Substack! Plus Beth Raymer, Rebecca Makkai & Prince Harry

Happy Tax Day! The good news is the tulips are blooming.

I spent much of April immersed in three great books: The standout was Beth Raymer’s forthcoming novel, Fireworks Every Night, out June 27. The novel is written in the first person and reads like a beautiful, harrowing memoir. (Beth is also the author of Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling.) Fireworks is about a Florida family overcome by crisis—the charismatic, generally loving and protective car salesman father is also a grifter. It’s a story about mental illness, infidelity, drug abuse, betrayal, arson and homelessness, and yet—and this is the wonder of the book—it is a story driven by love. The narrator’s love for her family thrums on every page. The novel asks the question: How responsible are we for our families when they threaten to destroy themselves and us? I devoured the novel in 48 hours.

After I finished Fireworks, I was in the mood for more books that read like memoirs so downloaded Rebecca Makkai’s novel I Have Some Questions for You, which I’m loving, and (dare I admit this) Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex’s memoir, Spare. I felt ridiculous reading Prince Harry’s story of poor-me, epic white privilege, but the writing is terrific.  As you probably know,  Prince Harry’s book was ghost-written (or cowritten, depending on how generous you want to be to Prince Harry) by the Pulitzer-prize winning writer J.R. Moehringer, author of his own memoir, The Tender Bar and ghost-writer of Andre Agassi’s memoir, Open. Spare is hard to put down—this is royal family dysfunction deliciously described. Harry’s voice is so likable—he is funny, stressed, seemingly self-aware and trying to find purpose. He ends up becoming a talented soldier and the chapters about his two tours of duty in Afghanistan and learning to fly Apache helicopters are gripping. Like so many great memoirs, the book traces Harry’s grief over the death of his mother and her influence on and absence from his life. I finished the memoir rooting for Prince Harry and concluded I would read anything J.R. Moehringer wrote.

🎙️In other news…we need your help!🎙️

Substack, yay or nay? We have been contemplating moving this newsletter over to Substack. I’m guessing your inbox is already packed with Substack newsletters. Or maybe it’s not. In trying to decide if we should shift over there, I’ve been rereading my favorites: Jami Attenberg’s Craft Talk, Sari Botton’s Memoir Monday, Deborah Copaken’s Ladyparts, Roxanne Gay’s The Audacity, Bess Kalb’s  The Grudge Report, Suleika Jaouad’s The Isolation Journals, Rebecca Makkai’s SubMakk, Abby Rasminsky’s People & Bodies, Jeannine Ouellette’s Writing in the Dark, George Saunders’ Story Club, Becky Tuch’s Lit Mag News, Brandon Taylor’s Sweater Weather, Luisa Weiss’s Letter from Berlin and Lidia Yuknavitch’s Khôra. A couple I read for free, most I pay for. You always have the opportunity to be part of these writers’ “behind the pay wall” conversations by subscribing. My instinct, as a writer, is not to be part of any more conversations than I already am. But I also like supporting other writers so I’m wondering: Do you want more from Sweet Lab? More ways to connect with other members of the community? More Q&A’s? More lit mag submissions opportunities?

And so, we have some questions for you. We’d really love if you could contribute to improving Sweet Lab, since of course, the newsletter is for you! Fill Out Substack Survey