HackerNews Readings: Apropos of Nothing

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The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies

Jason Fagone

4.6 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Lab Girl

Hope Jahren

4.5 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Erik Larson

4.7 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Based on a True Story: A Memoir

Norm Macdonald, Tim O'Halloran, et al.

4.5 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Apropos of Nothing

Woody Allen and Arcade Publishing

4.5 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Black Hand: The Bloody Rise and Redemption of "Boxer" Enriquez, a Mexican Mob Killer

Chris Blatchford

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell

Tucker Max

4.3 on Amazon

1 HN comments

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

Cary Elwes, Joe Layden, et al.

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander

Pete Blaber

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

Caitlin Doughty and Recorded Books

4.9 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness

Elyn R. Saks

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Inside Out: A Memoir

Demi Moore and HarperAudio

4.5 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste

Bianca Bosker

4.6 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey

Jane Goodall and Phillip Berman

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

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KittenInABoxonMar 19, 2021

> In March 2020, staff at the publishing house Hachette in New York, including employees of Little Brown and Grand Central Publishing, walked out over the planned publication of Woody Allen’s memoir, Apropos of Nothing, because the film director was the subject in the early 1990s of a molestation allegation, for which he was twice investigated without charge. Hachette caved to employees’ demands and canceled the release, which Allen later published elsewhere.

I don't really think defending Woody Allen is a good example of any of the purity politics that was first opened up with, and its use makes me suspicious of the entire essay's goodwill otherwise. It's super weird to rope in "these people don't like white people writing brown protagonists" and "the employees of this company do not want to participate in publishing the nonfiction of a credibly accused child molester".

I think the essay is significantly weakened by conflating the two in any respect.