2023 Larry Prater Award For Best Read
I haven’t read anything even remotely close to Blake Butler's memoir Molly in 2023. Not at any other point in my life, to be honest. Like any great works, it has created controversy over the last couple weeks and although it sucks that people who call themselves critics can't understand the beauty and power of this goodbye, I believe it's by design. This is an uncomfortable book to read and it's Blake's story as much as it is Molly's. It's the story of seeing a human being for who she is and about being seen.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a bigger and bolder way to say "I love you" than seeing a person exactly for who she is and being accepting of that. In Molly, you see the good and the bad about who Molly Brodak was on equal footing. It's a vibrant and loving portrait of a complex and deeply wounded person that loved with an intensity she couldn’t control. It's one of the most unflinching and heart-wrenching portrait of a person I’ve ever seen. It’s why I awarded Molly the third Larry Prater Award for Best Read.
