NO JUDGEMENT
by Lauren Oyler (Hachette, $39.99)
Notorious for her acerbic and roaming, restless prose, Lauren Oyler wields her pen as a sword and so is rather feared by writers under her scrutiny. Oyler’s reputation as a formidable critic was in large part established by her trenchant London Review of Books critique of acclaimed writer Jia Tolentino’s 2019 essay collection Trick Mirror. A reasonably regarded debut novel by Oyler, Fake Accounts, largely concerned with life on the internet, followed in 2021. An Oyler essay is considered indispensable by both fans and detractors – probably roughly equal in number depending on your algorithm.
The internet is stressed here solely because it is there that Oyler seems, primarily, to dwell. her debut collection of essays, comprises six pieces that examine
