An Anthology of Recommendations

With my thoughts scattered among obscure Strava activity titles[^1], journal entries backfilled from days in the future, and absurd messenger group chats (where I send the occassional non sequitur article link so that I’m contributing something other than memes for once), it only makes sense to organize and compile some of my reads, animated media, and soundtracks that prompted these thoughts in the first place.

Lots of these pieces served as my escapes from the world. Within these escapes, I found a love for postmodern literature[^2] and critical theory. Without any delay, here are my favorites from this year.

[^1]: Here is a shameless plug to follow my Strava so I can be the influencer I’ve always wanted to be.

[^2]: Hence the multiple appearances of David Foster Wallace, and the new use of side notes in my blog.

Fiction

• The Soul is Not a Smithy by David Foster Wallace
• The Castle by Franz Kafka
• Private Citizens by Tony Tulathimutte
• Forever Overhead by David Foster Wallace
• Good Old Neon by David Foster Wallace[^3]
• The Depressed Person by David Foster Wallace
• Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov[^4]

[^3]: I still remember listening to this narration after an unsettling first read. A tour of the city by bike took just enough time to fit in a meditation on this brilliant story. With each subsequent interview of David Foster Wallace that I listen to, this account becomes increasingly disturbing.

[^4]: Also, I absolutely adored this essay (written by Emily Webb) on unreliable narration in some of Nabokov’s works.

Nonfiction

• This is Water by David Foster Wallace[^5]
• The Lords of Strategy by Walter Kiechel
• The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
• Jean Baudrillard: From Marxism to Postmodernism and Beyond by Douglas Kellner
• In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West by Wendy Brown
• Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
• The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities by John Mearsheimer

[^5]: Listening to this speech was one of the ways to calm myself on the most dreadful of days during this year. It was pure meditation. I’ve lost track the number of times I’ve referred to this work.

Articles

• Peter Thiel’s Religion by David Perell
• The Gervais Principle by Venkatesh Rao[^6]
• Two’s a Crowd by Edward Thornton
• a few book recommendations by Ava Huang[^7]

[^6]: The article series was recommended by my friend Neel. In the month of August, I shilled this story beyond count. It provided much needed entertainment as I was job hunting.

[^7]: A really fun read, and also served as supplemental motivation to write this current piece. The primary impulse was my friend Rosanne. She wrote a review for her books back at the end of 2019. I somewhat followed suit, albeit two months late. I wanted to carry the habit to this year as well.

Videos, Interviews, Lectures

• La Blogothèque[^8]
  • Local Natives - Who Knows Who Cares
  • Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
  • Father John Misty | Soirée de Poche #47
• Jonas Čeika[^9]
  • American Psycho, Baudrillard and the Postmodern Condition
  • Hauntology, Lost Futures and 80s Nostalgia
  • The Cultural Significance of Cyberpunk
  • What did Baudrillard think about The Matrix?
  • The Simpsons and the Death of Parody
• Oxford Political Review[^10]
  • Slavoj Žižek Interview
  • John Mearsheimer Interview
• BREADSWORD[^11]
  • Satoshi Kon and Why Love Is All You Need Ep. 1 - Perfect Blue
  • Satoshi Kon and Why Love Is All You Need Ep. 2 - Millennium Actress
• Vicarious Cycling (ft. Terry Barenstein and SAFA Brian)[^12]
  • Coffee Outside
  • San Francisco’s Best Descent
  • You’ll Want a Gravel Bike After Watching This
• David Foster Wallace[^13]
  • ZDF (German Television) Interview
  • Charlie Rose Interview, March 1997

[^8]: How else could I fulfill my thirst for live music in our socially isolated present?

[^9]: I credit this channel for really opening up the world of critical theory and postmodern thought in my life. All of the videos on this channel are well researched and quite entertaining.

[^10]: Brian Wong, one of the founding members of the review, is a fantastic interviewer - his dynamic in coversations (especially with Žižek) is incredibly informative beyond entertaining!

[^11]: God, I just love this sort of movie analysis and commentary. Made me adore Satoshi Kon even more. BREADSWORD is pretty funny too.

[^12]: How could you not want to cycle after watching these beautiful videos?

[^13]: Yes, he gets his own section. I found most of his interviews compiled in an audio project.

Movies

• Lady Bird directed by Greta Gerwig
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• The Great Gatsby directed by Baz Luhrmann[^14]
• Being John Malkovich directed by Charlie Kaufman
• Synecdoche, New York directed by Charlie Kaufman
• Tokyo Godfathers directed by Satoshi Kon
• Soul directed by Pete Docter[^15]

[^14]: I rewatched this movie after a wonderful morning ride with my roommate Jeffrey. I’m honestly a sucker for the film’s soundtrack. For me, the music is quintessentially the spirit of the year 2013.

[^15]: I watched this today, on New Year’s Eve, while taking the plane from Durham to San Francisco! So heartfelt and emotional - the opening scene is brilliant.