New York Magazine - USA (2020-03-02)

MARCH2–15, 2020 |THECUT 23

ParulSehgalis a bookcriticatthe

NewYorkTimes. She’s knownfor

herclear-eyed,razor-sharpreviews,

suchasherrecentdissectionofthe

controversialnovelAmericanDirt. Before

joiningtheTi mesin2012,shewas

bookseditorforNPR.Sehgalhas lived

inIndia,Hungary,thePhilippines, and

Canadaandnowresidesin Fort Greene

withherdaughterandhusband.

Here’showshegetsit done.

On a typical morning:

I usually go to bed around 3 or4 a.m.

I have a 3-year-old daughter, so Ineedthose

unbroken hours to trick myself intothinking

and reading. My husband handles the

morning with my daughter. I emerge after

about five hours of sleep, like a character

stumbling onstage in a Eugene O’Neill play.

There are simmering resentments and

tantrums and dance parties. I don’t really eat

breakfast; I nibble. I get people out the door,

walk the dog, and then, on my best days,

I’m able to plunge back into whatever I was

reading or writing the night before. A few

days a week, I take a two-hour walk to

work at the Times Building from Brooklyn.

I love looking at people, looking at what

they’re wearing.

On her reviewing process:

Every week, I have a different book to

review, and I typically read books I’m

reviewing in one sitting, hence my mad

midnight schedule. I also want to be able to

reread the book and to dip into the author’s

other work, which means I’m probably

reading a book a day or every two days. Some

weeks, it’s an author I’ve read, but there are

a lot of times where I’m coming fresh to a

writer or an entire discipline. I try to research

for as long as I can, because then I don’t have

to write. I don’t bail on books very often—

there might have been one or two in the last

few years. But I’ll frequently have to review

something that turns out to be a drag.

What do I do? Whinge and moan. Snack.

Give myself small bribes.

On organized chaos:

I’m always amazed that people have

strong feelings about things like pens or

the right notebook. I’ll happily write a first

yon. I’ve written drafts of

eceipts. Just however it gets

done. These are the circumstances of life

raising a child without a ton of

child care.

I have my bookshelves organized in a

very draconian system, alphabetically and

by genre. But I write in books. I dog-ear

them. I drop them in the bath. I like the

way that certain really loved books show

the life creeping in—like when there are

little coffee rings.

On the work of a critic:

I don’t think about criticism in terms

of authority. I think about it in terms of

charm and persuasion, which anybody

can possess. Your authority is in your

sentences, in your lede, in how attractive

your own prose is. To be a critic is to say,

“Try sitting next to me.” That’s the

conspiratorial nature of criticism. If you

love particular critics, it always feels like

they’re talking to you.

On staying out of literary drama:

To do this work, you have to be kind of

monkish. Book reviewing involves a time

commitment that reviewing film and music

just doesn’t impose on a critic. I love gossip,

but even if the backstory is fantastic, or

there’s some very juicy impolitic statements

that the writer has uttered, the work is

always so much richer. It helps that most of

my friends aren’t writers. If someone is

glaring at me at a party, it’s not usually

because of a review.

On motherhood:

I don’t know what I thought motherhood

would be like. I thought it would feel

honorable to do it, but I didn’t think it

would be interesting. I was very serious

before my daughter showed up. And now

I play a lot. I do dress-up and a shocking

amount of tea parties. My daughter is this

absolutely anarchic person; she’s

interesting and strange and very rude and

great fun to chat with. I think we could all

benefit from painting and dancing and

singing. Which I do now, with her, although

subject to her withering reviews.

FEED

TheBelt

Ifa choker-length

chainisn’tenough,

trya belt. Youcanuse

as

ou

have to doisbelieve.

TheLadies

WhoLunch

A camelturtleneckplus

a singlestringofpearls

willmakeyoulooklike

a chicgranny. To make

evenmore of animpact,

layermultiple

pearlnecklacesontop

ofoneanother.

TheTony

Soprano

Wearinga black

turtleneckwitha

leatherjacketand

a goldchainis

very CosaNostra.

StylingTips I Borrowed

Fr omtheRock

BySarahSpellings

ifyou’rereading this in the North-

ernHemisphere, there’s a decent chance

you’re wearinga turtleneck right now. And

youmay begettingtired of it. You can do only

somuchLoveActually cosplay before you’re

itchingforsomethingnew. Why not decorate

yourturtleneck?Theobvious way is with a

necklace,a trickthathas been used by everyone

from Gucci Mane to Joyce Carol Oates to the

Rock. But there’s another level: Take a cue from

theSchiaparelli 2020 haute couture show,

where the jewelry wasn’t an afterthought but

themain event. Even if you don’t have access to

couture jewelry, you can still adorn your neck

likea Christmas tree.

TURTLENECKS

PHOTOGRAPHS: THEROCK/TWITTER (THE ROCK); REIGNOFDYNASTY/INSTAGRAM (PEARLS); EMILIAPETRARCA/INSTAGRAM

(LEA

THER

AND

BO

W)

Illustration by LAUREN TAMAKI

›

By Bridget Read

How I Get It Done:

Parul Sehgal, Book Critic