Selected Writing

I write memoir-driven literary and cultural criticism, long-form essays and journalism, and fiction.

there’s nothing wrong with your nose

An essay about Fleabag, George Eliot, beauty, and being a person, for Electric Literature.

love under these conditions

In which I explore my lifelong commitment to Jane Austen, my decade-long attempt to become an academic, and what it means to love in a broken world. File under: quit lit. For the Rambling.

who gets to write about sexual abuse?

A review essay about contemporary sexual violence narratives, with side quests including the ethics of fictional identity, the limits of identification, and the power of testimony. Written before #metoo, on a frequent subject for me.

‘The perfect nanny’ & corporate feminism

A review essay on Leila Slimani’s The Perfect Nanny, exploring the topics of feminist solidarity, nationalism, and parental boredom. Contains plot spoilers!

Why people don’t like ‘I love dick’ (Hint: Because it’s about women)

An essay about Jill Soloway’s Amazon adaptation of Chris Kraus’s I Love Dick, arguing that the show’s decision to thematically center women’s desires made many reviewers and viewers uncomfortable.

Interview with Amber Tamblyn, on her novel Any Man

Amber Tamblyn’s novel explores gender oppression through the tale of a female rapist. In this conversation, she and I discuss her representational choices, goals, and the varied responses the book has elicited from readers.