The author of 'Too Much and Not the Mood' shares eight ways she's been passing the time under quarantine—when she’s not staring inside of her fridge
Durga Chew-Bose, author of Too Much and Not the Mood, has risen to prominence with her unapologetically intimate voice. Her essays, which center around personal history and nostalgia are pierced by deep philosophical and psychological thoughts of personhood, identity and culture. “I’m in my living room which I’ve converted into some semblance of an office. It’s the place I’m at when I’m not just staring at the inside of my fridge,” Chew-Bose told Document in our Spring/Summer 2020 issue, where she dispatched from Montréal, isolating amid global pandemic. “I’m kind of like everybody else, very unclear on what day it is.” Here, she shares what culture to consume to pass the time. As she told Document, “No matter how much you share, nobody can really know you.” But we can still try.
1. “Spinning Away” by John Cale & Brian Eno: Has there ever been a sound more astral and easy? Probably. For now, when it plays, this song is all there is—it has the wonderful effect of furnishing my imagination.
2. This classic piece of Doreen St. Felix brilliancy. Writing that is about the joys of tending to—an ode to what’s heritable, to delusional focus, and Jamaica Kincaid.
3. The work of genius Daniele Frazier.
4. Walking uphill on a Saturday with Jesse. Feels terrible and totally preposterous to walk uphill but when I’m doing it, it’s the only thing and I start to laugh.
7. Anticipation for this season of Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This, all about one of my personal heroes: the great Polly Platt.
8. Fotofolio’s site where you can order postcards along with stamps to support the USPS.
See what Olivia Laing and Michael Cunningham have been consuming under lockdown.
