17 for 2017: Sarah Joynt recommends The Hour of the Star

10. The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector recommended by Sarah Joynt

Throughout my tenure as the December Writer-In-Residence, I will be assembling a list of 17 must-read-books for 2017. To accomplish this numerically satisfying task, I have asked 17 people whose work I adore to suggest one title for the list. Consult the end of each post for the growing list of recommendations! 

Sarah Joynt and I both emerged from the same human – via dramatic C-sections – nearly 8 years apart. Sarah is the most exhaustively well-read person I know. Each Christmas, I am reminded of – and humbled by – the sheer number of podcasts, books, op-eds, and talks she consumes. I am also humbled by her relentless and shameless pursuit of ruthless victory during all family board game sessions, but she’s requested that I not speak about such things here. This year, we find ourselves together on Christmas Eve, wearing matching moose-print pyjama pants, discussing our shared anxiety about an unknown political future. I’m writing a blog post about her while she reads the McNally Jackson Best of 2016 List, and I feel very lucky. 

From Sarah:

As we move forward into this 'post-truth' popular culture, I'm drawn to books that call perspective into question. The Hour of the Star reminds me of the limitations of the narrator and the limitations of us as readers. In 2017, I'm hoping to continue to find books that help me explore and investigate experiences regardless of a reliable narrator. Instead of seeking safety in the echo-chamber, I want to make a conscious effort to see the value in the stories of others.

Stay tuned as we build the ultimate 2017 reading list! A new suggestion from an inspired thinker emerges every-other-day for the month of December on open-book.ca.

17 for 2017:

1. Mariko Tamaki recommends The Land of Forgotten Girls

2. Sheila Heti recommends The Normal Personality: A New Way of Thinking about People

3. Vivek Shraya recommends The Mothers

4. Kate Bornstein recommends Siddhartha

5. Casey Mecija recommends Tropical Renditions: Making Musical Scenes in Filipino America

6. Morgan M. Page recommends Small Beauty

7. Lauren Berlant recommends Long Division and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America

8. Chase Strangio recommends Exile & Pride: Disability, Queerness and Liberation

9. Jamie Keiles recommends The Group 

December Writer-In-Residence

Chase Joynt is a filmmaker and writer. His latest two films Genderize and Between You and Me are now streaming live online with CBC Digital Docs. His first book, You Only Live Twice (co-authored with Mike Hoolboom) was published by Coach House Books and just named one of the Best Books of 2016 by The Globe and Mail and CBC. His second book The Case of Agnes (co-authored with Kristen Schilt) is forthcoming from Duke University Press.