Dear Reader,
It has come to my attention that smoking kills, along with police, loner white boys, and looks. While embroiled in the process of trying to live, I have written this honors thesis [1]. It [2] is dedicated to the first years who haven’t yet died from alcohol poisoning, exhaustion, or overdosing. This work has been a labor of love and of hate. In it, you will find juxtaposition, verisimilitude, French, Freud, and anything else I’ve wasted 60K a year to learn.
I would like to thank my advisors: Mr. White Supremacy, Mr. Capitalism, Ms. Racism, and, of course, my Life Partner [3] for all the guidance they have provided during this process.
Set in the mind of a young Black woman who is losing it, The Unfortunates is a darkly funny debut about the realities of elitist institutions from an exceptional new writer.
[1] Ma lettre d’adieu.
[2] When writing an honors thesis, you can get away with vague antecedents.
[3] My depression
One of these books that make you call back your therapist and say « hiii I’m sorry I’ve been ghosting you for the past 6 months ».
I struggled to get into this book because the writing style is far from classic, but once I had gotten into the rhythm, I could not let go of it. An absolutely gripping read, terribly dark and painful (and yet funny, always), until it started getting better. This was a hard read, but a hopeful one in the end, and I’m thankful for that − closing the book before the final section would honestly have had consequences on my mental well-being.
Warning: this novel includes several detailed suicide plans.
Warning, but not as dire: this novel includes several pages of a zine and MANY footnotes, neither of which are very ereader-friendly.
💬
Alex