Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

Defector Reads A Book

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Books

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Arts And Culture

Kelsey McKinney

black and white photo of a man with a pipe lounging with a book

How Do I Find A Non-Fiction Book I Won’t Hate?

<p>Emily Zhou is the author of <em>Girlfriends</em><i>, </i>which won the Publishing Triangle’s Leslie Feinberg Award and was nominated for a Lambda<i>. </i>She edits books at LittlePuss Press and short fiction at <em>Joyland Magazine</em><i>.</i></p>


Emily Zhou

Nerves, Nerves, Nerves

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<p>Robert Rubsam writes fiction and nonfiction. His work has appeared in the NYT Magazine, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Baffler, and Liberties. He is a contributing writer for Commonweal Magazine.</p>
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Robert Rubsam

Craig Finn attends "A New York Evening With Margo Price" at The Greene Space on June 16, 2023 in New York City.

Craig Finn Can Write A Great Song, But Can He Write A Good Short Story?

Brandy Jensen

Bills Week

William F. Buckley’s Bill Never Came Due

Soraya Roberts

Hanif Kureishi attends the press night after party for "The Buddha Of Suburbia" at the Barbican Centre on October 29, 2024 in London, England.

Hanif Kureishi Writes Himself Anew In ‘Shattered’

<p>Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.</p>


Nicholas Russell

Promo still from the 1961 Film The Children's Hour

Interviews

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back: Michael Koresky On Hollywood’s Queer History

Sarah Brouillette

The Plight Of The White Male Novelist

Defector Staff

In the shadows, c.1920. Private Collection. Creator: Cucuel, Edward (1875-1954).

Books We Think You Should Read This Summer

25th May 1937: Two London women reading back to back as they sunbathe by the banks of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London.

I Had A Baby And Now I Can’t Read! What Do I Do?

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<div>Katherine Churchill holds a Ph.D. in English literature. Her writing has appeared in <i>Time</i>, <i>Literary Hub, Electric Literature, Oxford American Magazine</i>, and elsewhere.</div>
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Katherine Churchill

The Exclusive Men’s-Only Rare Books Club, And The Woman Who Has A Key

A logo for Ask the Book Doctor, with a woman with arm tattoos and a nose ring looking at a giant art book and flipping pages. It's a very 1980s clip art look

Got A Reading Problem? Ask The Book Doctor!

Dan Sinykin

Close Reading Is For Everyone

Patrick Redford

Cyclists in a race are in the background. There is a house or wall on the left side of the road. There is a man in front, looking at the peloton, squatting halfway with his arms spread just past his knees. Next to him in the center of the road is a bicycle laid across the ground.

Defector Reads A Book: Defector Rides A Bike

Ben Goldfarb

A bulldozer moves a pile of dirt, which features two hoofs sticking out of the top

Capital

An Abundance Of Concrete

Niko Stratis

Jakob Dylan, in 1997, singing in front of a microphone. He has short curly hair, maybe has a little beard, and he's in a long sleeve collared button-front shirt. He's playing guitar. In the corner there's an image of a book cover: The Dad Rock That Made Me A Woman, by Niko Stratis

Got To Be Something Better Than In The Middle

Jack Hanson

The Perfect Fascist

<p>Leah Finnegan is the former editor-in-chief of Gawker and the Outline. She has written and edited for the <em>New York Times</em>, <em>New York</em> magazine, the <em>New Republic</em>, the <em>Baffler</em>, and others.</p>


Leah Finnegan

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Dream Count’ Is Stuck In The Past

A collage of covers of books. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Barbarian Lover, Fourth Wing, Ice Planet Barbarians, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, and The Games Gods Play

Alien Pleasures

Sir John Falstaff On A Visit To His Friend Page, At Windsor. From The Merry Wives Of Windsor, By William Shakespeare. Drawn And Etched By George Cruikshank. From The Illustrated Library Shakspeare, Published London 1890. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jeremy Gordon On Grief, Connection, And His Novel ‘See Friendship’

<p><a href="http://www.ddavisla.com"><span style="font-weight: 400">David Davis </span></a>is the author of <i>Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans From World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation</i> and <i>Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku</i>. He lives in Los Angeles.</p>
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David Davis

Photo of Gidget running through the Malibu Pier. Fifty years after Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, aka Gidget, learned to surf in Malibu, the surfing world has accepted her as surfing's early pioneers, mascots and avid promoters. April 27, 2006, (Photo by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Gidget The Survivor

<p>Grace Byron is a critic, reporter, and novelist based in Queens. Her writing has appeared in <em>The New Yorker</em>, <em>Granta</em>, <em>Bookforum</em>, and elsewhere. Her debut novel <em>Herculine</em> is out now.</p>


Grace Byron

Bill Gates speaks at the Global Solutions Summit

What’s The Point Of Bill Gates?

Two hands, a drawing, holding an orange sign with yellow text that reads: MAKE YOUR OWN JOB

The Power Of Negative Thinking

<div id=":g4.ma" class="Mu SP" title="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5" data-tooltip="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5"><span id=":g4.co" class="tL8wMe EMoHub" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/GoStevenGoldman">Steven Goldman</a> is a former BP editor-in-chief and current consulting editor. He is the author of the Casey Stengel biography <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Forging-Genius-Making-Casey-Stengel/dp/1574888749">Forging Genius</a> </i>and host of the long-running <a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/show/the-infinite-inning/"><i>Infinite Inning </i>podcast</a>, which sits at the crossroads of baseball, history, politics, and culture. His most recent book, which has an introduction by David Roth, is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Baseballs-Brief-Lives-Inspired-Infinite/dp/B0BBJTPGDF"><i>Baseball&#8217;s Brief Lives: Player-Stories Inspired by the Infinite Inning</i></a>.</span></div>
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Steven Goldman

Bill Rariden of the Cincinnati Reds tags Buck Weaver of the Chicago White Sox out at home plate in the second game of the 1919 World Series at Crosley Field.

Cruelty, Hype, And The American Way In Harry Stein’s Baseball Novel ‘Hoopla’

circa 1897: Portrait of actor John Martin Harvey (1867 - 1944) reading to two children on a postcard.

Year In Review

The Best Things We Read In 2024

Samer Kalaf

Joe Biden holds a copy of The Hundred Years' War On Palestine by Rashid Khalidi.