Your Controversial Book Club Winners!
Hey, you can read that headline two ways. And both are true! AND: Your final days to get FREE and cheap (not that way) gorgeous shirts!!!
By Jane Pratt
Just before I get into today's big newsworthy newsletter, I want to thank you all for getting so personally involved with the article we just published. I've received the most incredible stories from you in comments, emails, DMs, etc. recounting your own horror shows. I'm planning to publish the accounts you will let me publish in a follow up, because it’s flabbergasting how many of you there are, how great you many are and how willing you’ve been to put yourselves out to make others in this situation feel less alone. (What's crazy is that it is not the usual It Happened To Me “tell your story to make other people in this general situation feel less alone,” it's women who were in this exact same scenario with this exact same guy speaking up to support.) Thank you. You're wonderful.
Now for today’s announcement: I'm either lucky or manipulative or both, but what do you know, the winners of the AJPT Controversial-Books-Only Book Club survey are two that I most wanted to read myself. Yes, I said two because this time we're going with a double whammy of your top two choices, Lena Dunham’s and Lindy West’s latests. I say we start with Lena’s FAMESICK (which many if not most of you have already read - multiple times - so you have a head start or can reread it with us) and then after we have met on that one we can do the Lindy!
That last dumb line just made me think about some of you saying that my tone here on my intros lately is particularly bubbly and manic and hyper and all of those no-doubt highest-compliment analyses. Sometimes I realize that I am veering very close to writing like Cindy Adams and let me know whenever it becomes a problem for you. I can adjust! But I do love Cindy!
Now let's all start reading some GOOD writing, why don't we? We're going to meet TWICE to talk about each of these books - complete with refreshments at my apartment again -for those of you who make it to the NYC area and lots of salivating via Zoom for the rest of you. As I said, I'm sure a ton of you have already read one or both of these books or are already on your second or third reading of one or both of these books. So reread or not however you like but we'll be setting a meeting time to gather at my place once again for bagels and coffee or pizza and alcohol depending on the time of day (because of course pepperoni slices and beer are breakfast).
Thank you all so so much for voting and for your heartfelt and thoughtful and wacky and interesting reasons for choosing the books that you did. Thank you also for your suggestions for our next round of the AJPT Controversial-Books-Only book club, and feel free to give me more title suggestions here in the comments too.
It's been a minor thrill during the voting process to hear personally from Belle, Lena, Lindy, Keith, James, and Olivia about their inclusions. (Olivia wrote me voting for Keith, in a rather compelling October - actually June - Surprise upset.) I still haven't heard anything from Vladimir or Ocean, but that didn't tilt the scales in any way - this is an honest election result based on your overall likes in the post cited above with the same lack of voter fraud as everywhere else in this country.
I'm really excited to talk to you more about the two wonderful winners and their no doubt fascinating books. OK, the end, as breathlessly and repetitively written by me, Jane. My memoir (to be published by #FuckingRandomHouse) will not be quite so breathless, I promise. This glorious tone is just for you AJPT subscribers and I appreciate you the most for sticking with me through all of it. Did I say I love you five times yet? If not, I do.
Love again, Jane
PS Please suggest a good deadline for all of you to finish first Lena’s and then Lindy’s books and meet on them. I am terrible with time clearly because it took me until Lena's paperback is practically out to announce her hardcover as a winner here. (And I gave my daughter a sweet 16 party when she was 17.) So give me some sense in the comments of when you'll be good to meet. It can be based on something self-serving like an already planned trip to NYC. (Alyssa, I am counting on you being there at least virtually - I need you!) Also, very important: anyone who wants to read Andy's manuscript that's referenced in the contest announcement, leave a comment about that too, so he can coordinate getting it to all of us. (That is if he even still wants to publish it. Or is even alive? Are you there, Andy?? This is reminding me of the time I took so long to respond to a text from my longterm boyfriend that he got married to someone else in the meantime. Silly and true!)
PPS For any of you considering canceling your subscription (it is a special kind of insult when someone cancels a FREE subscription, but I aim to embrace those as pointed and thus particularly valuable pieces of feedback): Coming up next - THIS WEEK - is the sequel to the nail-biting series from Leslie about her narcissist mother. And if you haven’t read it yet, you may want to check out her first riveting series about her husband’s affair and the unusual way she handled it. That was when it was so dicey for Leslie to write it that she used a pseudonym to start. Have fun!
Famesick by Lena Dunham
Famesick by Lena Dunham available at Bookshop.org
Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane by Lindy West
Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane by Lindy West available at Bookshop.org.
*The printing company we work with started charging us more than we are making in some cases, so while we fix that, take advantage of their shit policy by ordering a bunch of these relatively inexpensive shirts now.
I'm going to be the first to comment here because after talking about how pointed it feels to get an unsubscription from someone who is a free subscriber, author Tina Gaudoin just unsubscribed. I had been happy to see her sign up to subscribe. What do you think?
I will never understand the unsubscribes — I get a few each time I post. I question it not because I expect to be loved by all unconditionally, but because they knew who I was when signing up. Talking ad nauseum about fashion and beauty through the lens of aging, celebrating getting older and all its merits while never once giving an affiliate link or telling you which $200 tee I’m “obsessed with” … it’s all there in the about page. I haven’t veered from who I am and what I write about, and ofc I am going to mention my fashion essay collection throughout pieces because as any author knows it’s hard to sell books these days (unless you’re Belle Burden or Lena Dunham). And on that note, I’m in NYC mid October and would die to be part of this IRL.