**Literary Hub's "most anticipated books of 2024** "Extraordinary . a dazzling display of knowledge, wit, ratiocination, and prose style." --Kirkus Reviews "Unconventional and resourceful, sorrowful and perceptive, a challenging, rewarding book full of irreverent humor, rich imagery and engrossing digressions" -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "I tore through the poet, art critic, and novelist Lucy Ives's essay collection with glee. By revealing the ideology behind an object (whether it's a film or antique furniture), she patiently dismantles our fantasies about America and ourselves. It's painful to let go of these delusions; it's also the only way to go on. In the aftermath, at least we can cling to her voice--lively, cathartic, and undeniably charming." --Celine Nguyen, The Believer "Ives's writing simply has to be experienced. There are paragraphs and even sentences here that make whole essays in themselves, with a sculptural intensity you can circumnavigate, and the light of her thinking pours from the apertures.
" --Jonathan Lethem, author of Brooklyn Crime Novel "Reading Lucy Ives's essay collection is exhilarating. I was reintroduced to favorite topics and introduced to new favorites, always in the company of her extraordinary rigor, intelligence, and wit. This is the kind of book you want to read aloud to people you love, to assign, to give as a present--but don't loan this one; you might not get it back." --Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel "It is rare for a mind as mercurial and voracious as Lucy Ives's to possess such obvious lexical facility in guiding readers from one thought to the next, but here we are: Ives is one of our brilliant weirdos and must be protected at all costs." --Jonny Diamond, Literary Hub 's "most anticipated books of 2024" "Readers of her other books know that Ives is brilliant: getting to know the person, the gorgeous mind, behind those books is a total treat." --Courtney Eathorne, Booklist "A dazzling and deeply intelligent tour de force of wit and style. It's a deft and enlightening collection fit for re-reads to come; Ives is truly an original." --Sam Franzini, Our Culture Mag "From the expansive mind of novelist, poet, and critic Lucy Ives, stylish, sweeping essays that consider the lure of period rooms, Alanis Morissette, Heidegger, and more.
" --Vanity Fair "Ives writes with a madcap intellectualism--think David Sedaris with a Ph.D. Readers are advised to sit back and enjoy the many splendors of Lucy Ives' magpie brilliance." -- BookPage , starred review "Lucy Ives is probably the most talented, and must be the most interesting, American writer working in the public eye right now." --D. W. White, L'Esprit Literary Review.