A Life Coach for Prisoners, A Major with PTSD and the Supervillain Elon Musk
What made your reading list this week, Leah? Well, so glad you asked. Here I break down *why* I chose these pieces based on voice, style and content.
Inundated with words? Me too. From the time I wake up in the morning and crawl to the bathroom, I seem to always have my phone in my hand. So rather than just list the pieces I enjoy reading — and the ones I choose to run on Esoterica — I decided to break down my reading list and explain why.
First off: How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain by Jill Lepore for The New Yorker.
Okay, so it’s not a shocker that The New Yorker publishes great work by great writers and Elon Musk is always in the news. But there’s a new biography on him by Walter Isaacson so my guess is that all the major media outlets need/want to cover it. Lepore needs to come up with some unique way to portray the information that everyone already knows and is already being reported elsewhere.
What I love about Lepore’s piece is how she backs into it, travelling back in time (a couple of years) to the days when Musk was a little less creepy, highlighting a pivotal meeting with Stephen Colbert. Here’s the section:
“Are you sincerely trying to save the world?” Stephen Colbert once asked Musk on “The Late Show.” “Well, I’m trying to do good things, yeah, saving the world is not, I mean . . . ,” Musk said, mumbling. “But you’re trying to do good things, and you’re a billionaire,” Colbert interrupted. “Yeah,” Musk said, nodding. Colbert said, “That seems a little like superhero or supervillain. You have to choose one.”.
Boom, that paragraph really sold me, reminding the reader that things could have gone differently for the world’s richest man and for many of us impacted by his supervillain ways (I’m looking at you, Twitter/X). Lepore shows character development, and we as readers are along for the ride.
(NB: Backing into a story is an age-old journalistic tradition. We can talk about that in the comments or in notes if anyone is interested.)
The next two pieces ran on Esostericamag.com — the first nonfiction, and the second fiction. Let me explain why they were selected:
The Prison Lady is part memoir, part life handbook by Phyllis Taylor. Esoterica ran an excerpt from her book because, well, Taylor is an absolute delight and her authenticity comes across so beautifully in her writing that I feel like we are discussing her life over coffee and babka. The section I picked was called “What’s a Manuel Ferreira?”
Here’s a taste:
By 45, Manny, a great-looking Portuguese career criminal, had spent two dimes (ten year sentences) in the Kingston Pen. He was fond of boasting that he knew the most infamous Canadian serial killer-rapist, Paul Bernardo. Apparently, Manny and Paul had spent many hours whispering through the air ducts while in solitary confinement. I feel quite confident that an evocative education was had by all, but Manny made it clear that he was not a fan of serial killer Bernardo.
It just gets better from there. What I love about The Prison Lady is, a) I learned something really quickly. Readers, it turns out, like to learn something new. That can apply to fiction or non. It can be simple. I learned what two dimes means. My life is now richer for it (seriously!).
You’ll need to read the entire excerpt to understand that ultimately, b) what drew me to the piece, was again, personal growth. In a short period of time, a serial criminal and drug addict evolves as an individual and as a result, Phyllis also evolves. It’s so gratifying, as a reader, to see humans learn and grow and in some cases, enjoy better lives as a result.
Last but certainly not least — Fredericksburg by Andrew Clark. Clark is a fiction and non-fiction author, with a unique interest in military history and his work has appeared in our magazine before. Like I said before, I learned something in the first lines of the story. It takes real talent to teach and entertain at the same time (go thank your teachers!). Here’s a taste:
As you know, I was arrested the next morning not far from the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center and taken into police custody. To be precise, the police took me into custody at 4:22 a.m. near the Sunken Road, which the National Park Service describes thusly: “On December 13, 1862, United States forces under General Ambrose Burnside attacked the stone wall along the Sunken Road. Wave after wave of US soldiers marched towards the Confederate line; none made it closer than fifty yards. Confederate troops behind the stone wall and atop Marye’s Heights held the high ground with their well-defended line. The Federal soldiers’ assaults across Fredericksburg’s open fairgrounds proved futile and left the soldiers exhausted and demoralized. They would not forget the loss they experienced at the Sunken Road. After the battle, a question haunted these soldiers: how did this happen?”
I’m a sucker for a good question. Lots of fiction (and non-fiction) comes down to asking a good question and bringing the readers along as you discover the answer. In Clark’s story, the answer is not what it seems, allowing the reader to have an advantage over the protagonist. Who doesn’t love an unreliable narrator?
Have a piece you love? Share it in the comments or let me know and I can tackle it next time.
PS - Stay tuned for the “relaunch” of this newsletter. You will still get a lot of good fiction and non-fiction treats, just on a different platter.
PPS- I will continue to serialize parts of my blended memoir-in progress here about my grandmother, growing up as the descendent of Holocaust survivors, and what that means in today’s climate. I hope you will continue to join me on this journey.
Thanks, Leah. And now I am learning from you about what makes good writing!