Thank you for including my memoir in your Ill-Equipped Heroes recommendations. I'm still using your blurb to promote the book. I've learned a lot from you and always appreciate your insights.
I haven't read these unprepared heroes books but have a vague sense of the stories. Frankly, I don't think the word "heroes" should be applied to them in any sense other than "hero" as "main character." I think they're morons at best, and arrogant jerks at worst, because they COULD have prepared, but chose not to. In fiction, a real hero gets thrown into a challenging situation and has to work through it. He or she doesn't step into it willingly, or create the situation for the sake of a stunt. I come from a long line of mountaineers, and half a century ago I took to heart the Boy Scout motto: "Be prepared." Now, about the political stuff: Good riddance to the unsubscribers. I appreciate the authenticity and vulnerability you've displayed in this forum, keep it coming, thank you!
I always love any encouragement to remember that art is resistance in so many ways, from the active (expanding our minds, telling truths, etc) to passive (filling our own souls to then be who we want to be in the world). I will admit...my reading tastes tend to be more...pedestrian? commercial? than yours, but I think I enjoy your recommendations more because of that. It expands my horizons! Also, I have never read Touch, and now a copy is on its way to me as we speak! It sounds right up my alley as I frequently imagine a life where I am able to unplug completely and just scribble silly, quirky stories that find their audience through person to person hand offs like a note passed through a classroom on ripped notebook paper.
Amanda! Thank you so much for your order— that makes me so happy. I tend to read both high and low. Do you read any Katherine Heiny? I think she does such a good job of writing literary fiction that is also super commercial. Her books are always super positive and uplifting too— kind of like upscale Hallmark movies.
I love Pond so much. I chose it for my book club and it just about started a riot. Some people were very unsettled by not being able to decide what type of thing it was: essays, short stories, novel, fiction or non? If you like books that expand your notions of genre, Claire-Louise is the author for you.
LOL, I've instigated Claire-Louise Bennett riots in two different book clubs! I told a woman in my new book club about the last book club's riot over Pond, and she dared me to pick Checkout-19, which I did. It was very satisfyingly divisive.
I'm going to say something that might seem cranky, but is actually more matter-of-fact mixed with a bit of altruism. I've read Krakauer's book but not the others. Those main characters, if they are in the woods, actually drive me nuts in a way that interferes with book-as-entertainment. They're not hapless, and I resist characterizing them as heros. Especially if the books become big sellers, these people wind up anti-heros that misinform people to the point that they, too, think they can go be a show-off, macho isolationist and come out with a book deal (or memorialized at least). It's really dangerous for the inspiration it gives some people. And it's even more dangerous and costly because most of these people wind up needing to be rescued or at least searched for/bodies retrieved. I know folks who work in search and rescue and first responder crews in remote areas (tbh, anywhere in the Mountain West that's not urban is remote). And my friends and community members who are on these crews often get sucked into grueling, dangerous searches (and rescues if the ill-prepared joker is lucky). Someone has to pay for all the search effort, too (including a lot of people's time, a lot of equipment, vehicles, etc.). And all of that is diverted from other critical response needs.
That said, I do enjoy a hapless-main-character memoir. I prefer them over the same sort of character in a novel, because there's something about fiction that makes me want the characters to have more control, since the writer creates the whole situation. I realize it's illogical, but there it is.
I appreciate your push back on people who become famous for taking absurd risks. I thought the subject of Krakauer's book was a fool. But I got the book as a gift from a beta reader of my memoir who thought Krakauer did a good job of keeping up the suspense in the back story when the reader knows the subject is already dead. I learned from Krakauer's craft, not his subject.
I don’t find this illogical at all! And I agree with you! Plus, what you are saying is true— they had to remove McCandless’s (spelling?) van recently, as I’m sure you know, because so many ill-prepared people were pilgrimaging there and they had to rescue all these folks. There is an incredible photo of it being air lifted by a helicopter. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for these recommendations (and the belly laugh from “the slobbering cookie monsters”—I fear for our country and our planet, too, and there’s not much to laugh about). I read Krakauer’s and Bryson’s books and loved them both for very different reasons. I thought Bryson was hilarious, and I read it at a time I needed to laugh. I look forward to checking out the others, thank you.
I’m not sure what I think of the ill equipped hero, but I think maybe I don’t like them (the characters not the book). I’ve only read 1 of your 4 examples and I certainly didn’t like that guy. Definitely interesting as a category though. I’ll have to check out the other three!
Courtney, you always reveal a little bit about yourself to your Substack Family. It might be about your pregnancies, or your health, or, yes, about your political views. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, which is neither right nor wrong. That just makes you feel like a friend, even though most of us have never met you in person.
I don't agree with everything you say about many different subjects, publishing or otherwise, but everything you say is worth contemplating and learning from. I'm sure all of us here, your subscribers, have love in our hearts for you and all you do for us. To those unsubscribers that don't, I say: "Good riddance, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!" I bet most of them were unpaid subscribers anyway. Don't engage with them at all, Courtney. Keep doing what you always do - enlighten and entertain us.
I adore all of this and am going to order Touch with a Bookshop gift certificate- it sounds like something I need right now. This whole newsletter was a breath of fresh air, and reminds me how we can hold ourselves together through community and resource sharing. And- thank you so much for mentioning my book. I'm so flattered and grateful. Can't wait to hear what you think of it, even if that will be many months from now. ❤️
This morning I felt compelled to share with friends the riveting stories from NYT headlined "Are Americans Doing Fitness Wrong?" and "These Korean-Style BBQ Meatballs Can Be Ready In 20 Minutes." To soothe and delight. This newsletter from you fits the flow, so thank you for the positive contribution to my mental health.
(P.S. Unsubscribes feel bad, but the value of your Substack is not captured in those numbers.)
Courtney, I love how your novel TOUCH is so timely, though it isn't a new release. I just may recommend it for my next book club meeting!
As for the ill-equipped hero/heroine, I LOVE stories that take a person who isn't ready for a big task or is even, quite honestly, the worst person, and place them in a near-impossible situation. I guess maybe because overcoming adversity is such a big theme in my own life and my own story.
As for Monday, I thought of the irony that inauguration day was also MLK Jr. Day. And it was my son's 6th birthday, who told me on his way out the door to school, "Today will be a good day."
Children, to me, are what bring me back to all that is good. And I want to do my part in both teaching and modeling to my children how to be good people in this world.
Oooh. What you wrote about your son made me teary. I’m getting emails from people asking “why I had to make it political” in my newsletter today, and lots of unsubscribes. Your lovely note was a nice remedy to that.
Oh Courtney, that’s so hard. I feel you on that. I want you to know that, though I tend toward staying out of the political fray myself, I appreciate those who feel passionately about politics and who want their values reflected through their voice.
You know that trope—”the personal IS political”—and there’s truth there, of course. I don’t think any artist can avoid their work stepping into some political controversy, but that’s because our work must reflect the urgency of the times in which we live, to point to something vital or away from destruction.
I just wanted to offer you some encouragement today, as you navigate this particular pathway.
I really appreciate that. It's taking quite a bit of self restraint to not write back to the people saying they "only want writing advice and not for things to get political" that me being able to write and publish books in this country, and thus give writing advice, is political. That me being political is giving my subscribers a chance at one day publishing, too, because we are entering an era of censorship and illiteracy. But I've learned from dealing with my family (all Trump supporters) that you can't debate these folks, because debate only works when people recognize wrong and right and facts and math and science, so I am not sure what to debate with. Mulling on it.
Courtney, I have the same kind of family (except for a few outliers and a couple of in-laws), and my career has been focused on sharing science (aka facts) and teaching scientists how to do it effectively. I can say quite honestly (and I'm happy to share links to peer-reviewed research substantiating this): there isn't anything to debate. A debate is a dead-end right now. We either find a way to still be in relationship with these people (which essentially means mutually agreed no-go-topic-zones for my family) or we distance ourselves, because they do not see the need for caution or respect in this. Just as one example: I have one very close family member who I grew up with and usually talk with multiple times a week who is furious that my sister (an outlier) and I will *not* get into fights about politics with them right now. YMMV, but, the honest truth is that there's not much to be gained by fighting with people right now, especially people we care about whose relationships with us we may now doubt or grieve. I see fighting with beloved people (and even with strangers, neighbors, etc.), as capitulating to the chaos that's intentionally being sewn by these folks who think they're in charge of D.C. for now. And, I'm not giving in to the chaos and bullshit. So, it might sound like I'm telling you what to do, but at minimum, know that there is a lot of evidence supporting your decision to stand your ground but not to engage in debate or fighting, even with people you care about.
You have worded that so well. I didn’t write back to any of the folks who wrote me yesterday because I want peace over chaos— not just for myself but for others, too. I appreciate everything you have shared with me and us, thank you, Bethann! And good luck with your family.
I do get that, Courtney. I live in northern Indiana, a very red state, and most of my family are uber-conservative. Just keep doing what you do best. People who love you will stick around!
I am really sorry to hear that you're dealing with that, Courtney! I've just requested TOUCH from the library, and I loved POND once I gave myself over to the weird flow of it. Thank you for this wonderful newsletter today.
I feel this so deeply, Courtney. I also I have so many thoughts and fears for Mother Earth. My challenge is to find balance and not to overdo it in terms of grassroots activism. I believe that if we all care for our local ecosystems — whether a yard, forest, or trees on city sidewalks — and cultivate intimacy with land where we are, it will not only be healing for us but for our local ecosystems. One thing my community and I are working on is a land stewardship group to dissolve artificial boundaries of land 'ownership' and instead see our work as collaboration with land. Knowing that healing depleted earth heals us, and vice versa.
That means the world to me. Truly. I've been asking myself a lot of questions about the impact of my writing and what I want to (or feel compelled to) offer in a world of increasing noise and overwhelm. To know it calms your nervous system means a lot.
Thank you for including my memoir in your Ill-Equipped Heroes recommendations. I'm still using your blurb to promote the book. I've learned a lot from you and always appreciate your insights.
Thank you, Billie! <3
I really enjoyed "The Most" <3!
Just finished— it was wonderful!
I haven't read these unprepared heroes books but have a vague sense of the stories. Frankly, I don't think the word "heroes" should be applied to them in any sense other than "hero" as "main character." I think they're morons at best, and arrogant jerks at worst, because they COULD have prepared, but chose not to. In fiction, a real hero gets thrown into a challenging situation and has to work through it. He or she doesn't step into it willingly, or create the situation for the sake of a stunt. I come from a long line of mountaineers, and half a century ago I took to heart the Boy Scout motto: "Be prepared." Now, about the political stuff: Good riddance to the unsubscribers. I appreciate the authenticity and vulnerability you've displayed in this forum, keep it coming, thank you!
Just for the record, I am not a moron or an arrogant jerk.
I agree ;)
Would you accept “anti-heroes”? I am with you on the preparation front. I am a Virgo!
I always love any encouragement to remember that art is resistance in so many ways, from the active (expanding our minds, telling truths, etc) to passive (filling our own souls to then be who we want to be in the world). I will admit...my reading tastes tend to be more...pedestrian? commercial? than yours, but I think I enjoy your recommendations more because of that. It expands my horizons! Also, I have never read Touch, and now a copy is on its way to me as we speak! It sounds right up my alley as I frequently imagine a life where I am able to unplug completely and just scribble silly, quirky stories that find their audience through person to person hand offs like a note passed through a classroom on ripped notebook paper.
Amanda! Thank you so much for your order— that makes me so happy. I tend to read both high and low. Do you read any Katherine Heiny? I think she does such a good job of writing literary fiction that is also super commercial. Her books are always super positive and uplifting too— kind of like upscale Hallmark movies.
I have not read her, but I am adding her to my list now! She sounds right up my alley.
I love Pond so much. I chose it for my book club and it just about started a riot. Some people were very unsettled by not being able to decide what type of thing it was: essays, short stories, novel, fiction or non? If you like books that expand your notions of genre, Claire-Louise is the author for you.
Ooooh I love me a riotous book club pick! Good for you!!
LOL, I've instigated Claire-Louise Bennett riots in two different book clubs! I told a woman in my new book club about the last book club's riot over Pond, and she dared me to pick Checkout-19, which I did. It was very satisfyingly divisive.
I would watch this film.
I'm going to say something that might seem cranky, but is actually more matter-of-fact mixed with a bit of altruism. I've read Krakauer's book but not the others. Those main characters, if they are in the woods, actually drive me nuts in a way that interferes with book-as-entertainment. They're not hapless, and I resist characterizing them as heros. Especially if the books become big sellers, these people wind up anti-heros that misinform people to the point that they, too, think they can go be a show-off, macho isolationist and come out with a book deal (or memorialized at least). It's really dangerous for the inspiration it gives some people. And it's even more dangerous and costly because most of these people wind up needing to be rescued or at least searched for/bodies retrieved. I know folks who work in search and rescue and first responder crews in remote areas (tbh, anywhere in the Mountain West that's not urban is remote). And my friends and community members who are on these crews often get sucked into grueling, dangerous searches (and rescues if the ill-prepared joker is lucky). Someone has to pay for all the search effort, too (including a lot of people's time, a lot of equipment, vehicles, etc.). And all of that is diverted from other critical response needs.
That said, I do enjoy a hapless-main-character memoir. I prefer them over the same sort of character in a novel, because there's something about fiction that makes me want the characters to have more control, since the writer creates the whole situation. I realize it's illogical, but there it is.
I appreciate your push back on people who become famous for taking absurd risks. I thought the subject of Krakauer's book was a fool. But I got the book as a gift from a beta reader of my memoir who thought Krakauer did a good job of keeping up the suspense in the back story when the reader knows the subject is already dead. I learned from Krakauer's craft, not his subject.
I feel similarly.
Good point about learning from the writing, not the subject. Krakauer is impressive that way.
I don’t find this illogical at all! And I agree with you! Plus, what you are saying is true— they had to remove McCandless’s (spelling?) van recently, as I’m sure you know, because so many ill-prepared people were pilgrimaging there and they had to rescue all these folks. There is an incredible photo of it being air lifted by a helicopter. Thank you for sharing!
Yeah, exactly (re removing the van). :)
Thank you for these recommendations (and the belly laugh from “the slobbering cookie monsters”—I fear for our country and our planet, too, and there’s not much to laugh about). I read Krakauer’s and Bryson’s books and loved them both for very different reasons. I thought Bryson was hilarious, and I read it at a time I needed to laugh. I look forward to checking out the others, thank you.
I’m not sure what I think of the ill equipped hero, but I think maybe I don’t like them (the characters not the book). I’ve only read 1 of your 4 examples and I certainly didn’t like that guy. Definitely interesting as a category though. I’ll have to check out the other three!
Can’t wait to read these! Always looking for good memoir recs. Thanks Courtney!
Pond! I loved Checkout 19, too. So weird and interior and beautiful and kind of rhythmic, both of them, which is for me 'art for the heart.'
Yes! I want to read all her past books now.
Courtney, you always reveal a little bit about yourself to your Substack Family. It might be about your pregnancies, or your health, or, yes, about your political views. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, which is neither right nor wrong. That just makes you feel like a friend, even though most of us have never met you in person.
I don't agree with everything you say about many different subjects, publishing or otherwise, but everything you say is worth contemplating and learning from. I'm sure all of us here, your subscribers, have love in our hearts for you and all you do for us. To those unsubscribers that don't, I say: "Good riddance, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!" I bet most of them were unpaid subscribers anyway. Don't engage with them at all, Courtney. Keep doing what you always do - enlighten and entertain us.
Thank you James, that’s very kind. I appreciate it!
I adore all of this and am going to order Touch with a Bookshop gift certificate- it sounds like something I need right now. This whole newsletter was a breath of fresh air, and reminds me how we can hold ourselves together through community and resource sharing. And- thank you so much for mentioning my book. I'm so flattered and grateful. Can't wait to hear what you think of it, even if that will be many months from now. ❤️
Thank you, River! So glad we’re getting to know each other here and look forward to a meet up somewhere IRL.
Me too!!
This morning I felt compelled to share with friends the riveting stories from NYT headlined "Are Americans Doing Fitness Wrong?" and "These Korean-Style BBQ Meatballs Can Be Ready In 20 Minutes." To soothe and delight. This newsletter from you fits the flow, so thank you for the positive contribution to my mental health.
(P.S. Unsubscribes feel bad, but the value of your Substack is not captured in those numbers.)
I am always here for meatballs of all kinds!
Thank you! I needed these.
To the unsubscribers, please cry more.
Bless you, Stanley. Thank you.
Courtney, I love how your novel TOUCH is so timely, though it isn't a new release. I just may recommend it for my next book club meeting!
As for the ill-equipped hero/heroine, I LOVE stories that take a person who isn't ready for a big task or is even, quite honestly, the worst person, and place them in a near-impossible situation. I guess maybe because overcoming adversity is such a big theme in my own life and my own story.
As for Monday, I thought of the irony that inauguration day was also MLK Jr. Day. And it was my son's 6th birthday, who told me on his way out the door to school, "Today will be a good day."
Children, to me, are what bring me back to all that is good. And I want to do my part in both teaching and modeling to my children how to be good people in this world.
Oooh. What you wrote about your son made me teary. I’m getting emails from people asking “why I had to make it political” in my newsletter today, and lots of unsubscribes. Your lovely note was a nice remedy to that.
Oh Courtney, that’s so hard. I feel you on that. I want you to know that, though I tend toward staying out of the political fray myself, I appreciate those who feel passionately about politics and who want their values reflected through their voice.
You know that trope—”the personal IS political”—and there’s truth there, of course. I don’t think any artist can avoid their work stepping into some political controversy, but that’s because our work must reflect the urgency of the times in which we live, to point to something vital or away from destruction.
I just wanted to offer you some encouragement today, as you navigate this particular pathway.
I really appreciate that. It's taking quite a bit of self restraint to not write back to the people saying they "only want writing advice and not for things to get political" that me being able to write and publish books in this country, and thus give writing advice, is political. That me being political is giving my subscribers a chance at one day publishing, too, because we are entering an era of censorship and illiteracy. But I've learned from dealing with my family (all Trump supporters) that you can't debate these folks, because debate only works when people recognize wrong and right and facts and math and science, so I am not sure what to debate with. Mulling on it.
Courtney, I have the same kind of family (except for a few outliers and a couple of in-laws), and my career has been focused on sharing science (aka facts) and teaching scientists how to do it effectively. I can say quite honestly (and I'm happy to share links to peer-reviewed research substantiating this): there isn't anything to debate. A debate is a dead-end right now. We either find a way to still be in relationship with these people (which essentially means mutually agreed no-go-topic-zones for my family) or we distance ourselves, because they do not see the need for caution or respect in this. Just as one example: I have one very close family member who I grew up with and usually talk with multiple times a week who is furious that my sister (an outlier) and I will *not* get into fights about politics with them right now. YMMV, but, the honest truth is that there's not much to be gained by fighting with people right now, especially people we care about whose relationships with us we may now doubt or grieve. I see fighting with beloved people (and even with strangers, neighbors, etc.), as capitulating to the chaos that's intentionally being sewn by these folks who think they're in charge of D.C. for now. And, I'm not giving in to the chaos and bullshit. So, it might sound like I'm telling you what to do, but at minimum, know that there is a lot of evidence supporting your decision to stand your ground but not to engage in debate or fighting, even with people you care about.
You have worded that so well. I didn’t write back to any of the folks who wrote me yesterday because I want peace over chaos— not just for myself but for others, too. I appreciate everything you have shared with me and us, thank you, Bethann! And good luck with your family.
Thanks. Same to you for yours.
I do get that, Courtney. I live in northern Indiana, a very red state, and most of my family are uber-conservative. Just keep doing what you do best. People who love you will stick around!
I am really sorry to hear that you're dealing with that, Courtney! I've just requested TOUCH from the library, and I loved POND once I gave myself over to the weird flow of it. Thank you for this wonderful newsletter today.
Oh that is so kind of you, Kristen, thank you! I have to put POND aside right now until my attention span is less battered but I will get back to it!
I feel this so deeply, Courtney. I also I have so many thoughts and fears for Mother Earth. My challenge is to find balance and not to overdo it in terms of grassroots activism. I believe that if we all care for our local ecosystems — whether a yard, forest, or trees on city sidewalks — and cultivate intimacy with land where we are, it will not only be healing for us but for our local ecosystems. One thing my community and I are working on is a land stewardship group to dissolve artificial boundaries of land 'ownership' and instead see our work as collaboration with land. Knowing that healing depleted earth heals us, and vice versa.
My nervous system immediately calms when I read anything you write.
That means the world to me. Truly. I've been asking myself a lot of questions about the impact of my writing and what I want to (or feel compelled to) offer in a world of increasing noise and overwhelm. To know it calms your nervous system means a lot.