This novel's vibe is Bret Easton Ellis meets Donnie Darko
Once upon a time, that might have served as a description of Clune. The American writer is best known for his addiction memoir, White Out (2013), which drew the praise of fashionable authors such as Ben Lerner, Lauren Groff and Maggie Nelson. Indeed, his account of his heroin years was so lyrical that one critic wondered if it actually made the case for taking smack. 'Dope never gets old for addicts,' Clune wrote. 'It never looks old. It never looks like something I've seen before. It always looks like nothing I've ever seen.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
35 minutes ago
- The Guardian
When women fight: Taylor v Serrano and the meaning of choice in the ring
There are two salient pictures of the Katie Taylor–Amanda Serrano trilogy: Taylor walking to the ring on Friday night under the green, orange and white bars of light, her neck like a tree trunk, eyes fixed ahead with stoic grandeur as Even Though I Walk played overhead – and the image, hours earlier, of Yulihan Luna bloodied and bruised, standing beside a ring girl whose hoisted breasts had been shellacked in oil, smiling rigidly at a camera that wasn't looking at the fighter. That's boxing. That's also being a woman. At Madison Square Garden – half cathedral, half Thunderdome – Katie Taylor approached the ring like a martyr. Her arms stayed low and still, her expression stony, the moment at once subdued and transcendent. I am not religious. I was personally rooting for Serrano. But when I heard that worship music and saw Taylor ascend and bow between the ropes, I seemed to see stars as tears blurred the lights of the Garden's lofted ceiling into a constellation: The Fighter. A spectacle like this ought to be mawkish. But it isn't. Because when the song ends, two women risk their legacies, their health, their lives – however unlikely – to feel something like greatness. And unlike most sports, in boxing, the risk is not metaphorical. The danger is useless. It protects no country. No one is conscripted. But it underwrites everything that feels noble about this violent, anachronistic art. And when women, historically deemed too fragile to fight, headline an iconic arena that has never before granted them that right, the danger takes on a new meaning. They say styles make fights. They also make stories. Taylor, the pride of Ireland, is all monkish discipline and point-winning speed. Serrano, the southpaw from Puerto Rico by way of Brooklyn, combines firepower with grit. One boxed her way through 15 years of amateur pedigree, the other turned pro at 19 and never looked back. Both are in their mid-30s, both single, both quiet. Sainted recluses with 17 world titles between them and a lifetime of sacrifice. If Taylor is the tactician, Serrano is the flamethrower. This polarization is what produced lightning in the first two fights. But by Friday night, their plans of attack had changed. Serrano, seeking alternatives after two contentious decisions that didn't go her way, tried to outbox the boxer. Taylor, burned before in brawls, circled and struck, then slipped away. From round one, it was clear: this was no longer a firestorm. The fight bore more resemblance to Mayweather-Pacquiao than Ali-Frazier I. Smart. Tactical. Controlled. For some, disappointing. But why do we need chaos to believe in a woman's greatness? In other sports, I root for my team to win, ugly or not. But in women's boxing, I confess to a double standard: I want glory and a good show. I want drama, blood, something irrefutable. That fear – that if women don't entertain, the sport will vanish – lingers like smoke above the ring. But Taylor and Serrano were not performing for our approval. They were fighting to win. This, in itself, is progress. True equality in boxing is not the right to inspire. It's the right to be boring. To clinch and move. To fight safe. To win ugly. Taylor-Serrano III wasn't transcendent because it was thrilling. It was transcendent because it didn't have to be. And yet boxing remains a sport of contradictions. To protect yourself, you must risk everything. To gain glory, you court death. And still – some would deny women the choice to do so. When Amanda Serrano and more than a dozen elite fighters issued a joint call last year for 12 three-minute rounds – the same as men – they framed it not as a demand, but as a right: 'We have earned the CHOICE,' they said. The irony is that boxing is one of the only spaces in Western society where a woman can risk her life and be compensated. But even then, OnlyFans logos hover over ring posts and girls in bikinis parade cards while bloodied fighters wait for judgment. Fans call the athletes they flew across oceans to support 'autistic lesbians'. Serrano gets seven figures. Some women on the undercard get $1,500 and no health insurance – turning, more ironic still, to OnlyFans for financial security. What do we mean when we talk about choice? We fight for a woman's right to have a child – or not. But what about the right to bleed for nothing more than self-belief? What about the right to hurt for glory, not survival? Women are told their bodies are sacred, but only in service of others – children, husbands, God. In boxing, they reclaim them. Not for nurture, but for risk. Not for life, but for something more defiant. Not Madonna. Not whore. Something else. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano did not ask for sainthood. They asked for a trilogy. They made history, then made it again, then closed the book. Now, whether Friday night becomes a watershed or a footnote is not up to them. But for those of us watching, feeling the hush before the bell, the flutter of green, orange, red and blue fabric, the rush when Taylor's glove was raised and an Irish flag drifted gently down from the upper seats – whether Catholic or atheist, Irish or Puerto Rican, man, woman, or something in between – these two ensured one thing: Watching them time after time after finally time again will do something more than impress you. It will resolve contradictions – between styles, between images of a fight, between even life and death – into a single indelible reckoning.
Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The best Amazon Prime Day beauty deals in the US according to a beauty editor - save up to 55% off skincare, haircare and makeup
From Dyson to the famous Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask, you won't want to miss these celebrity-loved, editor-approved, and cult-classic buys while they are all majorly marked down.
Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kelly Osbourne says Ozzy and Sharon's 'suicide pact' was just a publicity ploy as she denies her dad is on death's door
has denied reports her rocker dad is dying as she revealed the truth of the 'suicide pact' her parents claimed to have made. The alleged agreement to end their lives was merely 'bulls**t' her mom Sharon made up to 'get attention one time.' And Kelly insisted the rumors about Ozzy Osbourne 's imminent demise are completely wide of the mark, despite his medical woes: 'My dad's not dying. Stop!' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO The TV personality, 40 - who became engaged to partner Sid Wilson this month - jumped to her Instagram stories on Friday to address the speculation. In 2023 on The Osbournes podcast, Sharon stated that euthanasia was 'still a plan' for both herself and the Crazy Train singer and questioned, 'Do you think that we're gonna suffer?' The topic had been brought up separate times in the past, with Ozzy saying in 2014 that physician-assisted suicide would be an option if they had any 'life-threatening condition.' However in a new clip, Kelly said: 'I don't know what side of the bed I woke up on today, but I woke up on a f***ing I'm gonna f*** you up and fight you day. 'Stop making articles or posts about how you think my parents are having a suicide pact. 'That was bulls*** my mom said to get attention one time. And my dad's not dying. Stop!' In a separate reel, Kelly also brought up a viral AI video of her father saying that he is 'dying.' 'So, there's this video going around on social media and it's supposed to be of my dad and it's AI,' the mother of one said. 'And it has a voice like my dad's David Attenborough or something and it starts out saying, "I don't need a doctor to tell me that I'm going to die. I know I'm going to die."' Kelly paused and then added: 'What the f*** is wrong with you people? Why would you spend your time making a video like this? He's not dying!' She continued: 'Yes, he has Parkinson's. And yes his mobility is completely different that it used to be but he's not f***ing dying. What is wrong with you?' Kelly additionally included a screenshot to give an example of comments filtering on social media platforms such as: 'Tell us Ozzy is going to be dying soon without telling us he's going to be dying soon.' Earlier this month in Birmingham, England, Ozzy took to the stage for his final live show - amid his battle with Parkinson's after being initially diagnosed with the disease in 2003. A few years earlier on The Osbournes podcast, the topic of a 'suicide pact' that both he and Sharon made was brought up by their son Jack. Speculation: Kelly included a screenshot of comments filtering on social media platforms When he asked if euthanasia was 'still a plan' for them both, his mom replied with, 'Do you think that we're gonna suffer?' Jack then said, 'Aren't we already all suffering?' and Sharon continued to offer her view on the matter. 'Yes, we all are, but I don't want it to actually hurt, as well. Mental suffering is enough pain without physical. So if you've got mental and physical, see ya.' Kelly - who also appeared on the podcast episode at the time - asked her mom: 'But what if you could survive?' The British-born star answered: 'Yeah, what if you survived and you can't wipe your own a**, you're pissing everywhere, s****ing, can't eat.' The topic was also previously brought up when Sharon interviewed with The Mirror in 2007 when she released her own autobiography titled Survivor: My Story - The Next Chapter. 'Ozzy and I have absolutely come to the same decision,' she told the British newspaper. 'We believe 100 per cent in euthanasia so have drawn up plans to go to the assisted suicide flat in Switzerland if we ever have an illness that affects our brains. 'If Ozzy or I ever got Alzheimer's, that's it - we'd be off.'
