If You Like… You’ll Love: What to Do When Your Favorite Author is Sold Out
September 5, 2019
You know when someone says, “Oh, you have to read this book,” and you respond, “Oh, it’s on my list!”—and then you just. Never. Read. It? Maybe the bandwagon just isn’t your wagon. Or maybe you’re preoccupied by all the other books out there (a lazy Google search tells us there are 129,864,880 books to choose from).
But say you do finally read that book. You deserve all the snaps. You took part in a literary trust fall. You broke out your credit-slash-library card. And, you got swept away by an incredible story, just like all your nagging friends said you would (ugh). You might even be vigilant enough to see said author is coming to Seattle—be it Malcolm Gladwell, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Lindy West, or Rachel Maddow—but find they’re sold out on lectures.org (double ugh).
So what’s an eleventh-hour reader to do? Let this guide be your silver lining.
If You Like:
You’ll Love:
Why?
If you’re a fan of Rachel Maddow’s crackling investigative work, this event is not to be missed. On October 5, 2017, Kantor & Twohey broke a New York Times story we’re sure you’ve read—it changed the world. The title? “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades.” Their initial report was a culmination of a months-long investigation into one of the most prominent and powerful Hollywood producers of all time, including confidential interviews with top actresses, former employees, and many other sources. Rumors about Weinstein’s mistreatment of women were already notorious in Hollywood, but unlike previous reporting, Kantor & Twohey’s work stuck because they convinced key sources to go on record, creating a final dramatic showdown between Weinstein and the Times, as well as consequences for the #MeToo movement and the women who spoke up. Get tickets.
If You Like:
You’ll Love:
Why?
Popular staff writer at The New Yorker? Check. Accomplished podcast host? Check. Examiner of global culture from an entirely new and refreshing angle? Check. Adam Davidson, financial columnist and NPR’s Planet Money founder, shares plenty of common ground with Mr. Gladwell. Is the middle class dying? Are robots stealing our jobs? Should we all have just majored in engineering? The Passion Economy—Davidson’s latest project—says no. By illuminating stories of average people doing what they love, from an accountant overturning his industry to an Amish craftsman meeting the technological needs of Amish farmers, Davidson argues the twentieth-century economy of scale has given way in this century to an economy of passion. If you appreciate Gladwell’s optimism and way of making research palatable, we bet you’ll be compelled by Davidson’s vision of our economic past, present, and future, too. Get tickets.
If You Like:
You’ll Love:
Why?
Coates and Anderson are two of the leading commentators on the history of white supremacy and its effects on the lives of Americans, and both are required reading. While Coates’ Between the World and Me is perhaps a more experiential meditation on what it means to have a black body in this country, Professor Anderson’s work—including White Rage and One Person, No Vote—bends more academic, linking historical flashpoints in a deft examination of all the key legislation from the Thirteenth Amendment to now. Both of Anderson’s books add a new dimension to the conversation about race in America, and specifically to white reactions to black progress, be it in the public school or the polling booth. Like Coates, Anderson is an enormously compelling speaker, to boot—this video, which is only three minutes, should convince you of that. Get tickets.
If You Like:
You’ll Love:
Why?
To draw a comparison that no one asked for, if Lindy West’s memoir, Shrill, was a cocktail, we think it might be a Moscow Mule—zingy and highly drinkable with boundless hilarity, charm, and warmth. That would make Carmen Maria Machado’s work a Dark ‘n’ Stormy; similar, but with a dark-rum-twist. Like West, Machado makes brave observations about being a woman in the world, and is also noticed for her sharp, original voice—but her work takes on a darker quality, through fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and dreamlike narratives. As evidence, take some recent terms that critics have been using to describe Machado’s new memoir, In the Dream House, which is about her volatile relationship with another woman: “nerve-striking,” “brutally honest,” “imaginative,” and “daringly structured.” If you’re a West fan, we know you’ll drink Machado’s work up—both are the cathartic and confident feminist writers we need these days. Get tickets.