For our first episode of the year, we take a big ol’ swing at a modern classic. As we always say, there are always wrong answers in literary study, and we’re here to call ‘em out, one Vanity Fair quote at a time.

Talking Points: The exception to our Authorial Intent Is Boring rule, brain blossoming, wrapping ugliness in beauty, interpretation as a reflection of the reader, the effect of unreliable narrators, a (very) brief history of aestheticism, and, hey, maybe we should chill out on sexualizing pre-teens.