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A review by casskrug
No Judgment: Essays by Lauren Oyler
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!