Books
The author ofTackywaxes poetic on the lowest of the lowbrow.
ReadingRax Kings writingfeels like eating fettuccine alfredo at The Cheesecake Factory.
Guzzling down the cream-coated 00s mall nostalgia, you cant help but smile between bites.
It legitimately is a miracle, King tells Bustle of The Cheesecake Factory.
Delicious chain restaurants, Hot Topic,The Sims:Tackyexplores all manner of things deemed lowbrow.
King started working onTackyin earnest after her 2019 essay,Love, Peace and Taco Grease,went viral.
The response from readers was overwhelming, which both delighted King and totally freaked her out.
This time around, shes ready for whats coming her way.
Tear me apart, I dont give a f*ck.
She hopes others particularly those who might be self-conscious about their tacky taste can find a similar peace.
People should just relax.
How would you define the word tacky?
Anything likable or magnetic that you feel you should be embarrassed to like.
Thats a big throughline for the collection.
We can decide what they mean to us.
Your essay Love, Peace, and Taco Grease really took off online when it was published in 2019.
How did it feel to have such a personal piece be circulated so widely?
On the one hand, I was very happy.
You never expect a piece like that to get so much attention.
Was becoming a writer always the goal for you?
Who were the writers that inspired you as you were coming up?
What did the process of writingTackylook like?
I mean, to be honest, Im pretty much useless after about 3 oclock.
If Im gonna work, its got to be in the morning.
I dont work hard!
Its not hard, this is not hard, we do not work that hard.
Are there any obsessions or drafts you had that didnt make it into the final collection?
Well, Ill keep an eye out for the Billy Joel essay.
Someone has to let me write about Billy Joel.
Someone will discover [this] and let me write it.
Just relax [laughs].
It just doesnt matter.
My example is I cannot f*ck with Marvel movies.
So much ofTackyrelies on these very sensory memories, like smelling Bath and Body Works perfume.
Are you a nostalgic person by nature?
You know, it’s interesting.
I actually have a really bad memory.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
