Jake Goldsmith

Jake Goldsmith

@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Author. https://www.saggingmeniscus.com/authors/jake_goldsmith/ Contributing editor to Exacting Clam. Founder of The Barbellion Prize. https://barbellionprize.org https://www.jakegoldsmithauthor.com

118 followers96 following425 posts

Jake Goldsmith reposted

Rónán Hession
@ronanhession.bsky.social

Trying to mix some essays, poetry and philosophy into my reading (what else are bank holidays for). In despair at people outsourcing their thinking to others (including writers), it's refreshing to dip into In Extremis by @jgoldsmith.bsky.social with its open minded, playful intelligence.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

I've not read much of Self, but I'm enjoying this (the recommendation from John Gray persuaded me). I also saw an interview Self had with Gyles Brandreth, and he was lovely to listen to. There are only 1,500 copies of this book, available only in print

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Please donate! Thank you to everyone who submitted to the prize this year. Our longlist will be announced in December. barbellionprize.org/donate/

barbellionprize.orgdonate | The Barbellion Prize
The Barbellion Prize@barbellionprize.bsky.social

Thank you to all who submitted! The longlist will be announced in December. In the meantime, we need your help! DONATIONS NEEDED Please head over to the Barbellion website to donate any amount! barbellionprize.org/donate/

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

I didn’t necessarily pick the books I’d ’never forget’ (some bad books are unforgettable) but thought ‘if every book I owned died in a fire, and I could only save 9, then which ones?’ And I guess these books formed me, the most

Jake Goldsmith reposted

Sam Jordison
@samjordison.bsky.social

It's amazing that they thought that this would go over well with their members. Which is to say, writers. The people who know what words mean and how to use them.

Sam Jordison@samjordison.bsky.social

Some hasty thoughts on the Society of Authors AI charter: samj.substack.com/p/ethical-st...

samj.substack.com“Ethical” stealing, environmental destruction and rightwing populism. Yes, it’s the Society Of Author’s new charter!The Society Of Authors wants us to promote the ethical use of AI. I would prefer not to.

Jake Goldsmith reposted

David Collard
@davidcollard.bsky.social

Help save Pothole Studio, a much-loved local resource. We need 2,000 supporters before the end of today. One click and you'll feel good for the rest of the week. Sign here: www.change.org/p/save-our-p... Thank you! #ceramics #pottery #davidandgoliath #urbanarts #cultureforall #Londonarts

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

I haven’t seen much publicity or talk about the Nobel Prize in Literature this year, and it’s only in a few days. Normally I see articles and speculation, yet this year I’ve missed it? Or my algorithm hasn’t fed me. @ronanhession.bsky.social have you felt the same, or are you getting the news, etc?

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

‘Captive Minds: A Study of Manipulation’ by Avishai Margalit & Assaf Sharon aligns with my pessimistic intuitions and prejudices about contemporary politics (and human nature). Perhaps I should read something less agreeable to me, but Margalit is one of our finest philosophers.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Just finished Anthony Scaramucci’s new book ‘All The Wrong Moves’. One could accuse him of “log-rolling”, given all the endorsements from his friends, but that matters less when the book is good.

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Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

The book itself is a light, easy read (I can mean this negatively, but I hear I mean well). And as Lichtenberg says, the plain style of writing is to be recommended if only because no honest man takes elaborate pains over what he says. I enjoyed his brisk style.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Just finished Anthony Scaramucci’s new book ‘All The Wrong Moves’. One could accuse him of “log-rolling”, given all the endorsements from his friends, but that matters less when the book is good.

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Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

He paints in broad strokes, but that’s valuable. It takes forever to fill a canvas using a tiny paintbrush, and we don’t always need to be overburdened by pedantic detail. Go elsewhere for that.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

It’s foolish to dismiss Scaramucci due to his history or your political leanings. He’s a cogent analyst (& I don’t give such praise lightly; I’m impressed by few today). He’s also the person (with any public prescense, at least) with the best emotionally intuitive sense of who/what/how/why Trump is.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Just finished Anthony Scaramucci’s new book ‘All The Wrong Moves’. One could accuse him of “log-rolling”, given all the endorsements from his friends, but that matters less when the book is good.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Accessible, honest, insightful, and a broadly accurate, if necessarily cursory, overview of history and how we’re in our current mess — with some hope for how me might get out of it and be aspirational instead of desperate.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Reading the Literary Review in Private Eye and it says how, apparently, "British publishing has a strange disdain for essay collections", meaning books that should be essay collections are "stitched together from several separate essays." Strange indeed.

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Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

...digestible, easier to read, where ideas that require time and reflection aren't crudely homogenised. Some of the best non-fiction works ever are disparate essay collections. It's pride and vanity that makes one think they need a tome devoted to 1 subject, an aesthetic prejudice.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Can anyone provide further reason why British publishing has this preference, and also suggest how we might convince the big British publishers that it's a very silly preference indeed to be against essay collections?

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Reading the Literary Review in Private Eye and it says how, apparently, "British publishing has a strange disdain for essay collections", meaning books that should be essay collections are "stitched together from several separate essays." Strange indeed.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

I rarely read in public, mostly because I find it too distracting. Went to a coffee shop yesterday and was reading the latest TLS, and I felt like a “performative male” meme. That shit, all the talk around and about it, is silly.

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Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Yet the net result of all the insipid talk and ‘discourse’ about this discourages people from reading in public, because one might look bad, relegating ‘proper’ reading to a private activity you never share with others, lest you be accused of the worst sin: performance.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

If someone feels insecure about reading in public because of crass accusations and ugly associations, then all the shaming of slick and fashionable young men in their swish clothes drinking matcha lattes isn’t really worth it

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

I rarely read in public, mostly because I find it too distracting. Went to a coffee shop yesterday and was reading the latest TLS, and I felt like a “performative male” meme. That shit, all the talk around and about it, is silly.

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

Yes, there may well be cynical men who dress for ‘the female gaze’, who pretend to read books that are perceived to be signals of intellect or emotional availability, men reading in public as a ‘performance’ to attract women, apparently…

Jake Goldsmith reposted

The Barbellion Prize
@barbellionprize.bsky.social

The books pictured are all by writers who could have entered The Barbellion Prize, inc. The Journal of a Disappointed Man by the author this award is named after: W.N.P. Barbellion! LAST CHANCE TO ENTER SUBS CLOSE 1ST SEPT! TBP celebrates writing that reps experience of chronic illness & disability.

Jake Goldsmith reposted

Vlad Vexler
@vladvexler.bsky.social

The recent channel 4 doc denying ADHD - very lazy and stupid - is inadvertently part of a bigger trend to roll back minority rights. A big roll back of rights is on the cards for the 2030s. We are so in denial and so unprepared that a cold outside observer might say we deserve it to come our way.

Jake Goldsmith reposted

Vlad Vexler
@vladvexler.bsky.social

Today it's 18 months since I last stood, even for second. Covid damaged my micro-vessels and even attempting verticalisation now creates an oxygen offloading crisis in my cells and tissues, and I suffocate. How do I feel about this?1/4

Jake Goldsmith reposted

Frances Ryan
@francesryan.bsky.social

PRESS ACCESS - my free guide to disabled and marginalised journalists looking to break into the industry - is officially launched! Sign up for info, advice, and whatever gossip I thought it was a good idea at the time to share. Read the first article here: shorturl.at/ZHX5W

Jake Goldsmith
@jgoldsmith.bsky.social

I can't go there, I'm a rural, parochial, provincial worrier who fears travel. Others can travel for me. As an 'ordinary non-American', America will always be a noisy, terrifying place with too many cars and too much danger...

Jake Goldsmith reposted

The Barbellion Prize
@barbellionprize.bsky.social

Huge thanks to comedian, author & all round legend, Robin Ince, for just giving W.N.P. Barbellion & The Barbellion Prize a shout out on his Instagram! Subs are open until 1st September for writers living with disability or chronic illness. Please support in anyway you can! 🙏 barbellionprize.org

Jake Goldsmith reposted

Vlad Vexler
@vladvexler.bsky.social

In a neoliberal culture people read and watch and listen like consumers. They judge books, articles, videos according to whether they give them what they already know and like. Everything becomes a service.