Blogs

In the world of dystopi­an fic­tion, two books have become the stan­dard-bear­ers for rad­i­cal­ly dif­fer­ent visions of soci­ety: 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Hux­ley. One is hailed as a chill­ing warn­ing of sur­veil­lance and total­i­tar­i­an­ism; the oth­er, a pre­scient cri­tique of con­sumerism and mind­less plea­sure. But what hap­pens when these two col­lide? Are we wit­ness­ing a bat­tle of ide­olo­gies,…

If you’re a fan of lyri­cal fic­tion, sto­ries about iden­ti­ty, grief, queer­ness, and the immi­grant expe­ri­ence, then chances are Mar­tyr! by Kaveh Akbar and On Earth We’re Briefly Gor­geous by Ocean Vuong are already on your radar—or your TBR pile. But which one hits hard­er? Which one lingers longer? Let’s dive into the beau­ti­ful messi­ness of both nov­els and see how they stack up.…

🎬 Introduction — Why Read All Fours and I Love Dick Side-by-Side? Fem­i­nist aut­ofic­tion has explod­ed into main­stream con­ver­sa­tion over the past decade, but Miran­da July’s All Fours (2024) and Chris Kraus’s I Love Dick (1997; re-issued 2006) still feel unique­ly com­bustible. July’s menopausal nar­ra­tor and Kraus’s younger avant-garde per­sona crack open desire, art-mak­ing, and domes­tic rebel­lion with wit and for­mal audac­i­ty. Read­ing the…

In a year of bold, dis­obe­di­ent fic­tion, two books have fierce­ly divid­ed read­ers: All Fours by Miran­da July and Mar­tyr! by Kaveh Akbar. One is described as “a raw mas­ter­piece,” the oth­er as “self-indul­gent non­sense.” The twist? Those descrip­tions apply to both, depend­ing on who you ask. So what’s real­ly going on? Did Mar­tyr! just edge out All Fours as the defin­i­tive nov­el of…