Reading Diary: Jan 1-15 2021 (Patreon)

Still slowly working through Cryptonomicon and Black Water Sister. Loving both of them. 

The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (C. L. R. James) - Fucking hell. Read this if you haven't already. If you have read it, read it again. It's one of the most important books of the 20th century, and as clearly and powerfully written as a Shakespeare play. One day some upstart writer will best James as a history writer, and we won't be ready for them.

The Long Loneliness: An Autobiography (Dorothy Day) - I spent the last few months of 2021 reading about atrocities, which amounted to a literary self-harm habit. This year I'm reading more fiction and organizing literature and accounts of activism. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know I have mixed feelings about Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day. She wrote well though, and this book captures her eccentricities, passions, and flaws in fascinating depth. (I'll probably write more about Day at some point).