Reading notes (5/31/25)

2 novels, a Christian book, a book of essays

It would be a travesty if I didn’t share what I’ve been reading with you, because honestly, this is one of the ways I remember it.

“Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel

• Bought this at B&N for “50% off” ¹

• It was on sale, and I went there after church

• The other books by Emily are fantastic, this one is like 2 or 3 years old

• It feels a bit rushed after the pandemic success of Station Eleven, especially since one of the characters is on a book tour promoting a book during a pandemic (not COVID 19 however, it’s set in the future)

• Her writing always feels light to me, like skipping over water, but not in a surface-y way, she’s just great giving just enough for you to feel in the details yourself

• That’s a great skill because I tend to over-write things

• Her books also reference other characters, not in a you-must-have-read-all-of-her -previous-books way, but in with nice Easter eggs

“The Sleepers” by Michael Gasda

• This is one of those deep NYC literary books, where it feels like shots are being thrown via book to someone across the room at a party, and that maybe only 5 people would get the reference

• I’m okay with that, but if you don’t want to enter the world of hyper-NYC-literary problems, then skip this, because you’re dealing with a Marxist professor who’s not quite sure he’s really Marxist who then gets in a relationship with a student while his failed actress wife revisits a symmetrical relationship, one in which she dated her acting professor and patron when she was in her 20s, only to revisit him when he’s on the edge of death

• Add in some normal angst around marriage and children and you have the representative elder millennial NYC book

• Let’s not forget to throw in some punches at some signposts of the era like N+1 and others

• This is the type of book I used to admire, but now I just find it kinda funny but still somewhat enjoyable, these indie “NYC literary” books are a genre upon themselves

• Reviews about this book I enjoyed:

  • review by Michael Brady

  • review at Cracks in Postmodernity

“Life in the Negative World” by Aaron Renn

• I was at this church gathering and all the 20-something Christians at this gathering were talking about this book (ok one of them recently turned 30)

• Ok, so this book started as a “viral” essay² and then was flipped into a book

• The idea is that American Christians now live in a “negative world” whereas previously we lived in a “neutral” world and before that we lived in a “positive” world where it was generally a culturally positive to your social status if you were a Christian

  • There’s a lot to unpack even in that idea, which is why the essay and his ideas went viral

• The book had reached my consciousness because of that essay, but then all of the “kids” talking about the book made me want to read the book

• I read the book in a very half-hazard way, part ebook, part audiobook

• I told my friend (IRL friend and friend of the newsletter) Daniel about the book and he listened to it on 2x speed and finished it faster than I did

• There’s a couple of issues

  • Renn’s framing rings true even if it’s not factually true — life has not always been easy for Christians in America, his timelines for the positive/neutral are way off, culturally Christians have always been somewhat “distant” —it’s not like Hollywood was always full of Christians or something, though politics could be a different case, not all Christian “actions” in the positive world framing were actually positive (let’s talk about segregation for a minute…or most Christians would rather not), actually Renn does bring up some issues like that including the use of abortion as a wedge to gain political power in the 80s, so he begins to contradict himself in a few spots, it’s always bothered me personally that American Christians would assume or think that Christianity would ever be “easy” or widely acceptable, the Bible mentions persecution³, so IMO there’s a bit of winnowing happening here, but also a “re-rise” in cultural christianity (which Renn’s book was written before the 2024 election) and I’m of two minds about — I get the benefit of awareness of Jesus is beneficial, but the misrepresentations without denying themselves and picking up his cross daily is frustrating to me⁴

• The idea that has stuck w/ me the most from Renn’s book is the idea of ownership, Christians owning their own businesses and institutions so they don’t get “cancelled.” I don’t like that fear-based word there, Christians certainly have enough of that going on (schools anyone?) but he makes a great point around regional businesses being owned and operated by Christians to help employ others in their community.

  • I’m more interested in the idea not because of the threat of cancellation, but to have great examples of businesses being run differently, to have good balance, to be good stewards in the community, and to love others well. Renn also does a good job of going beyond Hobby Lobby and Chick-Fil-A for good examples, even bringing in Barclays bank (founded by Quakers) as a good example (maybe not anymore howev)

• Other good things to read about this book:

  • What Happened When My Church Encountered Negative World

  • In the Era of Judges

  • Antifragile faith

The Golden Age of The Great American Essay (1945-1970) by Philip Lopate

• Part of why I like Substack and subscribe to magazines is I like essays

• This has a bunch of essays in it

• Some standouts:

  • “The Herd of Independent Minds” by Harold Rosenberg

  • “The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” by Robert K Merton

  • “Stranger in the Village” by James Baldwin

  • “Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction” by Flannery O’Connor

• Ok, I’m not completely done with this book, but there’s a bunch of amazing stuff in it, it’s fun to skip around

Apologies to the books I have been reading, but haven’t finished yet, or I forgot about, I hate when that happens.

Other notable cultural artifacts

• Please watch the latest season of Nathan Fielder’s “The Rehearsal” where there’s no better example of someone veering between sincere trolling and true sincerity so easily and quickly while also using entertainment to make a point, as he’s quick to point out

Keep going-

Josh

1. but the above link goes to Amazon, so it goes

2. I use quotes here, because 1 - language as the sign vs signified is always slippery, but moreso 2 - “viral” in the world of Christianity is a very different thing than say like arguing about what color the dress is. (That reference is 10 years old, it deserves its own newsletter post, I also need to personally update my cultural touchpoints)

3. Not that I want Christians to be persecuted

4. Dear Lord, help me to take up your cross daily and deny myself