Serious Face: Essays
- Downloads：4422
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-05-27 01:19:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jon Mooallem
- ISBN：0525509941
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
From the discovery of the author's face in a century-old photograph to a triple-amputee hospice director working at the border of life and death， here are thirteen hopeful， heartbreaking， and profound essays from "one of the most intelligent， compassionate， and curious authors working today" （Elizabeth Gilbert）。
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022--Lit Hub
Beneath the self-assured and serious faces we wear， every human life is full of longing， guesswork， and confusion--a scramble to do the best we can and make everything up as we go along。 In these wide-ranging essays， Jon Mooallem chronicles the beauty of our blundering and the inescapability of our imperfections。 He investigates the collapse of a multimillion-dollar bird-breeding scam run by an aging farmer known as the Pigeon King， intimately narrates a harrowing escape from California's deadliest wildfire， visits an eccentric Frenchman building a town at what he claims is the center of the world， shadows a man through his first day of freedom after twenty-one years in prison， and more--all with a deep conviction that it's our vulnerability， not our victories， that connect us。
Mooallem's powers of perception have established him as one of the most distinctive， empathic， and clear-sighted narrative journalists working today。 The Wall Street Journal has called his writing "as much art as it is journalism，" and Jia Tolentino has praised his "grace and command。" In Serious Face， Mooallem brings to life the desperate hopes and urgent fears of the people he meets， telling their stories with empathy， humor， insight， and kindness。 These elegant， moving essays form an idiosyncratic tapestry of human experience: our audacity and fallibility， our bumbling and goodwill。 In moments of calamity and within the extreme absurdity of everyday life， can we learn to love the people we really are， behind the serious faces we show the world？
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022--Lit Hub
Beneath the self-assured and serious faces we wear， every human life is full of longing， guesswork， and confusion--a scramble to do the best we can and make everything up as we go along。 In these wide-ranging essays， Jon Mooallem chronicles the beauty of our blundering and the inescapability of our imperfections。 He investigates the collapse of a multimillion-dollar bird-breeding scam run by an aging farmer known as the Pigeon King， intimately narrates a harrowing escape from California's deadliest wildfire， visits an eccentric Frenchman building a town at what he claims is the center of the world， shadows a man through his first day of freedom after twenty-one years in prison， and more--all with a deep conviction that it's our vulnerability， not our victories， that connect us。
Mooallem's powers of perception have established him as one of the most distinctive， empathic， and clear-sighted narrative journalists working today。 The Wall Street Journal has called his writing "as much art as it is journalism，" and Jia Tolentino has praised his "grace and command。" In Serious Face， Mooallem brings to life the desperate hopes and urgent fears of the people he meets， telling their stories with empathy， humor， insight， and kindness。 These elegant， moving essays form an idiosyncratic tapestry of human experience: our audacity and fallibility， our bumbling and goodwill。 In moments of calamity and within the extreme absurdity of everyday life， can we learn to love the people we really are， behind the serious faces we show the world？
Reviews
Sandy D。
，
This is a wide ranging and utterly absorbing collection of essays by a gifted writer and thinker。 My favorites were the examination of monk seals killings in Hawaii， a terrifying description of one woman's escape from the wildfire that killed many of her neighbors in Paradise， California， the story of a feral macaque monkey in central Florida， a bunch of cloud aficionados， and a look at Neandertals and the excavation in a cave in Gibraltar。 Mooallem closes out the book with an insightful view of This is a wide ranging and utterly absorbing collection of essays by a gifted writer and thinker。 My favorites were the examination of monk seals killings in Hawaii， a terrifying description of one woman's escape from the wildfire that killed many of her neighbors in Paradise， California， the story of a feral macaque monkey in central Florida， a bunch of cloud aficionados， and a look at Neandertals and the excavation in a cave in Gibraltar。 Mooallem closes out the book with an insightful view of the pandemic and the current zeitgeist via an account his first post-quarantine baseball game in Spokane。 Although baseball bores me， his thoughts on parenting and his children's future was perfect。 。。。more
Dan
，
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group Random House for an advanced copy of this collection of essays。 The problem with living in the future is that the now and the past don't resonate as well as what we want the future to be。 Living small lives， lives that people wouldn't watch a reality show about， or lives that take to long to describe on TikTok， but maybe would make a good podcast are considered hokey， so last year。 Influencers are the thing， not people w My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group Random House for an advanced copy of this collection of essays。 The problem with living in the future is that the now and the past don't resonate as well as what we want the future to be。 Living small lives， lives that people wouldn't watch a reality show about， or lives that take to long to describe on TikTok， but maybe would make a good podcast are considered hokey， so last year。 Influencers are the thing， not people without followers， or an app。 People especially post- pandemic seem lost， throwing themselves into anything to get them to feel something， though empathy seems to be fading fast。 That is why Jon Mooallem's essay collection is so important and so necessary for our lost time。 Serious Face essays remind us that people， odd， loners， criminal， innocent dreamer and schemers are the real influencers。 These are the people that remind us to live。 Jon Mooallem has a gift for finding people and sharing their tales， whether writing about people who have experienced great tragedies in their life， physical or emotional。 An essay about a man who lost three limbs， how the shadow of prison stays with a person， even well after he is let free。 An essay on Charles Kaufman， screenwriter of classic movies， and a burgeoning almost codependence between subject and writer at the early stages of the pandemic。 There are criminals， and people who see the world through a different prism， but it is the personal essays that really are touching and rewarding。 A reader wants to know more almost from the first paragraph， and Jon Mooallem more than delivers。 The writing is very good， with a nice flow and an ease with the subject that makes the essay seem much more than a profile。 Mooallem has a way of hooking the reader without the reader knowing it till suddenly the end of the essay is near， the eyes are a little misty and the reader feels that more of a journey has taken place， not just a simple reading。 Most of the essays are excellent， none are bad or ever boring。 Recommended for the post-pandemic survivor who feels they have lost a step with humanity。 A simple pass on Twitter， Facebook， or media of any kind makes one wonder why anyone would bother with humans。 However essays like these remind us that people are people， flawed， failing and flailing。 Some deserve praise， a lot deserve our scorn， but to not feel anything is giving up。 A very good collection of essays to remind us of this。 I can't wait to read more。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Serious Face: Essays
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Serious Face: Essays&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Serious Face: Essays&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0