I liked this, and parts were interesting, and I was even here for the heavy art talk (reminded me of high school), but the central idea of writing around the edges of things without naming them is one of those things I find boring in lit, especially when it's relationships. I'm not deep enough, probably.

The bit about the Publick Universal Friend was interesting, but it's not a large part of the book, nor as integrated as the Félix González-Torres stuff. I was impressed by the way it contextualizes them simultaneously as
- an (illegal) settler participating in the displacement of indigenous people by trying to get far enough away from society not to be judged
- someone who empowered women
- a religious fanatic
- clearly nonbinary trans (in a way that would slip into modern identities with barely a ripple)
- one of those people who's super fucking obnoxious at public meetings. ( )

A fascinating book; I read this 'cold' in the sense that I didn't have any knowledge of it before it being lent to me by a friend.

A sprawling experience, part travelogue, part aesthetic essay, part historical analysis, it was deeply moving.

The author lives in a very different world from mine, and yet some moments described I had a perfect understanding of. And those things that felt completely different were profoundly inspiring. ( )