🦊 Six Quick Picks
Five things I loved, and one thing I didn't
Let’s begin with some music:
The Mountain — Gorillaz
I’ve always loved Gorillaz’ music, and was delighted to see their comeback with this album. I was particularly blown away by the short film they released with it, a marvel of hand-drawn animation and storytelling. The title track nearly brought me to tears. It’s just so beautiful, and revived a little joy in me after a long while.
I strongly recommend watching the full album playlist on YouTube, starting with the short film. Turn off the phone, give the music a chance to put you into a trance. Gift yourself 30 minutes of joy.
EPIC Radio — Eric Prydz
Eric Prydz, my longtime favorite artist, returned from a long period of silence with episode 25 of his radio show/podcast EPIC Radio. It features a lot of new tracks that I’m really excited to see released. If you like progressive, electronic, and tech house music, you’ll love this. (Oh, and if you want more Eric Prydz recommendations, just reply and let me know!)
A few short stories:
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man — Fyodor Dostoevsky
A wonderful and fascinating short story. It explores the inner dialogues of a man who has given up on life, and the dream that makes him question everything. (You can read it for free online; try this link through Gustavus Adolphus College.)
Animapod by Kite Marsh
A lovely tale told from the perspective of an octopus’ tentacles. It’s published in a lit mag I’ve fallen in love with, Plott Hound, which focuses entirely on animal fiction. It really is masterfully written.
The Plagiarist by Hollis Seamon
This is a moving story about the dynamic between a professor with a serious health issue and the plagiarizing student she has to punish. It’s published in Bellevue Literary Review, a lovely literary organization which “probes the nuances of our lives in illness and in health.”
And finally, the thing I (surprisingly) didn’t love:
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I spent the first month of 2026 reading this mammoth book. I enjoyed parts of it, but overall was disappointed. I’m definitely in the minority, as it seems to be universally adored. I expected to love this book because I enjoyed his other works, like Of Mice and Men and The Pearl. I guess I just prefer his shorter works.
The book is divided into four parts, and I absolutely loved the first part. It felt like every chapter was an incredibly well-written short story, but sadly that’s where the joy faded for me. Soon after that, Steinbeck starts to expose his real goal for this book—to tell his chosen biblical tales through the novel. Suddenly it feels like a religious philosophy book being forced down your throat in the guise of a novel. Sure, I expected some of that given the book's title, but it really becomes the entire plot.
And then suddenly the characters are just pawns in the lessons. The dialogue is unbearable at times; people seem to speak in plot, every word serving to progress the plot rather than expose their humanity.
Ultimately, I was disappointed, but I did finish the book out of duty to Steinbeck, for all the other great writing he has given me and all of us. The Penguin Orange edition is lovely, btw.
