Notes

by Gauraa Shekhar

"So wildly imaginative, and yet so open to all that is small, bright and counter. Deeply felt and often joyful, in its way. A beautiful, beautiful book." - Rivka Galchen , Author of American Innovations
"What a marvelous möbius band of a book. Too beautiful for blurbs. It's one of those books you'll read for the rest of your life." - Paul Beatty , Booker Prize-Winning Author of The Sellout
Gauraa Shekhar was a graduate of Columbia University's MFA Writing Program and a founding editor of No Contact . She published work in Nimrod, Sonora Review, Literary Hub, Vol. 1 Brooklyn , among many other places. She passed away in Richmond, Virginia in 2022. Notes is her first book.

136 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2023

Reviews

[Rachel Gilman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A work that radiates with vulnerable genius. Shekhar beautifully manipulates the fragmented form to tell a story of love, of loss, and of longing for something even if you haven't quite figured out what that something is. I was late to work every day because I didn't want to stop my morning reading sessions. I only wish it never had to end.

[Josh Iden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first remarkable thing about this book is that it works. When it was first announced, my antennae went up, split-brained: great idea, tough to pull off, I bet she could do it. I had reason to be optimistic — her excellent short story, Paradise, was one of my favorites of 2021.

Half the book reads like outtakes from your favorite Twitter shitposter. You know em, you love em. They get anywhere from 30-170 likes for sharing in their own perfect way whatever perfectly unremarkable thing just happened. I’m out of toilet paper. 79 likes, 2 QTs (RIP my Twitter, 2018-2022. Median like, < 1).

But the other half, the half in which an emotional arc is plotted as much between words on the page as within them, is a stunning, disarmingly intimate feat. The restraint in the narrative reveals something profound and inescapable about our lives: we can spell it out, word for word, and get no closer to the truth for the trouble. Leaving the right amount of room for someone to fill the space with themself is a tightrope act that often falls flat. One that Shekhar here dances her way across.

I don’t know if these are actual notes that happened in real time. I’d rather not know. It’s either incredibly disciplined, preternaturally funny, wise, and brave, or devastatingly inventive and executed with pinpoint precision. Possibly it’s both. I don’t know that there’s a way to make 7 months in a life more vivid in fewer words than these.

And yeah, liking the Beatles too much is exactly like liking your mother too much. From a major Beatles fan.

This review was written in notes.

[Claire Hopple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only Gauraa could make something this smart and innovative and relatable. I wish I could read a thousand more of her books.

[Aaron Aceves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gauraa was so, so talented. I wish the world had gotten so much more from her. But at least we have Notes. This book is effortlessly funny and sad and unique. If I could make everyone read one book this year it’d be this one.

[Shannon Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book more than five stars. I wish I could read more of Gauraa’s work. This book felt like a window into her brain, and it was such a pleasure to spot all of those little moves and references that first made me fall in love with her work before I ever got to know her in real life: her clever use of repetition, her pop culture references, how self-effacing and introspective she had the capacity to be. This book was made to be read by all of us and I’m gutted to be stopped in this threshold, eager for more from my friend, who I miss very much, and whose writing and presence will continue to be cherished and beloved by a fuckton of people.

[Nina Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this down. I could not help but immerse myself in Guarra Shekhar's world, that time period, and the beauty of NYC. I could feel where the edges of my youth, romance and naive hope abutted with her youth, missed connections and wisdom. I want to share this with my daughter, all my friends, and the wider world. I am better for having read this because it made me feel young again and reminded me to buy toilet paper.

[kate]

“i woke up with clenched fists today and instead of analyzing what that meant i was just like what if a character woke up with clenched fists what could that mean”

don’t want to rate because it’s imperfect but so unique there is just nothing to compare it to. it is such a loss that we will never get new work from gauraa.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small book made of little snippets that is enormous in heart and soul and ambition and wit. Not to be missed!