Weekly Readings #206 (01/12/26-01/18/26)
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Henry Darger
2 min read
The article features an image credited to Jessica Yu's documentary about Darger, 'In the Realms of the Unreal.' Darger was a reclusive outsider artist whose massive illustrated fantasy manuscript was discovered after his death - a fascinating figure connecting to themes of unconventional artistry and the boundaries between high and low culture that the article explores.
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Buddenbrooks
14 min read
The article directly compares Lost Lambs to Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks as a 'rapid and seriocomic family saga,' using early-period Mann as a benchmark for evaluating Cash's novel. Understanding this Nobel Prize-winning work provides essential context for the literary comparison being made.
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Joan Didion
15 min read
The article identifies Didion as part of the 'Didion-DeLillo-Adler-Ellis axis' that influenced Cash's generation, and specifically references Didion's 'heterofatalism' as relevant to Lost Lambs' political tensions. Understanding Didion's literary style and cultural criticism illuminates the aesthetic lineage being traced.
A weekly newsletter on what I’ve written, read, and otherwise enjoyed.
Welcome back to Grand Hotel Abyss! The above is a Goodreads review of my recent novel, Major Arcana. If you, too, would like to experience this “classic” and “epic,” you can order Major Arcana in all formats (print, ebook, audio) here; you can also find it in print wherever books are sold online. You can buy it directly from Anne Trubek’s distinguished Belt Publishing, too—we receive more of a profit that way—or you might also suggest that your local library or independent bookstore acquire a copy. Please also leave a Goodreads, Amazon, or other rating and review. Thanks to all my readers!
Then there’s my recent novelette in The Metropolitan Review, The Persephone Complex: A Letter, which is still finding readers and inspiring conversations. I’ve been forgetting for weeks now to solve the ending’s riddle for you, so here it is, though what it means I must leave for you to judge:
Finally, there’s The Invisible College, my literature podcast for paid subscribers to this Substack. The College reconvened this week for “A Revolution in the Body,” the first of four episodes on The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. If you’d like to read this great 20th-century novel with us, please offer a paid subscription today. You can also peruse the 2026 schedule and consult the ever-expanding two-year archive, with almost 100 two- to three-hour episodes on subjects from Homer to Joyce, and from ancient to contemporary literature. Thanks to all my current and future paid subscribers!
For today—well, what do you think we’re talking about today? We’re talking about Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash! Please enjoy.
Zoom Patrol: Lost Lambs and the Empire of Cuteness
Three years ago, upon the publication of her debut collection Earth Angel, we heard that Madeline Cash was aligned with “serious protofascism.” I wrote about the matter in passing here and then reviewed Earth Angel alongside Honor Levy’s My First Book here. Now, upon the publication of Cash’s debut novel Lost Lambs, we hear that she’s some kind of industry plant. (No links. You either know what I’m talking about or you don’t, but I don’t want to fight with named and notable personages on this increasingly and enervatingly Twitter-like
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.