A strange, singular, funny American tale; an extremely cool gangster flick; and more

Roundup 07/30/2025

Greetings from Read Max HQ, and welcome to our weekly roundup column, in which I pick out some worthwhile and often overlooked books, articles, movies, and music to recommend to paying subscribers. For this week’s round-up, I’ve got:

• A singular, hilarious, tragic, and delightful tale of passion and conflict that’s reminiscent of Charles Portis and John Kennedy Toole;

• a new book about L.L.M.s and language I’ve been enjoying, plus essays and columns about A.I. and labor, data as explosives, and the endangered species of the White Male Novelist;

• an unbelievably cool Hong Kong gangster flick; and

• four tracks I’ve been loving.

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I love to hear from readers who want to recommend a cool book or movie (or whatever!) to me, or from readers who are looking for specific kinds of recommendations. Just leave a comment or drop me a line at maxread@gmail.com.

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Now, the roundup: