Not parody: Please enjoy this interview with Gwyneth Paltrow’s “book curator.”
Because of course Gwyneth Paltrow has a “book curator,” a title that sounds both utterly pretentious (that would be the “curator”) and reeeeeeeally stupid, which is the sweet spot of Extreme Wealth Culture. (Shoutout Town & Country!) And as is the case with all the best Extreme Wealth Culture coverage, this interview with Thatcher Wine(!), “celebrity bibliophile,” is infuriating and incredible almost in equal measure. To quote Lit Hub’s own Jonny Diamond, “I hate it so much I love it. I want to marry it, and wear it.”
I certainly don’t want to dissuade anyone from reading the whole thing, but I can’t resist sharing some of my favorite quotes:
About his custom book jackets: “Why settle for books that a publisher designed? Books can have as much style as anything else in the room.”
About current book trends: “The Stoic philosophers are having a moment now.”
About how a pleb like you or I might go about curating our own home libraries: “First, think about what you are trying to accomplish. Is there a story you are trying to tell? A color palette you want to achieve?”
About the physical mechanics of reading: “The thing about books is that you can only really read one book at a time—yes you can be reading five books, but not literally all at once.”
In conclusion, eat the rich.
