21 essays from The Believer Magazine (2003-2009) ( )

I originally purchased this to decide whether or not I was going to subscribe to The Believer. I'm a fan of long form criticism, and there isn't enough of it to go around. The Believer still holds onto the idea that long form criticism is important. I'm glad that someone does.

What I found in these pages were essays that ranged from good to great. There wasn't a bad essay here, though some are more memorable than others. "Like Cormac McCarthy, but Funny" by Ed Park has convinced me to give Charles Portis a try. "The Bad Mormon" by Ben Ehrenreich was also fascinating. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of Rick Moody or not, but is essay "How to Be a Christian Artist" was decently written and interesting. Tom Bissel's discussion of books aimed at writers, "Sir, Permission to Go AWOL from the Interesting, Sir" has convinced me to stop reading those damn things(mostly). "Waiting for a Bad Thing" by Sam Lipsyte gave me the instant desire to find out more about Michel Houellebecq. The essay that stayed with me the most was "Transmissions from Camp Trans" by Michelle Tea.

All in all, it's a great collection. It's convinced me that I have to be a subscriber to The Believer. My only problem now is what do I read next? It's pretty hard to find quality essay work like this.

If anyone has any suggestions for collections of long form criticism, I'm all ears! ( )

Like any collection of essays, Read Hard: Five Years of Great Writing from The Believer has some pieces that the reader is likely to enjoy more than others, depending on your own personal interests, tastes, and literary sensibilities. In my case, I happened to like Ginger Strand's "Why Look at Fish?," about the American aquarium industry; Tom Bissell's piece on writing manuals; Tayari Jones on being a black writer during Black History Month; and Paul La Farge's "Destroy All Monsters," about his experiences with the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Also, the Introduction is priceless.

If you've enjoyed The Believer through the years, this volume is a handy compilation of some of the most interesting and thought-provoking things they've published. ( )