"She answered in fluent but artificial English that she detested surrealistic novels of the poetic sort. She demanded hard realistic stuff reflecting our age. She liked books about Violence and Oriental Wisdom. Did it get better farther on?"

“A routine would be too much like work, and I don’t really like to work, even though I work a great deal. All the things I do that might be considered work are really a form of play.” —Jamaica Kincaid buff.ly/BQ4wuZY

QUALITY LIT GAME PODCAST EPISODE 8: THE TRAGEDY OF 'HAMNET' www.patreon.com/posts/ep-8-t...

Election day afternoon listening . . . www.patreon.com/posts/mailer...

‘The two memoirs together with “Pan” – which is autobiographical, though there are some deviations from his life – form a trilogy about the derangements of youth.’ @xlo.bsky.social on the relationship between Michael Clune’s debut novel and his memoirs of addiction. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

IN DEFENSE OF DIANE KEATON: QUALITY LIT GAME PODCAST EPISODE 3 www.patreon.com/posts/episod...

‘Lanier’s songs moved many of his contemporaries. Herrick called him “rare Laniere” while John Donne said he “gave a life and harmony to all that he set”.’ Alice Spawls on the rediscovery of a portrait of one of the most intriguing figures of the 17th century. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

A couple of new pieces I wrote on a book and a word. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/panic-in-t...

Quality Lit Game Podcast Episode 2 christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/quality-li...

A noun that becomes a verb is like a cat that's gone to the dogs. Against 'to gift'. granta.com/today-is-my-...

William Gaddis heads will recognize that Trump is engaged here in a frolic of his own

Recorded a podcast with some friends about the PTA picture. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/quality-li...

An old column about my gambling addiction from which I've finally recovered after years of intensive therapy. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

Lorentzen on the new Pynchon is pretty good: www.bookforum.com/print/3202/i...

“Along with Don DeLillo, he survives as one of the granddaddies of the paranoid systems novel, and we are unlikely to read many or any more new novels from the pair.” In @bookforum.bsky.social‬‬, Christian Lorentzen reviews Thomas Pynchon’s new novel “Shadow Ticket” www.bookforum.com/print/3202/i...

Wrote on the Anderson picture. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/stoned-bus...

Went to the Oasis show, wrote a sentence about it. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/liam-none-...

On the end of Oranginas and the perpetuation of auras! Spoiler alert: yes can be smarter than no!

we will miss glossy magazines when they’re all gone

Special offer within. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/the-glossy...

Wrote a book review. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/b...

Wrote about the GOAT debate. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/who-is-the...

Once more for the weekend crowd.

“I have some new poems, a rash, and a lover. I’ll send them (the poems that is) to you in a couple of days.” Letters from Jack Spicer. buff.ly/3XRcS00

I reviewed 'Megalopolis'. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

Every book review should also have this---the author coming in and saying 'This reviewer knows nothing of my work' after every pan or paean.

I wrote about the Microsoft Word default font you didn't know you were using

Wrote on some letters from David Foster Wallace to Sven Birkerts that are up for sale. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/i-am-not-a...

Surf's up. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

Christian Lorentzen with a drive by shooting on the stakes of New York City's mayoral race. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

‘Fear-mongering is particularly disgusting when crime has been declining for three decades and much of Manhattan is now indistinguishable from Disneyland.’ Christian Lorentzen on Andrew Cuomo’s bid to be New York Mayor, online early: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

"Fear-mongering about crime and filthy crackheads is particularly disgusting when crime has been declining for three decades and much of Manhattan is now indistinguishable from Disneyland." @xlo.bsky.social

Reading tomorrow in London. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

Wrote on Robson. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/freelance-...

I reviewed the new Wes Anderson picture. christianlorentzen.substack.com/p/arrested-r...

When Terry Southern adapted John Barth. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

"Now we have such lists in their ultimate form: a list written by nobody for readers who don’t care consisting mostly of books that do not and will never exist, plus Ian McEwan’s Atonement."

Went off about book recs again. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

“She cut three slashes into a piece of chorizo, started wedging Valiums into it, and ­worried in a vague way that something unusual would be required of her.” This week, we’ve unlocked “Protectors” by Amie Barrodale from the archive.

Spycraft, adultry-craft, office politics-craft, inner American-craft, flat-to-farm-craft

Wrote on Gene Tierney and the first Cold War spy thriller. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

Notes on 'Pavements'. open.substack.com/pub/christia...

Wrote on 'Norman Mailer vs. Fun City'. open.substack.com/pub/christia...