’Shortly after its publication in 1980 I was surprised to learn that I had written a travel book’.
Shortly after its publication in 1980 I was surprised to learn that I had written a travel book. I knew nothing about literary genres then, but felt an instinctive recoil, as if my intentions had been misunderstood. I had indeed walked alone through the deserts of my country, Australia, and I had us…
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‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
‘Hearing, they say, is the first of the senses we develop in the womb.’
‘By the end of our journey together we had signally failed to understand each other, yet an unlikely, even unprecedented connection had formed.’
‘At night her friends let loose and relax.’
Photography by Vera Yijun Zhou of house parties and clubs in Hangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.
Our ten most popular pieces of memoir, criticism and reportage, including writing by Mary Gaitskill, Gary Indiana, Christian Lorentzen, Tao Lin and Sheila Heti.
Our ten most popular pieces of fiction this year, including work by J.M. Coetzee, Brandon Taylor and Miranda July.
‘For John Cheever, all gall is divided into three parts.’
Jonathan Levi on The Stories of John Cheever.
