{"title":"Elaine Castillo","description":"\u003cp\u003eElaine Castillo’s works invite readers into nuanced explorations of identity, culture, and contemporary life. Through evocative storytelling in \u003cem\u003eHow to Read Now\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eModeration\u003c\/em\u003e, she artfully blends elements of \u003cstrong\u003eGeneral Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e with insightful reflections on the \u003cstrong\u003eArts \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/strong\u003e landscape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHer narratives offer richly drawn characters and thoughtful examinations of the complexities inherent in navigating tradition and modernity. Those interested in literary fiction that engages deeply with personal and social themes will find Elaine Castillo’s books compelling and resonant.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"how-to-read-now-by-elaine-castillo-9781838954925","title":"How to Read Now","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exploration and manifesto investigating the power of reading – and our potential to become radically better readers in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow many times have we heard that reading builds empathy? That we can travel through books? How often have we heard about the importance of diversifying our bookshelves? Or claimed that books saved our life? Of course, these beautiful words are sometimes true. But reading is – and can be – more powerful, more relevant, and more vital than we currently let it be.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat do the clichés and good intentions we rely on to talk about the warm fuzzy feeling of reading gloss over or sell short when it comes to the critical skills reading fosters, and the range of emotions reading allows us to explore? Castillo illuminates – and insists upon – our potential to become better readers, readers who will wield the power of reading ruthlessly, effectively, and to startling result to enact equity, kindle authentic connection, and clear space for voices to be heard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Castillo interrogates and reflects on the stale questions and uncritical proclamations that so often sub in for vital discussion, she takes readers on deep dives through everything from anime to the overlooked novels of Peter Handke to the art of the mix tape, all while mapping the paths toward more lively, more urgent, more inclusive reading. By widening the lens of reading to include the ways we digest all media, Elaine Castillo brings fresh philosophical and moral clout to our discussions of the power of reading.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCastillo’s \u003ci\u003eHow to Read Now\u003c\/i\u003e took my breath away. Energetically brilliant, warmly humane, incisively funny\u003c\/strong\u003e – Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eI gasped, shouted, and holler-laughed while reading these essays... Phenomenal\u003c\/strong\u003e – R.O. Kwon, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46521148145900,"sku":"9781838954925","price":36.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/20534073482842.jpg?v=1749004746"},{"product_id":"how-to-read-now-by-elaine-castillo-9781838954956","title":"How to Read Now","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI cannot say enough about \u003cem\u003eHow to Read Now\u003c\/em\u003e... Check it out\u003c\/em\u003e - Roxane Gay\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA red-hot grenade... One of my favourite books of the year\u003c\/em\u003e - Jia Tolentino\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnergetically brilliant, warmly humane, incisively funny\u003c\/em\u003e - Andrew Sean Greer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI gasped, shouted, and holler-laughed . . . Phenomenal\u003c\/em\u003e - R.O. Kwon\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA wake-up call. A broadside. A rich and brilliant war cry\u003c\/em\u003e - Chris Power\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow many times have we heard that reading builds empathy? That we can travel through books? How often have we heard about the importance of diversifying our bookshelves? Or claimed that books saved our lives? These familiar words - beautiful, aspirational - are sometimes even true. But award-winning novelist, Elaine Castillo, has more ambitious hopes for our reading culture, and in this collection of linked essays, she moves to wrest reading away from the aspirations of uniting people in empathetic harmony and reposition it as thornier, ultimately more rewarding work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHow to Read Now\u003c\/em\u003e explores the politics and ethics of reading, and insists that we are capable of something better: a more engaged relationship not just with our fiction and our art, but with our buried and entangled histories. Smart, funny, galvanizing, and sometimes profane, Castillo attacks the stale questions and less-than-critical proclamations that masquerade as vital discussion: reimagining the cartography of the classics, building a moral case against the settler colonialism of lauded writers like Joan Didion, taking aim at Nobel Prize winners and toppling indie filmmakers, and celebrating glorious moments in everything from popular TV like \u003cem\u003eThe Watchmen\u003c\/em\u003e to the films of Wong Kar-wai and the work of contemporary poets like Tommy Pico.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt once a deeply personal and searching history of one woman's reading life, and a wide-ranging and urgent intervention into our globalized conversations about why reading matters today, \u003cem\u003eHow to Read Now\u003c\/em\u003e empowers us to embrace a more complicated, embodied form of reading, inviting us to acknowledge complicated truths, ignite surprising connections, imagine a more daring solidarity, and create space for a riskier intimacy - within ourselves, and with each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46521152209132,"sku":"9781838954956","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/20534383482842.jpg?v=1749004833"},{"product_id":"moderation-by-elaine-castillo-9781838954970","title":"Moderation","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eModeration\u003c\/em\u003e is a novel that refuses to do things by halves. It is a piercing, laser-precise exploration of big tech... breathtakingly funny... and a highly charged, passionate and tender love story. A wonderful book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eKaliane Bradley, bestselling author of The Ministry of Time\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGirlie, a thirty-something Filipinx-American, works a day job at a social-media moderation centre, flagging and removing the very worst that makes it on to the internet. She's good at it, too—dispassionate, unflinching, maybe because she learned by necessity to cauterise all her emotions when she was still a kid—so it's no surprise to anyone when the social-media company for which she works offers her a big pay rise and an office to start moderating its new venture: virtual-reality theme parks, stunning simulations of civilisations long-since dead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGirlie takes the job, and it almost seems too good to be true. Almost. Sure, she signed up for having to deal with the ambient racism and misogyny of pretty much any virtual space, but as she begins to explore the intricate worlds that she moderates, she notices two deeply troubling things: that there might be something much darker built into the very code of the company, and that William, technically her new boss, a man whose barriers are as mighty as her own, might just be that long-forgotten thing... Girlie's type.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46741146796268,"sku":"9781838954970","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/fcd7254e3c87e2879abd209b146b8fa3.jpg?v=1755603290"},{"product_id":"moderation-by-elaine-castillo-9780593489666","title":"Moderation","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize in Fiction and named a Top Ten Book of 2025 by \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e, and a Best Book of 2025 by \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e and more.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“A love story for those who love \u003ci\u003eSeverance\u003c\/i\u003e (both Ling Ma’s book and the unaffiliated Apple TV+ series)... ambitious, challenging, and brilliant.” —\u003ci\u003eElle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Castillo’s flinty satire of the tech industry [transforms] into a sultry romance novel.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—​bringing Castillo's trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eModeration\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of Girlie Delmundo, the greatest content moderator in the world. Despite the setbacks of financial crises, climate catastrophe, and a global pandemic, she’s going places: she’s getting a promotion. Thanks to her parent company Paragon’s purchase of Fairground—the world’s preeminent virtual reality content provider—she’s on the way to becoming an elite VR moderator, playing in the big leagues and, if her enthusiastic bosses are to be believed, moderating the next stage of human interaction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the isolation that virtual reality requires from colleagues, friends, and family, the unbelievable perks of her new job mean she can solve a lot of her family's problems with money and mobility. She doesn't have to think about the childhood home they lost back in the Bay Area, or history at all—she can just pay any debts that come due. But when she meets William Cheung, Playground’s wry, reticent co-founder (now Chief Product Officer), and slowly unearths some of his secrets, finding herself somehow falling in love, she’ll learn that history might be impossible to moderate and the future utterly impossible to control.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48004030922988,"sku":"9780593489666","price":72.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780593489666-moderation.jpg?v=1785056047"},{"product_id":"moderation-by-elaine-castillo-9781838954994","title":"Moderation","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSometimes people just...click.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWonderful\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKaliane Bradley, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Ministry of Time\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA literary firecracker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePandora Sykes, Books and Bits\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrilliant\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElle\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThirty-something Girlie Delmundo works a day job as a content moderator, removing the very worst that makes it on to the internet. She's one of the best at it, too, so it's no surprise when she's given a big salary rise to start moderating its new venture: virtual-reality theme parks, lush simulations of civilizations long since dead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut as she begins to explore the intricate worlds that she moderates, Girlie notices two deeply troubling things: that there might be something much darker built into the very code of the company, and that William, technically her new boss, a man whose barriers are as mighty as her own, might just be that long-forgotten thing... 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