Julie R reviewed Figuring by Maria Popova
historical lives and their intersections (and intersectionality)
4 stars
This had some fascinating moments. I feel like she focused too long on Fuller, but then I think Fuller was the hub for many of the other spokes, so I guess it was inevitable. My favorites were Dickinson and Carson, but most of the lives touched on here are compelling. This book makes it easy to fall down your own wiki rabbit holes, and it also convinced me to finally pick up Emerson to read. While I appreciated the highlighting of the queer aspects, I also felt like there was a bit of conjecture in other aspects that might give a skeptic reasons to argue or doubt. (i mean, fuck those people, but yeah) The interstitial, authorial philosophizing could be a little heavy or purple at times, but it was easy enough to skim if that's not your jam. I wish more books existed that helped contextualize and connect events …
This had some fascinating moments. I feel like she focused too long on Fuller, but then I think Fuller was the hub for many of the other spokes, so I guess it was inevitable. My favorites were Dickinson and Carson, but most of the lives touched on here are compelling. This book makes it easy to fall down your own wiki rabbit holes, and it also convinced me to finally pick up Emerson to read. While I appreciated the highlighting of the queer aspects, I also felt like there was a bit of conjecture in other aspects that might give a skeptic reasons to argue or doubt. (i mean, fuck those people, but yeah) The interstitial, authorial philosophizing could be a little heavy or purple at times, but it was easy enough to skim if that's not your jam. I wish more books existed that helped contextualize and connect events and people within a skein of time rather than making them all feel isolated, so I'm glad I read this.
