#102 A Slow Sunday Scroll ☕️
healthy career delusion, a ‘millennial David Sedaris' & a therapy film
Hello! The Hyphen is a newsletter funded solely by its readers—these round-ups take hours and hours to compile! Thank you for keeping the lights on! If you enjoy reading it, why not upgrade to become a paid subscriber, and you can access everything behind the paywalls and comment sections?
Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on this post. As mentioned, I’m taking a little break over August, and this will be the last Sunday Scroll for a wee while. Enjoy!
This week I watched The Invite and I loved it. Nothing makes me feel like I’m doing self-employed life right more than going to the cinema in the middle of the day. The Invite ticked all the boxes for the kind of films (and books) I love: excellent dialogue, character-driven storytelling based on interior lives (and good interior design). Directed by Olivia Wilde, starring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton and based on a Spanish film from 2020. Cruz’s character—a “sexologist” called Piña—is essentially based on famous psychotherapist Esther Perel, who was once Olivia Wilde’s therapist (and was also a consultant on the film.) Perel is on Substack (who isn’t these days) → Entre Nous with Esther Perel.
I interviewed Perel once for my podcast Ctrl Alt Delete back in 2018, and I remember thinking she was so chic—so clearly comfortable in her own skin, so smart (she can speak nine languages fluently) and so interesting. I remember being nervous to interview her. Then the Financial Times positively mentioned my interview at the bottom of a piece about her, and I was so chuffed. Out of the 400 episodes I did, hers was one that stood out the most. Basically: she is an icon, and I’m not surprised she has inspired someone in Hollywood to make a film inspired by her/her work.
One of the core themes of Perel’s work on human relationships (something she spoke to me about even back in 2018) is the idea that you can have many different relationships with the same person. You can have three completely different relationships within one marriage, across multiple decades, for example. But, it also takes work.
It turns out that this is exactly what the message of The Invite is all about. It was such an enjoyable, funny, and entertaining film. One of those films that moves at such a great pace all the way through, with the perfect balance of twists and turns. It was fun being in a cinema full of people properly laughing together. There was only one moment where it felt like the film was trying to “do therapy” on the viewer. Piña asks the characters, “Would you have sex with yourself?” Thankfully, it stayed within the story and didn’t accidentally drift too far into a sex-ed TED Talk.
Also, shout out to my local Everyman. It has everything I want in cinema: snacks delivered to your chair, comfy velvet double seats, cushions, loads of legroom, and a real person introducing the film and reminding everyone to be quiet. That human element makes such a difference—good food, families, friends, people with pushchairs, welcoming booths to write from with a laptop if you want—it feels like a proper community space.
I read the new David Sedaris book in a day. I read bits out loud to my husband in the garden and we were chuckling. I also went to see him speak in London at the Royal Festival Hall this week.
I texted my friend group chat: “Is it unhinged if I bring EIGHT of my Sedaris collection for him to sign?”
“Do it anyway!” One friend replied.
“The signing queue will be five hours long…” Another friend replied. “Good luck. Stay hydrated.”
Sedaris is famous for having very long signing queues that take ages because he chats to each person. He often gets inspiration from his readers that makes it into his essays. He is also vocal about how he likes it when people dress up for his events. So I wore a nice dress.
“I wonder how David feels about Vinted,” I texted.
I didn’t end up queuing for my signed book(s) in the end, I opted to go and get some food instead, but I did get a few compliments from other women in my row—which was nice.
As I left the house, my husband said: “Why don’t you bring him one of your books as a gift?”
“That is the biggest signing queue sin,” I replied. “Let it be known that no author ever wants to be given a copy of anyone else’s book at their event.”
He was excellent on stage, as expected, in a fabulous Comme des Garçons coat. He is so spiky and funny and it’s so refreshing to read someone who isn’t trying to caveat everything all the time.
June was a busy month for me—my birthday, my wedding anniversary, various publishing events. Also, my new book, A Creative Compass, launched!! The Irish News wrote a nice review, a snippet here:
“Emma Gannon’s new book is a reorientation for the creatively lost. It’s less of a guide and more of a series of nudges towards reconnecting with a state of mind that facilitates creative thinking.” [get yours here!]*
*[A global/U.S. edition of A Creative Compass is launching soon, and if you cannot wait, you can order it from Blackwell’s who I believe do free worldwide shipping.]
Three new posts! One about the dreaded question ‘how do you find time to write’; how Substack gave me my writing career back, and a quick trip to Porto.
Pssst. If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Emma Gannon, a writer and author of nine books, writing about creativity, wellbeing, and living life on your own terms.
To get the most out of Hyphen, join as a paid member for £4/month (with annual membership) and unlock 200+ posts—all for less than a London iced latté.
Every other Sunday, 80,000+ readers enjoy my Sunday Scrolls: a curated mix of books, podcasts, articles, and joyful links. Upgrade to read the full round-up below.
Right, over to this week’s Slow Sunday Scroll Picks…
