Well, I found out years later from my parents (who apparently tried to intervene and that is the story of how I lost my first bestie!) that she was definitely physically abused, so I was probably predisposed to armchair-psychologist my way from that knowledge to this assumption - it makes me feel a LOT better that…

I once had a very traumatic but enlightening experience watching a friend play Barbies - during which she created a strip club and had Barbie give Ken a lap dance while I stared in horror. We were 8, max. Cannot imagine the fallout of parents hearing about that one...

"A Mexican candy animal!"

Gotcha. I clearly read "according to people" as completely literal and not weird at all. Apologies...

Now, she tells the magazine in an exclusive interview, she has the strength she needs to attach a name to the accusations against her former idol.

Okay, though, as someone currently working in international development - there is a difference between "supporting aid workers because their work can be psychologically and socially traumatic, even secondhand" and "making the story about aid workers rather than the people living those traumatic experiences…

From what I remember from her Twitter (where I read the news), it was actually just a better schedule closer to her home, and the filming wasn't at weird hours? I love her a lot, but I do feel like that was the actual, no-bullshit reason. Totally willing to be corrected - I just happen to follow her on Twitter and…

I think her dad is having health issues and she left so that she could have a less intense schedule to help care for him. :(

Not even then, going by her protagonist's track record...

Sometimes I am so confused by haute couteur.

My hatred of Giuliana Rancic just keeps growing. Usually it's just irrational, but now I can smugly hate her for this bullshit too, which is GREAT.

That's what my version does too - I'm in Canada also. New topic: Why does Taylor hate her Canadian fans!?

I don't hate Welcome to New York either! It's good for mornings when I am driving to work, possibly because I wish I was taking the subway to the East Village instead of braving the freeways of the greater Toronto area.

I loathe the song Bad Blood - the only one on the album I actually don't like - AND YET, I wake up with it stuck in my head. (Or possibly, SO OF COURSE that happens.)

Ohhh, I was just being overly literal. (It's a professional hazard.) Sorry, pre-coffee comments should be screened by someone or something.

Does "objectively" mean something different in literature that a simple econometrician like myself might be unaware of? (I'm not really being sarcastic, I'm genuinely puzzled. Is there a journal somewhere that makes this decision?) Because I feel like that may or may not be a difficult thing to build consensus on.

Nothing I've read so far has convinced me I would enjoy reading him more than I am enjoying the many Regency romance novels on Kindle Unlimited right now... but I'm sure the people who disagree with me would also feel strongly about my taste level or lack thereof. :) I'm just not into the New York Dude's Special…

No, you're right to point that out. I think what I was trying to get at (poorly, because I am definitely the absolute opposite of a literary critic) is that some authors rely on tropes and stereotypes to BE the story - that is, they more or less uncritically adopt the tropes and stereotypes in order to produce…

I agree that it exists... but I don't think it's really treated in the same way. For example, tons of people, men and women, have recommended Nick Hornby to me (who I read and quite liked). So he's viewed as something everyone can enjoy, even if he's writing about men's experiences. I don't think Jennifer Weiner,…

FWIW, I am not impugning Franzen's talent (because, unlike him, I feel uncomfortable doing so without actually having read him), and totally buy that he really has done interesting things. I just dislike this particular side of his narrative. No disrespect to his fans or his work. Just his personality, a little bit.