Read Harder

by Ed Park (Editor), Heidi Julavits (Editor)

Overview

This volume collects the finest essays from the second half of the Believer's decade-long (and counting) run. The Believer, the McSweeney's-published four-time nominee for the National Magazine Award, is beloved for tackling everything from pop culture to ancient literature with the same sagacity and wit, and this collection cements that reputation with pieces as wildly diverse as the magazine itself. Featured articles include Nick Hornby on his first job, Rebecca Taylor on her time acting in no-budget horror movies, Francisco Goldman on the failings of memoir in dealing with personal tragedy, Megan Abbott and Sara Gran on V.C. Andrews and the secret life of girls, and Brian T. Edwards on Western pop culture's influence on Iran. Read Harder collects some of the finest nonfiction writing published in America today, from the profound to the absurd, the crushing to the uplifting. As the Believer enters its second decade, Read Harder serves as both an essential primer for one of the finest, strangest magazines in the country, and an indispensable stand-alone volume.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781940450674
Publisher:	McSweeney's Publishing
Publication date:	09/30/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ed Park is a founding editor of the Believer and the author of the novel Personal Days.

Heidi Julavits co-founded the Believer in 2003. She is the author of four novels, including the PEN-award-winning The Vanishers.

Table of Contents

Introduction Ed Park 7

The Disappearance of Ford Beckman Michael Paul Mason 11

The End of the Story Zach Baron 23

Travels With My Ex Susan Straight 35

Sweatpants in Paradise Molly Young 47

A Glimpse of Unplumbed Depths Annie Julia Wyman 57

The Death of a Civil Servant Lev Grossman 71

Absent Things as if They Are Present Jeannie Vanasco 89

Virginia Mountain Scream Queen Rebecca Taylor 109

Dark Family Sara Gran Megan Abbott 21

Watching Shrek in Tehran Brian T. Edwards 137

If He Hollers Let Him Go Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah 149

Mithradates of Fond Du Lac Kent Russell 173

But Never a Lovely So Real Colin Asher 197

How To Scrutinize a Beaver Rachel Poliquin 221

The Unresilient Francisco Goldman 227

How to Explore Like a Real Victorian Adventurer Monte Reel 243

The Immortal Horizon Leslie Jamison 257

The Fickle Needle of Fate Paul Collins 277

My Patron Nick Hornby 283

Editorial Reviews

[The Believer's] new anthology…leads us by the hand through vistas of oddball endeavors, comic failures and emotional pain. The ideal audience might be the well-educated cubicle-dweller who is bored by an unchallenging job and wants to be reminded that the world can be mysterious and beautiful.

The New York Times Book Review - Evan Hughes

06/09/2014
This eclectic, charming collection assembles the best essays published in the Believer between 2009 and 2013. (An earlier volume, Read Hard, collects essays from 2003 to 2008.) While some selections tackle political issues, such as race relations and oppression in Iran, most are on lighter topics; the book includes essays about pop culture and tales of the weird made familiar. Leslie Jamison provides a stellar firsthand account of the treacherous Barkley Marathons, while Paul Collins recounts the curious history of “dashboard phonographs.” Kent Russell’s report from the world of “mithradates”—people who can survive snake bites—evokes both Hunter S. Thompson and This American Life. Full of twists and turns, Rebecca Taylor’s story about her descent into the world of B movies leaves a lasting impression. Other essays touch on Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time novels, V.C. Andrews, Dave Chappelle, and Nelson Algren. Taken as a whole, the collection promotes artists who defy easy categorization. The remarkable story of Ford Beckman, which opens the anthology, exemplifies this theme and shows how the fate of an artist often depends on fickle market forces. To read this book is to open a delightful cabinet of wonders. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Nineteen essays, often funny and sometimes poignant, from the journalists, essayists and novelists long admired by the editors at McSweeney’s Believer magazine." —Kirkus

"Read Harder champions unabashed exploration. Together, reader and writer tumble down rabbit holes as strange as they are edifying, and it's a testament to the Believer's editors that the magazine encourages and produces such distinct and engaging work." —Shelf Awareness

"Well-chosen, wide-ranging" —Booklist

From the Publisher

08/01/2014
Author Dave Eggers's McSweeny's publishing is home to a trend-setting website, a variety of book imprints, and unconventional magazines including the Believer, a monthly publication Eggers launched in 2003 that features interviews, book reviews, and essays with observations on pop culture and literature. Two of the Believer's founding editors, Park (Personal Days) and Julavits (The Vanishers), have compiled these essays into a volume highlighting the magazine's quirky style and eclectic mix of topics. Some of the subjects covered include Victorian travel guides, fantasy writer Robert Jordan, comedian Dave Chappelle, and a record player that was made in the 1950s for car dashboards. Best-selling authors Nick Hornby (About a Boy) and Lev Grossman (The Magician) are among the writers featured in the collection. A slight improvement could have been made to this otherwise engaging read by including the original publication date of each piece, especially those with contemporary themes. VERDICT For fans of Eggers and McSweeny's publications, pop culture enthusiasts, and readers of literary magazines.—Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL

Library Journal

2014-06-05
Nineteen essays, often funny and sometimes poignant, from the journalists, essayists and novelists long admired by the editors at McSweeney’sBelievermagazine.Upon its launch, the founders of the magazine said, “We will focus on writers and books we like. We will give people and books the benefit of the doubt.” Soon after, a critic described the magazine as “highbrow but delightfully bizarre,” which fits the bill. This new collection of essays by the likes of Nick Hornby, Susan Straight, Lev Grossman and Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah certainly strikes that unique and iconoclastic tone—McSweeney’s founder Dave Eggers’ tastes and style are all over this collection, if not his name. Edited by founding editors Park (Personal Days, 2008) and Julavits (The Vanishers, 2012, etc.), the collection spans a wide range of literary criticism, celebrity profiles, journalistic nonfiction and humorous ephemera. It opens with “The Disappearance of Ford Beckman,” by Michael Paul Mason, a story that wouldn’t go amiss inEsquire, concerning an iconic American artist reduced to making donuts at Krispy Kreme. Closer to the end, novelist Leslie Jamison examines a bizarre, Tennessee-based endurance test called the Barkley Marathons. On the literary front, mystery novelists Sara Gran and Megan Abbott tackle the enduring legacy of V.C. Andrews, while journalist Zach Baron delves into the late Robert Jordan and the finishing of the Wheel of Time saga. It can be a jarring transition, following Jeannie Vanasco’s examination of erasure (the art form, not the band) in “Absent Things As If They Were Present,” with Rebecca Taylor’s “Virginia Mountain Scream Queen,” remembering a lowbrow history in B-movies, but it’s refreshing, too. It’s really best to jump around—only readers can best decide if they should start with “How to Scrutinize a Beaver” (on 18th-century anatomy) or “If He Hollers Let Him Go” (chasing the ghost of comedian Dave Chappelle).Hotly anticipated in 2020:The Believer’sRead Hard with a Vengeance.

Kirkus Reviews