No Judgement : On Being Critical

A brilliant and addictive collection of brand-new essays on modern culture - from the author of the acclaimed novel Fake Accounts and one of America's sharpest and most provocative literary critics

A brilliant and addictive collection of brand-new essays on modern culture - from ''the pre-eminent and most widely read critic of her generation'' The Times

Included as a 2024 highlight in the Observer, Stylist, the Skinny, BBC Online and the Independent

''Funny, insightful and bang on the money'' Stylist

''Very fun to read ... exhilarating and original'' New Statesman

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I heard this crazy story, and I want you to know.

It is the age of internet gossip; of social networks, repackaged ideas and rating everything out of five stars. Mega-famous celebrities respond with fury to critics who publish less-than-rapturous reviews of their work (and then delete their tweets); CEOs talk about reclaiming ''the power of vulnerability''; and in the world of fiction, writers eschew actually making things up in favour of ''always just talking about themselves''.

In this blistering, irreverent and very funny first book of non-fiction, Lauren Oyler - one of the most trenchant, influential, and revelatory critics of her generation - takes on the bizarre particularities of our present moment in a series of interconnected essays about literature, the attention economy, gossip, the role of criticism and her own relentless, teeth-grinding anxiety.

Illuminating and thought-provoking, by turns drily scathing and disarmingly open, No Judgement excavates the layers of psychology and meaning in how we communicate, tell stories and make critical judgements - to offer dazzling insights into how we live and think today.

''Brisk, honest and soaring with élan'' Naoise Dolan, author of The Happy Couple

''Smart and unafraid and (thank God) funny. This is exactly what I want to read'' Monica Heisey, author of Really Good, Actually

''Oyler is the kind of dangerous contemporary writer we need more of'' Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young