Friday Flowers #5
A few links to things I enjoyed recently—that you might enjoy, too. Plus some pictures of pretty flowers.
[Editor’s note: A lil’ housecleaning to start, I’m going to stay on Twitter for promotional reasons, but if you follow me on socials and are looking for the fun stuff, probably best to do so on Instagram, Bluesky, or Threads (in that order). Thanks! ❤️]
“I’m super grateful, obviously, for everything—I mean, before this I’d been on a plane twice in my adult life. And I’ve made great friends who are writers. But the desire for an external anything to make you happy is going to lead to an emptiness…”
That’s author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah in this wonderful profile of the man himself by Leah Greenblatt for Esquire. Nana’s incredible book (easily one of the best of the year), Chain Gang All Stars, has been shortlisted for the National Book Award.
“A question from my interviews also came up a lot in Colorado: What does masculinity, ‘being a man,’ actually mean anymore? Is it trading crypto for testosterone supplements? Swapping spouses on Feeld? More importantly, what might a healthy, confident version of masculinity look like today?”
In what easily could have been a very cringe-y article, but instead was an incredibly warm and lovely read, author Rosecrans Baldwin visits the Confident Man Ranch Retreat for GQ.
“I’m hyper aware that cultural trends are cyclical and we might no longer be cool in two years’ time and that’s fine too. It doesn’t change anything about the way in which we publish books. We’re just going to keep on publishing literary books because we like them, not because of what other people think.”
Meet Jacques Testard, “the man behind Fitzcarraldo, Britain’s coolest”—and award-winning—“indie publisher,” thanks to Susie Goldsbrough at The Times.
“I was a young, angry, confused kid from a violent household who was two years deep into figuring out that drinking made my brain itch less. Here was an anthem filled with longing that I didn't fully understand, but one that I felt. Deeply.”
Over at Luke O'Neil’s Welcome to Hell World I—alongside many other fantastic writers—wrote about the importance of Elliott Smith’s music.
I was also recently on the Today Show recommending books with author extraordinaire Jasmine Guillory and beloved host, Hoda Kotb.
One of the books I recommended on the Today show was Jesmyn Ward’s latest phenomenal novel, Let Us Descend. Ward was recently profiled by the brilliant Imani Perry in the New York Times. Don’t miss it.
That’s it from me, Crew. I’m walking around in Pennsylvania and Ohio this weekend doing research for my next book, American Dionysus. I hope y’all get out there and enjoy the world at a human pace this weekend. Don’t forget to have some fun. 🍓
PS—Bluesky for the win ( we hope)!
Grateful to and for you always, Isaac. Great perspective, and I hear joy in your word voice. Such a wonderful morning read in a chaotic time. Off to the bookstore… larkin