Maureen Callahan

You really just don't know who's pulling the strings.

All you know is there is this hive mind at work.

And by the way, the same thing is going on at the few remaining places today.

that seriously cover books such as the New York Times Magazine.

Now, I know people who are established authors who by all rights should have their latest books reviewed in the New York Times Book Review.

And this is a conversation I've had about five times over the past few years.

oh my God, I can't believe my book didn't get covered.

Like, what do I need to do?

What do I need to do?

And I say, you know what you need to do?

You need to become like a queer, limbless refugee from Palestine who is non-binary and questioning your sexuality.

And then you'll get reviewed in the New York Times book review.

I don't know about you, Adam, but I see books in there and I'm like, I don't know who this person is, what this book is doing, why this book exists.

It's all this, you know, this word that I don't really love, but it's the only one that suits.

It's all identitarian.

It's how do you identify?

Identity is the number one thing that's going to get you through that door.

She's a terrible thinker.

You know, she's angry all the time.

And the New York Times loves her.