The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled Into the Spotlight and Made History by Robin Givhan

In the autumn of 1973, a fundraiser to refurbish the dilapidated palace of Versailles was conceived. The organizers arranged a fashion show where ten designers – five French, five American – would be invited to showcase their collections. The show was originally intended to be a neutral event, but as soon as the press became aware of the American designers that were invited, the event was blown into an all-out competition between the two factions – and what was originally billed as the Grand Divertissement a Versailles became the Battle of Versailles.

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Louis CK* has a stand-up bit where he talks about time travel, and how it’s really only fun if you’re a white man. For anyone else, visiting the past is statistically going to be a real bad time. Butler takes this premise – what would it be like for someone who isn’t at the top of the societal food chain to travel back in time?

The Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Tally

“…The power in knowledge cannot be understated. Whenever people ask me for advice, I tell them two things: Never give up on your dreams, and do your homework. ‘Homework’ can mean a lot of things, but do your homework in life. Style will get you up the steps into the revolving door; substance and knowledge will allow you access to create new horizons. My great depth of knowledge is the number one skill I possess and has carried me throughout my career to this day. Rivers deep, mountains high. All the people who mattered in my life have approached me because of my knowledge. Throughout my career, designers liked spending time with me because I studied, and I studied, and I resolved to learn as much as I could.”

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

The oral history format of this book really shouldn’t work – this book is literally just 400+ pages of interview segments, with no narrator or other third-person perspective to give us historical context or background information. This is, pure and simple, a story about the rise and fall of the punk movement told by the people who created it, witnessed it, and experienced the brutal destruction it wreaked on the lives of the ones who devoted their lives to it.