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rosabelle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
2.75
Not the right book for me right now. You might enjoy it if you love art, reflection, love, or sexuality.
lunabbly's review against another edition
5.0
Such a beautiful and timely book on longing, desire, love, and romance. It comes at a time where hook-up culture is the norm for physical intimacy and Larissa Pham captures not just the emptiness but the desperation that comes with fucking for the sake of fucking and hooking up. In that, it has created such an unsurpassable want for someone to really love you and care for you. All of which Larissa Pham writes about and also reflects on the work of other artists and how they have captured such emotions.
She also captures the intimate details of breaking up, and longing even though you're with someone, which I feel like a lot of people haven't written about honestly.
Where I could find a semblance of annoyance is wondering if she's projecting based on her idea of what a writer and artist should be writing about and feeling. I highly recommend because it's a tender take on intimacy, love, relationships, and all done with a graceful analyses of other artists and their work. Very beautiful.
She also captures the intimate details of breaking up, and longing even though you're with someone, which I feel like a lot of people haven't written about honestly.
Where I could find a semblance of annoyance is wondering if she's projecting based on her idea of what a writer and artist should be writing about and feeling. I highly recommend because it's a tender take on intimacy, love, relationships, and all done with a graceful analyses of other artists and their work. Very beautiful.
twistsandtomes's review against another edition
4.0
Gorgeously written essays about love, loss, and art. The subtitle "Adventures in Art & Intimacy" perfectly captures the journey that takes place throughout the essays; all of the pieces stand alone, but there's also an overarching narrative of a relationship that's woven throughout each chapter. Pham is a gifted writer, and her writing about art specifically is electric. At one point in the book she speaks about how she likes the idea of an ekphrasis—a literary device that employs written description of a piece of visual art—more than the actual form itself. "Wasn't the point of looking at a painting to feel something wordless? Why not let it remain in that realm?" she writes. Even though it's difficult to capture the aura of a piece of visual art in words, Pham does so to great success. I'm looking forward to reading more of Pham's work in the future!
miaalamuddin's review against another edition
4.0
"maybe the problem is that without some kind of speech, i fear incoherence"
essential read for those who feel a lot (me) and use art as a medium to untangle and understand those feelings (also me).
intimate, tender, messy, funny, painful, raw. such a solid debut novel.
essential read for those who feel a lot (me) and use art as a medium to untangle and understand those feelings (also me).
intimate, tender, messy, funny, painful, raw. such a solid debut novel.
deliacaroline's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0