One of Vulture's "25 of the Most Exciting Book Releases for 2017"
One of Nylon's "50 Books We Can't Wait To Read In 2017"
An entirely original portrait of a young writer shutting out the din in order to find her own voice
On April 11, 1931, Virginia Woolf ended her entry in A Writerโs Diary with the words โtoo much and not the mood.โ She was describing how tired she was of correcting her own writing, of the โcramming in and the cutting outโ to please other readers, wondering if she had anything at all that was truly worth saying.
The character of that sentiment, the attitude of it, inspired Durga Chew-Bose to write and collect her own work. The result is a lyrical and piercingly insightful collection of essays and her own brand of essay-meets-prose poetry about identity and culture. Inspired by Maggie Nelsonโs Bluets, Lydia Davisโs short prose, and Vivian Gornickโs exploration of interior life, Chew-Bose captures the inner restlessness that keeps her always on the brink of creative expression.
Too Much and Not the Mood is a beautiful and surprising exploration of what it means to be a first-generation, creative young woman working today.