Episode 197 with Chloe Cooper Jones, Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Nominee, Master of Melding Seemingly-Disparate Ideas and Themes, and Author of the Masterful and Profound Easy Beauty

Notes and Links to Chloé Cooper Jones’ Work

   

   Chloé Cooper Jones is a professor, journalist, and the author of the memoir Easy Beauty, which was named a best book of 2022 by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, and was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Memoir. She was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing in 2020. She is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant recipient and a Howard Foundation Fellow. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 

   For Episode 197 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Chloé Cooper Jones, and the two discuss, among other things, her early relationship with reading, writing, seeking beauty, her parents’ influences on her world views, formative and transformative writers (and “fun trash” she read), and salient topics from her powerful memoir, such as muses and aesthetes, pop culture and philosophy, bigoted views on women as those with disabilities, and the pertinent trips that Chloé took in seeking beauty, catharsis, and hope. 

 

 

Buy Easy Beauty: A Memoir

 

Chloe's Website

 

Chloe’s Pulitzer-Prize Nominated Article for The Verge- “Fearing for His Life”

 

People Magazine 2022 Article about Easy Beauty-“Author Chloé Cooper Jones, Who Has a Visible Disability, On Deciding to Claim Space For Herself and Her Son”

At about 1:35, Chloe lets the listener in on her mindset in hearing about her second Pulitzer Prize nomination, including the beauty of combining family pursuits and career 

 

At about 6:55, Chloe gives out information regarding where to buy her book, and her contact information, including Greenlight and Books are Magic, and Lawrence, KS’ The Raven Bookstore

 

At about 8:45, Chloe talks about her childhood and its focus on beauty as impressed upon her by her parents in their different ways; she calls “having a rich interior life a survival mechanism” 

 

At about 13:15, Pete shouts out a short story idea from Chloe’s father that was emblematic of his mind

 

At about 14:00, Chloe details some of the reading that excited and challenged her as she grew up, and “the fun trash” too

 

At about 16:40, Chloe lists Diane Williams and Cormac McCarthy, among many others, as formative writers

 

At about 17:30, Pete asks Chloe about David Foster Wallace and some other nonfiction she may have read; she notes how “exciting” his sportswriting was, and Janet Malcolm and John McPhee as other great influences

 

At about 20:20, Chloe shouts out the recently-released and incredibly versatile work of Andrew Leland-The Country of the Blind, Rachel Aviv’s work, and Jessamine Chan’s School for Good Mothers

 

At about 22:10, Chloe responds to Pete’s question about if she felt represented in what she read growing up, and she answers the question using Coming Home as one anomaly

 

At about 26:30, Chloe reflects on the use of the word “disabled” and its myriad meanings 

 

At about 28:05, Chloe answers Pete’s questions about the balance between disabled people educating others and well-meaning people and possible dehumanizing actions; she cites a telling excerpt from Andrew Leland’s book

 

At about 33:30, Pete cites Elaine Scarry and how Chloe connects ideas of processing beauty and ignorance

 

At about 34:15, Pete lays out the structure for the book as based on trips Chloe took, and he and Chloe discuss the importance and circumstances of the first trip chronicled, the trip to see Beyonce at San Siro; Chloe builds on the idea and definitions of “easy beauty”

 

At about 41:55, Pete compliments Chloe’s genuine writing about her son and motherhood

 

At about 42:55, Chloe explains the power of Beyonce and her “radical presence”

 

At about 45:50, The two discuss the freeing nature of Chloe’s reporting trip to see Roger Federer, which leads to further discussion of how Chloe’s melds philosophy and more aesthetic ideals with a more pop(ular) sensibility

 

At about 51:10, Chloe discusses an opening scene from the book that engendered strong feelings for her, as well as pervasive beliefs 

 

At about 54:45, Chloe reflects on what was different about her reaction to the above conversation and the phenomenon of “The Neutral Room”

 

At about 56:35, The two discuss the book’s “Indifferent Man”

 

At about 59:20, Chloe gives background on her trip to Rome and seeking beauty and connections to her father’s philosophies 

 

At about 1:04:15, The two discuss Chloe’s trip to Cambodia, and she discusses the evolving nature of her research and searching questions, as catharsis and society’s desire for witnessing violence become topics

 

At about 1:13:10, Pete notes the emphasis on capitalism in “dark tourism” and the seeming normality of dark tourism sites

 

At about 1:14:35, The two discuss a final scene dealing with perspective and Chloe’s mother and a trip to Miami

 

At about 1:19:25, Chloe responds to Pete’s question about how she deals with writing on profound and deeply painful and tragic topics

 

At about 1:23:45, Chloe talks about upcoming events and projects, including working with Matty Davis in Bentonville, AR

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   Please tune in for Episode 198 with Sarah Thankam Mathews, who is the author of the novel All This Could Be Different, which was shortlisted for the 2022 National Book Award and the 2022 Discover Prize, and nominated for the Aspen Literary Prize. She is formerly a Rona Jaffe Fellow in fiction at the Iowa Writers Workshop, and a Margins Fellow at The Asian American Writers Workshop.