“It’s helpful to have a thing that only exists in your imagination, as long as you are aware that that’s what it is. It’s only when you try to drag it into reality that it goes to a weird place.” –Jessa Crispin

Jessa Crispin (@thebookslut) is an author, book critic, former editor-in-chief of the pioneering literary blog Bookslut, and current host of the podcast Public Intellectual. Her books include The Dead Ladies Project: Exiles, Expats, and Ex-Countries and The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with Jessa on all things Keanu Reeves. Through this lens, they explore high school, and how ones world is forever contextualized by that experience (16:30); hooking up with celebrities in the social media age (29:40); adolescent crushes and idealized love (34:30); and personal obsessions (43:10).

For more information on Jessa Crispin, visit her website, www.jessacrispin.com.

Links of note:

Notable People Mentioned:

Cosima Wagner (wife of Richard Wagner)
William James (philosopher)
David Fincher (director)
Paul Verhoeven (director)
David Wojnarowicz (queer painter and writer)
Paul Monette (queer author and poet)
Cary Grant (actor)
Tori Amos (singer-songwriter)
Nina Hoss (German actress)

Notable Films Mentioned:

Bookslut Jessa Crispin on Keanu Reeves and the joys of celebrity fixation

Deviate

Bookslut Jessa Crispin on Keanu Reeves and the joys of celebrity fixation