Lou Barrett - Writer

Tonight I met one of my heroes, Torrey Peters, in real life at her Chicago stop for her new book, Stag Dance: A Novel and Stories!

OHMYGOD. Torrey, if you’re reading this, please bear with the fan girl energy I bring. I have no shame when it comes to the immense admiration I feel the creative thinkers and writers I love.

Torrey’s writing has reminded me why I love writing and why I love reading. When I read Detransition, Baby, I was like wow what a gift! And also— holy s**t!

Her writing is so smart and funny. It’s daring. It’s upsetting. It’s honest. There’s so many times during her first novel, where I was just like “wow this is so insane!” And it is such a fun feeling for a book to shake you up like that.

For months after I read Detransition, Baby, I kept telling close friends, “we should all be eternally grateful for Torrey Peters.” I still feel bad for my old roommates who had little choice in hearing my rants.

Her new book is no different in that it is filled with characters who I adored, who drove me nuts, who made me cry, who pi**ed me off, who made me question how I look at myself and my life, who made me ask if I’m brave enough to love, to be honest with myself, to be honest about myself to those I love and those who love me— who hate me.

Thank you for being so generous to your readers, and I’m excited to keep following your work.

Catch Torrey Peters on my podcast, Q***r Discourse, next Wednesday, 4/9 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Substack.

Excited to continue following your work, and I aspire to be as bold in my own writing.

This year is wrapping up WAY better than it started ❤️