for now.
josier2's review against another edition
2.0
It's not as fun to read about someone's crush as it is to write about yours. We all have non-relationship relationships that have meant so much at times, little intimate details that stick with us but an artist should elevate those experiences to something larger, something outside of themselves not just put them on display. Art references seem sophomoric and forced, hand picked for the "Dia: Beacon date" set, of which I'm a member. The whole thing left me thinking, "hope she sees this bro," in the parlance of our times.
monica716's review against another edition
4.0
Pham is a fresh voice on self-reflection, relationships, and art. I really enjoyed looking up the art pieces and photographs she references throughout the book, as well as her reflection on a significant relationship in her life. Looking forward to more from her.
mihu_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
a cultural reset…. no one writes about art the way larissa pham does… i can only wish to be her
umisuki's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
larissa my my patron saint of artsy sad girls
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder