Like Love: Essays and Conversations

This sinewy collection by National Book Critics Circle Award winner Nelson (On Freedom) brings together previously published pieces about artists, literature, and the creative process. She reviews such novels as Samantha Hunt’s The Seas and Ben Lerner’s 10:04, marveling at the latter’s ability to inspire a sense of purpose in readers while envisioning a near-future New York City wracked by climate change. Other selections pay tribute to personal heroes of Nelson’s. For instance, “The Grind” celebrates the “mind-blowing, consensual, victimless perversion” of the Prince song “Darling Nikki,” and “The Reenchantment of Carolee Schneemann” expounds on how the theme of sexual liberation lies at the heart of the performance artist’s oeuvre. Philosophical conversations with photographer Moyra Davey, poet Simone White, and other artists meditate on creativity, desire, and shame; the highlight is a winding exchange with Björk about art’s ability to make “new things feel possible.” The variety of subjects and styles will hold readers’ attention, and few will be unmoved by Nelson’s soulful elegy for her friend Lhasa de Sela. Nelson describes the songwriter as an otherworldly, larger-than-life figure in intimate recollections of their high school travails, their eventual growing apart after college, and the devastation Nelson felt after learning of Lhasa’s death from cancer at age 37 in 2010. This is a masterful showcase for Nelson’s wide-ranging intellect and critical prowess. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)