Books We Reread This Year

Plus: protests in China; the graduate-worker strike in California; and forty-plus years of Metallica. View in browser | Update your preferences Tuesday, November 29, 2022 In today’s newsletter, new meaning from old texts, and then: • Chinese protesters declare, “Don’t push me” • California’s graduate-worker strike • Metallica rocks on past forty The Year in Rereading The books we returned to this year for insight, comfort, and delight. Illustration by Andrew B. Myers In addition to tackling hundreds of new books this year, New Yorker staff writers and contributors reached for the fiction, nonfiction, and poetry already on their shelves. Many were cheered to find that old favorites continued to delight—if, perhaps, in new or surprising ways. One rediscovered “a master class in the techniques of descriptive writing, especially at the level of the sentence.” Another marvelled at the freshness of a classic: “I felt as if a novel I’d been prowling for among the new releases . . . had landed in my lap from a hundred-and-forty-year drop.” And another felt her sense of competitiveness sparked: “There are certain writers whose sentences snap you back to life by making your mind overheat with envy.” All seemed to find not only the work changed but themselves as well. Vladimir Nabokov said that “a good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader.” Of course, any of the books on this list might be new to you, making it not only an opportunity for discovery, but a preview of what you may be rereading in the years to come. —Ian Crouch, newsletter editor Read the story Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » From the News Desk Daily Comment Chinese Protesters Warily Tell Xi Jinping, “Don’t Push Me” The nation’s most defiant public demonstrations in years oppose “zero COVID” policies, but their roots run deeper. By Evan Osnos Our Columnists What’s at Stake in the University of California Graduate-Worker Strike The seventy per cent of Americans who support unions should understand that the future of organized labor won’t be in coal mines or steel mills, but in places that might cut against the stereotypes. By Jay Caspian Kang Screening Room The New Yorker Documentary Where Walruses Go When Sea Ice Is Gone The short documentary “Haulout” follows a scientist on a remote Arctic beach who witnesses the chaotic effects of climate change on Pacific walruses. Film by Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev Text by Carolyn Kormann Culture Dept. Profiles The Enduring Metal Genius of Metallica On the road with the band in its forty-first year. By Amanda Petrusich Elements How a Marine Biologist Remixed Whalesong Sara Niksic, a lover of whales and electronic music, has merged her passions. By Matthew Hutson Sketchpad The Great Masking Cycle People might think you’re selfish, so you wear a mask, meaning people might think you’re a zealot, so you don’t wear a mask, meaning . . . By Liana Finck Tables for Two Luxurious Standards at L’Ami Pierre and Lodi Chefs of the highest pedigree lend expertise to the pursuit of small daily pleasures, such as jambon-beurre and a maritozzo pastry. By Hannah Goldfield Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Liz Maynes-Aminzade Daily Shouts Congratulations on Becoming a Seven Watch for a check in the mail. The Aesthete Tax Credit is retroactive, so expect half the income tax you’ve paid over the last decade back. By Dennard Dayle Crossword A Moderately Challenging Puzzle Vituperate: six letters. By Wyna Liu Daily Cartoon Tuesday, November 29th By Dan Misdea P.S. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving has come to be known as Giving Tuesday, a prompt for people to donate money amid the glut of holiday shopping. Nicholas Lemann recently explained how modern philanthropy is distinctively American, in part because “we’re more market-friendly than most affluent countries, with more private wealth and less government provision.” But, as he notes, “people tend to celebrate philanthropy when they agree with its goals and to condemn it when they don’t.” Today’s newsletter was written by Ian Crouch. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.