Read Hard: Five Years of Great Writing from the Believer

I originally purchased this to decide whether or not I was going to subscribe to The Believer. I'm a fan of long form criticism, and there isn't enough of it to go around. The Believer still holds onto the idea that long form criticism is important. I'm glad that someone does.

What I found in these pages were essays that ranged from good to great. There wasn't a bad essay here, though some are more memorable than others. “Like Cormac McCarthy, but Funny” by Ed Park has convinced me to give Charles Portis a try. “The Bad Mormon” by Ben Ehrenreich was also fascinating. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of Rick Moody or not, but is essay “How to Be a Christian Artist” was decently written and interesting. Tom Bissel's discussion of books aimed at writers, “Sir, Permission to Go AWOL from the Interesting, Sir” has convinced me to stop reading those damn things(mostly). “Waiting for a Bad Thing” by Sam Lipsyte gave me the instant desire to find out more about Michel Houellebecq. The essay that stayed with me the most was “Transmissions from Camp Trans” by Michelle Tea.

All in all, it's a great collection. It's convinced me that I have to be a subscriber to The Believer. My only problem now is what do I read next? It's pretty hard to find quality essay work like this.

If anyone has any suggestions for collections of long form criticism, I'm all ears!