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Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Year published: 2019
Book # for author: 1
Genre: non fiction
Setting: NYC and Texas
Trick Mirror synopsis
Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino (on Amazon here) is a collection of college style essays on the social media-infused culture we live in. She confronted ideas about feminism, race, religion, scam culture, the economy, celebrities, the internet and more, many times putting their cyclical quality on full blast. Scattered throughout were musings like:
“The ideal chopped-salad customer is himself efficient: he needs to eat his $12 salad in ten minutes because he needs the extra time to keep functioning within the job that allows him to afford a regular $12 salad in the first place.” (Of course now a salad like this would cost a lot more…). Her own thoughts and experiences were woven into these analyzations for a layered approach to this modern day sociology deep dive.
The writing
The writing showcased Jia’s clarity of mind and willingness to dissect our culture head on, which I loved. However, it was sometimes too complex for its own good. Meaning, some of the points she tried to make would have been sharper in simpler language and sentence structure. I also would have appreciated more of her own experiences and more emotion to balance things out better.
Trick Mirror review
I love sociology so a lot of Trick Mirror was very interesting to me, though as it went on I found it harped. For example, there was too much talk about the ins and outs of feminism at the end and politically it started slanting one way. I ended up skimming the parts I didn’t like and encourage you to do the same. Skipping what you’re not drawn to is such an important aspect of reading and prevents burnout.
My favorite essays were Reality TV and Me, where Jia talks about her time on a reality TV show, bringing us back to reality TV in the early 2000s. Then there was the essay Pure Heroines, where she takes a look at different classic female main character molds from both then and now. As a book lover I really appreciated that one. The essay The Internet and I was also interesting to me as someone who recently started a blog. Overall, I enjoyed the confrontation of reality Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino provided. If you’ve read the book which essays did you relate to the most?
My rating: 6.5/10.
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