CONTINUED FROM PAGE 359SHE CONTAINS MULTITUDES
of Jezebel itself, as she did in one titled “No
Offense,” which began, “It’s strange to edit a
feminist website when almost nothing offends
you, because the feminist website is tradition-
ally imagined to run on offense.”
Soon, she was regularly turning down other
job offers, in part due to loyalty to Carmichael,
who by then was not just her best friend and
boss, but had also been involved in a serious car
accident in the summer of 2015 that had landed
her in the hospital for six weeks, at which point
Tolentino had stepped in to run the site. Mean-
while, Gawker Media, the company that owned
Jezebel, was embroiled in a lawsuit involving a
Hulk Hogan sex tape that ultimately led it to
file for bankruptcy. (Tolentino once described
the period as “maniacally strange.”) “But I also
think she realized it was a time to have fun be-
fore she became one of the voices online that
people turn to in order to be told how to think,”
Carmichael says.
The offer to write for the New Yorker was
different, though. “I was like, Ye s, absolute-
ly. Are you fucking kidding me?” Tolentino
says. She began her new job in July 2016; four
months later, Trump was elected. “I felt use-
less and agitated and confused, like everyone
did,” she says. “I was like, ‘What is a way I can
feel all these things for a good purpose?’” Her
conclusion was to write a book, and she landed
a deal that summer while reporting from the
Cosby trial, running outside the courtroom to
talk to editors.
For the next 18 months, she worked on Trick
Mirror most weekends and some weeknights.
Early responses have been rapturous. It’s been
blurbed by Zadie Smith and Rebecca Solnit,
who called Tolentino “the best young essayist at
work in the United States.” The starred Kirkus
review declared that it positioned Tolentino
as “a key voice of her generation,” though she
shrugs this off. “I think it’s a subject matter
thing,” she says. (“It’s broader than that,” Wil-
liams says. “She’s writing about things we all
live with.”)
The anal cancer email notwithstanding,
the criticism Tolentino receives these days
tends to be more muted than when she was
at Jezebel, where people sometimes tweeted
at her with pictures of her face plastered with
dicks. The essay she expects to prompt the
most blowback is one in which she argues that
being a “difficult woman” has been reframed
as an undiluted positive. “The concept has bal-
looned to something all-encompassing...a tarp
of self-delusion that can cover any sin,” shewrites, adding, “If you stripped away the sex-
ism, you’d still be left with Kellyanne Conway.”
The piece has the capacity to anger both
people on the left and, presumably, Kellyanne
Conway and her supporters. It’s also indicative
of the way Tolentino’s path through most any
subject, no matter how contentious, is her
own. “The ways in which our identities posi-
tion us in the world are complicated,” she tells
me. “And we’re in an age where everything is
shifting. There has to be writing that is flexi-
ble enough to accommodate all these things
existing, often at once.”
One concern she had about her essay on
Ecstasy and religion was that just putting
words to something so central to her identi-
ty would leave it unable to further develop.
“I worried I was imposing some sort of false
structure and would no longer have these
overwhelming experiences,” she says. She was
relieved, last April, when she went upstate,
dropped acid, and discovered this, at least,
was not the case. “The message of the day was,
Jia, what an idiot you were to even think you
were getting to the bottom of anything,” she
says. “That essay is just a sliver on the top of
this thing that you’ll be thinking about for the
rest of your life.”NEWSSTAND COVER
Dress, belt by Dior, by special order,
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SUBSCRIBER COVER
Jumpsuit by Stella McCartney,
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.com. Hoop earrings by J. Hannah,
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE 83: Dress by Dolce & Gabbana,
select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques
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102: Cape, blouse, pants by Chanel,
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Market New York. Page 116: Dress
by Stella McCartney, similar styles
at Stella McCartney (NYC).
THE FEED
PAGE 124: Handbag by Stalvey,
$12,500, Barneys New York.
EDITOR’S LETTER
PAGE 130: Trench coat by Galvan,
galvanlondon.com. Slipdress by Ginia,
giniartw.com. Earring by Bulgari,
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Rossi, gianvitorossi.com. Bag by
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NINA’S EDIT
PAGE 136: Bracelet, aviators,
messenger bag, boot, sandals by Dior,
select Dior boutiques nationwide.
ACCESSORIES
PAGE 175: Handbag by Chanel,
800-550-0005. Faux-fur scrappy
collectibles by House of Fluff,
houseoffluff.com. PAGE 176: Clutch
by Bottega Veneta, bottegaveneta
.com. PAGE 183: Clutch by Chloé,
chloe.com. PAGE 184: Clutch by
Dries Van Noten, By George (Austin).
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Prada boutiques nationwide. PAGE
189: Bucket bag by Tod’s, tods.com.
PAGE 204: Handbag by Loewe,
$11,150, loewe.com.
SHOPS
PAGE 210: Coat by Boontheshop
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at modaoperandi.com. Coat
by Brunello Cucinelli, $21,500,
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PAGE 261: Top by Dôen,
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FORCE OF NATURE
PAGES 277–279: Jumpsuit by
Stella McCartney, Stella McCart-
ney (NYC). Aviators by Dolce &
Gabbana, dolcegabbana.com. Hoop
earrings by J. Hannah, hannah-
jewelry.com. PAGE 281: Jacket by
Celine by Hedi Slimane, celine.
com. Hoop earrings by J. Hannah,
hannahjewelry.com. PAGE 282:
Dress, belt by Dior, by special order,
800-929-DIOR. Bracelets, ring by
Cartier, 800-CARTIER. PAGE 283:
Trench coat with cape by Burberry,
burberry.com. Hoop earrings by
Rosantica, outnet.com. PAGES
284–285: Trench coat by Galvan,
galvanlondon.com. Earrings by Bul-
gari, bulgari.com. Bag by Celine by
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UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN
PAGES 286–287: Jacket, skirt by
Simone Rocha, Simone Rocha
(NYC). PAGE 288: Dress by LouisVuitton, louisvuitton.com. PAGE
289: Top, pants, slides by Balenciaga,
Balenciaga (Beverly Hills). PAGES
290–291: Dress by Dolce & Gabbana,
select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques
nationwide. Belts (throughout) by
St. John, similar styles at stjohnknits
.com. PAGE 292: Dress by Marni,
Neiman Marcus stores nationwide.
PAGE 293: Bodysuit, skirt, ring by
Dior, 800-929-DIOR. Earring by Kat-
Kim, katkimfinejewelry.com. Neck-
lace by Gurhan, gurhan.com. Rings
(throughout) by Foundrae, foundrae
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dals, net-a-porter.com. Sandals by
Amanu, amanustudio.com. PAGES
294–295: Dress, skirt, apron skirt,
necklaces by Marni, Neiman Marcus
stores nationwide, cruvoir.com. Boo-
ties by Martiniano, mnzstore.com.
PAGES 296–297: Dress, pumps by
Bottega Veneta, bottegaveneta.com.
Anklet by Ancient Greek Sandals,
matchesfashion.com. PAGE 298:
Dress by Valentino, Valentino bou-
tiques nationwide. Flats by Loewe,
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Dress by Prada, select Prada bou-
tiques nationwide. PAGES 300–301:SHOPPING GUIDE
360