Capsule reviews.

Adult Drama, Beers, Gag Order

i picked this image for a book i decided not to include here so now it doesn’t make much sense. but i just kind of like it. oh to be floating in a pool right now…

Adult Drama (Natalie Beach, 2023)¹

Natalie Beach of “I Was Caroline Calloway” fame returns with an essay collection, only two of which are about Caroline Calloway. I didn’t realize Beach had written a book until my friend Becca Rothfeld mentioned she was reviewing it for the Washington Post. (You can read that review here.) And so I was a little curious! My big problem with Beach’s original essay was that it had an emotional tone that felt very insincere to me—you obviously don’t write a nonfiction piece exposing your not especially notable ex best friend out of pure public interest, you do it because you’re angry at them and want them to suffer. That’s fine, there are certainly worse reasons to write something if you ask me, but I hate it when I’m reading things clearly bubbling over with anger and spite that are also trying t…