Book review: Open City by Teju Cole
27 April 2025
Open City follows the routes and thoughts of a man called Julius as he walks in various places.
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Open City follows the routes and thoughts of a man called Julius as he walks in various places.
Via NYRB Classics, also the May 2024 selection of the their Book Club The author of this collection described it variously as a novel, a
By far the most compelling post-apocalypse I’ve encountered in literature, mainly because of the inevitability that humanity will blow itself up whenever it manages to rebuild.
The best travel literature should do 3 things, and few books achieve them all to such a high standard.
This is an unusual book (from my perspective, I imagine from most perspectives) but it does what it’s trying to do well (if it is actually trying to do what I think it is).
Historic non-fiction can easily be dry and tedious, especially when it’s a recommendation rather than about a topic you’re already interested in. This book, though. Damn.
The second best part of this book is Obama’s contemporary reflection on a statement he gave about the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
A raw glimpse into the life of a man serving in a war he increasingly views as futile and wrong.
As the transcript of a 10 hour filibuster, is the book a good read? Not particularly. Is it a good rallying cry? You bet your ass yes.
This book defines the chasm between what politics can be, and what it shouldn’t be.
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