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p_t_b's review
5.0
another book i had to read quickly for school. defies categorization and 1-5 star system. huge chunks of this book are the purest genius, new and weird and threatening. other parts are name-dropping, although it's not putrid name-dropping, more like name-dropping as a mode of 1) meaning making 2) context. some parts of this are so well-read as to be slightly off-putting, simply because you can't really keep up with Als' breadth of vision. bits are repetitive, and the essay-collection nature of it necessarily makes it feel jumbled. i think the last essay, on the wall of misremembering, should have come earlier. it feels buried, especially after the not entirely successful penultimate chapter, which is as far as i can tell a short story and not an essay. but this is still one of those books you have to reckon if you want to act like a cultural elite in 21c america, i think. i dunno. i didn't have that much fun reading it, but i also have an allergy to the unapologetically high-brow.
gabbywhiten's review
2.0
A provocative collection of essays. I wasn’t a huge fan of the titular piece as I found it dense and hard to read. Als is a very talented writer and I found the later essays evaluating media and entertainment to be super interesting. Not a must read for me.
beanpod's review
5.0
Such an important book. Filled with contradictions, but as this is Als and his own mind, who am I to cast stones? Some essays are more successful than others, some seem to go to fast while others seemed almost interminable. In the end, I give this book five stars because I feel White Girls is an important book to read. It leaves an impact not exactly emotional, but more socio-political. This book will continue to mean something.
lizawall's review
This book made me have a lot of thoughts and feelings! I'm not even sure what all of them are!
chaetrain's review
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.25
tristes tropiques is the most beautiful essay i’ve ever read. als’ voice is so lush and rich and sharp. he is equally unafraid to meander and to go in. besides tristes tropiques, loved the piece on louise brooks, andre leon talley, gwtw, and richard pryor. there’s a lot to learn from him as a writer- he switches up form so much but his voice feels so distinctively his. i definitely definitely don’t agree w a lot of his takes but he makes them so definitively and seductively that even when i don’t agree i still admire them. and rly just enjoy the way he continuously prods at the edges of race gender and sex with the fluid rigor of his language. so good and also quite difficult