2019-12-02_Time

113

MEMOIR AND ESSAYS

DEAR GIRLS

Ali Wong

Each graphic tale
of sex, personal
grooming, childbirth
and motherhood in
stand­up comedian
Wong’s perceptive
and filthy memoir is
set up as a letter to
her daughters—who
are preschool age.

THE

UNWINDING

OF THE

MIRACLE

Julie Yip­

Williams

Born blind, Yip­

Williams survived

her grandmother’s

desire to have

her euthanized

and thrived as

an adult. Then a

terminal cancer

diagnosis changed

everything.

THE SOURCE OF

SELF-REGARD

Toni Morrison

The literary titan
and Nobel laureate’s
last book published
before her death
collects 43 of her
most illuminating
essays, lectures and
eulogies from the
past four decades.

TRICK MIRROR

Jia Tolentino

The essayist’s insights

are sharp whatever

the subject, whether

the ghoulish rise of

Internet culture or the

wedding­industrial

complex—especially

when she examines

her own complicity.

ONCE MORE

WE SAW STARS

Jayson Greene

After losing his

2­year­old daughter

in a tragic accident,

Greene grapples

with living in a world

without her, reckons

with his grief and

ultimately finds a way

back to hope.

HOW WE FIGHT

FOR OUR LIVES

Saeed Jones

Jones, a poet who

grew up gay in Texas,

marries his com­

mand of language

and imagery with his

desire for power over

his existence and

identity and, some­

times, over others.

THICK

Tressie McMillan

Cottom

The sociologist

meditates on

“thickness,” both

as it relates to her

way of taking up

physical space and

to her field, where a

“thick description” is

one offering proper

context.

OVER THE TOP

Jonathan Van

Ness

The effervescent

Queer Eye star details

the adversity he

faced growing up in

the rural Midwest

and reveals that he is

HIV­positive. He has

become a prominent

advocate for that

community.

THE UNDYING

Anne Boyer

Diagnosed with

breast cancer as a

41­year­old single

mother living pay­

check to paycheck,

Boyer is outraged by

the dialogue around

the disease, from its

portrayal on TV to

“pink­ribbon culture.”

GOOD TALK

Mira Jacob

In her graphic mem­

oir, Jacob considers

life experiences

past and present to

answer the difficult

questions posed by

her young biracial son

ahead of the 2016

presidential election.

SURVIVAL MATH

Mitchell S.

Jackson

Jackson’s retelling of

his youth in Portland,

Ore., comprises found

poems, footnotes,

“victim statements”

from women he’s

treated poorly and

“survivor files” from

his male family

members.

Morrison’s

pieces explore

blackness,

womanhood,

language, art

and more

Jacob’s

graphic memoir

features her

own mixed­

media art

After losing

their daughter,

Greene and his

wife eventually

welcomed

another child