First of all, Becca’s talents as a writer make me want to throw in the towel on my own career. She reminds me of the first time I played against a kid destined for a Division I basketball program in high school. I remember thinking, “Oh, you move differently than I do.”
But I’m always grateful for her words on love and desire. They speak to something in my lizard brain, resonate somewhere somatic as much as intellectual. This was wonderful.
Becca writes with such confident vulnerability that one knows that no form of writing will ever be beyond her. Her memories are vivid and her feelings are willingly but not forcefully exposed in ways that only bring one closer. This particular remembrance is consistent with the manner of her essays in All Things Are not Small. While this one is more personal - but still sufficiently mysterious to make us want more - we are consistently aware that she is in control of the narrative, that the mix of the external/objective and the internal/subjective is clearly defined and honest - but only to her point.
Thank you. But nothing about "W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N, baby, D.C."? It's not the people doing something real... It's not the way the springtime makes you feel...
I've only read Becca Rothfeld's criticism and book-related essays so far, which I've appreciated for their intelligence and wit and clarity. This showed the variety of her style. I was moved by the revelation about her childhood home and difficulties with her mother. Guts are in evidence, as is vulnerability. Thank you for writing this, Becca!
"And then there was my best refuge, books, which I read with an avidity I fear I can never recover, like someone sucking juice out of a fruit." This seems like a good way to think about the motivation behind Rothfeld's other essays, and especially the essays in All Things Are Too Small.
Excited to stumble into Tracks in Tracks and would love to contribute at some point. I notice in this first essay I’ve read that the writer quotes the song. Are there any copywrite issues with that? I’ve been told I cannot quote song lyrics in my WIP - hybrid memoir. Thanks in advance!
First of all, Becca’s talents as a writer make me want to throw in the towel on my own career. She reminds me of the first time I played against a kid destined for a Division I basketball program in high school. I remember thinking, “Oh, you move differently than I do.”
But I’m always grateful for her words on love and desire. They speak to something in my lizard brain, resonate somewhere somatic as much as intellectual. This was wonderful.
Becca writes with such confident vulnerability that one knows that no form of writing will ever be beyond her. Her memories are vivid and her feelings are willingly but not forcefully exposed in ways that only bring one closer. This particular remembrance is consistent with the manner of her essays in All Things Are not Small. While this one is more personal - but still sufficiently mysterious to make us want more - we are consistently aware that she is in control of the narrative, that the mix of the external/objective and the internal/subjective is clearly defined and honest - but only to her point.
There will be more, and I anxiously await.
Thank you. But nothing about "W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N, baby, D.C."? It's not the people doing something real... It's not the way the springtime makes you feel...
Maybe I should start a "Bonus Tracks" feature for each piece ....
I've only read Becca Rothfeld's criticism and book-related essays so far, which I've appreciated for their intelligence and wit and clarity. This showed the variety of her style. I was moved by the revelation about her childhood home and difficulties with her mother. Guts are in evidence, as is vulnerability. Thank you for writing this, Becca!
"And then there was my best refuge, books, which I read with an avidity I fear I can never recover, like someone sucking juice out of a fruit." This seems like a good way to think about the motivation behind Rothfeld's other essays, and especially the essays in All Things Are Too Small.
That record is incredible.
Amazing piece
Excited to stumble into Tracks in Tracks and would love to contribute at some point. I notice in this first essay I’ve read that the writer quotes the song. Are there any copywrite issues with that? I’ve been told I cannot quote song lyrics in my WIP - hybrid memoir. Thanks in advance!