Everything Our Editors Loved in July That Wasn’t ‘Barbenheimer’

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📝 (Photo: Courtesy the Publishers)

In July,Outsideeditors dove deep into the theworld of outdoor awe, with a little help fromWilliam Shatner, longtime contributorFlorence Williams, and climberSasha DiGiulian. We also published long reads aboutsurviving a jungle wedding, Hoka co-founderJean-Luc Diard, the healing power ofIcelandic horses, and one of theworst mountaineering accidentsin history. Here is everything we enjoyed when it was too hot to go outside.

🌀 Eddy

My Abandonment,by Peter Rock

My Abandonmentby Peter Rock is a haunting exploration of resilience, family dynamics, and the human need for connection—all set in the wilderness. It follows Caroline, a 13-year-old girl, and her father, living in isolation (and house-less) in the woods of Portland’s Forest Park. After being discovered and forced back into polite society, they grapple with adapting to a world they barely remember. The novel delves into issues of identity, mental health, and the consequences—and benefits—of living on society’s fringes and off the grid. Peter Rock crafts a thought-provoking tale of survival and acceptance, challenging perceptions of normalcy and the human longing for home. —Sierra Shafer, editor-in-chief,Ski

The Milagro Beanfield War, by John Nichols

At night, I usually wind down with a solid piece of fiction to hedge my day-job demands. So, when my husband and I moved to Taos, New Mexico, last fall, andOutside’sgear editor, Will Taylor, recommendedThe Milagro Beanfield Warby John Nichols as required reading for new residents, I snagged a copy. Truth be told, it sat on my desk for months until now. I’m just two-thirds of the way through, but it quickly became a bookshelf keeper. Nichol’s compelling story of land (mis)management, water rights, and social wrongs follows the unapologetically tenacious beanfield farmer, Joe Mondragon, as he battles corporate interests and wealthy landowners in the dirt-poor town of Milagro. It’s jovial in general, but peels back the layers of conflict created by the inflating populations of New Mexico, and echoes themes from another of my favorites:The Monkey Wrench Gangby Edward Abbey. Don’t be turned off by the 2000 publish date, either. It’s broadly relevant today, and a must-read if you live in the Southwest, love fiction, or drink and use water on a daily basis. —Patty Hodapp, interim digital director

A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah

Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to stories of those caught up in the unrest of African nations. There are plenty of them to choose from: in the last couple of years I’ve read Dave Eggers’What is the What,Denaw Mengestu’sAll Our Names,Lopez Lamong’sRunning for My Life,and Naomi Benaron’sRunning the Rift.This month I delved into Ishmael Beah’s memoirA Long Way Gone,which, I confess, had been sitting on my shelf for a few years, awaiting the time I was ready for it. Beah not only suffered the sudden loss of family, home, and security, like the protagonists of the other novels and memoirs I’ve read, he also became a child soldier and took part in the civil war of his Sierra Leone homeland. Remarkably, he tells his story in a voice so understated and honest that it is stripped of sensationalism and reveals a relatable boy’s thoughts and emotions amidst overwhelming horror, creating a small sense of empathy for his unimaginable suffering. In the end, Beah’s memoir made me feel sorrowful, compassionate, and grateful, which is how I want to be in the world. —Jonathan Beverly, senior running editor, gear

Rings of Saturnby W.G. Sebald

This month, I readRings of Saturnby W.G. Sebald, the late German writer and academic. I readThe Emigrantsa few years ago and it left a stronger impression on me than maybe any other book I’ve read, and have been excited to read this one ever since. Sebald is a luminary with an impossibly generous perspective and understanding of time and space.Rings of Saturnloosely follows him as he walks through the countryside of Suffolk, but his patient, exacting prose draws the reader into a journey through his expansive, curious mind. An old train car brings him to the downfall of the Chinese empire and back again to the English countryside, asking the reader to consider power, violence, grief, and memory along the way. A nap during a historical TV special invites a compassionate, aching look at the Belgian exploitation of the Congo, and comes right back to the library he fell asleep in. It’s an astonishing book, and well worth the read. —Abigail Barronian, senior editor

El Diablo en el Cuerpo,by Alex Anwandter

With the season entering its final stretch, I’m ready to crown my summer jam.El Diablo en el Cuerpo(“The Devil in the Body”) is the newest album from Alex Anwandter, a Chilean singer and producer now based in New York. Anwandter, who got his start as the vocalist for rock band Teleradio Donoso, last put out a full-length record in 2018 withLatinoamericana,a indie-pop response to Trump-era border paranoia and the Americas’ larger swing toward right-wing autocracy. OnEl Diablo en el Cuerpo,he tackles subjects ranging from gender roles to gay club culture to what it means to live and love when one crisis seems to follow another, layering his lyrics over smooth disco beats and 80s pop-inflected synth lines. “I met up with my friends in the street the other day, love / I talked about you, and about the disaster that the world is today,” guest vocalist Raquel Berrios of Buscabulla sings in Spanish on the album’s standout track“Mi Vida en Llamas.”If that’s not an anthem for a summer when theearth’sonfire, I don’t know what is. —Adam Roy, executive editor,Backpacker

As a fan of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon sinceGood Will Hunting, I appreciated how willing each was to look awful—Affleck acts such a tool, and Damon is filmed so closely as to show every pore. Viola Davis is another matter: a mesmerizing presence as young Michael’s savvy and incisive mother, Deloris. Among other key players is Chris Tucker, who researched and wrote scenes in portraying the executive Howard White.

My quibble is with the choice to film the Michael character from behind. While Affleck felt Jordan is so recognizable that anyone else would be a distraction, I’d have rather had an actor, seeing his emotions, maybe a star turn. —Alison Osius, senior editor

Dark Waters

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