No Judgement

A brilliant and addictive collection of brand-new essays on modern culture - from 'the pre-eminent and most widely read critic of her generation' The Times <BR><BR>Included as a 2024 highlight in the Observer, Stylist, the Skinny, BBC Online and the Independent <BR><BR> 'Funny, insightful and bang on the money' Stylist<BR><BR>'Very fun to read ... exhilarating and original' New Statesman<BR><BR>--------------------------------------------<BR><BR>I heard this crazy story, and I want you to know.<BR><BR>It is the age of internet gossip; of social networks, repackaged ideas and rating everything out of five stars. Mega-famous celebrities respond with fury to critics who publish less-than-rapturous reviews of their work (and then delete their tweets); CEOs talk about reclaiming 'the power of vulnerability'; and in the world of fiction, writers eschew actually making things up in favour of 'always just talking about themselves'.<BR><BR>In this blistering, irreverent and very funny first book of non-fiction, Lauren Oyler - one of the most trenchant, influential, and revelatory critics of her generation - takes on the bizarre particularities of our present moment in a series of interconnected essays about literature, the attention economy, gossip, the role of criticism and her own relentless, teeth-grinding anxiety.<BR><BR>Illuminating and thought-provoking, by turns drily scathing and disarmingly open, No Judgement excavates the layers of psychology and meaning in how we communicate, tell stories and make critical judgements - to offer dazzling insights into how we live and think today.<BR><BR>'Brisk, honest and soaring with élan' Naoise Dolan, author of The Happy Couple<BR><BR>'Smart and unafraid and (thank God) funny. This is exactly what I want to read' Monica Heisey, author of Really Good, Actually<BR><BR>'Oyler is the kind of dangerous contemporary writer we need more of' Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young

I heard this crazy story, and I want you to know. It is the age of internet gossip; of social networks, repackaged ideas and rating everything out of five stars. Mega-famous celebrities respond with fury to critics who publish less-than-rapturous reviews of their work (and then delete their tweets); CEOs talk about reclaiming 'the power of vulnerability'; and in the world of fiction, writers eschew actually making things up in favour of 'always just talking about themselves'.<BR><BR>In this blistering, irreverent and very funny first book of non-fiction, Lauren Oyler takes on the bizarre particularities of our present moment in a series of interconnected essays about literature, the attention economy, gossip, the role of criticism and her own relentless, teeth-grinding anxiety.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZEA wry, provocative and very funny debut novel about identity, authenticity and the self in the age of the internet'I loved it' Zadie Smith'Brilliant, very funny' Guardian'Prepare to feel very seen' I-DOn the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration, a young woman snoops through her boyfriend's phone and makes a startling discovery: he's an anonymous Internet conspiracy theorist, and a popular one at that. Already fluent in Internet fakery, irony, and outrage, she's not exactly shocked by the revelation. But this is only the first in a series of bizarre twists that expose a world whose truths are shaped by online lies.Suddenly left with no reason to stay in New York - or be anywhere in particular - she flees to Berlin, and embarks on her own cycles of manipulation in the deceptive spaces of her daily life, from dating apps to expat social events, open-plan offices to bureaucratic waiting rooms.Narrated in a voice as seductive as it is subtly subversive, Fake Accounts is a wry, provocative and very funny debut novel about identity and authenticity in the age of the internet.

"The essay collection everyone’s talking about."—New YorkA MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024: Elle, The Millions, LitHub, Nylon, BookPage, PureWow, and moreFrom the national bestselling novelist and essayist, a groundbreaking collection of brand-new pieces about the role of cultural criticism in our ever-changing world.In her writing for Harper’s, the London Review of Books, The New Yorker, and elsewhere, Lauren Oyler has emerged as one of the most trenchant and influential critics of her generation, a talent whose judgments on works of literature—whether celebratory or scarily harsh—have become notorious. But what is the significance of being a critic and consumer of media in today’s fraught environment? How do we understand ourselves, and each other, as space between the individual and the world seems to get smaller and smaller, and our opinions on books and movies seem to represent something essential about our souls? And to put it bluntly, why should you care what she—or anyone—thinks?In this, her first collection of essays, Oyler writes with about topics like the role of gossip in our exponentially communicative society, the rise and proliferation of autofiction, why we’re all so “vulnerable” these days, and her own anxiety. In her singular prose—sharp yet addictive, expansive yet personal—she encapsulates the world we live and think in with precision and care, delivering a work of cultural criticism as only she can.Bringing to mind the works of such iconic writers as Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, and Terry Castle, No Judgment is a testament to Lauren Oyler’s inimitable wit and her quest to understand how we shape the world through culture. It is a sparkling nonfiction debut from one of today’s most inventive thinkers.