Amy Wilson Sheldon Books

Wrap Me Up in a Complicated Blardigan: On Oh William! and Transcendent Kingdom

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

The Boston Globe Magazine’s January 23 cover story was “30 Great Comfort Foods”; the cover was festooned with a tantalizing picture of chicken and waffles from Brassica Kitchen + Cafe in Jamaica Plain, a fairly gentrified and artsy neighborhood in Boston that nonetheless still tries to cling to a working class/relatable vibe. Here’s the lead blurb to this compilation, which includes delicacies from honey-glazed biscuits, to ramen, to nine-hour French onion soup: “When temperatures drop and New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside, we all need something to warm our souls. These homey indulgences — found at restaurants around Greater Boston — are a fast track to our happy places.” Continue reading “Wrap Me Up in a Complicated Blardigan: On Oh William! and Transcendent Kingdom” →

Amy Wilson Sheldon Books

Pillow Platitudes: On The Overstory by Richard Powers & Instagram Influencers

The Overstory, by Richard Powers

The New York Times recently published an interesting Opinion piece called “The Empty Religions of Instagram: How did influencers become our moral authorities?” Well, I focused straight away because the type of influencers that this piece discusses – namely, Glennon Doyle – is my kryptonite. I, a middle-aged white mom, fall squarely in Glennon’s target demographic, yet my fascination with her and her ilk is more of the sideshow variety. This category mostly doesn’t appeal to me – and the questioning cycle of “why does this not appeal to me?” of course makes me feel completely out of sync with my peers – but it’s interesting watching her peddle self-help-with-an-edge while everyone seems to fall into lockstep. If I get too far down this rabbit hole, I (and my heart), get stuck in a cycle of cynicism. Continue reading “Pillow Platitudes: On The Overstory by Richard Powers & Instagram Influencers” →

Amy Wilson Sheldon Books

To Be or Not To Be (Yourself): On The Vanishing Half, The Glass Hotel, and Shakespeare

The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett and The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel

In a moment of delusion in late 2018, I decided to commit to reading one Shakespeare play per month in 2019. And I mostly kept the goal. (The only one I didn’t finish was Much Ado About Nothing in December.) I had already read many of these in college, and even though I was wholly tired of the Bard by the time 2020 rolled around, the plays still felt fresh. I thought King Lear raw and relevant, Hamlet heartbreaking. Twelfth Night made me sad in a “Mean Girls” kind of way. (Please don’t make fun of your steward, Malvolio.) And my college notes from 1997-ish were helpful! Here’s what I read:

Continue reading “To Be or Not To Be (Yourself): On The Vanishing Half, The Glass Hotel, and Shakespeare” →