our second-person module kicks off with interior chinatown by charles yu, which gives us literary whiplash both in terms of difficulty and perspective. we talk about the type of racism that charles yu captures in the book (and the type we “expected” to find), the way he takes down hollywood in the novel (and the similar representations we’ve seen on tv), and the strengths of the novel (as well as its limitations). we briefly discuss the limited series on hulu (which was a surprise to both of us) and what “chinatown” usually signifies in stories like this. shreds makes a request to make the book longer.

reading list for season thirteen

interior chinatown by charles yu

if on a winter’s night a traveler by italo calvino

bright lights, big city by jay mcinerney

suicide by édouard levé

the malady of death by marguerite duras

how like a god by rex stout

the diver’s clothes lie empty by vendela vida

the night circus by erin morgenstern

a man asleep by georges perec

open water by caleb azumah nelson