The Dreaded Word | Jesse Relkin | Substack

Basic Bitch Update + New Excerpt

Substack-only sneak peek

Nov 13, 2025 • Jesse Relkin

Confessions of the Prettiest Boy in the NYC Underground

Duncan Hannah's 1970s diaries chart the glamorous yet sordid world of Downtown’s golden age

Aug 21, 2025 • Jesse Relkin

Can a Dimes Square Edgelord Write Real Literature?

Peter Vack’s Sillyboy might be the most ironically sincere book to come out of NYC's most polarizing scene, and it’s not as silly as you’d think

Aug 8, 2025 • Jesse Relkin

The Vibe Writing of Brittany Menjivar's Parasocialite

Dream logic, suburban mundanity, and the post-identity poetics of Gen Z

Jul 2, 2025 • Jesse Relkin

How Social Media Is Killing the Essay - Pt. 2

The 5 Deadly Sins of Millennial Essays (Sin #1: Virtue Signaling)

May 31, 2025 • Jesse Relkin

A Review of Outline or an Outline of a Review?

A vacation reading rec from the vacation-bound

Apr 30, 2025 • Jesse Relkin

How Social Media Is Killing the Essay - Pt. 1

The millennial essay and the compulsion to brand onself

Mar 7, 2025 • Jesse Relkin

The Dreaded Word

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