u/Competitive-Comb7373

Looking specifically for books I can read in one sitting to take the edge off a tightly packed schedule. For reference, lately, I've enjoyed Annie Ernaux's Exteriors and the Years, both of which I read fairly quickly and enjoyed thoroughly. I also finished Louise Gluck's Theories and Proofs this month which may be my favorite theory book for theory resistant people like myself. Anything in the vein of these is welcome. No Lacan please. It's a lot to ask for a book to be seamless but some are bumpier than others, and I don't have the mental bandwidth right now to wrestle with that kind.

What does a writing portfolio entail really? I've been working on a longer project + maybe some shorter excerpts from stories I've written, I realize there's no right combination really but what makes a portfolio tick aka what mix of completed/excerpted work, does it help at all to be consistent stylistically? This matters less to me since most of my work has a pretty uniform throughline but still interested in hearing other perspectives.

Also, do prior publications matter as far as the overall strength of your application (I realize the process can be quite arbitrary but I'm looking for some thoughts from people who have gotten into selective or not-so-selective writing programs). I'm based outside the US to clarify, don't have much experience with the US admissions pipeline. Any thoughts appreciated.