Bad news for you there, plastics and pesticides are so prevalent in our environment they're finding microplastics in the deepest ocean trenches and PCBS and DDT in the breastmilk of Inuit women who have never been south of the Arctic Circle. Human exposure to these things is inevitable.

Totally agree with the non-sequitur thing. I felt like I could open any one of his books and read pages at random and get the exact same experience as having read through the book in order. It did not keep me very engaged. I had him recommended to me due to my undying love of Terry Pratchett and it was just so... meh in comparison.

Vague threats to not go downstairs alone, fucking nothing about making sure the door is shut.

Even just a few decades ago. The neighbourhood I lived in in New York was my partner's rent controlled lower east side apartment that he'd be living in since the early 90's. He said when he moved in, there were regularly addicts nodding out in the stairwell, the elevator never worked, and the neighbourhood was not somewhere he would allow me to walk alone. It's two blocks from the projects. Apparently lots of casual, violent crime.

When I moved in in the mid 2010's the block was a brunch destination and the apartment across the street was full of bougie yuppies and college kids.