Thursday Noodles 11/30/23
Books and socks to keep you warm
TWO TRULY PHENOMENAL BOOKS:
Nonfiction:
Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond.
A must-read.
Y’all! A look at poverty that actually critiques our filthy, rotten system! And what we could do about it!
The blurb:
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a “provocative and compelling” (NPR) argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Oprah Daily, Time, The Star Tribune, Chicago Public Library
“Urgent and accessible . . . Its moral force is a gut punch.”—The New Yorker
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.
Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.
Seriously. Just read it.
If you’re a Durham County Library patron, the audiobook and ebook are available on Libby.
His book Evicted is well worth a read, too. I read it while on the waitlist for this one.
Fiction:
Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang
Y’all! This book!
It is:
a rip-roaring page turner
a spot-on behind-the-scenes look at the publishing industry
a realistic yet funny look at how social media affects … everything
a hilariously scathing depiction of your average “but I voted for Biden!” liberal white woman.
An NPR review by Keishel Williams praises:
“Every once in a while there is a novel that enters the literary zeitgeist and requires discourse — but it feels like there is nothing that can be written or said that will ever do it justice. This is the feeling R.F. Kuang's new novel Yellowface evokes.” […]
“In one scene, June is challenged by a Chinese American reader on why she thinks it's okay to write and profit from painful Chinese history. She responds, "I think it's dangerous to start censoring what authors should and shouldn't write...I mean, turn what you're saying around and see how it sounds. Can a Black writer not write a novel with a white protagonist?"”
“The beauty and irony of this conversation is that Kuang herself is an Asian writer telling this story through the eyes of a white writer.” […]
Yup.
And the true brilliance is that the author lets the protagonist think that “I mean, turn what you're saying around and see how it sounds. Can a Black writer not write a novel with a white protagonist?" is a good argument, and that the conversation ends there. She lets the protag think what many a liberal white woman would think. And lets this thinking be cosigned by her cohort of authors and editors.
But (hopefully) the reader knows better. The reader knows that’s not the end of the conversation. The reader sees that our protag is clueless, hapless, and harmful in profoundly racist ways.
We know that the difference between a Black writer writing a “white story” and a white writer writing a “Black story” is really a very big difference indeed.
The difference is that we live in a racist, white supremacist system.
Switching writer’s places does not address that.
One is a story written about a systemically oppressed and marginalized people/person, written by a systemically privileged person. Who stands to make money from that story.
The other is a story — and in this case a searing critique — written about a systemically powerful person (even if she still must face sexism, a white woman has a ton of white privilege, and this protag also has class, age, ability, educational, cishet, and pretty privilege to go along with it), written by a systemically marginalized person.
They simply aren’t the same things.
And Kuang shows us this, in a razor-sharp and snort-your-coffee satire.
SOCKS:
My feet are always cold. Always. And I’m one of those “highly sensitive people” who experience the full feeling of their socks with every step they take. Is it too tight around the ankles? Is there a seam rubbing a toe? Is it warm but too warm? Soft but not so soft that my foot slides around?
(For you non-highly sensitive people, imagine spending two or three hours on your favorite hike but in which every one of your steps reminds you about your socks. That’s every walk or hike I take, my whole life long.)
So warm, comfortable socks are a big thing for me.
After I got over the sticker shock, I used to be an exclusively Smartwools (or cheaper knock-offs made from merino wool) for winter gal.
But last year I succumbed to targeted ads (how do they KNOW?) and ordered myself some Pacas socks. Made from Alpaca wool, the tagline is “softer than cashmere, warmer than wool.” Also there’s a cute alpaca in a Santa hat.
That’s pretty good marketing if you ask me.
Talk about sticker shock! These are even more expensive that Smartwools.
But reader, I love these socks.
They ARE warmer than Smartwools — and a better investment. They last ten times as long.
Like Smartwools, they don’t get stinky.
Unlike Smartwools, I haven’t managed to get holes or thin areas in the heels yet.
I’m predictable in that I give my mom and my mother-in-law the same Xmas gifts every year: a family-photo calendar and a pair of nice socks.
Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Last year, the sock choice switched from Smartwools to Pacas. I bought a 3-pack and put one pair each in the following stockings: Juanita, Lisa, Jen.
Hashtag winning.
OK y’all! That’s it for Thursday noodles this week, the week that MY BABY BOY TURNED 19 HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE OH MY GOODNESS IT DOESN’T SEEM POSSIBLE and so on.
XOXO
P.S. Along with Tradobligation season, it’s college application season. I have a few openings left for college-application consulting. I help students with ideas, critique, and time-management support — but/and I DO NOT WRITE, EDIT, OR CHANGE A STUDENT’S APPLICATION ESSAY. All writing is the student’s own. Always. Please see my website for more information about my work as a writing coach, editor, and application-essay consultant.
I ordered socks and a sweater for my husband from Pacas within hours of reading your post. They finally arrived today (so much for 3-4 day shipping...), and I regret getting them for him instead of myself. So, so soft. I'd already gotten him Poverty, By America earlier this year. Therefore, my logical conclusion is I should order Yellowface for myself. I love your writing, and feel a little guilty to only be commenting now on a less substantive post. Regardless, thank you! Thank you for the recommendations, and thank you so much more for who you are and for sharing bits of that with us through writing.
I received my first Paca socks for my August birthday. Wore for the first time when weather dictated and LOVE THEM. Everything you stated is true and beyond. The sticker shook is huge and yet a good meal out lasts for 5-6 hours? These feel as if they’ll last for years (and mine dry hanging on a wooden rack.