Lance Richardson
@lancerichardson.bsky.social
Writer. Australian/American. TRUE NATURE, my biography of Peter Matthiessen, out October 2025. Faculty in the Bennington MFA in Writing program. He/him. www.lancenrichardson.com
Pinned
50 notable works of nonfiction from 2025
The year’s best memoirs, biographies, history and more, as selected by the staff of The Washington Post’s Book World.
www.washingtonpost.com
"True Nature" on the Washington Post list of notable nonfiction books in 2025.
Reposted by Lance Richardson
I think Pecan Pie is one of those things that is divisive now because it’s just a blob of sugar with nuts on it but to someone 150 years ago who ate shoes it was probably like having 12 orgasms at once
November 25, 2025 at 10:54 PM
I think Pecan Pie is one of those things that is divisive now because it’s just a blob of sugar with nuts on it but to someone 150 years ago who ate shoes it was probably like having 12 orgasms at once
Reposting this for absolutely no reason this morning.
I will absolutely leverage my book's presence on any "best of 2025" round-up list, because it is tough to get attention in this culture and you do what you must — but I also think these lists are pretty much meaningless as measures of artistic quality.
November 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposting this for absolutely no reason this morning.
I will absolutely leverage my book's presence on any "best of 2025" round-up list, because it is tough to get attention in this culture and you do what you must — but I also think these lists are pretty much meaningless as measures of artistic quality.
November 24, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I will absolutely leverage my book's presence on any "best of 2025" round-up list, because it is tough to get attention in this culture and you do what you must — but I also think these lists are pretty much meaningless as measures of artistic quality.
Home from book tour, and an absolute husk. You will find me on my couch until 2026.
November 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Home from book tour, and an absolute husk. You will find me on my couch until 2026.
Agreed.
To say that I was elated a few days ago when I found out that a Peter Matthiessen biography (by Lance Richardson) had been published is selling it short. His Far Tortuga, which is phonetically and structurally challenging, is one of the finest novelistic achievements in American fiction.
November 23, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Agreed.
Reposted by Lance Richardson
To say that I was elated a few days ago when I found out that a Peter Matthiessen biography (by Lance Richardson) had been published is selling it short. His Far Tortuga, which is phonetically and structurally challenging, is one of the finest novelistic achievements in American fiction.
November 23, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Extraordinary essay. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
A Battle with My Blood
When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.
www.newyorker.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Extraordinary essay. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
This was a lot of fun.
I asked @lancerichardson.bsky.social some questions about his major new biography of Peter Matthiessen. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
An ‘accidental biographer’ on Peter Matthiessen
Lance Richardson talks about “True Nature,” his biography of an acclaimed, versatile and fascinating writer
www.washingtonpost.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
This was a lot of fun.
"Matthiessen’s many masks are on display in True Nature, a deeply researched and artfully executed biography. ... Mr. Richardson has drawn from an enormous range of sources ... to better understand a gifted, difficult man who, for all his adventures and good fortune, seemed resolutely dissatisfied."
‘True Nature’ Review: The Restless Peter Matthiessen
The writer of “The Snow Leopard” and “At Play in the Fields of the Lord” wrote of nature’s austere simplicity. The man himself was anything but simple.
www.wsj.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"Matthiessen’s many masks are on display in True Nature, a deeply researched and artfully executed biography. ... Mr. Richardson has drawn from an enormous range of sources ... to better understand a gifted, difficult man who, for all his adventures and good fortune, seemed resolutely dissatisfied."
"True Nature" on the Washington Post list of notable nonfiction books in 2025.
50 notable works of nonfiction from 2025
The year’s best memoirs, biographies, history and more, as selected by the staff of The Washington Post’s Book World.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:16 PM
"True Nature" on the Washington Post list of notable nonfiction books in 2025.
Fascinating essay on Pynchon, with who I am currently, if belatedly, obsessed, after having read Shadow Ticket a few months ago. (Currently 450 pages into Mason & Dixon, a book this turns out to be simultaneously hypnotic, profound, incomprehensible, and tedious.) www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Using the Night | Mark Iosifescu
Maybe you know the drill: metahistorical intrigue and antiauthoritarian politics; several deep benches’ worth of quirky characters toting loudly emblematic affectations and not-strictly-probable names...
www.nplusonemag.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Fascinating essay on Pynchon, with who I am currently, if belatedly, obsessed, after having read Shadow Ticket a few months ago. (Currently 450 pages into Mason & Dixon, a book this turns out to be simultaneously hypnotic, profound, incomprehensible, and tedious.) www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Reposted by Lance Richardson
"Franz Kafka once called his writing a form of prayer. He also reprimanded the long-suffering Felice Bauer in a letter: 'I did not say that writing ought to make everything clearer, but instead makes everything worse; what I said was that writing makes everything clearer and worse.'" —Joy Williams
November 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"Franz Kafka once called his writing a form of prayer. He also reprimanded the long-suffering Felice Bauer in a letter: 'I did not say that writing ought to make everything clearer, but instead makes everything worse; what I said was that writing makes everything clearer and worse.'" —Joy Williams
"things happen"
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 5:53 PM
"things happen"
Trump, the President of the United States, called a woman "piggy." That is where we are.
November 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Trump, the President of the United States, called a woman "piggy." That is where we are.
Reposted by Lance Richardson
"When an off-camera female reporter... began to ask if there was anything 'incriminating' in the Epstein emails, Trump pointed a finger in her face. 'Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,' he said menacingly."
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy'
Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files
people.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:37 AM
"When an off-camera female reporter... began to ask if there was anything 'incriminating' in the Epstein emails, Trump pointed a finger in her face. 'Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,' he said menacingly."
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
My reaction to the endless Nuzzi/Lizza saga is not disgust so much as exhausted resignation. Many of us work *so damn hard* as writers, maintaining scrupulous ethics, and yet *these* people are the ones who get all the breaks. I read Nuzzi’s extract, or Lizza’s Substack, and think: Why do we bother?
November 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
My reaction to the endless Nuzzi/Lizza saga is not disgust so much as exhausted resignation. Many of us work *so damn hard* as writers, maintaining scrupulous ethics, and yet *these* people are the ones who get all the breaks. I read Nuzzi’s extract, or Lizza’s Substack, and think: Why do we bother?
Reposted by Lance Richardson
I finished reading this book last week and I still find myself thinking about parts of it every day. It’s quite simply one of the best biographies I’ve ever read, about one of the most fascinating writers of the 20th century.
Hats off to @lancerichardson.bsky.social for this Herculean achievement.
Hats off to @lancerichardson.bsky.social for this Herculean achievement.
November 17, 2025 at 10:03 PM
I finished reading this book last week and I still find myself thinking about parts of it every day. It’s quite simply one of the best biographies I’ve ever read, about one of the most fascinating writers of the 20th century.
Hats off to @lancerichardson.bsky.social for this Herculean achievement.
Hats off to @lancerichardson.bsky.social for this Herculean achievement.
Reposted by Lance Richardson
Join Village Books for a talk with @lancerichardson.bsky.social on TRUE NATURE: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen! An evening of wild places, literary lives and stories that change you.
📍 Bellingham, WA
🗓 Nov 18 from 6pm to 7pm PST
🔗 RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/lance-rich...
📍 Bellingham, WA
🗓 Nov 18 from 6pm to 7pm PST
🔗 RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/lance-rich...
November 17, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Join Village Books for a talk with @lancerichardson.bsky.social on TRUE NATURE: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen! An evening of wild places, literary lives and stories that change you.
📍 Bellingham, WA
🗓 Nov 18 from 6pm to 7pm PST
🔗 RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/lance-rich...
📍 Bellingham, WA
🗓 Nov 18 from 6pm to 7pm PST
🔗 RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/lance-rich...
Deeply annoying to be misquoted in a New Yorker letters page letter, and then scolded based on the misquote. I never said that!
November 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Deeply annoying to be misquoted in a New Yorker letters page letter, and then scolded based on the misquote. I never said that!
Gosh. "A magnificent literary biography, painstakingly researched, intricately organized, and beautifully written, fully worthy of its sensitive, restless, and driven subject. ... It should be of interest to anyone drawn to the search for our true nature and the deepest truths of the human heart."
In Search of the Snow Leopard
A new biography traces the lifelong pilgrimage of the novelist and Zen teacher Peter Matthiessen.
tricycle.org
November 15, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Gosh. "A magnificent literary biography, painstakingly researched, intricately organized, and beautifully written, fully worthy of its sensitive, restless, and driven subject. ... It should be of interest to anyone drawn to the search for our true nature and the deepest truths of the human heart."
Excited to finally visit @pointreyesbooks.bsky.social for myself tomorrow; and I’ll be speaking about my book with Chris Jennings.
Lance Richardson & Chris Jennings | True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen
Welcome to our new website! We're excited to see you. *** RETURNING USERS WILL NEED TO RESET THEIR PASSWORD FOR THIS NEW SITE. CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD.***
ptreyesbooks.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Excited to finally visit @pointreyesbooks.bsky.social for myself tomorrow; and I’ll be speaking about my book with Chris Jennings.
A giant tidal wave could be rushing around the globe, destroying all life on earth, but if you put Robyn on I would feel like everything was fine for the duration of the song. This is wonderful.
Robyn - Dopamine (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Robyn
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 5:13 AM
A giant tidal wave could be rushing around the globe, destroying all life on earth, but if you put Robyn on I would feel like everything was fine for the duration of the song. This is wonderful.
"In True Nature, Lance Richardson offers vivid summaries of Matthiessen’s far-flung adventures. . . . [W]ell written, diligent in its reading of both fiction and nonfiction, and indulgent of Matthiessen’s idiosyncrasies."
Peter Matthiessen, novelist, naturalist, spy
Of the big-ego beasts who roamed the New York-centric literary world after the Second World War, Peter Matthiessen has remained the least conspicuous,
www.the-tls.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:19 AM
"In True Nature, Lance Richardson offers vivid summaries of Matthiessen’s far-flung adventures. . . . [W]ell written, diligent in its reading of both fiction and nonfiction, and indulgent of Matthiessen’s idiosyncrasies."
Denver food tips? Here for a night.
November 11, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Denver food tips? Here for a night.
What really happened with the CIA and the Paris Review? Had a long chat with Dan Piepenbring for the magazine.
What Really Happened with the CIA and The Paris Review?: A Conversation with Lance Richardson by Dan Piepenbring
November 11, 2025 – “In a funny way, it was really the fact that writing is far too solitudinous an activity that gave us The Paris Review. Along with the CIA, of course.”
www.theparisreview.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:49 PM
What really happened with the CIA and the Paris Review? Had a long chat with Dan Piepenbring for the magazine.