This Stack is off schedule—only the shortest of my forthcoming pieces is out, and I intended to wait until at least two of the longer ones were published before Stacking again—but I felt too much of a burning desire to write (on Substack, no less!) about how much I hate Substack to wait patiently. You’ll have to bear with me as this irregular newsletter becomes more and more regular and less and less of a newsletter—that is, as it transmutes more and more into a forum for ranting about things I’m not especially qualified to rant about. (More on how this is the essence of Substack momentarily.)
Definitely interested in reading group. I’m currently in reading groups via Zena Hitz Catherine Project (one of my group tutors is Jimmy Doyle!) but we are focused on Greeks and Romans right now. Itching to read something from the last few centuries. Last Fall I was in a group that read Kafka’s The Trial and it was really fun, so rich! We spent 90 minutes on each chapter a week, dense in a good way. Recently did one with Interintellect on Ted Chiang)s short stories that you pay a fee to attend, $15, per session for like 2-3 hours. The crowd is different, more an SV vibe but fun. It meets once a month and does 2-3 short stories thematically paired from his 2 short story collections.
Very interested in your Book Club idea! (Unless it's Bottom's Dream. A bridge too far for me.) I'd love to have some smart folks to read Dorothy Richardson's Pilgrimage with, for example. Only 13 books--we could do it in a year!
Thank you for your review. I've always liked Oyler's crit too, and I like her as a person very much, but something inside just didn't allow me to actually pick up and buy her book. I suppose I'd already read too many excerpts that seemed, well, "just OK." And any book that "centers the internet and social media in a modern milieu" or whatever always feels inherently underwrought to me, thin soup brought to a boil. "The internet, the iPhone, it's part of life now, it's perverted society's ability to speak and think and relate," yes yes, we get it!
I am very interested in a Difficult Book Club. I am not sure how one goes about this, I am not on social media and I have no idea what Slack is, but I will do some thinking and researching. I hope it works out. I've never been in a book club before. (Or any club -- hope this isn't disqualifying.)
I'm not sure why you say that you hate Substack: your article seems to me more about what you see as the decline of the traditional magazine market than about the failings of Substack as a medium. In fact I'm doubly puzzled: as seen from the UK, where I live, the US seems to have a positive abundance of magazines devoted to the humanities and serious discussion of current affairs and the arts. Indeed, there is so much interesting material being published that one needs intermediaries such as The Browser and 3 Quarks Daily (to both of which I subscribe) to sift out articles of possible interest, in the same way that wine merchants are necessary because nobody can find and try every wine produced. Now, many of these magazines might be struggling financially; but that doesn't stop new ones coming along all the time.
I think myself, however, that there is a problem with the traditional magazine model, namely that one has to buy entire issue, whether individually or by subscription, whereas only a proportion - sometimes a very small proportion - of the contents appeal. For me - and I acknowledge that I may well be what one of my sons calls an irrelevant demographic - this is exactly what appeals about Substack and similar sites: I can read articles written by someone whose thoughts are interesting and valuable - such as Justin Smith, whose Substack output I also follow - without having to pay for lots of articles written by other people. True, this has the disadvantage that I might miss something worth reading. But that's better than having to read lots of dull stuff to confirm its dullness. Of course people should pay for what they value; and as I understand it Substack enables this.
Good luck with your book club idea. My suggestion would be to take a little time at the outset to establish some commonality of interest or taste. The book club that I've belonged to for some time (now zoomed of course) has been quite fun; but because the membership has been so diverse that, without wishing to be too snooty, the discussion has been limited and frustrating
I'm interested in a reading group
If you're willing to accept random internet strangers, I'd definitely be interested in your book group idea.
Definitely interested in reading group. I’m currently in reading groups via Zena Hitz Catherine Project (one of my group tutors is Jimmy Doyle!) but we are focused on Greeks and Romans right now. Itching to read something from the last few centuries. Last Fall I was in a group that read Kafka’s The Trial and it was really fun, so rich! We spent 90 minutes on each chapter a week, dense in a good way. Recently did one with Interintellect on Ted Chiang)s short stories that you pay a fee to attend, $15, per session for like 2-3 hours. The crowd is different, more an SV vibe but fun. It meets once a month and does 2-3 short stories thematically paired from his 2 short story collections.
Very interested in your Book Club idea! (Unless it's Bottom's Dream. A bridge too far for me.) I'd love to have some smart folks to read Dorothy Richardson's Pilgrimage with, for example. Only 13 books--we could do it in a year!
Thank you for your review. I've always liked Oyler's crit too, and I like her as a person very much, but something inside just didn't allow me to actually pick up and buy her book. I suppose I'd already read too many excerpts that seemed, well, "just OK." And any book that "centers the internet and social media in a modern milieu" or whatever always feels inherently underwrought to me, thin soup brought to a boil. "The internet, the iPhone, it's part of life now, it's perverted society's ability to speak and think and relate," yes yes, we get it!
I am very interested in a Difficult Book Club. I am not sure how one goes about this, I am not on social media and I have no idea what Slack is, but I will do some thinking and researching. I hope it works out. I've never been in a book club before. (Or any club -- hope this isn't disqualifying.)
I'm also a random internet stranger and interested in your book group idea: jmsutten@gmail.com
This is a couple months old but I'm also interested in the reading group!
Yes to a bookclub. Emailed you.
I would love to be in a reading group of some difficult (or long) books. Will send my email along.
I'm not sure why you say that you hate Substack: your article seems to me more about what you see as the decline of the traditional magazine market than about the failings of Substack as a medium. In fact I'm doubly puzzled: as seen from the UK, where I live, the US seems to have a positive abundance of magazines devoted to the humanities and serious discussion of current affairs and the arts. Indeed, there is so much interesting material being published that one needs intermediaries such as The Browser and 3 Quarks Daily (to both of which I subscribe) to sift out articles of possible interest, in the same way that wine merchants are necessary because nobody can find and try every wine produced. Now, many of these magazines might be struggling financially; but that doesn't stop new ones coming along all the time.
I think myself, however, that there is a problem with the traditional magazine model, namely that one has to buy entire issue, whether individually or by subscription, whereas only a proportion - sometimes a very small proportion - of the contents appeal. For me - and I acknowledge that I may well be what one of my sons calls an irrelevant demographic - this is exactly what appeals about Substack and similar sites: I can read articles written by someone whose thoughts are interesting and valuable - such as Justin Smith, whose Substack output I also follow - without having to pay for lots of articles written by other people. True, this has the disadvantage that I might miss something worth reading. But that's better than having to read lots of dull stuff to confirm its dullness. Of course people should pay for what they value; and as I understand it Substack enables this.
Good luck with your book club idea. My suggestion would be to take a little time at the outset to establish some commonality of interest or taste. The book club that I've belonged to for some time (now zoomed of course) has been quite fun; but because the membership has been so diverse that, without wishing to be too snooty, the discussion has been limited and frustrating