19 Comments
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Amanda Montei's avatar

This is so brilliant, what a genre to behold. Also speaking of, this!: "The story of a life is, to me, one of the most terrifying things to behold, like seeing the planet with the atmosphere peeled off."

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Janet's avatar

ty A!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

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Beckie's avatar

Did you ever read the 80s biography series for kids where all the subjects had an imaginary friend? I was obsessed with the one about Nellie Bly going undercover in an asylum. I'm pretty sure they all stopped before death.

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Holly P's avatar

What in the

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Janet's avatar

NO BUT I THINK I NEED TO

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Janet's avatar

this is why every corporation today has a "core values" screed, isn't it

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Holly P's avatar

These books are SO strange, along with the "who is/was" series with the giant ugly heads on the covers.

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Janet's avatar

the giant heads!!! That tiny bit of stretched neck captures EXACTLY how they make me feel

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Holly P's avatar

THE CATHERINE NEWMAN ARTICLE OH MY GOD

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Janet's avatar

I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!! The bit on the mountain got me and then the rest left me just a pile of bones

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Crankypants Hangry Lady's avatar

My son read "Who is Walt Disney?" I asked him what he learned. He said, "After he got married, he took a two week honeymoon with his wife."

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Janet's avatar

bahahaha that's the stuff!

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Janet's avatar

did it explain how he circumvented developer restrictions by using shell cos to purchase all the land around orlando and then run it as his own municipality?

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Crankypants Hangry Lady's avatar

He didn't even know where they went on their honeymoon.

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Janet's avatar

trying to imagine being the illustrator for this book, thinking about how to represent santorini or wherever in a partial-page vignette

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Laurie Stone's avatar

Thanks for recommending my piece in "Paris Review."

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Janet's avatar

You’re the best!

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Laurie Stone's avatar

So kind!

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