5 Good Books from April
Billion Dollar Loser, The Good Lord Bird, and more
Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork by Reeves Wiedeman (2020)
At one time the most valuable private company in the US, the fall of WeWork and its former co-founder and CEO is more thriller than cautionary tale. Wiedeman expertly weaves firsthand accounts from employees and investors with the state of the real estate industry and the larger economy, and sheds light on the many enablers of Adam Neumann.
If you like to see rich people fall hard as a result of their own hubris (well, as fast as a parachute into a pile of money will let them), this one’s for you.
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride (2013)
When a young slave is unwittingly caught up in a skirmish between Old John Brown and his master that ends up with the death of the latter, he has no choice but to join the abolitionist’s party (who for some reason believes he’s a young girl).
It’s through the eyes of young Henry(etta)—dubbed Little Onion by John Brown—that we see the pre-Civil War battleground of the Kansas Territories. The novel is light on history, though it does culminate at the raid on Harper’s Ferry, and big on building the mythology of Old John Brown and his devotion to abolition.
From McBride’s pen through Little Onion’s vantage point, it’s a welcomely fresh perspective.
The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams (2020)
This is a treat for any fan of language. In addition to the most real words I’ve ever needed to look up, there’s the added layer of made-up words from a bored 19th century lexicographer whose naughty additions to a dictionary form the basis for our present day protagonist’s meager employment.
As our young intern Mallory tries to decipher what’s real and what’s not in the outdated Swansby’s Encyplopaedic Dictionary, she’s also trying to find language for her existence, her love, and her future.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (2020)
Louise Erdrich is National Book Award-winning treasure. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and though she writes primarily about indigenous people, her stories of love, tradition, and culture are universal.
The Night Watchman tells a tale similar to the one of Erdrich’s grandfather who worked all night as the watchman at a jewel bearing plant and all day to stave off the threat of termination of longstanding treaties with the United States.
As he fights to preserve his community’s way of life, Pixie Paranteau, a recent high school valedictorian who makes jewel bearings at the same plant, offers a view into the future of the tribe and its members as she straddles the Chippewa language she shares with her elders and the call of bigger cities and economic prospects.
Erdrich is a poetic master of prose, and her work commands your attention for its skillful plotting, vivid language, and utter readability.
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (2021)
This is an internet novel, but it’s also an incredibly human story.
No One Is Talking About This takes us deep into internet culture—and my one gripe is that we might spend a little too much time in the minutiae of memes and viral moments—only to rescue us with a humanly tragic situation that forces the protagonist to break her addiction to the portal of the web and see the small wonders of the world anew.
Lockwood is hilarious, and her insights have been honed for audiences of the internet age. I recommend following her on Twitter for dispatches on her cat, Miette, and reading her memoir, Priestdaddy, for more outtakes from her outlandish life.
