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Last year, the New York Times published a list of what its critics deemed the best books of the 21st century. (So far.) Offices and book clubs across the country chattered about which books made it and which got snubbed, which were ranked higher and lower than deserved. But the most discussion was reserved for the winner of the No. 1 spot: Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend.
Valerie is Ideas Editor at The Dispatch, based in New York City. Prior to joining the company in 2025, she worked at The New York Times and NewsGuard Technologies, and she is currently a Novak Fellow through The Fund for American Studies. When Valerie isn’t commissioning and editing the next big essay for The Dispatch, she is probably people-watching in a funky cafe or scheming up her next oddly-themed party.
