Books Judged

“Like me and probably many if not most of the people in this world, you have probably thought to yourself, more than once, that life is not fair. And indeed, it isn’t! I was very angry for a time that Hurricane Sandy had foiled my chances at running the New York City Marathon in 2012, for which I had been training for the better part of a year. That stroke of misfortune was, inarguably, unfair. Perhaps you have walked into someone’s fancy apartment and wondered how they were able, at the tender age of 28, to purchase said fancy apartment, and then you’ve learned that their mother invented slap bracelets, and it’s just like, well, fuck, what was my mom doing besides raising three kids and working full-time? Unfair.”
 — Awl pal Doree Shafrir’s entry in this year’s Morning News Tournament of Books is just a goddamn delight from start to finish. You may also enjoy the selections from Awl pal Maria Bustillos and Vox Media platform guru Choire Sicha.