Trick Mirror

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Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
AuthorJia Tolentino
LanguageEnglish
SubjectsInternet culture, feminism
PublisherRandom House
Publication date
6 August 2019
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
Pages303
ISBN978-0525510543 (First edition hardcover)

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion is a 2019 book by American author Jia Tolentino. It contains nine essays about topics including internet culture, marriage, scams, and contemporary feminism.

Writing

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Tolentino began writing the collection in early 2017 and finished it in the fall of 2018.[1] Before she sold the book to Random House, Tolentino chose a question to address in each essay.[2] Tolentino selected the order of the essays so that each builds on the previous one.[2]

Contents

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  • The I in the Internet
  • Reality TV Me
  • Always Be Optimizing
  • Pure Heroines
  • Ecstasy
  • The Story of a Generation in Seven Scams
  • We Come from Old Virginia
  • The Cult of the Difficult Woman
  • I Thee Dread

Reception

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On August 25, 2019, Trick Mirror debuted at #2 on The New York Times Bestseller list in the category Combined Print & E-Book Non-Fiction.[3] It remained on the list for five weeks.[4]

Kirkus Reviews compared Tolentino to Joan Didion and described the collection as "exhilarating, groundbreaking essays that should establish Tolentino as a key voice of her generation."[5] Writing for Slate, reviewer Laura Miller called Tolentino "a classical essayist along the lines of Montaigne."[6] The Guardian called Trick Mirror "a bold and playful collection of essays from a hugely talented writer."[7] NPR's Vincent Acovino called the collection "phenomenal" and praised Tolentino's "trademark brand of freewheeling wit and intelligence."[8]

One highly critical review, written by Lauren Oyler for the London Review of Books, received much publicity and generated so much online traffic that their website crashed.[9][10] Among other things, Oyler faults Tolentino for self-centered writing, faulting her for making "any observation about the world lead back to [her] own [life] and feelings, though it should be the other way round" and noting "she primarily uses personal experience to substantiate – rather than ‘get to the bottom of’ – her ideas, though her tendency towards hyperbole has the effect of making them seem entirely subjective."[11]

References

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  1. ^ Acovino, Vincent (6 August 2019). "'Trick Mirror' Finds Hope That Little Truths Will Emerge Amid Absurdities". NPR. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b Ransom, Brian (7 August 2019). "Please Fire Jia Tolentino". The Paris Review. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction". The New York Times. 2019-08-25.
  4. ^ "Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction". The New York Times. 2019-09-22.
  5. ^ "Trick Mirror". Kirkus. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  6. ^ Miller, Laura (2019-08-13). "Jia Tolentino's Debut Is a Hall of Mirrors You'll Never Want to Leave". Slate.
  7. ^ Haas, Lidija (2019-08-02). "Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino review – on self-delusion". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Acovino, Vincent (2019-08-06). "'Trick Mirror' Finds Hope That Little Truths Will Emerge Amid Absurdities". National Public Radio.
  9. ^ Silman, Anna (January 25, 2021). "What Does Lauren Oyler Like?". The Cut. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  10. ^ Joseph, Richard (13 January 2022). "Everyone's A Critic". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  11. ^ Oyler, Lauren (23 January 2020). "Ha ha! Ha ha!". London Review of Books. 42 (02). ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 17 March 2025.


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