A classic older millennial recco.
๐ Published during VICEโs golden days
๐ Arfin gets raw and real.
๐ Itโs like a modern day Go Ask Alice, but with the happy ending of recovery.
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by Darcie Wilder โ I read this when it came out and go back to it quite often, feels like reading tweets by a cool person (who is having a hard time, just like you) without having to actually be on twitter
Dec 3, 2024
Crazy how it really makes you feel like youโre with Fox as she delves through her experiences of addiction. she writes in this way which makes you feel like youโre in the cubicle with her, at the party or chasing the high as the sunrises
Feb 6, 2024
A review done by me, Gray, who is a zillennial which adds very little to this review (but I feel compelled to say it). I am someone who is of no importance which is why I think my take is IMPORTANT.
"Health and Safety" covers the years from 2015 to 2020 in the topics of politics (rise of Trump's first term and the Black Lives Matters protests) and a crumbling personal relationship all with the back drop of NYC techno nightlife being at the center of the book. Personally, I don't like reading about anyone falling in love or breaking up because I can go ahead and do that myself and I don't like to read when people do it better than me. Having the techno night life as the forefront kept my attention and I have never read a book or article that has captured my same shared feelings about the feel of techno music. I personally have been out of my cities electronic music scene for about a year and a half and this book single handedly made me buy tickets to three different events in my area to head back into the scene. I also picked up some K on my way home from work from a college kid which made me feel sour and slightly agitated for reasons I just want to suppress right now. The writing was so well done that it wasn't a good track that took me back to the dance floor, it was this book. I read it in two days and I haven't polished off a book that fast in months.
Talking about taking drugs was also a large part of the book which I felt was a bit excessive at times. I'm not sure if millennials are too sincere for my early Gen Z taste but I find it should be a given that you are taking various drugs at these shows and if you are not, I'm more interested to see your take on going to these events sober. But this is what Perfectly Imperfect is for, my little dumb opinions.
I lately have been looking through this lens of "Get Z vs Millennial" and it's getting me nowhere but I felt this book gave somewhat of a connection. The years that Emily was writing about, she was describing her early and mid thirties and during those same years, I was doing the same activities in my early and mid 20s. I found it a fun comparison to see what someone was doing in an upscale part of NYC in their mid 30s in the techno scene versus me in my 20s in the PNW. To my surprise, a lot of it was the same.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about American politics in an easy, digestible way as well as techno and raves. Perfect book to read for fun and a bit of introspection. The author also gives great recommendations on other books to read as well. I find it very timely now since we are in our second trimester of Trump (and the demon baby will be born soon...just in time for my 30s!)
-Gray
Feb 20, 2025
