The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000–2020

Best-selling novelist Kushner (The Flamethrowers) turns to essays and criticism in this volume, though readers of her fiction will recognize her themes. Many of the pieces in this collection are memorable portraits of artists, writers, and musicians (including Jeff Koons and Marguerite Duras) that emphasize their eccentricities, charisma, and legacies. Kushner’s own voice is always present, but those essays that most directly address her personal experiences feel the most alive. Kushner shares her stories in a way that manages to be personal but not self-serving. In one, she crashes in a motorcycle race, and in another she visits a Palestinian refugee camp. Fans of ’90s music will find her narrative of working at San Francisco’s Warfield and Fillmore Theaters especially captivating. The final essay is also a standout, full of reflections on Kushner’s upbringing in San Francisco and the people and changes she encountered there.