Melissa Unger

Melissa Unger

Creative Director

Melissa Unger is the Founder & Creative Director of Seymour Projects. She is also a writer. Her first novel GAG was published in 2014.

The Year of Magical Thinking

Joan Didion
Stunning candor and piercing details. The "Year of Magical Thinking" is an indelible portrait of loss and grief, based in New York City.

This book focuses on a rather privileged and specific literary class that has inhabited New York City for ages. It is an elegant exploration of what happens when people who are very used to only thinking are faced with having to feel. It also reminds us that no one is immune to unexpected tragedies, to pain, to loss. It’s a masterpiece if you’re interested in watching the brain attempt to translate the heart.

Melissa Unger

Less Than Zero

Bret Easton Ellis
Set in Los Angeles in the early 1980's, Less than Zero has become a timeless classic. This coolly mesmerizing novel is a raw, powerful portrait of a lost generation who have experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age.

This is the quintessential book about the wild life in LA in the 80’s. Set in the savage vacuousness of this decadent era, it’s a snapshot of a time I remember very well, but don’t necessarily want to relive... this novel is all the time travel I need.

Melissa Unger

Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin
David meets the bartender Giovanni in Paris. As his fiance travels through Spain, he suddenly finds himself in Giovanni's apartment, confronted with his repressed homosexuality.

1950’s Paris a young man explores his sexuality while torn between desire and conventional morality. The book navigates the social isolation, self-loathing and confusion that many on the fringes of society can feel. But really all you need to know is that it was crafted by the magnificently brilliant Baldwin; each page is a miracle of writing.

Melissa Unger

Damage

Josephine Hart
Reading the story of mutual obsession is like being kidnapped. Josephine Hart has created a portrait of psychological and erotic obsessions that is so compelling that it sucks all the oxygen out of the air.

The story of a solid British PM who gives into his primal desires. I love books that show the underside of slick, constructed facades. This one is very particular to a certain circle in London. We watch what happens when the passionate nature that effectively drove one man to success, is now his undoing. 

Melissa Unger

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