Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

Defector Reads A Book

CULTURE

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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

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Arts And Culture

<p>Nina Mandell is a journalist living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who has written for Bustle, ESPN, <em>Sports Illustrated</em>, <em>USA Today</em>, <em>The New York Daily News</em>, and NBC Regional Sports Networks. She is the former managing editor of <em>USA Today</em>’s For The Win site and the former digital director/managing editor of NBC Sports Washington.</p>


Nina Mandell

Footwork on the AAI vault during a gymnastics competition. In the corner is the cover image for the book "A Fraction of a Point: A Gymnastics Dynasty on the Line"

How One Ohio High School Built An Unlikely Gymnastics Dynasty

<p>Jake Romm is a New York City-based writer and the Associate Editor of Protean Magazine.</p>


Jake Romm

Franco Berardi’s ‘Thinking Gaza’ Fails To Think

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<div>Abigail Segel is a contributing writer at Defector. She is also an editor for The IX Soccer and the Equalizer. Her work has been published in the Guardian and the Montreal Gazette.</div>
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Abigail Segel

Jules Boykoff’s ‘Kicking’ Is Clear-Eyed And Warm-Hearted

Jack Hanson

The Torpor Of ‘Converts’

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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

Gwendoline Riley’s Phantom Lives

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Image of the cover of "Famesick" by Lena Dunham with cutouts of the pair of legs from the cover copied all around it.

Lena Dunham Can’t Help Herself

<p>Craig Fehrman last wrote for Defector about <a href="https://defector.com/it-never-ends-like-it-should" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://defector.com/it-never-ends-like-it-should&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775741247521000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1R6Fh05yMdaM2z1ukPQtbb">the death of Iris</a>, his NBA-loving neighbor. His book <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/This-Vast-Enterprise/Craig-Fehrman/9781982174248"><i>This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark</i></a> comes out on April 21.</p>


Craig Fehrman

Map showing the route taken by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their first expedition from the Missouri River near St. Louis, Missouri, to the mouth of the Columbia River at the Pacific Ocean in Oregon and the return trip to St. Louis. The expedition took place from May 14, 1804 to September 23, 1806.

History

The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt

Kelsey McKinney

My Year In November 18ths

Rafaela Bassili

Anatomy Of A Gaucho

<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

The Gentle Parenting Of Ben Lerner’s ‘Transcription’

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


Nicholas Russell

Interviews

Namwali Serpell On Understanding Toni Morrison The Author, Not The Icon

Jonah Walters

Stephen Fishbach’s Reality-TV Novel Is More Reality TV Than Novel

Barry Petchesky

WRITER DAN SIMMONS PUBLISHES 'FIRES OF EDEN'

Dan Simmons Is Dead, So It’s Time To Read ‘Hyperion’


<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://twitter.com/petesegall?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pete Segall</a> lives in Chicago. His fiction has appeared in <em>The Bennington Review</em>, <em>Conjunctions</em>, <em>The Drift</em>, and elsewhere.</p>


Pete Segall

A collage featuring three of the different paperback covers for "Cleo Birdwell"'s 1980 novel Amazons.

Don DeLillo’s Funniest Novel Is A 1980 Hockey Sex Romp He Won’t Acknowledge

Patrick Redford

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 11: Yoko Tawada, Japanese writer poses during portrait session held on May 11, 2006 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

Yoko Tawada Is A Genius In Any Language

<p>Erin Somers is the author of the novel <i>The Ten Year Affair</i>.</p>


Erin Somers

Talking To A. Natasha Joukovsky About Men, Myths, And March Madness

<p>Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

Life Lessons

Confessions Of A Bookanizer


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Sabrina Imbler

a screenshot of an email exchange with "Elena Ferrante", which contains six back-and-forth emails out of an exchange of 12