Trick Mirror

by Jia Tolentino

  My friendships in New York have kept a little part of the world warm and steady: thank you to Help Group, to 2018, and to the opera cunts. I’m grateful to Amy Rose Spiegel, a guardian angel; to Derek Davies, for so much musical ecstasy; to Frannie Stabile, the patron saint of butt optimization. Puja Patel, I’m sorry that I never filed that one time at SXSW. Luce de Palchi, I’ll never forget being at a loss for words, on deadline, the night after the election, and you told me that I didn’t need to do anything other than be honest—that what I thought would be enough.

  At Gawker Media: Tom Scocca, thank you for your excruciating edits. To my beloved freaks at Jezebel, please come over for a bottle of rosé each.

  To Rebecca Mead, Rebecca Solnit, and Rebecca Traister—Andrew would always ask me which Rebecca I was going on about this time—I admire all of you and your work so much, and I felt crushed by happiness when you looked out for me early on. Thank you to Jeff Bennett, who gave me invaluable notes on this manuscript, and to the genius Marlon James for introducing us. To Gideon Lewis-Kraus, thank you for X-raying this book and my personhood. Thanks to the remarkable Mackenzie Williams, who provided research assistance on several essays, most notably “We Come from Old Virginia” and “I Thee Dread.” My dear wife Haley Mlotek, thank you for handing me the subtitle of this book on the day it was due. And to Emma Carmichael: thank you for giving me a career, and a close-up look at how to bring the best out of people, and above all a friendship that I really can’t imagine my life without.

  I am so grateful to the MacDowell Colony for giving me a month in paradise. To my incredible agent, Amy Williams, thank you for every last thing you do. Thank you to Jenny Meyer, and to Anna Kelly at Fourth Estate. I still find it laughable that I am employed at The New Yorker—my brilliant colleagues, you fill me with awe. Emily Greenhouse, thanks for adopting me in London. Jeanie Riess, thank you for fact-checking this book. Bruce Diones, thank you for keeping it all running. Nick Thompson, thank you for hiring me. Thank you to Dorothy Wickenden and Pam McCarthy. To David Haglund, my editor, you are the very best—thank you for making me better. Thank you to David Remnick for not firing me (yet) when I tweet about my bong.

  Carrie Frye, you are the most generous reader, the most supernatural editor, the loveliest person—thank you for guiding me with such meticulous grace and insight through the entire process of turning this proposal into a manuscript. I couldn’t have written this book without you. I’m grateful to everyone at Random House for taking such good care of me—especially to Andy Ward, Susan Kamil, Molly Turpin, and Dhara Parikh. To my editor, Ben Greenberg, thank you for making this book a reality—for championing it, sharpening it, and always making me feel that I was in great hands.

  Finally: to Lynn Stekas and John Daley, thank you for being family to me since 2010, for the values you passed down to your children, and for your example of mutual love and respect. Clare and Matt and CJ and Quinn, I’m so glad you guys are in my life. To my brother, Martin, I’m sorry I made you pretend to be my dog before we got Gretzky. To my actual dog, Luna, thank you for being the best fluffy pal—with you, I could never be lonely. To Aida Adia, my beautiful grandmother, I know that I’m a reader because of you. To my mom and dad, I’m in your debt forever: your sacrifices made me tough and capable and alive to the world’s strangeness, and taught me about unconditional love. And to Andrew Daley, my partner-in-everything: thank you for growing up with me, for building me a desk and a life, and for being so attractive. In truth, I’ve felt married to you for a long time.

  Background Reading

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  Ecstasy

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  The Story of a Generation in Seven Scams

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  We Come from Old Virginia

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  Eisenberg, Emma. “ ‘I Am a Girl Now,’ Sage Smith Wrote. Then She Went Missing.” Splinter, July 24, 2017.

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  The Cult of the Difficult Woman

  Doyle, Sady. Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear…and Why. Melville House, 2016.

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  I Thee Dread

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  About the Author

  JIA TOLENTINO is a staff writer at The New Yorker. Raised in Texas, she studied at the University of Virginia
before serving in Kyrgyzstan in the Peace Corps and receiving her MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan. She was a contributing editor at The Hairpin and the deputy editor at Jezebel, and her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Grantland, Pitchfork, and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn.

  jia.blog

  Twitter: @jiatolentino

  Instagram: @jiatortellini

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