I love an unreliable narrator
On summer, what I'm reading, and Love Island USA. This is a newsletter from GRIEF AND MEDIA!
I am on a bit of a summer break right now. June is the busiest month of the year (and as such has prevented me from being able to celebrate my postponed birthday month… July needs to be very afraid), so GRIEF AND MEDIA (particularly my video series!!) is also on break until July. In between the busy days, I am attempting to treat summer like I did when I was younger.
An ideal summer day would go like this: My dad plays music early in the morning. (My best friend Megan reports during sleepovers, she would hear this as early as 7 a.m.) I sleep in until 11 a.m. I go down to the pool, where my family already is—my mom reading on a chair; my dad using one of those bouncy balls you get for $2 at Target as a float. Lucy, my childhood dog, would lifeguard—as soon as I jump in, she barks as if she’s going to help (but she’s a solid 15 feet away). We get lunch at Mona Lisa in San Diego’s Little Italy or the Chinese restaurant in North Park that was there before North Park was whatever it is now. (Why did I see lines for bars and people throwing up on the street last time I was there, as if it’s Pacific Beach?) We stop at Vons to get a movie from Redbox, and my mom and I pick up ice cream. (She always got me Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked when I wasn’t with her.) Then I stay up until 3 a.m. (but go to bed before 3:23, of course—I’ve seen Insidious!) and get lost in a book the hours before. When I was little, I would later collect my Beanie Baby prize from the La Mesa Library—before it was remodeled!—for completing the summer reading challenge.
I can’t replicate this anymore. But I can read.
This week I read Come and Get It by Kiley Reid. By this week, I mean I started it on Wednesday, almost finished it on Wednesday, wanted to savor it further, but then finished it Thursday morning. The book’s tagline states it is “a fresh and provocative story about a residential assistant and her messy entanglement with a professor and three unruly students.” Provocative indeed! My favorite kind of book.
I was surprised to see it get lukewarm reviews. This was a reread, as I first read it when it came out in 2024, and I loved it more the second time around. Here’s the thing: I want character driven! I want unreliable narrators! I want an ensemble of characters! I want some (or any and all) to be unlikeable! I want an exploration of social dynamics and a climax in which all these unreliable narrators come together and act in ways I find unrelatable and morally wrong and, frankly, crazy!!!!
After I finished, I journaled about the book for 45 minutes and five pages. I then described the entire book, in order (a character-driven book btw), to husband of GRIEF AND MEDIA. This took over an hour. He said, and I quote, “Bro enjoyed the literature so much she voluntarily wrote a book report.”
If I were to receive a Beanie Baby for my achievements, I’d want it to be this one.
Other media I’ve been into lately:
Love Island USA, obviously. I feel like a fairly early adopter; I started watching the UK series in 2018 when all my coworkers at E! News talked about it. I was immediately charmed by the British slang and earnest vulnerability and commitment to a cheeky bottom and heel combo. My favorite two seasons to this day are both the UK and USA’s season 6s. I find both had drama, yes, but mostly revolved around a group of people who wanted the best for one another. I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re getting that from this season. According to the internet, I’m supposed to hate Melanie. Well, no! She’s my favorite this season. I will never hate someone outward with their emotions! I also love Kayda (she sold me the second Ciara asked if anyone watches Summer House and she jumped up and down screaming) and KC. It’s a fun season so far, and I will revel in it.
I’m also reading Lena Dunham’s Famesick, a decision I made in order to be part of a book club that hasn’t happened yet. I just want homework again, okay!!!! I am not the primary audience, because I haven’t watched Girls, but I do feel as though it speaks to me as someone who loves an em dash. Lena Dunham loves an em dash more than I thought possible, and I mean that complimentary. I’m maybe a third of the way through, but I love the way she writes. I haven’t listened to the Celebrity Memoir Book Club podcast before, but the host was a guest on a different podcast I listen to and said what makes a good memoir is vulnerability, entertainment, and if it makes the reader think. This rule is something I’ve apply to my own work since the moment I heard it, but I love interpreting art through this 15-second statement I heard on a podcast over a year ago. And Lena Dunham is making art.
GRIEF AND MEDIA updates:
My latest essay on aging is out: I, for one, would like to age! I had been sitting on this piece for a while, and I’m happy it’s out there now. I’m sure other 30-year-old women can relate (or maybe I just engage with this sort of content), but everything I see online has to do with being a 30 year old who is either SCARED OF AGING!!!! or FEELS EMPOWERED TO BE 30!!!! I guess I fall into the latter bucket, but I ultimately wish I didn’t care to act like 30 is a big deal at all.
I’ve also been doing my GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT videos. I am constantly worried I’m not doing a good job with them, but I think it’s because I care about them so much. My last two episodes are with the hosts of Mayhem on KSFS Radio, Lily and Pancake.
I met them last fall when they took the class I taught at SFSU, and they each shared beautiful stories of loved ones in these videos that I had no idea about prior to recording. I’m so grateful that people want to share these sort of things with me and within my project.
That’s all from me this week. See you soon~~
Thank you for reading. If you liked this post, I’ve got more where that came from!!!! Subscribe for more writing and watch GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT on here or YouTube.
