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Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

She never wallows in loathing, self- or otherwise. Instead, she lets us all in on the joke. And what a joke it is … Calling Quietly Hostile a collection of essays is a bit limiting. These 17 pieces are more like essays crossed with stand-up bits, and that punchline-driven rhythm serves the book spectacularly well … Irby dexterously plays both sides: the awkward people-pleaser and the snarky cynic. Like a cartoon character in a tennis match against herself, she races back and forth between self-deprecation and scalding humor, never once missing a stroke. People may be shallow, Irby is more than happy to point out, but she’s right down there with them — quietly hostile, sure, but also loudly irresistible. Read more

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The Written and the Unwritten World by Italo Calvino

…most of the pieces in The Written World and the Unwritten World, dating from 1952 to Calvino’s unexpected death in 1985, are only now making their appearance in English (in translations by Ann Goldstein). Why such a delay? It certainly isn’t a matter of quality control: reading this book is time spent with a first-rate mind. Whether discussing translation, the trial of Galileo, fantasy literature or the evolution of the brain, Calvino writes with glimmering insight and wit. Read more

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