Wren's Reviews

I experienced every emotion I’ve ever experienced, plus maybe one or two new ones, while reading this book. “Dirty River” is about a queer, disabled, woman of color building community, facing her trauma, and building a better life for herself. A clever voice and an incredible life makes for a great read. - Wren

If you loved The Argonauts, read this next. In 2004, while waiting for the publication of Jane, her verse narrative about her aunt’s murder in 1969, improvements in DNA technology helped the Michigan police track down Jane’s alleged murderer, and the case was re-opened. Cautious and nuanced, while simultaneously gripping, this is Nelson’s account of trial. - Wren

The re-release of this book is a wonderful thing, we are lucky to have it back in the collective unconscious. If The Little Mermaid 2 met Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace it might look something like this. But this is better, because it’s real. It’s a story of unrequited love, and madness, and war, and mermaids, and all the ways a small town can shape a big life. It’s a story of the ocean, and its unwavering loyalty to itself. And it’s a story of family, of the ways we mark and are marked by our kin. I will be recommending this book to the people I love for a very long time. - Wren

I treat this book like I would a religious text, if I were religious; I take it with me every time I leave the house, I write all over it, I quote passages back to people, I read it before bed. Part memoir, part love letter, part queer familial ethnography, and part critical theory, Nelson sets an astounding precedent for the newly emerging genre of auto-theory. - Wren

You might think you're not interested in orchids, or the Hoover Dam, or in Caltrans' creation of the "diamond lane" in LA, but that's because you haven't talked to Joan about it. Insightful, poetic critiques of class and socio-political events combine with compelling portraits of California in the 70's and of Didion herself in this informative and entertaining read. - Wren