GD Dess is an author, essayist, and literary critic. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, KGB Bar Lit, Serpent Club Press New Writing, The Metropolitan Review, Compact Magazine, and elsewhere. He publishes (ir)regularly on Substack and on Twitter.
GD Dess
Articles
Cultural Dopes
The postmodernists had it right: all culture is the product of capitalism.
The Frenzy of Love: On Pauline Delabroy-Allard’s “They Say Sarah”
GD Dess on Pauline Delabroy-Allard’s novel of obsessive, violent, transgressive, mind-altering love.
Sally Rooney: The Dark Side
Sally Rooney is trying to tell us something. Politics are in the forefront, but I’m guessing there is a dark secret lurking in the background.
The Perils and Pitfalls of the Lyrical Essay
On the aesthetic sophistry and philosophical banality of the lyrical essay.
The Never-Ending Search for Transcendence: A Conversation with Peter Stamm
GD Dess speaks with Peter Stamm about his “optimistic belief in the possibility of transcendence.”
Peter Stamm, Master of Emptiness
GD Dess probes the meaning of emptiness in the novels of Peter Stamm.
Elena Ferrante: The Mad Adventures of Serious Ladies
GD Dess considers the complex female identities at the heart of the Neapolitan novels of Elena Ferrante.
Notebook or Novel? Patrick Modiano’s “The Black Notebook”
Patrick Modiano’s “The Black Notebook” is his latest to be translated into English.
What Happened to “Purity”?: Jonathan Franzen and the Aspirations and Disappointments of a Contract Writer
Jonathan Franzen’s new novel "Purity" raises questions about the status of contract writers today.
The Melancholy of Patrick Modiano
GD Dess writes about the legacy of Nobel Prize–winner Patrick Modiano.
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