Housemates who changed the plot
My novel comes out in two weeks and I am unwell!! Events!!
Tis the season of nice people recommending a random quantity of things, and my book Housemates has been on the joyful receiving end of that:
The Los Angeles Times, “10 Books to Add To Your Reading List in May,”
Rachel Khong (Real Americans) recommends 2 books in The Skimm
Harper’s Bazaar, “10 Best Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List”
Kirkus Reviews, “5 Can’t Miss Novels for Your May TBR List”
Bustle, “7 Books That Expanded My View of the World” by
Hey Alma, “13 Jewish Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2024”
Housemates publishes May 28! I am unwell! In gratitude & as an homage, I will now make my own list of my 6 favorite housemates in popular culture, who changed—crucially—the plot.
(all of these summaries will now be written from my half-caffeinated memory, nothing is fact checked here, do not come for me)
Spike of Notting Hill (1999)
Besides Julia Roberts’ “I’m Just a Girl Standing In Front of a Boy” speech, the main thing I remember about this movie is Spike the housemate. While Hugh Grant is busy fannying around, trying to sell books to travelers at his silly little travel bookshop, Spike is busy collecting message t-shirts that are too small for him, not wearing pants, and drinking milk straight from the carton. When Julia Roberts, a famous American actress, finally calls Hugh Grant back, it’s Spike that answers and bungles taking the message in a very “apothecary in Romeo and Juliet” kind of way. First he takes forever to give Grant the info, and second he fails to warn Grant that it’s a press meet and greet, leading Grant to panic and choose Horse & Hound as his fictitious press outlet. This leads to the iconic line when Grant asks Roberts if there are any horses in her newest movie to which she answers in the negative. “And what about any hounds?”Jacob of Abbott Elementary (2024)
When the Airbnb gods pair Jacob (hunting for a place to crash post breakup) and Melissa (hunting for someone to rent her spare room after her boyfriend creepily proposes to her), everyone expects things to explode. Melissa is famously bossy about what seasonings go on food and Jacob (whom no one will ever be able to persuade me is not Jewish) is a Type A tryhard so this seems like a match made in hell. Yet from the moment Jacob moves in his boxes and the two sit down to watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey together, it’s a heavenly love affair. But their cohabitation sets off a dangerous shock wave of events which ultimately causes Gregory to be so tired that he leaves the hose on in the garden and students track mud all over Melissa’s classroom. Chaotic!Fran of Shrill (2019)
Fran is far and away the funnest part of Shrill (justice for Lolly Adefope etc) and she and her romance with ER Fightmaster (fans self) deserves its own show of which I would be the #1 fan. But I would also argue that Fran crucially changes the plot of Shrill several times. If not for Fran, Annie (Andy Bryant) would never have had the courage to attend the fat babes pool party, break up with the guy who forced her to leave his house by awkwardly climbing a back gate, or to romantically pursue her skinny and unworthy weekly paper colleague. Fran also ensured Aidy had passably interesting outfits throughout the show, and that her hair looked nice.+
Dylan and Lark, Trust & Safety (2024)
One of my personal “most anticipated” books of 2024 is the novel Trust and Safety out May 21 by fellow BiCo (Haverford/Bryn Mawr) grad Eve Gleichman and their writing partner Laura Blackett. That’s right, the two co-write novels; their first one, The Very Nice Box, was also excellent. This one follows a straight couple who leave Brooklyn for the Hudson Valley (original!) and buy a crumbling house that turns out to be a local lesbian landmark (iconic!). But when the couple rent out an outbuilding to local lesbians Dylan and Lark, hijinx, unauthorized renovations, a queer polycule, and trouble in the straight marriage ensue in ways I’m not at liberty to discuss here.
Eden of Blue Crush (2002)
Ending strong, Blue Crush is an important work of American cinema that appears on its face to be about Kate Bosworth, aka Anne Marie, a Hawaii-residing blond ex-talented surfer who now works in housekeeping at a local luxury hotel. But actually, the film is about a group house. AM lives with her little sister, her friend Eden, and their other airhead friend in a tiny, sometimes unlit rancher. Michelle Rodriguez (problematic fave!) plays Eden, AM’s best gal pal/housemate/phantom lover (if you squint). Eden believes in AM’s potential and even rents a jet ski to help AM regain her lost glory and train for a big oncoming surfing competition. Without Eden’s nagging, AM would never have been able to show up for the movie’s climactic beachfront scene seen where AM finally overcomes her trauma and lands the perfect wave.
17 Book Events featuring Housemates
I’m going on book tour for Housemates! Registration info and full deets for all events can be found here on my website. Torrey Peters (Detransition Baby)!
! Andrea Lawlor (Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl)! Jennifer Wilson of The New Yorker! I delight in live events that are genuinely fun, joyful, strange paloozas of thinking aloud and craft problem solving and gossip— we shan't bore you 💞👀 There may even be some large format camera cameos!Toppings
Finally, finally I got around to reading the novel Big Girl by Mecca Jamillah Sullivan, which I knew would be good (shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and many others) but I wasn’t prepared for how good it was. It is about a young fat Black girl coming of age in Harlem and the ways it deals with the nuances of fatness and the body blew me away. This one is for anyone whose mom made them go to Weight Watchers with her!! (happy mother’s day!!!!)
The Gaza Evacuation Fund Book Auction “designed to raise money for Palestinians who are trying to flee Gaza and survive genocide” closes at midnight tonight, so bid today. From private consults with award-winning authors in all genres to special signed books and goodies, this is not to be missed. A few highlights: a short story consult with Monika Woods of Triangle House literary agency, a book bundle of Leslie Jamison works annotated by the author, a manuscript consult with Christine Smallwood, critic and author of The Life of the Mind, picking a nonfiction book for Nathan of Schizophrenic Reads to discuss on his podcast, and a signed ARC of Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi.
I really enjoyed the “Modesty” episode of
, which talks to Muslim folks, Jewish folks, and Mormon folks about what covering their bodies means to them. I was fascinated by the idea of how covering allows women control over who is granted access to seeing our bodies and how. Definitely enriched my thinking about Frump.Did you know there is a home renovation HGTV show, by and for lesbians, that takes place in the Hudson Valley called Small Town Potential? Like a reality TV version of the novel Trust and Safety (see above), the soft butch one runs a contracting business with her very affirming dad and the tomboy femme one is the combo designer and realtor. Is it good? Absolutely not! Did I watch all of it in three days of book anxiety? Of course!
Book scoop
My debut novel, Housemates, which is set in West Philadelphia and follows two queer housemates, one a large format photographer and the other a journalist, on a roadtrip of fat and sad feelings through Pennsylvania comes out in a little more than two weeks on May 28 from Random House!
If you want a signed copy shipped to you anywhere in the US, you can pre-order Housemates from Books Are Magic!
If you live in the Philly area and want a special gift of a gorgeous film photograph depicting one of the Philly locales in the book, you can pre-order Housemates from wonderful indie bookstore The Head & the Hand!
If you live in Philly, NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, The Hudson Valley, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Central NJ, Western Mass, Providence or Portland, OR, come out to a Housemates event! All event details are here.
If you live somewhere else or just don’t like leaving your house, register for my only virtual event with
hosted by longtime feminist and queer bookstore Charis Books!
That’s it! From my unhinged house to yours, lots of love,
Emma
GO, EMMA!!! I'm so excited for you and this wonderful book! <3
Best cultural commentary of the week!