Beach reading returns with suggestions spanning essay collections, graphic novels, reissued photo essays, and prose-poetry fiction. Megan O’Grady’s work frames art as a necessity comparable to air. Nan Goldin’s tender photo essay is being reissued. Jennifer Higgie’s novel of prose poetry imagines the inner life of an infamous British artist. Greg Tate’s essay collection Flyboy in the Buttermilk is set for reissue with a new introduction. A separate novel centers on characters in East Berlin whose reading experience feels uncanny, echoing New York’s art-world parallels. The satirical art-world novel by Burleigh is also highlighted.
"Beach reads are officially back, and it feels like nature is finally inviting us to bring our books outdoors again. In between your escapist fantasy novels and trendy memoirs (I too was roped into the inexplicable Strangers hype), dip into an essay collection by critic Megan O'Grady on art as a necessity as vital as the air we breathe, or a graphic novel that captures the magic only books can wield. Luminary artist Nan Goldin is reissuing a tender photo essay, while Jennifer Higgie brings us a novel of prose poetry that imagines the inner life of an infamous British artist."
"Perfection is fundamentally about making meaning in a world where the real and digital, the local and global, have fused into one hybrid, monstrous, relentless thing; reading it feels as uncanny as looking at your doppelganger. I'm not a Southern European emigré to Berlin, like the main characters, Anna and Tom. But I am a part of the art world of New York, and their East Berlin reads a lot to me like my Brooklyn and Lower East Side. I started this book on the beach last summer, and devoured it before the day was done - may you have a similarly disturbing and exhilarating experience."
"I'm also keeping an eye out for the late Greg Tate's groundbreaking essay collection Flyboy in the Buttermilk, which will be reissued next month with a new introduction by Hanif Abdurraqib. How many times can I tell myself "so many books, so little time" before it becomes redundant? Happy reading, and stay cool."
#book-recommendations #art-criticism #contemporary-photography #satire-and-fiction #essays-and-reissues
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