This weekend’s newsletter is a defense of fiction, films, and other falsehoods—I used to believe that novels were a WASTE OF TIME, and I am here to repent for my sins—along with:

• a new take on the heist film (Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind)

• some books about the dreaded t-word (taste…what’s in good taste, what’s in bad taste, and why we’re so obsessed with what other people like!)

• what I loved about Natasha Stagg’s new-ish novel, Grand Rapids (I read it in a day; it really draws you in)

• an amazing piece from The Paris Review that, 4 years later, I’m still rereading and finding new energy from

and more…