Did you know that the one and only Dua Lipa has a book club? Did you know that she also has a global style and culture website? Well, of course she does! The 3x GRAMMY and 7x BRIT Award-winning pop superstar is a pro at making moves, and in 2022, one of those moves was the launch of Service95. The global platform features the latest on style, culture, and society, and consists of a weekly newsletter, book club, and podcast. Since its inception, Service95 has received praise from The Guardian, which described the site as “some of the most thought-provoking short-form cultural writing you can find.” Its podcast has also received much acclaim from The Sunday Times, Vogue, Vulture, and Spotify, the last of which describing Dua Lipa as “an incredibly thoughtful interviewer with a genuine interest in people, social movements, and the arts.”
Service95’s Book Club started in June of 2023 and has featured a different book every month, from bestsellers to personal favorites. This month’s choice is Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter. This is the debut novel from Porter, released in 2015. It won several prestigious awards, including the International Dylan Thomas Prize, The Sunday Times/Peters Fraser & Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award, and The Europese Literatuurprijs prize. It was also adapted into a play that was directed by Edna Walsh and starred Cillian Murphy.
About Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, Dua Lipa shares,
“Ever so occasionally, you pick up a book and it spins you around and turns you upside down. This is one of those books. In his debut novel, Max Porter ripped up the rule book of what a novel should do, and instead, presents us with something so wild, so mind-bending, and just so beautiful.
“It’s the story of a young family devastated by grief when the boys’ mother suddenly dies. As the weight of their grief threatens to sink them, a human-size crow arrives on their doorstep and moves in, announcing that he will stay until they no longer need him. Yes, you read that right – a giant talking crow. Is Crow here to help or purely to cause chaos? Is he even real or a figment of their imagination? That’s the question that carries through the book, but by the end, it barely matters, as his purpose becomes clearer.
“It might take you a second to get into the voice of Crow, but once you are, you are in for a treat. ‘Grief Is the Thing with Feathers’ is definitely a book where you really just have to surrender to the story – take it from me, let yourself go and enjoy the wild ride.”
Readers will be able to check out additional content on Grief Is the Thing with Feathers on the Service95 website. This content includes a reading of the novel by Porter himself, his list of books and music that inspired the novel, a companion essay, and an interview between Dua Lipa and Max Porter.
Readers can subscribe to the Service95 Book Club newsletter here.
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