Awesome! Thank you, Freddie. Only my second appearance (2 out of 2 months) on your "Subscriber Writing" Post, but I too really look forward to these as well. Cheers! :-)
LOL! Do you know how many subscribers Freddie actually has? Thousands upon thousands. It would be interesting to see how many of Freddie's subscribers of his write on Substack. But, I'd imagine that his non-writing subscribers still outnumber his writing subscribers, probably by a wide margin.
I started reading so many good ‘stacks after last month’s post, but just want to recommend Andrew Rosa’s in particular. It’s wonderfully poignant and lovely writing on literature. I get something from it regardless of whether I have any familiarity with the subject matter.
There's a LOT of good stuff here (plus mine which y'all should read and subscribe). I'm not sure any of it is Erin E level good, but it's quite good nevertheless!
I love these--it's so nice when writers you like share what they're reading or other writers and pieces they find interesting, especially when the compilations are so comprehensive.
Actually reminds me of the book mentioned not too long ago in one of the comments of a recent post--The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is. Smith talks about how music is recommended algorithmically on platforms like Spotify--for instance, if you like "I Put a Spell on You" by Marilyn Manson. Recommendations always include more of the same artist and the same genre but never explore the pop history of the actual song (I will always remember the Animals and Creedence Clearwater versions my parents played and thought of that when Manson first put that song out but have since come to appreciate the version by Nina Simone as well). Nicholas Carr writes about a similar phenomenon in one of his essays about digital music and downloading single songs--not many people listen to entire albums the way they were created for and on vinyl anymore, which alters the musical experience in a way. As he writes about when listening to the Rolling Stones's Exile on Main Street--an album I f-ing love--"Nobody really wants to download 'Turd on the Run'" (I'm paraphrasing). These writing collections--like music albums--give you a more in-depth and sort of secret insight to those curating (or creating) them. And they show that they're part of a more expansive and dynamic aesthetic sensibility.
As a side note--Oryx and Crake is my favorite book by Atwood and glad to read the article about James Tiptree Jr. AKA Alice Sheldon. One of my personal Top Three Most Haunting Stories Ever: "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death."
Past roundups of external writing, I've clicked on maybe two or three that looked promising, and they were...this time around, I actually intend to read *at least* 75% of the links. Great time to coincidentally have a vacation coming up, heh. Thanks Freddie, I definitely won't be getting bored at least! If I never read any other posts, the subscriber writing curation alone would pretty much be worth the subscription, honestly. There's no shortage of great content out there on the Internet, but no one has time to sort through it all, so it's only through lists like this that I tend to discover anything great at all.
Thank you so much for sharing my work, Freddie! I am so delighted to have found you through Bari’s podcast — truly a breath of fresh air to hear your take on disease/disorder as identity, and the causes and solutions of this phenomenon. Honored to be shared here and among these great writers, and so looking forward to reading their work!
Awesome! Thank you, Freddie. Only my second appearance (2 out of 2 months) on your "Subscriber Writing" Post, but I too really look forward to these as well. Cheers! :-)
Uh oh. Am I the only subscriber who is not writing???
LOL! Do you know how many subscribers Freddie actually has? Thousands upon thousands. It would be interesting to see how many of Freddie's subscribers of his write on Substack. But, I'd imagine that his non-writing subscribers still outnumber his writing subscribers, probably by a wide margin.
Phew! Thanks for the reassurance.
Thank you so much, Freddie! I’m looking forward to reading--and being read!
I found a lot of great writers last time. I look forward to reading these.
I started reading so many good ‘stacks after last month’s post, but just want to recommend Andrew Rosa’s in particular. It’s wonderfully poignant and lovely writing on literature. I get something from it regardless of whether I have any familiarity with the subject matter.
Holy... I had just succeeded at paring down my reading list to manageable proportions! You're killing me dude. I love this. Aaargh!
There's a LOT of good stuff here (plus mine which y'all should read and subscribe). I'm not sure any of it is Erin E level good, but it's quite good nevertheless!
Highly recommend Sarah Shermyen’s “In Defense of Vanity.”
Thank you, Freddie!
quite enjoyed Olshonsky's essay!
I love these--it's so nice when writers you like share what they're reading or other writers and pieces they find interesting, especially when the compilations are so comprehensive.
Actually reminds me of the book mentioned not too long ago in one of the comments of a recent post--The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is. Smith talks about how music is recommended algorithmically on platforms like Spotify--for instance, if you like "I Put a Spell on You" by Marilyn Manson. Recommendations always include more of the same artist and the same genre but never explore the pop history of the actual song (I will always remember the Animals and Creedence Clearwater versions my parents played and thought of that when Manson first put that song out but have since come to appreciate the version by Nina Simone as well). Nicholas Carr writes about a similar phenomenon in one of his essays about digital music and downloading single songs--not many people listen to entire albums the way they were created for and on vinyl anymore, which alters the musical experience in a way. As he writes about when listening to the Rolling Stones's Exile on Main Street--an album I f-ing love--"Nobody really wants to download 'Turd on the Run'" (I'm paraphrasing). These writing collections--like music albums--give you a more in-depth and sort of secret insight to those curating (or creating) them. And they show that they're part of a more expansive and dynamic aesthetic sensibility.
As a side note--Oryx and Crake is my favorite book by Atwood and glad to read the article about James Tiptree Jr. AKA Alice Sheldon. One of my personal Top Three Most Haunting Stories Ever: "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death."
Hope you liked it, Farmer! Alice Sheldon is a writer that deserves to be more widely known.
Brad Neaton, I'm reading your piece right now and it is infuriating and heartbreaking. I admire your courage and vulnerability in sharing it.
thanks again for doing this! i look forward to finding some great reads :-)
Past roundups of external writing, I've clicked on maybe two or three that looked promising, and they were...this time around, I actually intend to read *at least* 75% of the links. Great time to coincidentally have a vacation coming up, heh. Thanks Freddie, I definitely won't be getting bored at least! If I never read any other posts, the subscriber writing curation alone would pretty much be worth the subscription, honestly. There's no shortage of great content out there on the Internet, but no one has time to sort through it all, so it's only through lists like this that I tend to discover anything great at all.
Thank you so much for sharing my work, Freddie! I am so delighted to have found you through Bari’s podcast — truly a breath of fresh air to hear your take on disease/disorder as identity, and the causes and solutions of this phenomenon. Honored to be shared here and among these great writers, and so looking forward to reading their work!
So many great writers and recommendations here thanks Freddie!