Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion hits on a lot of the topics I love to write about myself — self-delusion (per the title), optimization run-amuck, internet culture, media theory, the absurdities of consumer capitalism.
What I find particularly compelling about her treatment of these subjects is her ability to examine the broader implications of 21st century media/capital culture through the lens of her own experiences. I highly recommend the book, esp. *The History of a Generation in Seven Scams, Always be Optimizing, *and The I in Internet.
UVA was like a live-action recruitment brochure: everyone was always ostentatiously “finding their people,” carrying stacks of books around green expanses, moving from picnics to day parties in packs of best friends. Classes were just the right kind of difficult; people were sharp, but generally too basic, myself included, to be pretentious.
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