Essays and cultural criticism shaped by the writers, artists, places, and ideas that have influenced my thinking. These pieces combine personal encounter with close reading to examine how taste and judgment develop over time.
As a closeted teenager, I found expression for how I felt in Éponine’s unrequited love song “On My Own.” Decades later, I still hear that ache in the voices of Linda Ronstadt and Selena Gomez—singers with more than a little in common.