Reading Wednesday
Jan. 12th, 2022 07:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyJust finished: Jacob's Ladder by Naraht. I never know whether to list things I beta here, but seeing as this is a full, polished novel that I binge-read in two days, I figured I'd list it. All I'll say is that it slaps and I look forward to seeing it in print.
Reading the Obscene: Transgressive Editors and the Class Politics of U. S. Literature by Jordan S. Carroll. This lived up to the promise of its really great cover. It's interesting because I know a fair bit about mid-century obscenity trials thanks to my teenage obsession with the Beats and Henry Miller, but it did not occur to me until much later that these were works that were not meant for people like me, and represented a moment of class conflict and change with the rise of the Professional Managerial Class*. Jordan teases out some of the complexities behind both the editors and the censors (the information on Dr. Fredric Wertham was particularly surprising) as well as the readership. It's a fascinating exploration and provides context for the contemporary framing of free speech as a concern for middle-upper class white men that form the bulk of fascist organizations and supporters.
Currently reading: Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This is her latest and honestly, I love everything she does. It's set in Mexico City in the 1970s, and follows student protests and state repression from the point of view of a romance-obsessed secretary and an Elvis-loving gang member. I'm only two chapters in but I'm already super stoked.
* Yes, that also describes me now. Fun. Kind of. The class position of teachers is an interesting question.
Reading the Obscene: Transgressive Editors and the Class Politics of U. S. Literature by Jordan S. Carroll. This lived up to the promise of its really great cover. It's interesting because I know a fair bit about mid-century obscenity trials thanks to my teenage obsession with the Beats and Henry Miller, but it did not occur to me until much later that these were works that were not meant for people like me, and represented a moment of class conflict and change with the rise of the Professional Managerial Class*. Jordan teases out some of the complexities behind both the editors and the censors (the information on Dr. Fredric Wertham was particularly surprising) as well as the readership. It's a fascinating exploration and provides context for the contemporary framing of free speech as a concern for middle-upper class white men that form the bulk of fascist organizations and supporters.
Currently reading: Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This is her latest and honestly, I love everything she does. It's set in Mexico City in the 1970s, and follows student protests and state repression from the point of view of a romance-obsessed secretary and an Elvis-loving gang member. I'm only two chapters in but I'm already super stoked.
* Yes, that also describes me now. Fun. Kind of. The class position of teachers is an interesting question.
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