Happy Sinners Appreciation Day,

I'm mired in the emotional tarpit of "oh god will I ever finish this" with my current work-in-progress, so this seems like a great time for a little procrastination update (if for no other reason than to remind myself that I've not been completely stagnant). Here's some of what I've had my head in since we last chatted:

(As usual, any links to books are provided for reference only; none are sponsored or affiliate links. If you do check any of these titles out, please consider buying from your local independent book store, or supporting your local library! Jeff Bezos does not need your money.)

More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity by Adam Becker

OK, so, I recently hyped the book About Time by David Rooney (yeah, I know that's not the book named above but bear with me for a sec, I promise it's relevant), and I do stand by my recommendation. It's a very entertaining read and overall I think it's an accessible entry point for thinking about the ways that politics and ideologies are embedded in science, technology, and tools, if that's not something you're accustomed to pondering. Buuuuuuuuut... in my quest to keep things light and cheerful and breezy for the year-end wrap-up, I chose to omit one important caveat: the final chapter seems to take what I appreciated about the rest of the book—sharp reckoning with the ways that timekeeping technologies and the industries around them have historically been tools to enable and sustain powerful actors who seek to dominate others—and just... throws it out the window. Rooney devotes the final "hour" of his book to future-facing projects, such as the "Clock of the Long Now", but doesn't seem to apply the same critical scrutiny to the contemporary power players involved as he did for historical figures earlier in the book. Not to spoil anything, but uh, the description of this project immediately had me typing "is this some Longtermist nonsense" into the search bar, and... I mean, yeah, kind of. Remember how I said Bezos doesn't need your money? The man owns a mountain. Like an actual supervillain. That mountain is the home of the Clock.

Which brings me to the thing I'm actually supposed to telling you about here: More Everything Forever by Adam Becker is a book allllllll about such Longtermist nonsense (and its ideological cousins), and the power and influence its adherents have over a lot of load-bearing parts of society right now. The book's subjects are reprehensible and exasperating, but the prose is compelling and I thought Becker did a good job debunking the bullshit.

Pairs well with: Lily Alexandre's "Project Blueprint and the Horror of Eternal Life"

Viral Modernism by Elizabeth Outka

It's sometimes difficult to remember, reading Outka's eerily familiar descriptions of individuals and a society gripped by pandemic, that the book was published in October 2019, and that these are not interpretations filtered through recent firsthand experiences. Viral Modernism re-examines several works of interwar modernist literature as texts of the "forgotten" pandemic of 1918, demonstrating how it's been hiding in plain sight. I'm not well-read when it comes to this era of literature so some of the lengthy close-readings are a bit wasted on me (with no preconceived interpretation of, say, Mrs Dalloway, I really don't need a hard sell of its pandemic themes); however, I did get a lot from the more zoomed-out discussion of how this earlier pandemic manifested in art and culture, and how it intersected with the war. I'm especially intrigued by Part 3's discussion of the pandemic's influence on spiritualism, zombie narratives, and resurrection themes:

"For those grieving the pandemic dead, spiritualism’s insistence on the literal truth of continued life granted a heady combination of religiously tinged and scientifically based consolation. Without changing the facts of the pandemic, spiritualism allowed the narrative to be extended beyond death in such a way that the experience itself could be transformed; if the dead lived on in health and safety, the guilt, plotlessness, and meaninglessness of the pandemic death could also be rewritten. The narrative, though, required belief for its solace."

Reading this on the heels of More Everything Forever, I notice parallels to our current age of cultish hype and technogrift: abolish grief with digital seances! non-consensually reanimate the dead to do your bidding! transcend base biology and the laws of physics! live forever in the infinite space computer! Roland Meyer recently described generative AI as "a zombie technology", and I can't help but wonder how much unaddressed pandemic trauma has contributed to this century's twist on spirit photography.

Pairs well with: Science Vs.: Did we predict the pandemic? (the speculative-fiction episode they revisit here was coincidentally also originally released in October 2019, like Viral Modernism—heads up, parts of this episode might be disturbing; heed the content warning at the top!)

Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood

Reading this book felt like wading out into the ocean a little past the point where your feet can't quite reach the bottom and letting the swells lift and drop you again and again while you contemplate the open water until suddenly you realize you're back on the sand. (The subject line/title of this post is one of the book's most quotable quotes.)

Pairs well with: chriswaves' "What's with the fever dream effect?"

Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic edited by Valerie Boyd

An anthology of poetry and personal essays, this one covers a wide range of topics, moods, and styles, beautifully curated by Boyd (who sadly passed away shortly before publication; may her memory be a blessing). Although the book does not shy away from painful subjects, it also lovingly captures snapshots of joy and care and community. I really enjoyed and highly recommend this book.

Pairs well with: This recent Signified B-Sides video by F.D. Signifier, "Covid never ended"

On the lighter side:

I've been trying to give my nervous system a little break from the trauma firehose whenever I can, and as a result I've found myself on a bit of an Ash Bentley kick; her blend of competent chaos and multitasking-friendly narration have been invaluable aids for the days when I just need to get through some household tasks without crying, dammit. She also inspired me to tackle some long overdue mending projects.

One of my goals this year is to try some mixed-media animation, and this short film by Ameya's Realm was inspiring and delightful: Mixed media film about my cat – 'The Real You' She also has a behind-the-scenes video about the techniques she used in this film, as well as detailed tutorials on her channel.

Slow AF Run Club: the ultimate guide for anyone who wants to run by Martinus Evans is a pretty odd book to have in my pile, to be honest, because I emphatically do not want to run, I hate running, my entire dance and circus history is built on a foundation of trying to get some exercise without running. But as I rested on a sofa at the library on an especially Bad Brain Day, my slightly dampened gaze landed on Evans' beaming smile on the cover and I knew: that is a book of radical, defiant optimism, and that is something I need to choose more of these days.

Until next time,

xoxo Sparks