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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
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Reviews
This is a seriously thought-provoking book ... fascinating, original, seductive. No Judgement made me want to live a little more
Oyler is ferociously intelligent and none of her many judgements is easy. She pushes arguments beyond the expected resolution into an original spin on the initial premise
Entertaining and insightful ... self-deprecating, honest and witty ... well-chosen, timely subjects, tackled with a sharp mind
Oyler is one of our sharpest and most fearless cultural critics .... Opining on gossip and anxiety, autofiction and vulnerability, and much, much more, [her] caustic wit and penetrating voice shine through every essay
Funny, insightful and bang on the money, No Judgement is a series of essays exploring where we're at right now. Covering everything from existential anxiety to the attention economy, it'll be everywhere this year
Oyler is a practitioner of what one might call autofictional criticism. Her essays frequently double as personal-romantic quests - there are often boyfriends in the background and allusions to melancholy - and are ingeniously self-reflexive. Very fun to read ... exhilarating and original
Brisk, honest and soaring with élan. Oyler persuasively advocates clear thinking through doing it herself with such poise. Her critical approach isn't currently common sense, but it should be, and soon enough maybe it will
A series of interconnected essays about modern life, from gossip and anxiety to books and criticism. Scathing, wry and incisive
A collection of interconnected essays about, among other things, literature, gossip and the attention economy by the funny and pugnacious American critic Lauren Oyler (and I can hardly wait for it)
Like stumbling into the best archival New Yorker essays - smart and unafraid and (thank God) funny. This is exactly what I want to read
Lauren Oyler's collection of essays, No Judgement, is a big moment: expect mordantly funny cultural commentary and incisive literary analysis
The pre-eminent and most widely read critic of her generation
Expect it to be the most-discussed collection by a female essayist since Jia Tolentino's Trick Mirror
Witty, agile, stimulating ... by turns anecdotal, playful, ironically self-deprecating. Oyler has a talent for cutting through hype and getting to the nub of things