This book is so necessary, but it was SO SAD. I recommend that everyone reads it, but also that they have some kittens or puppies to play with while they do.

SO GOOD.

It’s a fictional story about the questionable ethics of international supply chains. Sounds boring, right? It’s not. A bit like a mystery, while also pulling on your heartstrings something fierce. It starts with a re-telling of a garment factory fire. It ends with corporate restructuring. I’m totally underselling this book, but trust me it’s great.

This book was beautiful and immersive, and I enjoyed the journey we went on. But I was disappointed by the ending.  I think I was mistaken in reading the praise for the book – they said Faulkner, and I heard Steinbeck. Those are two very different styles, and it explains a lot of my disappointment. (I was expecting everything to come together in a painful and beautiful resolution like East of Eden. Instead…I think someone was murdered. It was confusing.)

To be honest, I was disappointed when I realized this was a mishmash of essays on various topics. There were some that I LOVED, and I continue to admire Gay’s intellect and voice, but there were some that, were they links on her twitter feed, I never would have clicked.

This is the second Oxford Introduction I’ve read (the first was on French Literature, written by a past supervisor) and they are so helpful! This one was revised recently, which added a lot of interesting perspective.