A few semi-salient thoughts every now and then about
reading, writing, books, and all things bookish.
2015-2018
The Morgan Museum and Library at 36th and Madison, NYC. Nearly my favorite place in the world.
Monday, December 24, 2018
Golly.
Shopping is done, and the decorations have been up long enough to actually need a bit of dusting.
Mary Poppins has returned and then lifted off yet again. Rosemary Clooney has sung about chestnuts roasting on an open fire 572 times on my lovely old Cambridge Soundworks computer speakers. And tomorrow’s the big day.
But tonight it’s time for a serving or two of Quiche Lorraine, a few blueberries, a bite or two of Haagen Dazs, and several sips of eggnog, which I always thought was two words but which Siri informs me is one.
Finally, I’ll have to decide whether or not to read Middlemarch by George Eliot, aka Mary Anne Evans. Middlemarch was recommended by James Mustich in his 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die.
Much to consider as 2019 comes knocking at the door.
Til next time.
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Sunday, December 16, 2018
To suddenly have the chance to get caught up with four of Michael Silverblatt’s interviews is indeed the main ingredients for a perfectly sunny Sunday afternoon.
KCRW…the place to reside.
A close second to a perfectly sunny Sunday afternoon with Michael et al. is the final episode of season 2 with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Ta da!
Til next time.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2018
In anticipation of the new Mary Poppins movie, I’m reading the book by P. L. Travers. I don't believe I've ever actually read it.
I also just rewatched the Mary Poppins Disney movie from 1964. Quite an animated marvel.
Also might rewatch the 2013 Saving Mr. Banks with Emma Thompson although with the newest issue of holiday books from TNYTBR, I might be pressed for time.
And 2019 is just around the corner.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Ah.
Finally.
Got it.
Google is not a knowledge base. It is an advertising base. Google’s purpose is to attract advertisers whose goal is to sell stuff.
Where then does one access a knowledge base in order to…you know…access knowledge?
An encyclopedia.
A dictionary.
A public library.
Yep. That simple.
Google is free. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, public libraries…are not.
Footnote. This clarification is thanks to Kai Ryssdal and guest on marketplace.org. End of Footnote.
Til next time.
Then and now. Different but same.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
And below is a not-quite-true story.
Santa took a moment to listen to what was on my Christmas list.
Just one thing.
A classic six-on-the-park.
He shook his head, caught himself, and smiled somewhat sadly.
So…although I’m not quite sure what a classic six-on-the-park actually is, I remain optimistic.
Footnote. A classic six-on-the-park is lifted/stolen/repurposed from the recent movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? and seems to actually appear in the world of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. End of Footnote.
Til next time.
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Saturday, December 8, 2018
Gosh. So much to think about. The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester. There are so many perfect details in this book that I feel like I should take a quiz at the end of each chapter page to see if I’ve actually absorbed anything long-lasting or even short-lasting for that matter.
I fear I would not score well.
The gist of the book is this. The industrial revolution began in earnest because a few inventors/creators/visionaries developed the knack for learning how to create perfect machines that created perfect machines that created perfect interchangeable parts for items that included everything from looms to cotton gins to locks, stocks, and barrels.
And of course there was pushback from Luddites led by Ned Ludd who feared that all those machines would take over much-needed jobs. Prescient? Possibly.
Nevertheless, Ned and his followers quickly fell by the wayside as progress marched on and over…everything in sight.
Simon Winchester is a master at researching common but routinely overlooked details and then connecting those details to big-picture ideas. He’s done this in his books for decades and is seemingly unstoppable. Good for us. Good for him.
Footnote. I’m going to have to revisit his rather lengthy explanation of the difference between precision and accuracy that he included at the beginning of this book and that I, unfortunately, sort of glossed over. This rereading is necessary since these two words play a pivotal role in understanding all of the examples and explanations in the rest of his book. End of Footnote.
Speaking of perfectionism, precision, and accuracy…how about this iPad!!! Wow.
Til next time.
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Thursday, December 6, 2018
It’s so nice to have a recommended set of best books from 2018 photographed below by Stephen Doyle of the NYTimes.
It’s also nice to revisit my own favorite twelve from recent years.
This leaves lots to read.
And finally, I’m wondering if someone should write a novel titled, Twelve Shades of Pink in a Baby-Blue Plymouth.
Footnote. The pink/blue idea was repurposed/lifted/stolen from a couple of scenes from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which is totally great. Alex Borstein still steals every scene. I assume and hope she knows this. End of Footnote.
Til next time.
Photo by Stephen Doyle of the NYTimes.
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Thursday, November 29, 2018
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Saw it again yesterday. And I may see it again tomorrow. Or I may just read the book. Yes. I bought the book. From a legitimate bookstore. Barnes and Noble. Yea.
AND I found my membership card. AND I used it. And I got a discount. AND I now get a free cookie when I buy one cookie the next time I’m in B&N which will be soon because I really like cookies books. They’re such a great establishment. And they’ve made all the sacrifices required to stay in business against you-know-who.
And BTW.
I’m sitting here waiting on a package to be delivered from you-know-who.
What’s up with that? Delays. Strikes. Bad press. Stock market troubles. Hmm.
But back to the movie. I love the whole thing. The acting. The actors. The story. The filming. The strife. The trouble. The almost happy ending. It’s all there. If I don’t see it again, I’ll buy the DVD. Even if I do see it again, I’ll buy the DVD. And I’ll probably stream it, too.
Nothing succeeds like excess.
What else? Almost finished with The Library Book. In addition to the loss of a great library due to arson, Susan Orlean inadvertently highlights the lack of proper treatment for mental illness, because clearly, mental illness is a character in this saga of a story. Another related thought is that one person (mentally ill or not) can cause unspeakable, unrecoverable, and permanent harm to others. But of course, conversely, one person can achieve lots of goodness, repair, and long-lasting contribution as well (e.g. Jimmy Carter).
Aside from all that, this is a really great book. It’s a nonfiction book that reads like a story chock full of tangents, info, and credibly researched side bars and insights. Love it. Even the bright red, textured cover is a perfectly chosen delight.
One more thing. I have an old, old, old MacBook, which I love. It wasn’t working correctly so I reinstalled the operating disks, and now I’ve erased everything on the hard drive, and it’s all permanently gone. Why? Why? Why? Because. I didn’t realize it would all be erased, and I didn’t back anything up. Drats.
Hey there…you-know-who…any time now…would be good.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Lately, every time there’s a musical loop playing in my head, it’s always one of two things:
1. Phillipa Soo singing from Hamilton.
or
2. Vince Guaraldi playing from his Greatest Hits.
What does this mean? Not sure that it actually means anything.
Footnote. It’s time for a milky coffee. End of Footnote.
Til next time.
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Monday, November 26, 2019 oops 2018
I’m well into The Library Book by Susan Orlean. There’s almost too much focus on the burning of books, but then again, that’s what the book is about. Books and the culture they represent are a wartime loss starting with the burning of the library of Alexandria in Egypt to book burnings in Berlin and eventually to the burning of the LA Public Library where Susan's book begins and ends. It's all too much. But I’ll soldier on. And one of the interesting things that Susan documents is the extent to which public libraries serve the homeless. In presenting her data, she gives the federal definition of being without a home: a homeless person is a person without a “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.”
A sobering thought that deserves to be considered.
Another book-related media event is the movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? with Melissa McCarthy. It was great. I’m going to go see it again. The books, the street, the economy, the culture, the struggle, the desperation, the talent, the potential…it’s all there.
Done for the day.
Til next time.
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Friday, November 23, 2018
Ah.
Back to normal.
Til next time.
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Thursday, November 22, 2018
The silver spoon of high cuisine.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, November 21, 2018
For some possibly bad reason, I felt I needed to read The Quiet American by Graham Greene.
So…….I’m reading it.
But it’s too much. And the real reason to make note of this is that I hate to not finish a book. But in this case, I think I’ll quietly move on to the next book which reviewers have called mesmerizing.
The title?
The Library Book by Susan Orlean.
What better way to transition from troubling to mesmerizing than through a library book…THE Library Book.
Plus, I just finished There There: A novel by Tommy Orange. Tommy is everywhere. Interviewing. Reviewing. Presenting. Talking. Writing. Appearing. And all with truth and sincereity.
His book is a disturbingly accurate rendition of modern day life for Native Americans and is one of those great books that documents reality via fiction.
Between March, There There, and The Quiet American, it’s time for a lighter load, which also makes it doubly time for a totally excessive snack and a nod to Jimmy Stewart.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
The Darkest Hour with Gary Oldman
followed by
Dunkirk
They are a notable combination of movies made independently of each other, but they capture the desperation and incomprehensibility of war and specifically WWII.
And then for some reason, I’ve recently finished March, Lincoln in the Bardo, and now am into The Quiet American. After these, I will be finished with this genre for a while and am looking forward to less mayhem and more humanity…maybe something from my favorite writer of all time, Simon Winchester.
He was at the Miami Book Fair this weekend and was his usual scholarly, engaging, witty, wise, entertaining, and energetic self. No war in sight. He’s our guy. I’ll start with The Meaning of Everything and move right on in to his latest, The Perfectionists.
Also. Just think.
Christmas with Robert Sabuda and Zabar’s.
Can’t wait.
Til next time.
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Monday, November 19, 2018
The Miami Book Fair was broadcast live all weekend on BookTV. Unforgettable…with the most inspiring and salient presentation being made by John Kerry. It’s easy to imagine what the world could be if we had more John Kerrys. His knowledge of policy, diplomacy, geography, history, global connectivity, and the urgency of all those intersections is the best of the best.
And then the NY Times had a special section explaining their collection of millions of photographs that have been collected and stored and are now being digitized. These photographs have documented our nation for the last hundred years or so.
One photo was of Cesar Chavez and Coretta King. They were SO young. And so profoundly brave…not to mention the epitome of focused energy and unwavering commitment.
Til next time.
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Saturday, November 17, 2018
Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend.
Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.
Thanks, Groucho.
But let's not forget about film.
Patriot
Totally great.
All the characters are several shades just this side of normal so that buying the freedom of a young Romanian accordion player in Paris seems perfectly plausible to them, especially when the mother of the group is the US Secretary of Transportation played by Debra Winger who, by the way, steals every single scene she’s in.
And then let's not forget the main character, John Lakeman, who has been flawlessly created and executed.
Finished both seasons. Not gonna rewatch. It’s not that kind of series.
It’s art…which sort of seems like it should be rewatchable like a Renoir or a Matisse is rewatchable, but no. Not this series.
It was all about what comes next…and now I know.
Til next time.
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Friday, November 16, 2018
Wow. It was the best explanation I've heard on the misappropriation of tax dollars used to benefit Amazon's two new headquarters in Queens and Virginia. The speaker was Nancy Maclean, an historian from Duke.
She explained that the 200+ cities that vied for the headquarters were basically used as leverage by Amazon to drive up the concessions made by NYC and Northern Virginia for tax breaks, tax incentives, and cheap warehouses. These tax issues will come at the expense of reduced funding for education, infrastructure, and city health clinics. Plus, housing will sky rocket even more than it is now.
A low blow for transparency and generosity in commerce. Bill Maher thought Tulsa, Oklahoma would have made a splendid second headquarters:
smart people, strong work ethic, major universities, excellent health-care facilities...on and on.
Til next time.
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Monday, November 12, 2018
Today it’s back to March by Geraldine Brooks. I’m three-quarters finished and am enthralled with the genre of historical fiction. This particular book posits what life was like for the father of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy from Little Women during the time of the Civil War.
Geraldine includes all the savagery, brutality, violence, and desperation of all involved in this war and also includes the heroism of the brave, the pacifists, the enslaved, and the dying. The hardest part of this book is thinking of the typical Civil War soldier of 16 or 18 years of age fighting and dying without ever actually becoming fully aware.
Reading March coupled with the incomparable Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders is a profoundly sobering literary experience.
November 12, 2018…Veteran’s Day.
Til next time.
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Sunday, November 11, 2018
Wow. BookTV. James McBride and John Grisham.
What a GREAT interview. Two guys. Two writers. Talkin’ it out. A totally great interview.
And then there was the incomparable Joseph Ellis. His new book is about America, and he was interviewed about what’s gonna have to happen if this country, this democracy, and this planet are to survive. He was compelling.
When asked why he seemed optimistic, he quoted Tocqueville who said, “I am full of apprehension and hope.”
And at the end, when Professor Ellis was asked why he personally seemed optimistic, he said, “Because I think you want to hear it.” Oh dear.
Finally. Michael Lewis points out in his new book that there are three federal agencies in peril:
Agriculture
Commerce
Energy
Let’s get busy.
Til next time.
Coffee? Yes, please.
Saturday, November 10, 2018
The September 16, 2018 issue of The NY Times has a totally splendid collection of new movies, art, shows, plays, and music. The reporters did a great job of highlighting everything that art is offering.
Page after page of good stuff.
I’m just now finishing reading it all. It was a massive amount of happenings, and that of course is a good thing for humanity.
Included in all this info was a really good interview with Cher. She was so upbeat about her past but mostly enthused and focused on her future. She has 3.5 million twitter followers. That’s a bunch. She said her two favorite albums are Believe and also Closer to the Truth. And guess what? They’re both on Amazon Prime.
Also, included in all this was a full page ad for Barbara Streisand’s new album.
What else? Michael Lewis recently reviewed The Library Book by Susan Orlean. This book is everywhere getting rave reviews. I know it’s good. I’m gonna get it as well as the new Streisand album.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Sometimes he’s Vladimir. Sometimes she’s Francine.
Today? And for the foreseeable future?
She’s happy to be Little Debbie.
Til next time.
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Monday, October 29, 2018
It’s both luck and effort but mostly luck that I can listen to an interview with Susan Orlean and Michael Silverblatt and then read Susan’s By the Book interview in the same week. But whether it’s luck or effort, it’s all a very profound gift.
Susan wrote The Orchid Thief that Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper transformed into a film titled Adaptation in 2002. And now Susan’s written The Library Book published by Simon and Schuster.
Footnote. Carly Simon’s father, Richard Simon founded Simon and Schuster with Max Schuster in 1924. End of footnote.
Also in the By the Book interview, Susan mentioned that Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy about the first world war changed her life. She also mentioned Kate Atkinson as one of those who can-do-no-wrong writers.
Michael Lewis has published one of his best books ever titled The Fifth Risk.
Deborah Eisenberg has published a new set of stories titled Your Duck is My Duck.
Shane Bauer has published a book after publishing a shorter version in Mother Jones. His book is American Prison.
All these and more were in The Times and on BookTV recently. Lucky to have caught them all.
And speaking of luck, an essayist named Kevin Mims postulates that it’s very okay to own books you haven’t read…yet…or ever. There will always be too many books. A totally good problem to have…as they say.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, October 24, 2018
My favorite character in My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh was the psychiatrist who had to be totally fun to write. But wow. The drugs, the lethargy, the sleep, the isolation, the despair. The book REQUIRED an odd and possibly incompetent psychiatrist to lighten the load.
Also today I started thinking about Steven Pinker’s bookshelves as shown in 2008 on BookTV and on an episode of HGTV way, way back when. But more important than his bookshelves are his work ethic and his intellectual curiosity. I like what he has to say and how he says it.
Which brings me to his 2014 By the Book interview in the NYTBR wherein he said if given the opportunity to have dinner with five people he would choose Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Mary Shelley, Charles Darwin, and William James.
Me? I would have five dinners with just me and Roz Chast.
Five dinners. I wonder what we’d eat. I think one dinner of my homemade spaghetti and meatballs for sure and then possibly the other four dinners at Ruth's Chris Steak House. Too perfect. Or better yet now that I think of it, Nick's Pizza at 1814 2nd, NYC would be the ultimate.
Finally, I watched three cartoonists at The New Yorker on BookTV this past Sunday as they presented their work at the Readers and Writers Festival in Milford, PA last month. One cartoonist was Bob Eckstein. He mentioned that he had published a set of 100 postcards depicting watercolors of 50 different bookstores. Amazon. Boom. Delivered. Lovely. I ordered two whole sets. One set to share. One to keep.
Footnote. The irony of purchasing postcards with pictures of independent bookstores from Amazon, a company which has essentially put all bookstores at risk of bankruptcy, is sadly noted. End of footnote.
Til next time.
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Monday, October 22, 2018
At times, good news comes from odd places, which leads to The Good Place.
Quoting Chidi from The Good Place as he explains philosophical choices starting with Aristotle’s virtues:
“Over the last 2,500 years, Western philosophers have formed three main theories about how to live an ethical life,” he explains.
“There’s Virtue Ethics, the theory that there are certain virtues of mind and character like courage and generosity, and you should follow those virtues.
There’s Consequentialism, which focuses on the consequences of your actions, and how much utility (good) versus pain (bad) it causes.
And there’s Deontology, which argues there are strict rules and duties everyone should adhere to in a functional society.”
Me again.
It’s so nice to have life’s questions and answers revealed on a thirty-minute TV show. This saves one from having to actually read Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Kant, Kierkegaard, Hegel, Hume, Russell, Descartes, Locke, Nietzsche, and even Foucault while not forgetting Sontag and Chomsky.
And even better than The Good Place and Wikipedia is The Encyclopedia Britannica, which sadly is no longer published but which is still available
Sunday afternoon at the movies featuring musicals from the 60s.
Starting with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.
Til next time.
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Saturday, October 20, 2018
For whatever reason, today I started thinking about Dick Estell.
I listened to him read books on NPR way back during a time when simplicity reigned supreme.
He didn’t do funny voices.
He didn’t strike dramatic poses.
He didn’t add his own interpretations of the text.
He just read aloud. On the radio. Thirty minutes a day. Quite a thing.
What else? Fred Newman, Rich Dworsky, and Tim Russell are no longer on livefromhere.org.
Evidently they were fired. That’s a shame and not good for the show. Even incredible mandolin talent can’t transcend team loyalty. Very sad and very unlike the value system of NPR although Bob Edwards would disagree now that I think about it.
And below is Dick Estell reading from Lincoln by David Herbert Donald.
Til next time.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Today on marketplace, Julie Wainright and Kai Rysdaal explored the buying and selling and buying of high-end luxury goods on realreal.com.
I went. I explored. I earned a $25 credit.
What was I looking for? A giraffe. Yes. I have the ideal spot.
And I was hoping that the perfect 74" Pier 1 giraffe that sold for $129.95 retail would be considered high-end enough that it might be available on realreal.com for considerably less than the original price that a high-end shopper had once paid for it but for whom the joy of the purchase was no longer felt.
But alas. No.
No Pier 1 giraffe on realreal.com. Too low-brow I suppose. Still. It suits me.
And yes. I could pay full price for the thing. But. Who does that anymore?
Or to get totally a good deal, I could continue to look down and find coins on the ground like today when I looked down and found two dimes. And because I’ve been doing this…looking down for coins…for a couple of years now, I’m up to eight dollars and fifty-seven cents. And yes. That’s counting the two dimes from today.
Won’t be long till the giraffe is mine.
Til next time.
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Monday, October 15, 2018
My old friend Francine dropped by to ask if it was true that David Graeber said “capitalism is paying people for less than they produce.”
Yes, sadly Francine. That’s what David said. I heard him say it. BookTV.
And even more sadly? I should have paid way more attention to my college economics professor. What was I thinking?
Til next time.
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Sunday, October 14, 2018
Catching up on must-reads, should-reads, and want-to-reads can be exhausting if not for…
It’s just lovely to have time to connect with what’s going on. And after just a bit of quiche and raisin nut toast with marmalade AND butter, four things captured my heart. Too corny? That may well be, and yet tis true.
1. Patti LuPone is in London in a new rendition of Company with an updated message and with the blessing of Stephen Sondheim.
2. Yo Yo Ma is making the world a better place one note at a time.
3. Joan Jett has never looked back.
4. Anthony Hopkins is King Lear and advises actors to “get on with it.”
And to all the Cordelias…nothing comes from nothing.
5. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work is being shown, and Maya Angelou made his work accessible.
6. Deborah Eisenberg is featured with only a little bit of Wallace Shawn in the background even though he’s lovely and they are together even lovelier.
7. There was a review of Book Six that compared Knausgaard’s work to the TV show Suits. Since I’ve finished all six books and will appreciate them pretty much forever, I won’t be reading this review that compares literature to TV.
Good ness.
Also, throughout all six books, there was an awful lot of the eating of muesli, which I don’t even know about but which sounds dreadful…in any language.
8. I found a really cute photo of Sondheim wearing his Sunday in the Park with George t-shirt.
Okay.
That’s more than four things.
That’s what coffee does. It heightens numbers and makes all things better. And I’m hoping that includes Colette with Keira Knightley. I’m bettin’ so. I’m hopin’ so.
Til next time.
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Thursday, October 11, 2018
Again? Down?
Oh dear. Then again.
Dow. Schmow.
What is actually unthinkable is a life without books.
My new book. It came. Finally. At last.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Karl Ove Knausgaard. Although he’s credentialed in neither history nor psychiatry, he makes a fearless analysis of the societal and economic conditions in Europe that led to WWII.
And although leaving historical analysis to people like Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jill Lepore is normally the best route to take, a well-read essayist and fiction writer like Karl Ove provides a much-needed perspective.
Book Six is not what I expected. It has a much broader goal. It is sobering, disconcerting, truthful, instructive, and not the time to look away.
I do think the book Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi would be instructive for Karl Ove. At least it was for me, and it appears as though he has not had the good fortune to read it (not that he is under-read by any means, but still, it would be a good fit for him).
Good books and good writers all around. And someday, when the world makes sense, we can all travel more freely.
And finally. Dow. Down? 800 points? Really? Actually 831. Best not to look.
Til next time.
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Sunday, October 7, 2018
BookTV…Live…Three Hours…Geraldine Brooks.
Totally great.
Seems like raising alpacas might be a worthwhile pursuit along with living on Martha’s Vineyard or using the Widener Library at Harvard via three different routes.
And now going back in time one week to September 30, I’m reading a book review written by Geraldine as she gives a thumbs down to Pat Barker’s new book The Silence of the Girls.
I have a very mixed reaction to this. On the one hand, books should receive a review by a knowledgeable reviewer.
On the other hand, giving a thumbs down to a book written in earnest by a talented writer seems unduly harsh. The reality is that an established writer has spent a year writing a book, an editor has edited the book, a proofreader has proofed the book, and a publisher has published the book.
One bad reviewer can negate all that effort exponentially.
Seems quite unfair. Especially when the book tells the story of a Greek tragedy.
And the flip slide of this particular tragedy is that 42 out of 49 people on Amazon gave the book either a four-star or a five-star rating.
Who to trust. Whom to trust. That’s the question.
And finally, speaking of Greece.
The BBC/PBS broadcast of The Durrells in Corfu is GREAT. It’s much better this third season. And the little boy, Milo Parker, also played the part of Roger Munro with Ian McKellen and Laura Linney in Mr. Holmes.
Won der ful.
There will even be a fourth season.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Just today I was thinking how handy it would be to own my own copy of the OED for my study. And even though it’s online and partly free and mostly available in libraries here and there, having my own copy just feels right somehow.
But alas, the print is so small, the tome is so large, and besides, where would I even put such a book. So instead, I’ll buy a copy of Simon Winchester’s The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. It arrives Wednesday.
Also.
There sure are a lot of Leonards.
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Kravitz
Leonard Bruce
Leonard Nimoy
Leonardo
Leonardo DiCaprio
And finally.
Maybe it’s a sophisticated ruse, but you listen to Kai Ryssdal interviewing Jamie Diamond Dimon on marketplace.org, and you have to breathe a sigh of relief. At least I do. Plus, you gotta like a guy who can casually include in the conversation the phrase “sine qua non” and have it make sense.
So now that we understand the banking system and its relationship to promoting and sustaining a modern global society, that leaves us with the opportunity to devote our attention to the following:
universal health care
a sustainable wage
a tolerable/decent/pleasant/productive work environment
public education funded at the same level as an elite private education
public libraries open 10-10/365
mass transit free and clean for every village, co-op, town, and city in the USA
two-year national service required for all 18-year-olds
educational savings accounts for all newborns
automatic registration to vote upon issuance of all drivers licenses
zero carbon emissions for all industries, corporations, and households
plenty of parks and old-growth forests
slow food
fast food
lights out at ten
fresh eggs for breakfast
butter on everything
yes, please
Til next time.
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Monday, October 1, 2018
Leaders should be well read, intellectually curious, and deep-thinking people. Neil de Grasse Tyson was on Bill Maher this past week. He is such a person.
Sam Tanenhaus was reviewing Russian writers recently in an essay in the NYTBR (September 16, 2018) and included an explanatory sentence about the concept of postmodern writing techniques: wordplay, stories constructed like puzzles, layers of allusion, tricks of misdirection. Good information to have at hand. Thanks, Sam.
And thanks also for the thoughts on Ayn Rand, Boris Pasternak, and Vladimir Nabokov.
You’re all caught up, there’s a log crackling on the fire, and k. d. lang is happily singing in the background from Recollection. This all makes it a good day, and that’s not even counting the standing ovation Associate Justice Sotomayor received last month at the LOC National Book Festival.
And so it begins. A brand new month.
Til next time.
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Sunday, September 30, 2018
Obviously, there’s a huge difference between Benjamin Britten and Bertolt Brecht and yet every time I hear the music in the film Moonrise Kingdom, I think of the name Bertolt Brecht rather than Benjamin Britten. Very odd. So…
Benjamin Britten…Composer…England…1913-1976 (age 63)
I’m writing it down here so that once and for all, I’ll remember the details.
And speaking of things to remember…Alex Borstein. She steals EVERY scene in Mrs. Maisel. She is so good that I’m rewatching Season One in anticipation of starting Season Two.
Finally, Book Six is going strong. So far, Karl Ove has given many baths, made many trips to the nursery, and talked to his wife many times on the phone. But mostly in the first quarter of the book, he’s laying the groundwork for the legal arguments for using his life as the basis for his own autobiography…as if he could use any one else’s life for his own self-written story. Sorry, Uncle Gunnar.
Til next time.
Aaay!!
Friday, September 21, 2018
I don’t know how you say it in Norwegian, but Shazam!
With Amazon speed, accuracy, and efficiency, my new book arrived.
All one thousand, one hundred and fifty-two pages.
My Struggle, Book 6 by Karl Ove Knausgaard.
Busy hours ahead. Normal service will resume later…
much later…possibly into 2019.
Til next time.
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Thursday, September 20, 2018
Books. The NYTBR featured a few new books for children on the subject of immigration and naturalization. Reading about those books actually reminded me of one of my favorite books of all time.
It’s The Arrival by Shaun Tan. I first came across this book in the NYPL on 52nd when they were having a showing of original art from picture books for children. It was wonderful, and why I didn’t take a photo of it or any of the artwork is beyond comprehension. Never the less, I have three copies of the book and revisit it every now and then as a reminder of what symbols, stories, and artistic talent can do for the spirit.
Shaun Tan.
Speaking of lost luggage and increased baggage rates as reported on marketplace.org…
I’m still missing my really nice Travelpro suitcase. When lost? November, 2015.
Yes.
Sadly. I’m still holding on to the unlikely dream that someone somewhere will find my luggage and return it to me.
United? EWR? Anyone? Anyone?
Anything else?
Arriving tomorrow via Amazon and the USPS is my copy of Book Six of
My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard. I think the NYT gave it a warm reception. Never the less, I bought it, and it arrives tomorrow. Closure. Always good.
Til next time.
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Dreaming and hoping...
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Barnes and Noble Bookstore simply refuses to go away.
Remember when Waldenbooks and Borders were everywhere and were lovely places to shop? Gone.
Now of course we have Powell’s and Strand Books…but those are on the coasts.
Politics and Prose in D.C.
Tattered Cover in Denver
City Lights in San Francisco
BookPeople in Austin
Those are each fabulous, and that’s all well and good. But wow. There’s nothing like strolling into a neighborhood bookstore where even the remainders table holds treasures, which leads us back to the hopefully indomitable Barnes and Noble.
While there, this weekend, I bought Cats, which is a DVD that is hard to come by and which I couldn’t find to stream. The CD (especially with good headphones) sounds better than the sound emanating from the average TV speakers, but there’s nothing like watching and seeing Elaine Paige and Ken Page as Grizabella and Old Deuteronomy, respectively, at least once a year.
Hmmm. Buying a DVD at a bookstore? Problematic. Right? Right.
Going from a bookstore to the world of acting leads to Glenn Close.
My first Broadway show was The Benefactors with
Glenn Close
Sam Waterston
Mary Beth Hurt
Simon Jones
My most recent movie, this past weekend, was The Wife with
Glenn Close
Jonathan Pryce
Glenn Close…the actor’s actor.
The Wife could be the focal point for a semester long study of the women’s movement in America. The movie took a simple premise and at first glance seemed to oversimplify it, but then things got going, and soon it became obvious that nothing is ever as simple as it seems. And that’s the truth…pure and simple.
Before the movie began, the upcoming previews were shown including a new movie about Oscar Wilde who said, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Rupert Everett and Colin Firth are in this new movie about Oscar, and it’s going to be perfect. Purely and simply perfect.
Plus, there’s a new movie about Maria Callas.
I’ll see both.
Looks like a busy week/month/year ahead with new stuff, old stuff, and everything in between.
Plus there’s the holidays. Right? Right.
Til next time.
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My cousin bought the ticket...perhaps the nicest gift I've ever received including a tuna fish sandwich in Paris.
Broadway and 82nd, NYC
Saturday, September 15, 2018
The Goldfinch. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
What a gift.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2018
AN EVENTFUAL DAY MEANDERING HERE, THERE, AND YON: …
TECHNOLOGY
Faster…Bigger…Better…And so much more!!!! Made with 100% renewable energy. Yes. I watched the live-streaming two-hour Apple event. I was hoping for the announcement of the iPhone SE2. Not gonna happen I fear.
Apple seems a little bit lost. They’re producing a phone with games, an LCD screen for watching movies, a camera that will surprise us with bokeh, and a wrist watch with ECG capabilities that will “worry the well” when what I really want and need is a phone that fits easily into my pocket, will read me the Dow Jones when asked, and will wake me when needed.
Ah. The good old days when elegant simplicity reigned supreme.
BOOKS
Started rereading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. So good I can hardly stand it.
Good grief…Tom Wolfe died in May. Fortunately, Michael Silverblatt interviewed Tom on February 4, 1999 asking all the right stuff for all the right reasons.
Tom referred to Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher born a slave.
Michael referred to Zola, Trollope, and Balzac.
FOOD
Nancy’s Petit Quiche…too good to be true.
Ocean Spray Cranberry Mango Diet…too good to be true, too.
Red Bull…quite good…too expensive. ☹
SPORTS
Three miles on the treadmill. Heartrate 96. Have no idea if that’s good or bad.
BROADWAY
Gypsy
Saw them live on Broadway:
Tyne Daly
Patti LuPone
Bernadette Peters
And now? Bette Midler from 1993 finally on Amazon Prime with the very young Christine Ebersole who was brilliant in Grey Gardens and the even younger Elizabeth Moss who was brilliant in Mad Men, Top of the Lake, and The Square. And of course, Andrea Martin and Tony Shalhoub…such pros. I’ve never seen them on stage…except on a PBS broadcast of Act One, which was at Lincoln Center and for which I couldn’t get a ticket. Back to Gypsy with Bette. I don’t remember ever seeing this movie when it first appeared…but it’s lovely. Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim. Quite the pair.
NEWS
Learned about oyster farming from Marketplace.org.
MOVIES
Coming soon…The Children Act with Emma Thompson based on the exceptionally good book by Ian McEwan and also Emma’s new movie King Lear, which I hope for my benefit has yellow subtitles (infinitely easier to read than white). And Bel Canto with Julianne Moore with Renee Fleming doing the singing. Sadly, I started that book some time back and didn’t finish it. I wonder why.
FINALLY
I’m getting caught up on three weeks of the NYTBR and finding new gems that I didn’t even know existed, and then suddenly I’m remembering that it’s been about four years since I watched my DVD of Sunday in the Park with George starring Mandy and Bernadette.
Finished Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. It was so good that you feel like you want to float around in cream. IF that’s a thing. Which fortunately it isn’t.
But the book. The book.
It’s a WWII story about those who were part of the overt and covert resistance in England and France and beyond. The families, the sacrifices, the secrets, the lives, the deaths…it’s all there.
I did read Michael’s The English Patient several years back but didn’t see the movie. It’s somehow easier to read difficult scenes in a book than to watch those scenes on a screen. The brain somehow has the ability to protect itself against too much visual harm.
So, if they make a movie of Warlight, I won’t be watching it. Instead, I’ll reread the book. Although knowing the book’s secrets and how they end means the book won’t be as all enveloping as it was the first time. But then again, when Michael uses phrases like “And by the time I came to an unawareness of courtesy, the man had moved on,” there is ample reason to reread…just for those gems.
And of course it’s thanks to Michael Silverblatt’s interview with Michael Ondaatje that I found Warlight. Secret gifts to secret admirers.
Finally, here’s a photo I’ll call Cloudlight.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Quite honestly, once you find a book as good as Norton Juster's and Chris Raschka's The Hello, Goodbye Window, there's really no need for any more books.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, September 4, 2018
iOS 12 is launching soon.
I’ve checked out the Apple website, and the one thing I need, I don’t find.
What is that one thing that I need?
Well.
Here’s what I need.
I need Hey Siri to respond immediately and instantly and always and consistently when I say, “Hey, Siri.” Cause right now that’s not happenin’.
There are delays.
There are hesitations.
There are interruptions.
There are repetitions.
There are periods of waiting.
There are misunderstandings.
There are instances when pushing the home button is required.
Finally, occasionally, there are loud, loud, loud voice commands.
Apple is giving certain folks opportunities to be beta testers. Maybe I should see about getting in on that gig so that my concerns can be promoted to front and center.
Also. Here’s another thing I need. I need my ipad, computer, laptop, iphone, and ipod to be instant, immediate, and instantaneous. Cause right now? It’s hit and miss. Right now? I could at times take a micronap between the return, send, and click buttons and my desired results. So. That’s it. That’s what I need.
Those two things.
An uncompromising and highly intuitive Hey Siri
and
Instant results on all my devices
Apple? Apple? Are you there, Apple?
But W A I T. Maybe it's not Apple. Maybe it's AT&T. Maybe I'll have to pay extra for speed. Hmmm. Is that legal? Making me pay extra for speed? I'll have to check into that.
BTW, caught the AFI tribute to George Clooney last night. Quite lovely. It’s easy to be a fan of people and things when attention to detail is scrupulously, loyally, unerringly, and consistently followed. Go George. Make more movies. Make more movies. Make more movies.
Like?
Good Night, And Good Luck
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Burn After Reading
The Monuments Men
O’Brother, Where Art Thou
Hail, Caesar
Michael Clayton
The American
Another BTW. Even though I complain about Siri and instant results, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Apple.
And now? Back to Warlight with Nathaniel, Rachel, The Moth, The Darter, the parents, Agnes Street, and all the rest by Michael Ondaatje.
And for this book, oddly enough, it’s a dilemma of saudade to find a story of war so inviting.
Yesterday was the LOC National Book Festival in D.C.
Jon Meacham’s keynote was brilliant and hopeful and informative and seemingly effortless although to quote from both Aristotle as well as from George Herbert Walker Bush obviously takes much preparation.
His new book? The Soul of America.
Others to remember?
Francis Fukuyama-referenced as astute political writer
Jill Lepore-referenced as best historian
Lawrence Wright-presenter on Texas
And then today was Jacqueline Woodson live for three hours on BookTV. AND I own a signed copy. Go, me.
And now? Time for a late brunch of quiche, blackberries, toast, jam, and tea or perhaps an early supper of butterbeans and biscuits.
But first before I forget, it’s time to visit the movies.
The Wife with Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce
Operation Finale with Ben Kingsley
The Bookshop with Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy
Til next time.
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Monday, August 27, 2018
It’s probably time for a lot less reading and a lot more doing.
Why?
I caught the chilling lecture by Roy Scranton on BookTV as he talked about his new book, We’re Doomed, Now What?
He was spot-on correct in his listing of world and planetary problems we face. Politics and Prose Bookstore in D.C. was packed with concerned people who were ready to rise up and fix things.
Perhaps we’re not doomed after all. But clearly, Professor Scranton is brave for collecting his thoughts and essays and then making them all visible. Quite a manifesto. And who doesn’t require a good manifesto every now and then.
Til next time.
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Sunday, August 26, 2018
Listening to Alan Bennett read from his book, The Uncommon Reader, is a joy. And since I’ve listened to the whole thing twice, I should probably break down and buy the audio rather than just checking it out from the library. Since I’m sure I’ll be inspired to listen to it again in the not too distant future, I’ll have to look into that. What else?
I watched Richard Prum give a lecture on BookTV today when he was at Town Hall in Seattle in June. His new book is The Evolution of Beauty. It wasn’t just his slides, his humor, his facts, his first-hand knowledge, his respect for the scientific process, it was his appreciation of Darwin.
From his lecture, as far as I can tell, Richard’s idea is that all beings in the animal kingdom, in addition to evolving from common ancestors, have evolved to appreciate beauty for beauty’s sake and not for the mere sake of the survival of the fittest or the perpetuation of the species.
Specifically, his thesis is that all beings in the animal kingdom appreciate beauty for beauty’s sake and have evolved accordingly. Hope I got that right. I’d hate to have misunderstood.
In short, it was a lovely example of the processes of curiosity, inquiry, observation, recording, interpreting, and sharing. Voila.
And speaking of beauty, here’s quite a lovely word…amanuensis, explained by The Queen to her young friend, Norman in Alan’s The Uncommon Reader.
Til next time.
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Saturday, August 25, 2018
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
What does it mean to be good?
That’s the takeaway from the movie Iris about Iris Murdoch.
A good question, and she seems to have provided answers throughout her many novels, essays, and lectures.
A thought-provoking film starring
Judi Dench
Jim Broadbent
Kate Winslet
Hugh Bonneville
Penelope Wilton
and Me, the viewer
And then let’s not forget Edith. Non, je ne regrette rien.
Good folks all around.
Iris 1919-1999
Edith 1915-1963
Til next time.
Edith...Julia...Howard...Eduardo...Bill...
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Aretha.
1942 – 2018
Aretha.
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Wednesday, August 15, 2018
There are periods of disequilibrium when it’s difficult to find books to read that are as engaging and worthwhile as The Book Thief or Lincoln in the Bardo.
But then, something always comes along just in the nick of time via Michael Silverblatt or BookTV or The NY Times Book Review, and stasis is restored.
But that hasn’t happened yet this week. So, I’m stuck in the middle of a murder mystery wherein the police and various detectives are running around gathering clues to find out whodunit. I don’t really feel compelled to find out who the culprit is, but should I just leave the plot hanging? That doesn’t feel quite right.
But then again, according to the French writer, Daniel Pennac, readers have the right to not finish a book. There you go. Saved.
Further? I feel that I AM French. I just MUST be.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, August 7, 2018
A nice sunny day.
I just finished reading This Was NOT the Plan. The book is about a successful, wealthy, corporate lawyer living in Manhattan and vacationing in the Hamptons. The main character, Charlie, was a lawyer/widower who had trouble finding time to spend with his way-above average five-year-old son and who became tongue-tied on several occasions and then lost his job. His successes came too easily. His problems were too quickly solved.
My next book may be something more serious by someone like…hmmm. Can’t quite decide. Maybe the complete works by and about Pliny the Elder?
But now?
Just waiting for the totally reliable FedEx guy to deliver my latest Amazon order. Nothing too exciting. Office supplies. Vitamins. And a few packs of Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso Light. I have Amazon Prime, Prime Pantry, Amazon Music, Amazon Video, and Amazon Amazon. Soon, I will simply arrange to have my entire paycheck forwarded directly to Jeff. : – )
Finally, I was just now thinking that Kai Ryssdal is the new Walter Cronkite.
.˙.
It’s a good day for books, media, and coffee.
Til next time.
CBS Photo Archive via The New York Times.
Katie Falkenberg for the LA Times.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Two things:
1. According to Kai Ryssdal’s report from Friday’s Marketplace.org:
The federal government’s new trade policy is one of complete international free trade and is therefore geared toward removing all barriers, subsidies, and tariffs. I appreciate receiving this information, and because I’ve typed it here for future access, I now know that tariff has only one r. At any rate, let's keep an eye on this policy. Shall we?
2. I watched In-Depth today on BookTV where Cory Doctorow (no relation to E. L.) talked about his books for three hours on live TV.
It was memorizing. I vacillated between
rushing out to sign people up to vote
to reading all his works
to going to MIT’s library site for access to JSTOR
to saving the world.
He was that good. Instead, I cleaned off my desk and ate some oatmeal.
Why is this guy so talented? I. Do. Not. Know.
But, wow, I’m glad he is. He’s doing good works on many levels.
As an aside, I just went to the MIT library site and tried to access JSTOR. No go. I must have misunderstood him. I THOUGHT he said JSTOR was openly available to the public at the MIT library site. I suppose he meant that to access JSTOR online at MIT, you have to be student, faculty, or staff.
N e v e r t h e l e s s, the guy is brilliant to the nth and no relation to E.L.
A very humbling day.
Til next time.
Doctorow...a name you can trust.
Friday, August 3, 2018
Delphi Method for research and communication consensus.
I can NEVER remember this, so here tis.
And then.
It’s suddenly time to rummage through boxes and files of keepsakes looking for a ticket stub from 1990 when the incomparable Charles S. Dutton performed at the Walter Kerr Theatre in The Piano Lesson by the inimitable playwright August Wilson.
You go to the file cabinet, locate a whole bunch of irreplaceable stuff in a file labeled Keepers, find the 28-year-old ticket stub, take a photo of it with the 28-year-old Playbill as well as the book from the library, replace the ticket stub in the exact same folder until it's needed again, and then post the picture.
As simple as that.
All in an effort to avoid going to the gym or maybe because it’s a little bit time for some nice nostalgia.
But actually, when Charles as Boy Willie sat in a chair and stamped his feet on the stage as he sang and mourned for the god of small things and the saints of lost causes, the entire theatre shook. I was…and still am speechless.
Til next time.
PS A VERY pedestrian and somewhat distasteful bit of breaking news...my internet connection was down for three hours today. And that is one day after I received a notice from AT&T that my bill was going up $10 per month. The irony of this should not be overlooked. AT&T? Yoo hoo.
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Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Finished reading Us Against You…a book by Fredrik Backman.
I was thinking of writing a review of the book following John Updike’s suggestions for how to write a book review. But I don’t really want to do that because it will merely reduce the novel’s powerful statement into an academic treatise. And that’s rarely a good thing to do.
But mostly, I know I couldn’t really write a review as good as what the book deserves.
Us Against You is about violence. The story takes place in the towns of Beartown and Hed and is told through the lives of people who engage in team sports, viciousness, tribalism, irrational hatred, illogical values, and counterproductive goals. The characters are subject to the ways in which society tolerates and enables violence throughout all aspects of life. The book is not for the faint of heart nor for those in a hurry to find out what happens.
In the end? What does happen?
There are winners and losers made so as a result of self-inflicted choices, bad timing, and bad luck, but mostly as a result of the flaws and goodness that make up the DNA of our species, which can, on many occasions, be a fragile and fearful lot.
Fortunately, Fredrik Backman is fearless.
Til next time.
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Saturday, July 28, 2018
Michael Silverblatt interviewed David Sedaris this past week.
During the interview, they talked about David’s life, his new book, and the writers they always enjoy from The New Yorker:
Lorrie Moore
Miranda July
Tobias Wolff
Ottessa Moshfegh
It was Michael’s regular special and endearing interview.
Also today, I watched and then rewatched parts of BookTV’s broadcast of Ken Auletta talking to Rishad Tobaccowala about Ken’s new book, Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else).
During all that? I downloaded and installed 11.4.1 to my phone. It’s SO nice to be current as well as to know that my iphone Battery Health (Beta) is functioning at 96% Maximum Capacity, and although I don’t actually know what that means, it sounds very good. And good is good, or at least it’s good enough.
And now?
Maybe a little Maury and a 45-minute slow-cooked dinner of scrambled eggs and toast with a bit of butter and marmalade on the side.
Til next time.
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Friday, July 27, 2018
There you are at the public library browsing through the stacks to see what’s new.
You find something old and then find something not so old.
You check them both out and take them home.
Time passes.
There they are.
On the desk waiting.
They continue to wait.
You renew them online.
More time passes.
You renew them online again.
Then the final due date approaches exponentially, if in fact time can approach exponentially, which it probably can’t.
Eventually, it becomes the perfect time to read them.
AND it’s the weekend.
There you have it...a typical meandering thought as the month of August is about to begin.
Til next time.
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Sunday, July 22, 2018
Today, I caught Jonathan Salk on BookTV talking about his new book, A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future.
His talk was very scientific and dense with data.
The book is a definite, if not definitive, plan with wisdom and insight for how the planet and humans can coexist.
Also, I’m reading and listening to several books by Backman, George, Izzard, and Cumming.
It’s a busy summer.
(Footnote: That’s Fredrik, Elizabeth, Eddie, and Alan. End of footnote.)
And finally to paraphrase Stephen Fry who might have said if he’d thought of it, “Never trust someone who doesn’t like lemon meringue pie.”
Til next time.
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Saturday, July 21, 2018
Several years back, I became convinced I needed a Rhodia book of high-quality writing paper.
And now?
Still have it without a jot, note, scribble, or doodle contained within.
On a final and more substantive note, I caught on BookTV William Hensley, former lieutenant governor of Alaska, talking about his new book, Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People.
His talk was brilliant, accessible, witty, wise, and historically accurate. And who doesn't need a book by that kind of writer.
Til next time.
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Friday, July 20, 2018
For some reason today, I thought of a demographer who spoke at a conference I attended a long while back. I couldn’t recall his name, but his numbers and wisdom were impressive. A few clicks on google, and there he was.
Harold L. (Bud) Hodgkinson
1931 - March 4, 2016
Til next time.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
It was so nice this past Sunday to listen to Sarah Weinman on BookTV talk about her new book. Her career as an editor, writer, critic, and promoter of all things bookish is second to none.
And then.
Jaron Lanier is a computer-systems creator, philosopher, musician, social analyst, business man, and renaissance thinker…from what I can tell from his BookTV talk.
His expertise is about the manipulation of human behavior by Google and Facebook. He recommends disconnecting. “Free yourself to free us all.”
But…
He also recommends that social media can help with
climate change
weapons of mass destruction
population control
All technology uses algorhythms algorithms, which Jaron seems to totally understand and which I cannot evidently even spell.
He postulates that maybe we can all be dragged into a Google computer server so that we can each live forever.
His message to hackers. Don’t hack…be decent.
His knowledge and ways of sharing are comforting. I’m glad he’s found a place and way to use his wisdom, talent, musicianship, kindness, altruism, rebellion, and clarity to his benefit and to ours. His previous book is Who Owns the Future. He thinks it still holds up. I’m bettin’ it does.
Technology is beautiful and increases our ability to be beautiful.
Science and technology and critics have helped everything get better.
He’s the real deal. Talented, joyous, smart, educated, free, altruistic, connected, admired, known, and worthy of authentic and lasting ovation…which he got.
Til next time.
Friday, July 7, 2018
Seems like the perfect time to start a new book. Actually I’ve already started it and read it twice, but what better book to read on a summery day in July than The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq.
It’s French. It’s all about art and human needs. It’s philosophical. It’s about the unpredictable balance between effort and luck.
And. It’s got that je ne sais quoi attribute that only a book can provide.
I’m actually close to the end of the book where the detectives are investigating a beheading. Oh yeah. The book includes a beheading. So French.
What else?
There’s Michael. During one of his recent brilliant interviews, he said after reading the author’s book, “We take what we know and decide what to do with it.” Michael Silverblatt, my friend via the air waves. So philosophical. So smart. Surely he knows this.
Then what else?
Books on tape. Eddie Izzard still the most insightful comedic philosopher around. He pushes and pulls ideas until they resonate with his sensibilities. And then, of course, he hones those ideas into a coherent view of the world that is too, too ideal.
All this media…borders on between way too much and just about right. Plus today I’m trying a new drink, which also borders on between way too much and just about right. We’ll see. Way to go, Starbucks.
We. Will. See.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, July 3, 20142018
While I’m listening to Eddie Izzard read from his new book Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens, which has an unending and insightfully important number of footnotes, I’m enjoying, in his honor, a milky coffee.
The book is even better than the milky coffee.
(Footnote: And the coffee is truly great. End of footnote.)
I’m also getting ready for the nation’s birthday tomorrow by purchasing a new Anne Klein wrist watch at Macy’s even though I love my tarnished, rusty, and no-longer-working Anne Klein wrist watch that I purchased at Macy’s several years back.
Time marches on.
Til next time.
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Monday, July 2, 2018
Walking along. Looking around.
Glancing down. There it was.
A circular wonder.
A bird nest on the ground…far more interesting than the trade wars, which are driving up the price of tin foil, which Hershey purportedly (ala Kai Ryssdal’s Marketplace) uses to wrap its chocolate bars. Not good in the world of chocolate packaging although I just checked, and it seems that a modern-day Hershey bar now comes packaged in plastic rather than the old stand-by of tin foil from days past. Hmmm.
Til next time.
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Sunday, July 1, 2018
A leisurely Sunday with a couple cups of coffee, a live 3-hour interview on BookTV with Brad Thor, then The Sunday New York Times, and finally Glenn Gould playing French Suites by Bach.
It almost seems too self-indulgent. Maybe I should be working or thinking about working or getting ready to be working. But no.
It’s all about a leisurely Sunday with no work in sight. Except for maybe documenting the caffeine in various drinks:
Red Bull
80 mg of caffeine per 8.4 ounces
= 9.5 mg per ounce.
Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso Light
120 mg of caffeine per 6.5 ounces
= 18.5 mg per ounce.
Regular cup of home-brewed coffee
95 mg of caffeine per 8 ounces
= 11.8 mg per ounce.
The choice seems clear.
Some of each?
And finally, a new report just out:
People watch TV two hours a day.
People read books ten minutes a day.
I wonder what the new librarian of the Library of Congress might have to say about that.
Her name? Carla Hayden, and she is TERRIFIC.
I’ve heard her speak several times. BookTV of course.
Til next time.
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Thursday, June 28, 2018
I just learned of this news today even though it happened several weeks ago.
Richard Peck
April 5, 1934 – May 23, 2018
There’s nothing like learning about humanity through the stories in a book.
And Richard Peck’s stories never missed the mark. His stories were broad and true, straightforward and revealing.
The best way to know that you’re reading a really good book is that you lose track of the fact that you’re reading. At all.
You don’t have to reread. You don’t have to take notes. You don’t have to remember a character or a plot you’ve momentarily misplaced.
You’re just reading. You’re just there.
And that’s right where Richard Peck was. Always. There.
It’s not…except for the fact that these four are always in my peripheral vision through books and films. Plus, I just watched T2 Trainspotting. Can’t wait for the next 20-year follow-up. Might even rewatch the original although Ewan McGregor’s monologue about Choosing Life in T2 will be hard to match in any film. But of course he wasn’t the writer of this philosophical rant, he was merely the actor.
Ewan McGregor
Ewen Bremner
Ian McKellen
Ian McEwan
Moving on.
Seems like everywhere I look, there is Anthony Trollope (1815-1882). Perhaps I’m destined to read him. If so, I’m in luck.
I just bought six of his novels in one volume for my kindle, Chronicles of Barsetshire…all six books for 99 cents. Somehow, this just doesn’t seem right. It just doesn’t seem like a fair price for such well-regarded novels. Nevertheless, I’m grateful for the bargain.
But of course 99 cents back in Anthony’s day might go further and might even go farther than in today’s financial climate. And for the Trollope estate (assuming there is one), if a million people purchase this set for their kindles, then with “99 here and 99 there, pretty soon you’re talking real money,” (paraphrasing the inimitables Everett Dirksen and Daniel Patrick Moynihan).
Til next time.
Portrait by Napoleon Sarony.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Tragic really.
$74.83 in art supplies including paper, paint, glue, brushes, and gold leaf foil (fake of course…it’s actually copper and zinc…but still pretty).
They say everyone is an artist. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with me. I know this because after making my purchases and creating a messy tragedy, I saw Christo’s new work. It’s stunning. He never fails to make it right.
Til next time.
Photo by David Azia.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
One thing leads to another, and in the case of books, Gogol leads to Pirates of Penzance. Interesting. Yes?
I just finished reading The Inspector General by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It’s a comedy of errors involving Russians who are hopelessly hopeless. The very important Russian Inspector never arrives, the Governor spoils his life waiting for the Inspector, and the play ends with the full cast in one-and-a-half minutes of total silence on stage as the curtain falls.
Gogol got it all exactly right. The Russian people seem to be able to endure injustice and surreptitiously fight back at the same time. Not an easy trick. Literature may be the best way to achieve that aim.
Then. The Inspector General somehow sparked a memory of a song called Inspector General that I couldn’t get out of the loop in my head.
But after ten seconds of Googling…there it was. The song was NOT The Inspector General, it was actually The Major General from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. At last.
This corrective memory then leads to the NYTimes article from 1981 about Kevin Kline at the Delacorte Theater where Pirates was performed. Kevin won a Tony.
And there you have it. One thing always leads to another.
And now I’m going to finish watching A Lady of Letters by Alan Bennett starring Patricia Routledge. It’s scary how much I like this film. I should see if I can actually buy it on Amazon rather than watching it in three separate parts on youtube.
Click. Done. En route.
Til next time.
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Monday, June 18, 2018
To understand America, we must understand New Orleans. That is according to Professor Richard Campanella in a C-SPAN2 tour of American cities.
As he was driving through the city, he gave a brilliant lecture (WHILE HE WAS DRIVING) on everything that makes New Orleans central to the rest of the nation. It was thrilling to listen to his unscripted summary and analysis of New Orleans and its history.
I wonder if everybody gets goose bumps when they hear something this good. Hope so. Or maybe I’m just easily but profoundly inspired. Anyhoo, here tis:
“You can’t know the rest of the nation unless you know New Orleans. In many ways it’s the essence of the nation even as it’s also often times the exception to the nation. This was the soft southern underbelly of the North American continent.
It’s where the Caribbean and the South Atlantic and the African and the Mediterranean and the Latin world connected in with this vast hinterland of what proved to be the wealthiest valley on earth…the Mississippi valley.
This vast river flowing through this hinterland, this vast foreland connecting all these diverse cultures…how could there not be a fascinating city…a nodal location pivoting those two together.
It was a mostly Catholic city in a mostly Protestant nation.
It was a mostly Roman civil-law society in a mostly English common-law nation.
It was a French long-lot surveying region in a township- and range-surveying nation.
It was a Francophone city in a mostly Anglophone nation.
It was a West Indian architecture city in a mostly Neo-Classical Greek Revival nation.
And so you have all these differentiations but that eventually assimilated and hybridized and affected the rest of the nation in the form of the music and the food as well as the architecture.”
The entire 17-minute lecture was terrific. C’est tres beaucoup.
Til next time.
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Sunday, June 17, 2018
Found objects and cows.
An amateur with a camera is always risky…especially on a Sunday.
Feather
Rock
Butterfly
Cardinal skull
And the safety of a herd.
Til next time.
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Saturday, June 16, 2018
Four unrelated observations today:
1. Ronan Farrow was on BookTV talking about his new book War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence. Ronan won a Pulitzer Prize. He graduated with a J.D. from Yale at age 22. He’s a serious thinker. In his latest book, he talks to all nine former Secretaries of State. The take away? He has access to people who serve, superior analytical skills, and significant linguistic abilities. Well done, he. Also, he did mention that (paraphrasing) “George Shultz is grumpy in his views of the State Department. And he’s earned the right to be. After all, he is 97.” Plus. Ronan has Mia’s smile. Nice. Also, he was interviewed by James F. Hoge, Jr.
2. I wonder if there are serious problems with hero worship. Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton. Broadway. I should probably check the latest DSM. What more can I say.
3. Book Culture is a newish bookstore in Manhattan. On Columbus between 81st and 82nd. The owners are committed to authors. One part-owner is Rick MacArthur, President and Publisher of Harper’s Magazine.
4. I submitted a proposal to Jeff Bezos after his announcement last year about his philanthropic giving. I haven’t heard back. Even after a follow-up letter. And now? Still hopeful. So, Jeff…you there?
Til next time.
...
waiting...waiting...waiting...
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
A question about USA and North Korea relations.
Will the pursuit of capitalism and commerce be more effective at achieving peace than insisting on democracy and decency?
We. Will. Have. To. Wait. And. See.
And now?
I’m between books. I hate when that happens.
Til next time.
Ah. A little help with some summer reading.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates.
Gus, Jenna, and Naomi Voorhees of Michigan.
vs.
Luther, Edna Mae, and Dawn Dunphy of Ohio.
The book builds a medical, moral, economic, philosophical, and religious stage on which these six main players pursue their lives over a 30-year period. This book is the obvious sequel to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and presents a stripped-down view of the fracturing that happens when single perspectives meet multiple ones.
And like all serious writers, JCO leaves the answers to her questions explicitly unanswered.
And finally, if Harm de Blij was correct, we are our geography.
It’s still unimaginable. All of it.
Til next time.
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Monday, June 11, 2018
Net Neutrality vs. Open Internet Rule
FTC FCC
As of today, the Open Internet Rule will ultimately result in higher prices for broadband service although the FCC says it is committed to providing faster, cheaper internet service to everyone.
However, the prediction is that the OIR will allow ATT to slow down service to those who do not have totally bundled ATT contracts.
Ultimately, if customers want the same fast speed they now already receive, their rates will be raised unless they bundle with ATT, which will in many cases cost more than shopping for services via various companies.
And of course paying more is not the definition of cheaper.
The general consensus among those who represent those who are not of the corporate voice is that this decision will deepen the digital divide, the cultural divide, and the nation’s economic divide.
Me? I’m keeping my eye on the bill.
Right down to the penny, pound, franc, and deutschmark. (I sure like this phrase. Wonder where I heard it.)
Til next time.
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Sunday, June 10, 2018
BookTV was live today from the Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago. Eliza Griswold was featured.
She has written a narrative of what happens to farm families in southwest Pennsylvania when oil and gas companies engage in fraccing and thereby poison the area’s drinking water.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that:
“People are entitled to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”
Eliza’s book is titled Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America.
In the end, the only solution to this ongoing problem is to develop a completely reliable solar-energy system worldwide.
For today and through her book, it seems like there are heroes everywhere. Farmers, scientists, lawyers, writers, judges, newspapers, cable broadcasters, and the EPA.
They persisted.
Down to the last
Penny
Pound
Franc and
Deutschmark
Til next time.
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Friday, June 8, 2018
Write one true sentence.
The man knew.
Food. Politics. People. Truth. Generosity.
It’s unimaginable.
June 25, 1956 to June 8, 2018.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Tituss Burgess.
What a star. It’s so great to watch him on Kimmy and to listen to him sing. And while there is a lot of additional star-quality talent on that show, Tituss is by far the starriest.
But then again, there’s also Jon Hamm whose character is in prison where he belongs. Watching Jon reminds me of the series he did with Daniel Radcliffe titled, A Young Doctor’s Notebook, which is classified as a dark British comedy…and it is. Dark. But really good. And even if it is dark, maybe I’ll rewatch it.
It can’t be darker than A Book of American Martyrs, with which I’m three-fourths finished and waiting for a good ending or at least AN ending. It’s a long book with many angles.
Whoo.
But. Back to Tituss.
His mom is said to have named him Tituss with two ss at the end of his name in order to match the two ss at the end of Burgess.
A deeeelightful story. If true. Even if not.
I bet he’s a really nice guy with a very cool mom.
Til next time.
Photography from Vanity Fair.
Monday, June 4, 2018
Carefully watched Apple’s WWDC18 and was less than inspired, which I never like to be.
So.
In case Apple is interested in one consumer’s opinion, here tis.
I don’t need memoji. Why you say? Because I’m not 12.
I don’t need animoji. Why you say? Because I’m not 10.
I don’t need augmented reality (AR). Why you say? Because I have enough toys.
I don’t need auto indexing of my photos. Why you say? I index my own photos.
I don’t need “sharing suggestions” for my photos. Why you say? Because I already know what to share and with whom to share it.
I don’t need the Siri “short cut” for organizing my life. Why you say? Because I like organizing my own life without a reminder to order a coffee on my way home. Ordering a coffee on my way home will either occur to me or it won’t. And if it doesn't, it's a good excuse to go back out.
I don’t need Apple Books. Why you say? Because I have a Kindle.
I don’t need Apple Stocks with its corresponding adjudicated business news. Why you say? Because I read The New York Times.
I don’t need news notifications. Why you say? Because I have BBCAmerica on my cable TV.
I don’t need grouped notifications. Why you say? Because my brain will do this for me at no extra charge.
I don’t need “screen time” monitoring. Why you say? Because I monitor my own time. And more importantly, Apple already knows WAY too much about me.
I don’t need voice memos. Why you say? Because the whole world already has this. It’s called voicemail.
I don’t need Group Facetime. Why you say? Because genuine communication requires having skin not screen in the game.
I don’t need WatchOS. Why you say? Because it’s too creepy to keep looking at my wrist, and plus…I don’t do yoga.
I don’t need “Walkie-Talkie.” Why you say? Because I can walk into the other room and say, “Did you eat my Doritos?”
I don’t need Apple Watch Competition in my life. Why you say? Because competition is the antithesis of living a moral and balanced life.
I don’t need “Hey, Siri” deleted. Why you say? Because I need my system to be dependent on my voice commands rather than on my wrist being raised.
I don’t need to be awed by photos of earth’s city lights on AppleTV’s 4KHDR via NASA. Why you say? Because I need to know that Apple is working to reduce light pollution worldwide.
It seems to me, Tim, that much of this software is nothing more than a giant surveillance system.
Whoa!!! Too grumpy?
Yes. WAY too grumpy.
Sorry. I just REALLY want Apple to do better. You will never find a more loyal Apple supporter than me...than I...Hmmm...
So.
Where’s the list of Apple stuff that I actually DO need?
I need:
Guaranteed privacy and security for texts and email.
FAST, fast, fast connectivity through both wifi and cellular systems.
Long battery life on all my Apple products.
Apple products made in America.
Continued commitment to My Photo Stream, which was NOTICEABLY absent in the presentation.
Apple presence worldwide in K-12 schools.
Loyalty points worth Apple Bucks for long-time customers.
Bigger commitment to MacOS for those who work at a proper desk with a proper keyboard.
A Siri system that actually understands me and gives me info about Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand when I ask for it rather than telling me that “I can’t translate into Chateaubriand yet.”
So. Still too grumpy?
Perhaps.
.˙.
Nothing to do now but… “Hey Siri, order me an iced skinny mocha latte with caramel at the nearest Starbucks.”
Wait.
One final thing. During the final few minutes of the WWDC18 broadcast, interviews with family members of Apple developers were shown. The brother of the inventor of Yelp shared that Jeremy had tried and failed to develop Yelp and had had to retool and restudy his data. What did he discover when he restudied his data? Jeremy discovered that people loved writing comments. They didn’t want to just click. They wanted to be heard.
Ditto.
Think I’ll give Tim a quick call.
Til next time.
One moment please while your call is being connected...
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Wow. Four weeks of Book Reviews to read and ponder. How did this happen?
Til next time.
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Friday, June 1, 2018
I caught a bit of the documentary about Serena Williams on HBO. Oh my gosh.
What talent. What ambition. What drive. What a champion.
The elite players at her level of accomplishment are totally focused on their tennis game while I seem to be totally focused on why this photo I just took of a bowl of apples in my lovely Mason Cash bowl is OUT of focus.
I’m betting it’s the absence of Malcolm Gladwell’s recommendation for 10,000 hours of practice taking photos.
So. What now? Back to Joyce Carol Oates’s A Book of American Martyrs?
Or...
Perhaps an analysis of truth in advertising is in order.
Still. Yum.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Suddenly, I’m obsessed with taking photos of food.
So, I’ve rigged up a blue background and bought some fruit.
Now for the trouble.
The fancy, schmancy camera I bought keeps changing the color of the blue background in spite of my hours and hours of trying to not have that happen.
On top of that, the camera even changed the orientation from landscape to portrait also without me asking it to do so.
What now? More photos? More informative youtubes?
I just don’t know.
What I do know is that I ate the avocado, and it was delicious.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Last week, Michael Silverblatt interviewed Joyce Carol Oates about her new book A Book of American Martyrs.
It was Michael’s usual great interview. I’m half-way into the book, and it’s a serious look at big issues, justice from multiple perspectives, and social mores in America.
THEN…I’m watching (in spite of the show’s recent troubling revelations) Arrested Development at the gym. The real talent, the real stars, the real folks to watch for the next few decades are…Alia Shawkat and Michael Cera. Totally great actors who seem like really decent people.
Til next time.
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Monday, May 28, 2018
After reading A. O. Scott’s mostly positive but suspiciously tentative review of Book Club, I went to see it yesterday afternoon.
I should have trusted my skepticism. For me, the film marginalized the very thing it was trying to portray in a big, big way. So...I’m recommending a complete rewrite.
Or…the four main actresses could donate their salaries to a women’s shelter in the city of their choice.
Also, facebook had an ad at the movies assuring the nation that facebook is now aggressively vetting their news feeds to ensure that fake news will no longer be allowed to exist.
On a brighter note, I saw my first firefly of the season last night on my after-the-movie stroll.
Til next time.
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Sunday, May 27, 2018
Barbara, Barbara, Barbara.
Such a thinker. Such a scientific mind. For such a long time.
She was talking about her new book today on BookTV. I loved listening to her today and in 2002 when I met her at a book talk in NYC where she signed my book and chatted with me afterwards like an old friend. Delightful.
Today, she said that being outside academe gives her a chance to study and ask questions about whatever she is currently interested in as opposed to being required to write a scholarly paper on one specific aspect of her discipline. Her Ph.D. is in science, and she has pursued social equity and science issues for lots of decades.
Both personally and professionally, she is accurate, accessible, independent, and fun. Her newest book among many? Natural Causes.
Til next time.
Signed, read, and reread.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Philip Roth died today. Manhattan. Congestive heart failure. Age 85.
The NYT obituary was a thorough accounting of his life’s work and could not have been written by anyone other than Charles McGrath.
Roth retired from writing in 2012.
The post-it note on his computer said, “The struggle with writing is done.”
What a life.
I actually wish he had pursued his initial plan when he was first starting out in college of becoming “a lawyer for the underdog.”
Then again, a good mind is valuable regardless of where it lands.
And his landed well.
Til next time.
Page 36 in Jill Krementz's The Writer's Desk.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Books aside today…time for planning to see a few good movies this summer:
The Seagull
Annette Bening
Boundaries
Vera Farmiga
Puzzle
Kelly MacDonald
The Wife
Glenn Close
And then there’s HBO’s Westworld, which has most recently been transformed into Shogun World.
Please send me the CliffsNotes/SparkNotes…either one. I’m having trouble following along. So. Thanks. But even if I do read the Notes, I may still not be able to figure out which character is a robot and which character is a human and why they are all massacring each other pretty much non-stop for an entire hour each week. Not good. On several levels.
And finally, speaking of real estate, David and Peggy Rockefeller’s home at 146 E. 65th sold for $20 million…down from the initial asking price of $32 million. The home was purchased by Doug Band.
I wonder if he’ll do the airbnb thing.
Probably not.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Three Things Today:
1. 100 million people between 1918 and 1920 died of Spanish flu.
One of those who died was the German sociologist Max Weber who created the idea of status theory and the discipline of sociology.
His three big sociological groups are:
a. Social class (owner vs. renter)
b. Social status (non-economic=honor, prestige, religion)
c. Political party
These three attributes influence ones chances at opportunities to improve your life. SO…Max Weber…further study is on the horizon…much beyond Wikipedia…even though that’s a totally great place to start.
2. Today, suddenly, it clicked. I saw the word contemporaneous and knew what it meant, which reminded me of a word that I NEVER remembered what it meant. That elusive word? Extemporaneous.
Contemporaneous=concurrent or existing in the same period of time. Extemporaneous=impromptu or done without preparation
This all leads me to my wish that I had taken Latin at some point in my formal education.
Not too late you say?
Oh. Yeah...well…right.
3. I read a piece about Leslie Manville in today’s NYTimes. Leslie is starring in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night. I saw this play with Vanessa Redgrave and came away thinking that I would probably never see another play as intense as this one. Vanessa was joined on stage by Brian Dennehy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robert Sean Leonard. The piece about Leslie in today’s paper was less about the play and more about Leslie’s unceasing effort to continue acting in spite of all the ways in which it’s all been an uphill climb. I’ve loved her in everything I’ve seen. I’ll probably forego this rendition of Long Day’s Journey, but I’ll definitely be there for her next big movie role.
Okay. One more thing. Not Three Things Today. Four.
4. I think I’ve made a huge mistake. After purchasing six new bookcases in the past five years, I decided I’d stop buying physical books and start storing them on my kindle. That’s the mistake. The huge mistake. I want the physical book and not the virtual book. Looking at a book on a screen is just not the same as holding the book and getting a physical sense of its weight, its author’s efforts, and its place in the universe. So now I’m going to start a new budget for restoring my book-buying habit and buy all the books that are now mere flickers of light on a plastic device of a mere few ounces.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2018
I finished reading The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. It was great.
It’s the prior story to the story of Lyra in The Golden Compass. The entire series is profoundly good.
But it was almost too much to believe that a fairly young boy could withstand floods, heavy rain, howling wind, bad guys, more floods, more heavy rain, more bad guys, and even more floods in scene after scene which mostly took place in a canoe with a broken paddle toward the end.
The text kept saying how exhausted and tired Malcolm was, and I totally believed it.
Pullman's use of dæmons to demonstrate the inner spirit of each of his characters is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. A lovely dæmon assigned at birth and completely committed to the welfare of its owner…is a lovely thought indeed.
This particular book is the first in his new trilogy. And I’ll absolutely be there for numbers two and three regardless of how exhausted Malcolm and I might become.
Much thanks to Mr. Pullman for fighting the good fight.
Til next time.
Photo from The Guardian.
Monday, May 14, 2018
In the unlikely event that I can’t get a ticket to Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, I’ve at least checked out the play from the library.
Public libraries…there wouldn’t be life without them.
You drink a lot of Starbucks and it's easy to forget that it was founded by a pretty decent fellow…Howard Schultz.
He was on BookTV today getting an award from the Atlantic Council for being a pretty decent guy surely but mostly for being a leader of leaders.
His award is called the 2018 Atlantic Council Distinguished Leadership Award.
His remarks and answers to questions were exactly the kind of thing the country needs to hear from all its leaders.
Starbucks has 28,000 stores in the USA and has 3,000 in China where the company is headed by Starbucks CEO, Belinda Wong (who evidently is a case study in drive, ambition, leadership, accomplishment, and unstoppability).
The Starbucks story is inspiring to hear. It’s such a unique example of how capitalism and servant-leadership can symbiotically co-exist and thrive. Howard was there with his wife and kids and was interviewed by David Ignatius of The Washington Post.
Along with food, music, art, literature, and gardening…there’s coffee to make life good.
Buon caffè.
Til next time.
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Friday, May 11, 2018
Really.
I’ve got to stop doing this.
But honestly, I probably won’t.
So what is it that I probably won’t stop doing?
I probably won’t stop zooming around as if on a plane collecting random snippets of book recommendations from various authors, critics, and publishers about what to read next.
For example, I just this minute read recommendations by Dambisa Moyo in her By the Book interview in The New York Times, and she said she liked The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol.
And since I’m a totally dedicated fan of Gogol ever since I saw that movie The Namesake starring Kal Penn and Irrfan Khan wherein Irrfan named his son after Gogol, and ever since I’ve read all the books by Jhumpa Lahiri who brilliantly wrote The Namesake, I went to Amazon. And there it was.
The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol available on my Kindle for ninety-nine cents.
What a gift.
Click.
So, yeah.
I probably won’t stop zooming around even though it’s probably MUCH better to settle on one or two authors and read their entire body of work. But wait. Maybe I’ve already done that…mostly.
Gore Vidal
Jhumpa Lahiri
Sherman Alexi
Kate DiCamillo
Karl Ove Knausgaard
Barbara Kingsolver
Toni Morrison
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Eduardo Galeano
Frank McCourt
Christopher Paul Curtis
Wow.
However, that still leaves on my radar for reading their whole body of work Italo Calvino, Salman Rushdie, Edith Wharton, Franz Kafka… And more.
All these thoughts?
Sponsored today by two cups of coffee.
Thanks, Starbucks.
But wait. A bit more random clicking around, and I’ve stumbled onto by predetermined fate and/or unavoidable accident a totally free copy of Memoirs of a Madman by Gogol on the Gutenberg site.
Gutenberg.net…priceless.
Here’s the Gutenberg creed, which Facebook should consider appropriately adapting and immediately adopting:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it…
Wikipedia...expanding knowledge one click at a time.
Monday, May 7, 2018
Finished reading a smidgin of David Baldacci’s book, One Summer. Got to the point where the father is almost dying, the mother is dead, the children are a mess, and the whole thing is just too depressing, real, troubling, and/or predictable…so…I moved on to…The Little Paris Bookshop, which had an equal number of deaths, mournings, and lost souls but which was outstanding.
The Little Paris Bookshop was about Jean, Max, Luc, Manon, and a host of other characters who each sought wisdom from books that were sold specifically to them from a barge on the Seine. Totally a great premise, and it ended just right.
Plus, Kafka and Lindgren were cozy companions and seemed extra smart for cats on a barge.
And finally as well as sadly, this tiny little postcard is one of my very, very, very few souvenirs from Paris. What was I thinking? Customs. Bah.
Til next time.
Me and Mona. Mona and Me.
Saturday, May 5, 2018
I finished reading The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn. The movie rights have been purchased. It’s a mystery thriller in the vein of Hitchcock and is very effective at featuring a woman who may or may not be stable. But my guess is that when they make the movie, they will not have her wandering around outside soaking wet in her bathrobe in the rain while tripping and falling down with virtually every stumbling step she takes. Just a guess. AND it was a really good read.
Also, I heard that Christie’s auctioned off 500 million dollars worth of china, porcelain, paintings, and jewelry that all belonged to Peggy and David Rockefeller.
Do two people really need that much stuff?
The answer is…maybe?
No. The answer is no.
In something unrelated, I heard Alan Bennett make the observation that there is a “childhood preference for the familiar.” I think that’s probably true, but it’s probably also true that the preference for the familiar is for all living creatures for their entire lifespans.
Familiar. Such a nice word.
And finally, I bought a shoe by Ralph Lauren. If only I could afford the other one. Ha.
Seriously. Ralph, Ralph, Ralph. Seriously.
Would you wear that shoe?
Could you wear that shoe?
Even more seriously. I thought the women’s movement had spoken.
Maybe next season.
Ralph, help us out here.
Til next time.
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My lovely Keds inspired by Jonathan Kozol.
Friday, May 4, 2018
Two Japanese writers keep popping up everywhere I look.
Haruki Murakami wrote The Strange Library. He lives in Japan.
Kazuo Ishiguro wrote The Remains of the Day. He lives in England.
Since there are plenty of youtube videos of them individually discussing their work, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot about each of them.
At any rate, their names are now here in one place so that I don’t have to keep looking them up as I try to remember the names of these two specific writers and these two specific books.
Thanks, Google. You are very helpful.
Til next time.
Google...old or new...consistently helpful.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Michiko Kakutani is a retired book editor for The New York Times. She retired last summer after reviewing books for 38 years.
For some reason I thought of her today and found a site that summed up some of her reviews.
But because some of these brief summaries seemed a bit harsh, I looked further and found what appears to be a link to all of her reviews in their completeness rather than in summary.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/michiko-kakutani
Seems like a great find…and it is.
Me and The New York Times…two peas in a pod.
NOTE TO APPLE IN CASE THEY’RE READING THIS: the nytimes.com site many times shuts down on Safari but never on Google Chrome.
Hmmm. So use Google Chrome you say? I do. But…I’m more suspicious of being tracked by Google than by Apple.
But then again, I bought a new purse yesterday, and now I’m being shown ads for even newer and better purses on both Safari and Chrome.
So since it doesn’t seem to matter how much one tries to avoid being tracked, I might as well be unmindful and go with Google Chrome at least for The Times.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, May 1, 2018
NPR put together a montage of the best books of 2017:
http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2017/
Can there be anything better?
Maybe.
How about twenty-five years worth of conversations between Michael Silverblatt and Kazuo Ishiguro who just won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017 and the Booker in 1989.
In the somewhat disturbing and sometimes slow-moving Justified on Amazon Prime, Patton Oswalt is a new character named Bob who absolutely and instantly steals every scene and holds it until the camera cuts away. Awesome.
And today’s two favorite lines from two other Justified characters:
“Not a word.”
“Not a problem.”
Til next time.
NPR...nothing quite like it.
Saturday, April 28, 2018
The Interestings. Finished reading this. But reluctantly. Came highly recommended. Beware recommendations. The reason? A book about the fictional lives of people on easy street who are blithely unaware of life outside their own insulated cohort is either too sad or too true or possibly both to read seriously.
On the other hand. Maisie Dobbs. Historical fiction. Journey to Munich. Fictional characters who view the world and their personal lives as connected and equally deserving of their attention are my cup of tea.
Then.
The Woman in the Window. Wow. Three pages in. I’m hooked. Totally.
Also.
Watching BookTV live from Maryland today. Decided to define two words:
Plutocracy = a society ruled by the wealthy.
Oligarchy = a society ruled by the few…as in Russia, China, North Korea.
Also.
Kai Ryssdal had jury duty in LA yesterday.
Chris Thile was live in NYC today.
All these live broadcasts allowed me to watch, learn, and listen while at the same time imbibe in online shopping via Amazon Prime. Go team.
And finally, I watched J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls. Loved it. Once again, Amazon Prime.
And once again, due to Alan Bennett via Alex Jennings in The Lady in the Van mentioning J. B. Priestley, I found a new author as well as a new film.
Amazon Prime. Totally great.
HOWEVER, they are increasing their Prime price by $20 later this year.
Hmmm. Much to consider.
Til next time.
Rich Dworsky and Chris Thile doing what they do.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Today I’ve stumbled into a study of Edna St. Vincent Millay, which connected me to Zelda Fitzgerald with references to Sylvia Path.
Creative women. Bright beginnings. Harsh endings.
Burning candles at both ends without ever feeling the light.
Another thought. What is reality? That’s the question. What is reality?
Well, according to the TV show Westworld, reality is that which is irreplaceable.
Today the Dow dropped 424 points, and I bought a jar of Kikkoman Plum Sauce.
For real.
Mostly.
Til next time.
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Saturday, April 21, 2018
The theme for the day is self-reliance.
I was watching the LA Times Festival of Books broadcast live on BookTV today and watched an author talk about the real life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Evidently, Laura was a big believer in self-reliance to the extent that she was opposed to FDR’s New Deal. This was very surprising. I may have to read this author’s biography of LIW.
Caroline Fraser is the author. The book is Prairie Fire: The American Dreams of Lauran Ingalls Wilder.
This puts me in mind of the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin who was also an advocate of self-reliance. I may reread his book.
And then, also, Visionary Women is a new book by Andrea Barnet.
The four women featured are:
Rachel Carson
Jane Jacobs
Jane Goodall
Alice Waters.
When Andrea first started the book’s research, she mentioned that she had asked herself, “Am I one of those who has read Silent Spring and just thought that I read it?”
Et tu, Marsha?
And finally, Tracy K. Smith was live on livefromhere.org tonight reading poetry from Town Hall, NYC. I watched. I listened.
And one more finally from liverfromhere.org, I watched Fred Newman do a solo and soft shoe dance to “I’m sitting on top of the world.” I bet I’m the only woman in America who has an original copy of Zounds! with the original vinyl that still works like a charm (if you have a turntable that is…which…I do).
Quite a day.
Til next time.
Hip, Hip...
Hooray!
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Maybe it’s a Shakespeare Folio, a Mozart Manuscript, a Gutenberg Bible, or the dress of Charlotte Bronte, but whatever I find it takes my breath away at every turn and only at the Morgan.
These are a bit of springtime nostalgia from November 12, 2016.
Til next time.
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The Morgan library; the place where all the goodness resides.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Finished reading David Grossman’s A Horse Walks Into a Bar.
It won the Booker International Prize. I couldn’t put it down. It captured a man’s life from potential to demise all taking place on the stage of a comedy club.
I also begrudgingly finished reading The Wife Between Us, which got four stars on Amazon and oddly enough pretty bad reviews. I kept waiting for the two women characters to be described as other than shrinking, trembling, fumbling, or shaking. Never happened. Goodness, it’s 2018. Plus, there’s the Joan of Arc play coming up on Broad Way.
And now? I’m between books.
I hate when that happens.
But being between books allows me time to slowly ease into Justified. This show can become repetitive, but I'm giving it a bit of a go. But only a bit. The best thing so far is that I caught a screenshot of two long shadows just leaving prison. Not bad.
Two more tidbits:
Erasmus
Dutch Renaissance
born 1466 Netherlands
died 1536 Switzerland
and
Martin Luther
German Reformationist
born 1483 Germany
died 1546 Germany
Featured in Fatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind by Michael Massing
Til next time.
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Monday, April 16, 2018
This week I’m catching up on old episodes of Nero Wolfe written by Rex Stout and played by the late Maury Chaykin (1949-2010).
Nero is a detective who is dedicated to the perfection of food and drink and is of the opinion that nothing corrupts a man so deeply as writing a book. Delicious.
Also.
Billions. This is a show I am VERY suspicious of. I put off watching it for three seasons, but I’ve finally succumbed to the possibility that it might be good. And it is. And I’m hooked.
However.
What if this is really the way it is on Wall Street?
Wait. There’s Condola Rashad as a key player in Billions and who I thought might be related to Phylicia Rashad. How many Rashads in show biz can there be? And she is. Related. AND she’s playing Saint Joan on Broadway. Quite a major talent. And quite a serious actress.
Saint Joan written by George Bernard Shaw in 1923.
GBS born in 1856 (Ireland);
died in 1950 (England).
Then there’s the music at the end of each Billions episode with my three favorites so far.
2/11
Even the Losers
Tom Petty
2/12
Homecoming
Josh Ritter
3/3
You Want it Darker
Leonard Cohen
Til next time.
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Sunday, April 15, 2018
After listening today to Howard Giles Unger on BookTV talk about Richard Henry Lee, it is my loss to not know more about Cincinnatus (military leader) and Cicero (statesman and orator).
It appears that the list of things I do not know is significantly (p < .05) longer than the list of things I do know. This is not good.
One thing I do know is that Humoresque was composed by a Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák, and it’s played with aplomb by Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgAzqlIcs4k
Two more small things I know.
It’s called a stingy brim.
Walter Mosley’s hat.
I’m three weeks behind.
Really?
Yes.
This appears to be true.
Til next time.
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Saturday, April 14, 2018
Three writers at the San Antonio Book Festival via BookTV got it all just right. Class and poverty in America was their topic.
J. R. Helton…Bad Jobs and Poor Decisions
Bryan Mealer…The Kings of Big Spring
Jose Antonio Rodriquez…House Built on Ashes
It was a wonderful opportunity to hear from three open and honest writers about their lives, their struggles, and their successes.
While the internet is complete with gadgets, glitter, and glamour, NPR and BookTV always save the day.
Chris Thile streamed live from Town Hall in NYC this evening. His virtuosity on the mandolin is profound. And it was his wife’s birthday today.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Just when you notice something that is way cool and that seems to be real, you discover…it’s not. Real.
For example, I’ve recently started seeing the word amanuensis everywhere I look. And I started thinking, “Wow. Cool, a new word that I’ve never seen, and now it’s everywhere I look.”
But.
It turns out I probably have seen it and just didn’t notice it until BLAM, it just SEEMS to be everywhere.
This phenomenon of seeing something that you THINK is new and that is suddenly everywhere you look has a name.
The name of that phenomenon?
It’s called the Frequency Illusion.
It’s an illusion. An illusion. Unbelievable.
Everywhere I look, there it is. Amanuensis. An illusion.
Turns out that the word amanuensis has been lurking around here all this time, and I just didn’t notice it.
Therefore. This begs the question, “What else am I missing?”
At any rate, an amanuensis is a literary assistant who among other things writes from dictations or copies manuscripts. Good to know.
Also good to know…
The Frequency Illusion concept is part of a bigger list of things under the heading of cognitive biases.
In unrelated matters, in closing, and at day’s end, thanks to Kai Ryssdal, I now know:
A Harvard survey asked, “Do you trust Facebook to do the right thing?”
71% said no.
The same survey asked, “Do you trust Congress to do the right thing?”
79% said no.
Real. Not an illusion.
There may be trouble ahead.
Til next time.
Not an illusion...my favorite pencil box from the Met.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Finished reading two books this week, one short story, and saw a movie…Ready Player One.
1. Beartown: A Novel by Fredrik Backman.
I had no idea I was capable of reading a book about high school ice hockey. But there you have it. Total immersion and a total surprise. While the book was indeed about hockey, it was mostly about dominance, angst, missed opportunities, big plans, and the total randomness of the geographical placement of people on the planet. The teachers, coaches, players, kids, parents, fans, bar owner, male aggression…they all played a huge part in the plot of this story, which come to think of it, I’m not even sure that there was a single plot. Instead, there were overlapping plots with completely separate stories of the lives of the characters. And in the end, a four-year-old girl shows up to lead the cavalry with the promise to save the day…an alpha female who is completely unaware of her destiny. A great ending to a really thoughtful book.
2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
Poverty, strength, family, racial divides, financial divides, educational divides, drug wars, community, aggression, anger, decency. It’s all there. As I read, I kept thinking, oh my gosh, what else can go wrong for these characters. Drugs, prison, poverty, violence, death, injustice, riots, and nowhere to go but up. Maybe the worst part of the situations in which the characters find themselves is that it echoes life so realistically. And the saddest part of that takeaway? It doesn’t have to be this way. We could all do better. The fires and explosions at the end of the book are so unjust and maddening that it almost appears that there is no hope. However, because the book features a huge cast including Starr Carter, Tupac, and Kendrick Lamar, it’s possible that in the future, everything will be Alright.
Evidently, there’s nothing the man can’t do. The 3D impact of this movie established new heights for the flicks. And of course, Mark Rylance was better than perfect…if that’s a thing. And it is. And after watching the movie, I've decided I probably need to create my own avatar complete with dæmon, reading glasses, and an overstuffed chair with a nice side-table for snacks.
And now? Too much reading and not enough treadmilling.
Til next time.
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Monday, April 2, 2018
What’s better than arriving at your office and finding three new packages delivered from Strand Books? Not much.
Looks like the start of a busy month.
Other good news. Today…just today. I discovered that my habit of four-per-day Snackwells are ten times as good when refrigerated.
Who knew that a Monday could be so sweet.
Til next time.
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Hey Siri, can you spell product placement?
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Walter Mosley was live on BookTV today for three hours. Splendid. Every minute. He was generous, pleasant, supportive of all callers, wise, literary, and an all-around good guy. He seems very busy with his next book, his musical, his book-to-movie endeavors, and his favorite meal of blue crab gumbo with okra. He was a total pro with exactly the right amount of hospitality, advice, and encouragement.
Also.
For ten years, maybe more or perhaps a bit less, I’ve been wanting to make a really huge timeline that shows when certain people lived and died. I wanted to show overlaps between and within groups.
WELL…today was the day.
After days of planning and hours of effort as well as several different prototypes along with plenty of tape, I’ve completed a rough draft. And yet, sadly, after all this energy, the whole thing has turned out to be much less than I had hoped.
I wonder if Elon Musk ever feels that way. Probably not.
Back to my chart.
The purple represents artists, the green politicians, the orange scientists. All from 1300 to an optimistically 2050. I included Joan of Arc as a politician but erroneously left off a world hero known as Eleanor Roosevelt. So back to the drawing board and possibly square one.
Til next time.
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Saturday, March 31, 2018
It’s a hmmmm sort of a day.
An author today on BookTV said that the days of Walter Cronkite are over. That’s a shame because we need generous, independent, non-self-serving people who can gather, curate, connect, and explain news events so that they make contextual and historical sense.
On the other hand, there’s a man named Erik Hagerman in Ohio who has stopped all media coming into his life. He farms, buys groceries, visits with his friends, reads, makes art, and swims in his pond…all pretty normal stuff…but without the constant drip, drip, drip of the ubiquitous news.
Tempting.
But…
No BookTV? No New Yorker? No Bookworm? No TimesTalks? No Marketplace? No Dark Money?
Might be doable.
But then I would have missed out on a BookTV historian who studies the history of social movements and their impact on public policy. Nancy MacLean. Very compelling data and arguments.
So it looks as though I’ll be moving forward with media intact.
AND. I found a photo of the perfect reading environment that I may try to duplicate.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, March 28, 2018
I don’t know exactly how I wound up listening to a fifteen-year-old interview and then an eighteen-year-old interview with Harold Bloom. I just know that I did.
Oh, yes, now I remember. It's amazing what the mind will do when it's allowed to drift around here and there. I wonder if that's a bad thing.
At any rate over a period of a few days and several hours...I was watching (again) Frances de la Tour and Alan Bennett talk about the National Theatre in London and then decided to rewatch (again) The Lady in the Van and after that decided to rewatch (again) Alan Bennett and Alex Jennings talk about the whole thing…all over again.
And suddenly I thought, wait…Alex Jennings. What do I actually know about him? A quick Google shows Olivier Awards and on and on right up to Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen. Then Harold Bloom pops up as an endorser of Peer Gynt…and then it’s off to the races.
Why is all this so thrilling?
I. Do. Not. Know.
But it is.
Thrilling.
Absolutely.
Truly.
Thrilling.
On the other hand, if I were an English major in grad school with a requirement to analyze Peer Gynt in the style of Harold Bloom, I know I would be apoplectically distressed.
But I’m not.
An English major.
So I am.
Thrilled.
Truly.
And it’s not even yet the week’s end.
So the short take-away from all this is Professor Bloom’s quote from 2000 when talking with Brian Lamb, “Either you believe that reading and teaching and thinking about the best that has been thought and written and said matters and does everyone a great deal of good, or you do not.”
And exactly what is the best? Well, that probably takes a lifetime of earnest searching to discover.
My new Keds arrived today via Amazon Prime, and even though they’re actually too tight to wear, they're very cute. And I’m sure they’re going to stretch a bit over time.
Right?
Til next time.
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Friday, March 23, 2018
Kai Ryssdal from Marketplace.
Tim, Hank, and Ben. It’s been amazing to listen to Kai interview Tim, Hank, and Ben ten years after the mortgage crisis of 2008.
Timothy Geithner…Henry Paulson…Ben Bernanke
After that, it was almost essential to rewatch the movie, Too Big to Fail. The parallels between Kai’s interview and the movie are nearly absolute. The take-away from Kai's interview is that these three guys with their smarts, their know-how, and their courage along with Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, and Nancy Pelosi did actually save the country from bread lines, unemployment, and inflation.
But why did it all happen in the first place? Good question.
The simple answer?
Home ownership.
Home loans were injudiciously made, mortgages couldn’t be paid, mortgage insurance companies had to pick up the tab, and everyone simply ran out of money.
Timothy Geithner… Billy Crudup
Henry Paulson… William Hurt
Ben Bernanke… Paul Giamatti
Hollywood got it just right.
Lessons learned?
It’s a jungle out there.
And?
Don’t spend more than you have.
And?
In the money industry as in much of life, consumers have to decide whom to trust. I trust Tim, Hank, Ben, Barney, Christopher, Nancy, and Kai.
Putin? Cambridge Analytica? Not so much.
Politics is the art of deciding who gets what. That’s why life can be so much more pleasant between the covers of a book. And speaking of books. Sheila Nevins executive produced a documentary on Arthur Miller’s work and life. I watched it this week. He, at age 41, testified on June 21, 1956 in front of U.S. Senator (R-Wisconsin) Joseph R. McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and revealed nothing. In fact, he was cited and convicted for contempt. He appealed and won his case with Washington’s Court of Appeals on August 7, 1958.
And…I was lucky enough to see Miller’s All My Sons with John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson, and Katie Holmes in 2009. Quite intense and unforgettable. I kept my Playbill and ticket as souvenirs.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Grant Snider has reading goals.
Til next time.
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Monday, March 19, 2018
I’m getting through Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell…but rather more slowly than I had anticipated.
I’m actually bogged down with her recounting of three Hellenistic theories that guided Montaigne’s thinking:
Stoicism
Epicureanism
Skepticism
.˙. I’ve decided that rather than philosophy, I’m much more a fan of Jane Goodall, Dava Sobel, Jared Diamond, and Edward O. Wilson. Somehow, it’s easier to study nature and humanity from the vantage of what can actually be seen and documented. Empirically…seems to be the word I’m looking for.
So. I’ll have to do some serious reading at some point in the distant future about Hume, Locke, Aristotle, Socrates, and all those in between to actually come to a conclusion about the philosophy of living well.
Until then and even if I am pretty skeptical about it all, I might get back into Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein.
Until then, I’ve come across a definition that I quite like of what makes a successful civilization:
Self-Governing
Rule of Law
Democracy
That’s a lot for a Monday. Maybe time for a reprieve into something a bit lighter like Sheila Nevins’s new book…click click. Done. Kindle. Sheila.
I’m looking for a mind at work. And Sheila seems to be the one. She’s taken a hard look at it all. For forty years. Quite a legacy.
Til next time.
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Sunday, March 18, 2018
A lazy Sunday made less so with a couple of Double Espressos. And then of course it’s the NYT, Andrew Lloyd on the CD player, and then reading all about Sheila Nevins after watching her booktalk on BookTV this morning.
Then a couple more chapters in Sarah Bakewell’s Montaigne.
And later? Alan Cumming debuts in his new TV show but without his Scottish brogue. Such a shame.
Nevertheless.
A perfectly sunny day. Even in the rain.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Stephen Hawking died today at age 76.
The obituary in The New York Times was a well-written tribute to a man who understood much and gave us even more.
My copy of A Brief History of Time seems to be temporarily misplaced, but I will find it soon.
His work. His life. Indisputably good.
Til next time.
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Monday, March 12, 2018
At some point, readers must stop surveying the field, flying through genres, and browsing the stacks.
So for now and maybe for a long while. Maybe. John Banville.
I read Roger Rosenblatt's remarkable review of John's new book, Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir.
Then it’s just a few clicks here and there to get the big picture.
How have I missed this person all these years?
First, I found an interview IN DUBLIN from 2004 with Michael Silverblatt. John shared his thoughts on writing. Michael. Without Michael, I just can’t visualize what my mind would be.
And then it was on to a few youtube interviews.
He (John) is a post-humanist believing that humans are not the center of the universe. He wonders if humans will be replaced by a bigger virus. He thinks we are not as important as we think we are. He thinks all works of art are simply the result of trying to solve a technical problem. “Something comes into your head. How do I get this expressed. How do I express my amazement at the world and all its extraordinary phenomenon and bafflements.”
I may start with his book The Sea and work my way up to the present. Iris Murdoch also wrote The Sea, which I may reread.
But wait. I just now watched a youtube of John and his agent being interviewed at an Irish university in Cork. And I noticed that John was a bit quarrelsome with the interviewers. This reminded me that he was even a bit short with Michael.
Also, John talked quite a bit about wanting to make money, which in most circles is always considered bad form. Hmmm. Nevertheless, the sea, the sea, I must go down to the sea again.
Right after dinner.
One last thought. Michael also interviewed Seamus Heaney who quoted Yeats who said that a poet writes about his personal life but he is never, “the bundle of accident and incoherence that sits down at breakfast.”
Or even to dinner.
Til next time.
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Sunday, March 11, 2018
A remarkable sequence of events over several hours and a couple of days.
Started (again) reading How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell.
Going well.
Watched a Barnes and Noble video on BookTV by Steven Pinker about his new book on enlightenment titled, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.
Perfect.
Picked up TNYTBR from March 4, 2018, and there’s Sarah Bakewell reviewing Steven Pinker’s new book.
Really quite cool.
The circle of books as well as the oddly unexpected sequence of random events can always be trusted.
Til next time.
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Saturday, March 10, 2018
Last week, Michael Silverblatt interviewed Dave Eggers and Mokhtar Alkhanshali about producing coffee in Yemen. As Michael was about to pronounce a word of which he was unsure, he asked for guidance from his guest from Yemen by saying, “I am very capable of error.” Which of course he isn’t. But it was a very sweet moment…among many.
An excellent interview.
Also this week, I learned the extent to which the advertisers on the internet are interested in mapping our individual thoughts and deeds according to our online searches.
Therefore, in order to control and confuse my internet psychological profile, I’m going to start googling odd things like:
Shoulder pads for geese.
Bovine balding patterns.
Mason Cache bowls used for road paving.
Spring flowers used for parachute construction.
Creating marshmallow pudding as fuel for tractors.
Handi-wipes made from diamond dust.
Conquering bricks with sunscreen.
Avoiding highway congestion with Febreze.
Bitcoin laundering procedures.
Things like these.
And now? How many copies of The Elements of Style does one person actually need?
Til next time.
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Friday, March 9, 2018
I finished reading Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. This book will forever be in my head. I wish it had ended with less magical realism since the rest of the book had only too-stark and too-real and totally preventable, absolute sadness with no magic in sight.
Also finished reading Lillian Boxfish by Kathleen Rooney. This book seemed to lack flambuoyance, which is evidently spelled flamboyance. It did, however, totally remind me of Leonard Marcus’s book Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, which I loved, loved, loved, and it also reminded me of The Odd Woman and the City by Vivian Gornick who is a literary flâneur and a much admired thinker and writer.
And finally, I discovered I rather enjoy every now and then an Izze Sparkling Water Beverage of the Mandarin Lime variety…with its status as being USDA Organic a real plus.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, March 7, 2018
I don’t really think it’s supposed to work this way. Nevertheless, my mind and the internet somehow led me to a 1957 interview between Mike Wallace and Bennett Cerf of Random House. The interview is online and is housed at UT Austin.
Oh, yeah. NOW I remember. I was discussing the publisher Random House with someone, and in my head popped a need to do a bit of reading about Bennett who founded Random House in order to publish a few books now and again at random.
The Mike Wallace and Bennett Cerf interview was about quality literature, censorship, and television viewing. During the interview, Mike mentioned a group called National Organization for Decent Literature that sought to advise people about what should and shouldn’t be read.
Random House and Bennett Cerf are of course responsible for bringing the controversial and banned Ulysses by James Joyce to the US through a court case, which of course, Bennett won.
The decision of District Judge Woolsey in 1933 regarding Ulysses is very interesting and very readable…much more so, unfortunately, than the actual novel.
I finally finished the Knausgaard piece on Russia. He wrote it exactly right.
His stories of the people he met on his journey hold the secret of Russia, but the people from these stories are totally without the power or authority to orchestrate their own lives. They are, instead, the ordinary souls who inhabit a place that is large enough to contain them but that is not free enough to allow them to lead anything close to a contented life.
The three lively women on the train.
The young couple in Kazan with a baby on the way.
Sergei the truck driver.
The old, old woman in the village.
Those are the people of Russia. They live in a world of hardship. This is what totalitarianism brings...hardship with the hope and promise of a better tomorrow that never actually materializes. Masha Gessen writes about this situation and speaks passionately about Russia and its people.
Knausgaard refers often to Turgenev’s A Sportman’s Sketches, which is a collection of stories by Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883). The specific story Knausgaard refers to is about five boys telling stories by the campfire. I will read this soon.
The final reaction to the piece is that there seems to be an absence of educational opportunities in areas outside of Moscow…not only a lack of opportunity for education but also a lack of public libraries, trade schools, accessible universities, or even the simplest of human comforts for a modern life.
Based on this story, I’ve stolen someone else’s new year’s resolution:
Less procrastination. More gratitude.
Thanks, Karl Ove.
And then also today, I watched Jeff Shaara and Peter Slen on BookTV live for three hours. Mesmerizing. Totally. First-rate. Flawless. However, only one woman named Susan called in or emailed a question during the whole three hours. Hmmm. At any rate.
Thanks, BookTV, Peter Slen, and Brian Lamb. You’ve changed the trajectory of the nation.
One last anecdote from Jeff Shaara. During the filming of Gettysburg with Martin Sheen, Martin’s horse kept veering off course so that the director had to shoot the scene several times. During the final shoot when the horse was at last cooperating, a phone rang in one of the buildings in the background. An actor near that building called out, “Jeb Stuart is going to be late.”
And now? Moving on, in a bit, to less procrastination.
Til next time.
How you say in Swedish, "Hey Dude, you gotta stop smokin'."
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Saturday, March 3, 2018
Ever have that dream like when Bob Hoskins takes a baseball bat to defend himself against Liam Cunningham in the series The Street except that it’s not Bob and Liam, it’s you and Ken Howard with a hammer?
No?
Me neither.
Which makes this an excellent time to listen to all my musicals on CD.
No more Street for me.
Tomorrow? Jeff Shaara live on BookTV.
One more thing: Bob Hoskins (1942-2014) was a wonderful actor in The Street and was also particularly wonderful when he and Frances de la Tour starred in Flickers in 1980. Flickers is still in my head after all this time. I should buy it on DVD. I know it still stands up as great art.
And speaking of Frances, my favorite line of hers occurs in Alan Bennett’s The Lady in the Van when Frances’s character is talking to Maggie Smith’s character.
Maggie’s character is sitting in her van.
Frances walks by.
Maggie looks up and says, “You’re tall.”
Frances replies, “My husband was tall.”
SOOOOOO perfect.
Til next time.
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Friday, March 2, 2018
"A tall English man with good manners and a good suit."
That’s the description of Bill Nighy as offered by Christopher Walken in Turks and Caicos written by David Hare. At some point, I’m going to tire of rewatching this trilogy. But so far…it’s two thumbs up after more viewings than I’m willing to admit.
Also.
Finished reading The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. Quite an elevating read with a great main character named Lila Mae who is just this side of perfect. I wish her life had been easier.
Halfway into Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Unfortunately, she captured the plight of troubled folks all too accurately. I think you have to be very brave to write this kind of book. Actually, you have to be pretty brave to even read it.
I’m also halfway into An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris. The book is a fictionalized account of the Frenchman, Alfred Dreyfus better known as the main character in the Dreyfus Affair. There are many colonels, generals, soldiers, characters, and spies in this book. It requires concentration. And concentration is made possible by a bit of rain, thunder, and a few ocean waves courtesy of Amazon Prime.
Although it’s a little early in the morning, is it ever too early for Knausgaard?
I do, however, wonder if it’s too late for
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
Diary of a Madman
Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852)
We may never know for sure.
But.
Another coffee?
Yes, please.
Til next time.
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Friday, February 23, 2018
Speaking of hope…a slow steady read of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback is a good way to end the week.
Simms Taback, February 13, 1932 - December 25, 2011.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, February 21, 2018
I’m reading The Intuitionist: A Novel by Colson Whitehead. I love Lila Mae, and I will never take an elevator again without being more conscious of Mr. Elisha Graves Otis from 1853. And then let's not forget the nefarious dealings of all the competing elevator companies who were happy to cause trouble in the business of elevation.
Plus, this book is comforting in an odd sort of way because Colson injects humor, wit, astute observations, and cuteness throughout even though it’s a dark and mafia-laden book.
I’m also reading Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson who does these kinds of books better than anyone. A delicious read. Better than chocolate cake. Nearly.
Then next, I’m queued up to read...too many to choose from. There will barely be time for sleep.
And finally, I’m happy to report that Maggie from The Paris Spy survived although she is, at the end of the book, incarcerated. Book eight of the Maggie Hope series is due out August 27 2018, which of course means that Hope is in the pipeline for survival.
Til next time.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
A short road-trip this weekend.
Short enough but long enough to listen to all of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton for the umpteenth time. I’m so blown away by the story, the talent, the struggle, the duel, the loss, the rap, the rhythm, but mostly Eliza’s strength.
I visited the graveyard at Trinity Church last year. So now I need Einstein to give me time travel so that I can bring back Alexander and Eliza to show them what they’ve accomplished.
I would keep them semi-sequestered until they were acclimated to the idea that they were here in 2018. I’m sure they’d eventually ask (sooner rather than later), “What’d we miss?”
To allow time for acclimation, I’d show them around little by little until they could manage the subway, a credit card, and modern cuisine.
We’d shop at Macy’s, have lunch at Fairway Market, stay at the Hilton, stop by the Museum of Natural History, The Grange at 141st, his statue at 84th and East Drive, The Metropolitan, and then eventually… I’d have to call Ron Chernow, David McCullough, Jon Meacham, Douglas Brinkley, and Doris Kerns Goodwin. And of course Lin and Phillipa Soo would have to be included in that august group.
Then at that point, I’m sure that they would all take over the agenda, and I could only hope to be in the room when it happened.
Til next time.
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Friday, February 16, 2018
Today?
Yo Yo Ma, Chris Thile, and Edgar Meyer on Amazon Prime (still the best deal in America…Amazon Prime).
Coffee with cream and sugar.
AND
A new book. The Paris Spy.
It’s a Maggie Hope mystery. And it’s right in the middle of WWII.
Maggie is about to be questioned by the Gestapo all the while knowing that two of her British compatriots are being tortured and murdered by the Gestapo in the basement of a Paris mansion.
At this point in the book, the German occupation of France is complete except for the French resistance.
The French resistance…much to be admired and studied.
I can’t believe I’m reading this kind of book. But I can’t seem to put it down. One of the characters in the book who has sold out his British citizenship to be part of the German Third Reich has chosen to do so because he preferred Fascism to Communism.
Politics is complex and many times below the dignity of our potential.
The whole book is SO disturbing on practically every level and yet literary, historical, and spellbinding.
The ONLY reason I’m finishing it this weekend is that it’s part of a series of Maggie Hope books. So…I’m thinking Maggie has got to survive.
Then? Back to Danielle Steel? No. Probably not.
The thing about blogging is that nobody reads it and it doesn’t pay (according to Cheryl Strayed), which of course makes it quite fun.
At any rate, I hope this book ends well.
Oh yeah. It will. Winston Churchill.
“We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
Til next time.
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Thursday, February 15, 2018
The Square by Ruben Östlund.
I just watched it twice in two days.
It’s a film about art analyzing art that analyzes society.
The film features the ordinary ennui of small groups of people woven into the completely preventable human-made disasters of all of society.
The Square is a fictionalized work of art in Sweden that consists of a square. Inside the square is where trust and caring are supposed to be absolute. Hungry? Need a swimming lesson? Need to talk? Help is inside the square.
Trust, caring, and moral courage are the themes of the square, of the film, and of the better angels of our nature.
The film’s writer has created something quite special. The film would make a good focal point for a university course especially if it were paired with a reading and discussion of Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.
The syllabus would outline ways in which the book’s and the film’s truths could be unpacked (as they too often say) in terms of wealth, poverty, the roads taken to arrive at the world’s wealth and poverty, and then the comparison of our species to others that have not divided themselves into the haves and have nots. (This may be the connection to the chimp that is in two scenes with the American journalist played by Elizabeth Moss.)
Additonally, an analysis of Ave Maria performed by Yo Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin throughout the film would make a grand conversation.
I wonder if it’s true that 291 people own half the wealth on the planet. That’s a line from the film.
Final thought:
The Swedish writer and director, Ruben Östlund, has produced a really great film. And yet, I bet he’s on to his next big thing. He should take a rest…maybe for a while. He deserves it. How much more does he have to create? Seems like he’s done enough.
Best part:
The cleaner who cleaned up the excess gravel and then the museum director’s decision to redistribute the gravel as if nothing happened.
Most disturbing part:
The mean man who dragged a woman from the table and no one immediately helped.
Most questionable part:
The chimp who drew on his own nose.
The biggest commentary part:
Competition for money for art is fierce and unforgiving.
Oddest moment:
Christian and Michael are in Christian’s Tesla listening to loud electronic music by Justice.
Another oddest moment:
A bunch of people are wildly jumping around and appear to be dancing in the Swedish Palace.
The last scene:
The youngest actor wears a baseball cap, lowers her eyes, and holds the future. Will it be more of the same or will her generation fix the world’s inequities?
Stay tuned.
But so far, it’s not lookin’ too good even though there’s always tomorrow…
Til next time.
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Wednesday, February 14, 2018
As often sometimes happens, thoughts of missed opportunities bubble up on this festive day of flowers and chocolate.
Actually, my one and only real regret in all of life regards a sweet but missed opportunity to dance with Alan Cumming on the stage of Cabaret.
There I was (unbeknownst to me) sitting in the designated seat where Alan would come off stage and invite that particular occupant for a brief dance.
And I was the chosen one. Yes. Me. I had the magic moment. The golden ticket. The one and only. He offered his hand. I glanced away. The moment passed. He chose another. The show went on. Without me.
Why?
Why?
My purse.
I was seated at a table with two others whom I did not know. And my immediate thought as Alan walked in my direction was, “What will I do with my purse? I don’t know these people. Do I leave it on the table? Will they steal it? Will they steal its contents?” I just didn’t know. I had said hello to each of them prior to the show’s beginning. But what did that mean? Practically nothing.
And by then it was all too late. It was over. The moment had passed. The dance was complete.
But truthfully and mostly, while all that thinking about my purse had been happening at the speed of light, I was actually saying to myself, “I can’t really dance all that well especially in front of people especially on a stage especially with Alan.”
Missed opportunities.
It’s all about how to move on.
If you can.
Oh yes.
The purse? Prada. Ebay. Pre-Owned. I love it. To this day.
Still. I would trade it in a heartbeat for a waltzing moment with Alan.
Til next time.
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Friday, February 9, 2018
It really is. It’s really almost too much.
Here I am reading about a boy named Blue who was abandoned by his family, found living rough, and saved by Ginny, a human rights’ worker. Danielle Steel sets all this up in Blue. Quite a read. And to think I was ready to give up on her work after reading Property of a Noblewoman, which was about sad people winding up rich in New York City, Florence, and beyond. But in Blue, there’s redemption without a shallow character anywhere in sight.
Then a minute later…I’m reading a review of a book of critical essays by J. M. Coetzee who won the Booker twice as well as the Nobel, and I’m thinking that as a literary scholar he’d have a totally different reaction to both Blue and the Noblewoman.
It’s a great responsibility to be an official commentator of books. That’s why I rely almost entirely on Michael Silverblatt. What will I do if he ever retires? His author interviews are always perfect with an honesty and a gaze that never hesitate. He makes it all accessible for everyone, and isn’t that what the best curators do?
Yes. The answer is Yes.
One more little thing.
President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1975 awarded the French Legion of Honor to Paul Bocuse, a chef who achieved 3 Michelin stars.
And speaking of hero workshop, I saw these folks walking on the streets of NYC in the past few decades…always in midtown. I wonder if they saw me.
Saul Rubinek
Nancy Walker
Angela Lansbury
Alan Rickman
James Earl Jones
James Spader
Sarah Jessica Parker
Robert Wuhl
Yes. Cabs are expensive, but sometimes it’s simply faster to walk.
And finally. I bought a new book. Vivian Maier: Street Photographer. It’s just too, too perfect.
Til next time.
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Thursday, February 1, 2018
It’s a brisk chilly day on the first of February. And I’m finishing my first Danielle Steel novel, Against All Odds.
I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get to this number one best-selling author, but there you have it. Better late than never. Not really. But let’s see what can be done.
I’ve also just finished The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott.
Oddly enough, in these two particular books, Danielle and Alice have each written about women who have been married and widowed. Each of their characters faces entirely different sets of trials and tribulations mostly because they are in dramatically different income brackets.
Danielle’s character named Kate loses her husband, opens a very high-end clothing shop in SoHo, and pretty much lives happily ever after (as do her four children named Isabelle, Justin, Julie, and Zach).
Alice’s character named Annie loses her husband, spends nearly the remainder of her life working as a laundress in a church basement in Brooklyn with several nuns, and pretty much does not live happily ever after (nor does her daughter named Sally).
Both books were compelling.
Danielle’s publisher was Dell.
Alice’s publisher was Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Danielle’s book feels better than Alice’s book.
Alice’s book is a better portrayal of reality than Danielle’s.
Danielle’s book would probably be considered a beach-read.
Alice’s book would probably be considered literature.
These differences are murky for me. Can a book be both beachy and literary? Are these two books in that bi-lateral category?
Not for me to say. Just for me to read.
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And finally for today, a book I can always count on is Fish Eyes. I’m such a fan of Lois Ehlert. What talent. She’s a national treasure from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I may go there someday.
Til next time.
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Monday, January 29, 2018
According to Kai Ryssdale from his Friday broadcast last week, after the housing bubble burst in 2008, the DJIA was at 6,547 on March 6, 2009. It’s currently at 26,439.
And now?
I just watched all 25 two-minute episodes on Amazon Prime of Alice in Paris, which inspired me to have three cups of coffee. What a day.
Til next time.
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Saturday, January 27, 2018
Wow. The New Yorker. It just keeps coming.
Til next time.
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Friday, January 26, 2018
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. Like Maggie Smith in The Lady in the Van, I’m in two minds.
This book is a big undertaking. It travels through two world wars, several generations, and at least two coasts. And it gives a pretty accurate portrayal of navy ships, deep sea diving, prohibition, the Great Depression, and the mafia’s control of New York City in the 1930s.
I’m glad I finished it although there were several points at which I thought, when will the book’s characters become more unique. Each character seemed like an amalgamation of lots of generic types of people as opposed to admirable individuals.
In the end, it was as if each character’s survival, accomplishments, and achievements were more a product of when and where they were born rather than a product of their own personal efforts. Maybe that’s the way it actually is in life although I don’t think the author intended for that to be the book’s takeaway.
From an interview she did with Michael Silverblatt, who loved the book, I think she was very interested in that period of time, the war, and the Manhattan world of docks, shipping, and unions.
At any rate, done. Well done.
And next? Several nuns and a melancholy character named Sally in The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott.
Plus it’s the week’s end. And in the midst of winter, it’s nice to see a picture of a river from last August.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Ursula K. Le Guin died today. She was a writer and thinker of worthwhile ideas. I’m glad I know her work. In a By the Book interview in The NY Timeson August 6, 2015, she mentioned that The Cave by José Saramago translated from Portuguese by Margaret Costa was one of her favorite books. I’m going to read it. Her work will live on.
Til next time.
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Monday, January 22, 2018
I finished reading The Circle by Dave Eggers. It’s true. It’s all true.
Mae is the main character and is believably simple and naïve with big dreams of upward mobility (always a dangerous combination).
Mae comes to work for a company that sort of combines Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and Google into one all-knowing, all-consuming, all-controlling mega-company called…The Circle.
And of course The Circle’s goal is to have all people on the planet logged in at all times so that the company can know every little detail about every little person right down to the nittiest grittiest elemental fact.
Fun and comedy do not ensue. However, group-think does.
I think Dave Eggers got it all just right with regard to the inevitability and danger of technology to control human thought, choice, and individuality.
At the same time, he does make a good case that maybe the planet would be better off if individuals did not possess thought, choice, and individuality.
I loved the book.
The movie? No…not enough power…even with Tom Hanks (with or without Wilson).
The Circle…it’s closing. And when that happens, it’s not that thinking won’t be allowed, it’s just that thinking won’t be necessary.
And now for a more immediate concern.
"Hey Siri, how do you spell /net neutrality/?"
Til next time.
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Saturday, January 20, 2018
Today.
A bit of reading.
And
Isabel Allende and Michael Silverblatt on Bookworm.
And
Chris Thile in New Orleans.
And
A few coffee beans.
All that.
More than enough.
Today.
Til next time.
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Monday, January 15, 2018
It’s a good day. Got a new book yesterday. Going into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast.
My second book by her. She’s terrific and just off-kilter enough to be perfect.
And then… Imagine you’re Muhammad Ali and you’re winning fight after fight year after year and you keep on going until there is no more fight. Then it will be time for Jonathan Eig to write the book of your life that will then be reviewed in The NY Times by Joyce Carol Oates. Unbeknownst to Ali, that’s what happened on November 28, 2017. An astonishing life that will be hard to surpass…ever.
Til next time.
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Friday, January 12, 2018
For learners, the question becomes one of process. Is it better to have a predetermined curriculum where “others” plan the learning, the method, and the outcome?
Or is it better just to stumble along and pick up things here and there.
I’ve done both.
It’s far harder to stumble along. But in the end, far more germane.
For example, I was just reading a recent By the Book column from TheNY Times, and Jorge Luis Borges was mentioned. Basically, I wanted to know how to pronounce his name. So. I Googled it, found a youtube video, and boom. A gem.
Not only did I learn how to pronounce his name, but wow. There’s more.
In 1977, William F. Buckley, Jr. was interviewing Mr. Borges on Firing Line. During the interview, Mr. Borges said he was educated in his father’s library. From this education, it is obvious that he became a man of letters…all from his father’s library. During the interview he said he was a man who found happiness in reading and writing.
Throughout his life, when he heard something of interest, he noted it. And after thinking about it, it became a novel, a story, a sonnet, a poem. He explained that when he began to write one of his stories, he knew the first sentence and the last sentence.
He went on to say that he preferred reading in English rather than his native Argentine Spanish because English had both Germanic and Latin roots and could therefore be understood in two different ways while Spanish had only Latin roots. For example, he explained that the phrase “holy ghost” in English was both Germanic and Latin in its origin while the phrase “holy spirit” in English was only Latin in its origin. He explained that “holy ghost” encompassed both secular and religious connotations (German and Latin) while “holy spirit” encompassed only a religious connotation (Latin).
Additionally, he mentioned that he taught himself German as a young reader so that he could read Schopenhauer from his father’s library.
During this Firing Line, 60-minute interview, Mr. Borges referenced Melville, Kipling, Poe, Whitman, Emerson, Cervantes, Neruda, Marquez, Twain, and a dozen others without preparation or prepared scripts. Clearly, his gifts abound.
Will I remember all this? Perhaps. And mostly.
Was I profoundly impacted when I heard all this? Absolutely. And most certainly.
Mr. Borges, without even trying…just by being himself…educated Mr. Buckley, who seemed to uncharacteristically and humbly realize that he was in the presence of someone who without an agenda to do so demonstrated what a genuine intellectual conversation looked like when it had no pre-determined outcome other than to have a conversation.
And in return, Mr. Buckley, to his generous credit, was gracious and appropriately respectful. It was the first and perhaps the only time he resisted his argumentative stance…he knew he had a rare opportunity to be intellectually engaged merely for the sake of intellectual engagement. Mr. Buckley gave a gift to the world through this interview…a profound gift…probably his best.
Why this interview brought me such joy is quite inexplicable. Clearly, I am much too easily moved...by just about everything. Or maybe just by poets and cobblers and strivers and others who...
Toward the end, Mr. Borges gives us a Persian/universal/timeless metaphor, “The moon is the mirror of time.”
Finally, Mr. Borges quotes, “I can not tell a true song about myself. I can tell about my travels.”
A thing of beauty is a joy forever (Keats).
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was born in Buenes Aires, Argentina and died in Geneva Switzerland.
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008) was born in New York City, New York and died in Stamford, Connecticut.
Til next time.
Power and Truth...always a great outcome.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Three hours seem like a long chunk of time. However, three hours today of watching David Ignatius live on BookTV flashed by in the blink of an eye. And as always, I learned a lot.
I suppose the best parts of his remarks are two-fold:
1) he did an excellent job outlining the research and processes he uses to write his novels. He’s written ten so far and is working on his eleventh.
2) he is clearly an expert from his career in journalism on the international affairs of China, Russia, Pakistan, the Middle East, and the CIA. The insight he brings into the intersections of those entities and their subsequent clashes is nothing less than world class. He appears to be fairly optimistic that everything will work out. He seems to be both a reluctant pessimist as well as a cautious optimist. Not a bad stance.
BookTV. The best. And it’s all about…books.
Final thought. This is about the fourth time this year that someone has mentioned Anthony Trollope. He wrote. He worked at the British Post Office. He invented the red British mailbox.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Mr. Fred Bass of Strand Bookstore died today. He was 89 years old.
It’s a sad day for those of us who know and love his store and who love what he did for the book world.
Over the years, I've bought many books there. And I was never disappointed.
In his store, I always found exactly what I needed.
I was there one day and noticed him on the phone. There was no one between us. I quietly took his photo. And although he was looking in my direction over the top of his glasses, I never really knew whether he saw me or not. And I was too shy to acknowledge him or to ask his permission.
I made a print of the photo. But I never sent it.
I’ll keep it. For safekeeping.
Til next time.
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Monday, January 1, 2018
I decided to make a list of favorite books that I’ve read over the past few years and that are still rumbling around in my head. Seems like a good way to start the new year thinking about the past and looking forward to the future.
Til next time.
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
The Map and the Territory
by Michel Houellebecq
The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
by Maria Semple
The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck
My Struggle
by Karl Ove Knausgaard
A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman
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Sunday, December 31, 2017
Yuri Slezkine wrote the definitive book about Lenin’s repressive Russian government. He’s at UC Berkeley.
Two thoughts.
Scholarship and Activism are twins of truth.
A little revolution is a good way to start the new year.
If I were really, really rich, I’d hire a private tutor to teach me about history, art, science, and literature (I’d save math and chemistry for later…much later). And I’d start with Yuri.
Til next time.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
The Times had a piece this week about the extensive regulations that govern an apple orchard owned by a family living in Altamont, NY.
Evidently, there are approximately 5,000 rules and regulations that govern this 300-acre apple farm so that the owners can barely keep up. These apple farmers are governed by the EPA, FDA, DOL, and other state and national agencies. Seems excessive. And yet, we all want safe food.
The focus of the article is to analyze their situation and try to find the right balance between being able to continue living as a family farmer while still meeting strict and specific rules about how to sell family-farm produce at both the local and national levels.
Then later in the day, I was listening for the hundredth time to the CD Hamilton and was thinking about the arduous task of performing that extensively complex and intricately crafted Broadway show.
Which is more complex?
Growing and shipping apples or pretending to be Alexander Hamilton.
Each is certainly beyond me. But I do love them both.
And then suddenly today, I heard the name Tim Berners-Lee on BookTV. Rachel Botsman was giving a talk about her new book on the subject of trust at Cambridge Forum Live in Harvard Square.
At the end of Rachel’s talk, a questioner mentioned that Tim was the inventor of the internet. Really? How did I not know this?
Even Queen Elizabeth knows about this because she knighted him in 2004 for this very invention.
Way to go, Sir Tim.
Something else I just learned is that a quarter of an ounce of Chanel No. 5 parfum costs $130 (plus tax) whereas 30 ounces of Jean Nate can be purchased for $11.99. And even though I have to admit, I’ve always sort of liked Jean Nate, I do always covetously linger at the Chanel counter to take advantage of their free sample...and always parfum, never eau...
Apples, Hamilton, Botsman, Berners-Lee, Queen Elizabeth, Chanel, Jean Nate.
That’s quite a bit to consider for one day.
One more thing, I’m now hooked on Jo Nesbo’s books.
Looking forward to the new year, not a minute too soon.
Til next time.
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Monday, December 25, 2017
It’s breathtaking to listen to Yo Yo Ma, Chris Thile, and Edgar Meyer play Bach on their Bach Trios album. AND. It’s part of Amazon Prime.
BUT. It’s impossible to forget Rosemary Clooney’s White Christmas.
Happy Listening and Merry Christmas.
Til next time.
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Saturday, December 23, 2017
I’m ready to find out what the ten best books of 2017 are all about according to the The New York Times Book Review.
Then maybe a coffee by the fire, a bit of low-cal eggnog (if such a thing exists), or even a few laps on the treadmill.
Anything’s possible.
Til next time.
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Thursday, December 21, 2017
Two bookish things happened this week.
Ta-Nehisi Coates and Cornel West have elevated their public dispute about race relations in America to the breaking point. Both men have strong views about politics, the economy, and civic discourse. Unfortunately, they have allowed themselves to be divided by fates and furies.
Which brings me to a book I just finished reading titled, Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff.
The main characters are Lancelot known as Lotto and Aurélie known as Mathilde.
The two meet, marry, live, and survive until they don’t. One turning point in their relationship involves Lotto as a successful NYC playwright. At one point, he was invited to be part of a panel discussion for a large, literary-type audience, and he made the comment that men were more geared to creating art while women were more geared to nurturing art. Whoa. He paid a price for this diminished view of women from both his wife and from other women in the audience.
This reminded me of Julia Kristeva’s work on intertextuality and feminism. Like Lotto, I think Julia got much of it wrong.
There were lots of characters in this book, and basically, not many of them were all that likeable. But the book as a whole is widely successful in depicting life’s many phases for a wide variety of people.
This leads me to the rules that John Updike used when he wrote book reviews. He relied on five guidelines in deciding the quality of a book:
1. Try to understand what the author wished to do.
2. Give the book enough direct quotation—at least one extended passage—of the book's prose so the review's reader can form her own impression.
3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long.
4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.
5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's ouevre or elsewhere.
In conclusion: This is a lot of heavy-duty thinking for the season.
So now…with hats off to the extraordinary achievements of Ta-Nehisi, Cornel, Lauren, Julia, and John, back to our regularly scheduled program of simple Christmas cheer and a great gift of Boucheron. Much appreciated.
Til next time.
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Thursday, December 14, 2017
It’s been a busy week.
Saw Lady Bird. Good.
Saw Murder on the Orient Express. Good.
Saw Victoria & Abdul. Good.
Saw Three Billboards. Great. Great. Great. Frances, Woody, Sam. I might see it again.
Finished reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty. He won the Booker Prize for this book. It was a difficult book to read. It’s about race relations and shows anger and rage in a way that keeps hope in the distance. The characters have little control over their lives in terms of the economy, politics, and ethnicity. I was going to put it down several times, but somehow, I kept reading because I wanted to see how it all ended. And of course, as with all great books, it ended in the way that it had to end.
I also finished reading The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro. It had lots of five stars on Amazon, and yet…My overriding thoughts were unsympathetic toward the main character who was a painter who copied great paintings. Claire was her name. She had specialized knowledge about how to make paintings look old by using ink, turpentine, an oven, and special paint. I didn’t have sympathy for her because while she feigned ignorance of a missing Degas (pronounced Degah), she still copied it and then was totally shocked when the FBI charged her with forgery. Well. It was a complicated story with sort of a romanticized version of the life of an artist.
Next up?
The Darkest Hour with Gary Oldman
Wonder Wheel with Kate Winslet
And then?
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff and Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson.
More busy times ahead.
One last thing. There seems to be way too much Christmas candy everywhere I look…where did all this come from…who bought all this stuff…oh, yeah…I remember…mum’s the word.
Til next time.
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Friday, December 8, 2017
For at least the thirteenth year in a row, I’ve received a Christmas card from Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter. And I just noticed on the back of the card is a note that says that the image on the front of the card is a painting by Jimmy. Plus, I’ve just now checked all the other cards (yes, I keep everything) and found more of his paintings.
I look no further than this Mr. President to find a principled and generous citizen, leader, commander, activist, humanitarian, and family man.
Merry Christmas, Mr. President and Mrs. Carter.
It’s a good day. All day.
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Sunday, December 3, 2017
It's a lovely day.
The tree is up, the stockings are hung, and yet what I would really like is a list of all English words listed in order of how many times each word is found in all printed books.
And of course, the list would be sortable and searchable.
This would help me understand why I know the meaning of adulation but can NEVER remember the definition of sanguine. (And yes, I watched Modern Family this week.)
Til next time.
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Saturday, December 2, 2017
Today’s modern holidays bring the intersection of art, commerce, science, and technology. It’s almost too much.
And yet…here we are with nearly all my weekly plans done and dusted and with a lovely collection of reminders and rejoinders.
Til next time.
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Sunday, November 26, 2017
This week’s to-do list:
1. Find a cassette player and listen to Eudora Welty read aloud her short story titled, Why I Live at the P.O., which is a GREAT short story that I’ve already read but which will be even greater when I listen to Eudora read the story aloud in her own voice.
2. Watch Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri at the movies.
3. Finish The Golden House by Salman Rushdie.
4. Decorate the Christmas tree.
5. Go to Macy’s for some extra nice Christmas cheer.
6. Never watch Room 104 on HBO again. It’s just too disturbing although I’m sure it was plenty fun for the Duplass brothers to write.
7. Continue to perfect the perfect cup of peppermint coffee using
my Capresso conical burr grinder,
my 12-cup Cuisinart drip coffee maker,
my Evian and Cuisinart-filtered water,
my Starbucks French Roast whole bean coffee,
my International Delight French Vanilla Creamer, and
my Torani Sugar-Free syrup…all with a drop of McCormick Pure Peppermint Extract.
Whoa. This all sounds very excessive for just a tasty bit of caffeine. I may rethink this whole thing…less solipsistically. (A nice side note: The Jura company in New Jersey sent me a new lid for the burr grinder after I wrote to them and paid $7 for a new one. I lost the old lid because I accidentally threw it away when I was thoroughly cleaning the grinder for the season.)
8. Take a look at and consider reading some of the books on Scott Adams’s persuasion reading list. Scott was on BookTV today and did a great job.
9. On my kindle, read 14 Years of Loyal Service in a Fabric-Covered Box and I’m Tempted to Stop Acting Randomly both by Scott Adams.
10. Rewatch from decades ago, William F. Buckley, Jr. as he interviews Eudora Welty on Firing Line.
This seems like enough fun stuff for an impromptu to-do list. Plus, maybe I’ll catch a couple of youtubes of Malcolm Gladwell on income inequality and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on writing fiction.
Oh dear. This list actually appears to involve, except for Macy’s and decorating, a lot of sitting. Maybe a quick jog around the block or a fast game of soccer or a few lanes of bowling or a couple of miles on the treadmill…my prediction? Possibly a nap.
Til next time.
Eudora and me.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Friday…Schmiday.
Time to catch up on what’s happening with The Lion King not to mention the second half of Salman Rushdie’s The Golden House, which is engrossing and engaging in all the best ways.
To know and understand Greek and Roman mythology, economics, world culture, and national events and then to weave all that into a story with characters that are hard to put away is just a smidgen of the talent that Salman possesses.
With his fatwa lifted or at least in abeyance, Salman seems to be on top of the world, and I love his work.
With all this reading, that’s not to say that there’s not a bit of time for some online shopping and some leftover sweet potato pie (drats, I forgot to bake a sweet potato pie…oh well, there’s always next year).
And with regard to the pending doom of net neutrality by the FCC, I'm wondering if my slow wifi connection from AT&T is already a portent of things to come. Maybe it's time to switch service providers???? Are you there AT&T?
Til next time.
...
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Gosh.
Chris Matthews
Norman Ornstein
Walter Isaacson
Khizr Khan
Salman Rushdie
Christopher Hitchens
“We need him, but we don’t have him,” said Salman with regard to Hitch.
Miami Book Fair. BookTV. Coffee. Chocolate cookies. Only in America.
And now to sit back and think about the day and then maybe to browse my Zabar's catalog to see if their Cavalli Balsamic Vinegar might be on sale.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Oh my gosh. I just checked. It's actually gone up $12. Hmmm. It sure is good though. Might be worth it. I'll have to think about it.
Til next time.
Decaf? No way. What would be the point?
Friday, November 17, 2017
It was an extraordinary book. The Changeling by Victor Lavalle. Victor combined magical realism, Norwegian mythology, feminist theory, two complex main characters, urban life, and two heroic NYPD officers who at the last minute saved the day and who didn’t even know it. How’d Victor do all that? Apollo and Emma married and had a child delivered on the A train in NYC. Shortly thereafter, everything went wrong. Actually, long before that, everything went wrong. The ending? It ended in the only way possible.
Another book? I’ve just abandoned Julian Barnes’s The Noise of Time. It was written as a novel, but because it was historically accurate and about Shostakovich, it felt like a very, very long Wikipedia entry. There were just too many things I had to look up to get a sense of time and place. Sorry. I’m just not the ideal reader for that book.
Which brings me to a book I had thought I’d really like but have set aside for a while until after I bake the Christmas cookies. The book? The Golden House by Salman Rushdie. Salman was great, by the way, on a recent Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David. Go, Salman.
Also, I just finished The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz and am planning on reading his other Lisbeth book, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye. These are continuations of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg died November 9, 2004 in his native Sweden. The Swedish movies of his work starred Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist (who died June 27, 2017).
Today, the NYT had a piece on the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Margot Wallstrom. The Scandinavian countries seem to be flourishing with writers, stories, thinkers, leaders, and The Way Out. Must be all that snow and ice that keeps them indoors, out of mischief, and with plenty of time to debate, write, think, lead, and work.
Music? I just bought The Sound of Silence by Disturbed. This song was at the end of this week’s Blacklist with James Spader. It’s astonishing what good musicians can to do to revise a song and make it brand new…even after fifty years. It’s a great song and intense rendition. Still, I’m not adding it to my playlist of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holliday who are in spheres all their own.
And finally, it’s the weekend. Come on, Dowager. Let’s get you on board.
Til next time.
...
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Why does eating any amount of chocolate seem infinitely more rewarding than even the tiniest bit of effort aimed at tidying up my writing table?
Don’t know, but ‘tis true.
And by the way? The last word in Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt?
‘Tis.
Til next time.
'Tis a grand and glorious mess with no end in sight...
Sunday, November 12, 2017
No rain in sight.
I’m between books and am three weeks behind in reading the NYTBR, which is where I usually find something that is in the must-read category. Good thing it’s a nice Sunday afternoon.
Six little things and one big thing to remember:
1. Dame Maggie or maybe Dame Judi or maybe just a normal mortal explained that whether to put the milk in first or the tea in first depends on the quality of the cup. If the cup is of a cheaper quality, put the milk in first to temper the heat of the tea. If the cup is of a high quality, put the tea in first and then the milk. It’s all about saving the cup.
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with Frances McDormand is on my must-see list.
3. Lady Bird directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf is also a must-see. An absolute must-see. I finally heard Saoirse’s name pronounced. It reminds me of the word insertion without the /n/ at the beginning and end. Ta-da.
4. Elmore Leonard wrote ten rules of writing, the first of which is never open a book with weather. The other nine are equally illuminating and brilliant and entertaining and explanatory and aspirational.
5. I found a recipe for Apple Crisp on page 134 of my favorite microwave cookbook. An apple a day…
6. David Maraniss and Doug Stanton discussed the Vietnam War yesterday on BookTV. It was a conversation about the past that could actually educate us all for the future. Their knowledge is total and complete.
Final thought from the American Book Awards:
Telling the truth is a matter of valor and bravery.
Til next time.
...
Saturday, November 11, 2017
I just received a super-duper offer from Sirius XM for two years of satellite radio. For only $400+, I can have their radio service. Unfortunately, this offer is not for me. The reason? For the sake of due diligence, I actually feel compelled to read their ten-part disclaimer written in 4 point font, and frankly, I don’t have that kind of time nor that big of a magnifying glass.
So, it’s gonna have to be public radio for me.
Sorry, Sirius.
Plus, there's always BookTV. Just watched Jon Kerstetter talking about his book as a doctor and soldier and as a recovering stroke victim. He did a wonderful job. He talked about the Carlisle Mission School and the Oneida tribe. This reminded me of Sherman Alexie’s wonderful books based on his life as a member of the Spokane tribe in Washington.
Both of these men have an inner strength that manifests itself in one word…resilience.
And best of all? Their wonderfully written and profoundly good books are NOT written in 4 point font.
Til next time.
Yes, I met Sherman, he signed my book/his book.
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
An assistant named Fantasia.
An investigator named Kalinda.
An attorney named Elsbeth.
A PB&J sandwich with pear, brie, and jambon (French ham).
A pumpkin-spice espresso.
An enjoyable afternoon with Several Short Sentences about Writing (by Verlyn Klinkenborg).
And the day moves forward.
It’s just so great what a little caffeine can do…not to mention my beloved Eric Carle wristwatch, which is SO much better than…well, you know.
Til next time.
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...
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Michael Lewis did a great job during his three-hour interview today on BookTV. I watched the whole thing and barely even blinked. His books are based on topics he finds interesting. And fortunately, his interests are universally interesting.
I’m even going to rewatch his The Big Short.
And an extra bonus is that The Big Short streams on Netflix.
Hurray.
Til next time.
A blink-free zone...almost.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Just got my catalog from Tiffany & Co. At a time when Sears and Kmart are closing stores, Tiffany is sending out a catalog of must-have items. This is the kind of thing a socio-economist would be interested in studying.
For me, I’m interested in the Texas Book Festival, which has been broadcasting live on BookTV all day. It’s been tremendous. The Texas Book Festival and BookTV are real gifts to the nation. And TOMORROW, Michael Lewis will be live for three hours. I’ll be there. And I might even flip through my new catalog although it will probably be very easy/difficult not to order/wish for anything.
Speaking of wishes, I just started reading Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. And by page three, I’m totally reminded of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. So, I know this is gonna be a great book.
I did also just finish Solar by Ian McEwan. Ian writes about a physicist named Michael Beard. Professor Beard is interested in saving the planet from global warming.
Professor Beard's first idea is:
1. Dumping iron shards into the ocean in order to feed plankton which will then absorb the earth’s man-made carbon thereby creating a planet that is carbon neutral.
His second idea is:
2. Harnessing solar power, separating hydrogen from water, burning the hydrogen, turning the turbines, generating electricity. As near as I can tell. The fact that this hasn’t been implemented in real world time, means that it’s a difficult and expensive process. But ultimately, non-polluting energy on a non-profit basis for the benefit of humanity and the planet is the goal. I have no doubt that this is going to happen. But in time? That’s the rub.
Ian McEwen is a genius. His ability to tell the stories of people’s messy lives while at the same time including great emphases on math, music, science, philosophy, religion, morals, and history is simply second to none.
What a week. Actually, what a week-end.
Til next time.
...
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Done and dusted. I seem to be using this phrase a lot lately. Can't say why.
Saturday by Ian McEwan. A day in the life of a surgeon who lives his day with a game, a fight, a dinner, a hostage situation, and finally a reprieve. All in one day. On a very busy Saturday. There’s nothing better than a well-crafted story told effortlessly.
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. A woman dies and two old friends deal with the riches and spoils of her life. Music, politics, and the newspaper business all overlap in this story in a way that rings nothing but truth.
Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Brief essays about everything under the sun including the sun, the wind, the rain, and the stars. These are his gifts to his daughter. Karl Ove seems to live in a universe that is much, much beyond mine but which is viewable and appreciated.
Class Mom by Laurie Gelman. An older mom, Jen, with a kindergartener is talked into being a class mom for her young son. The book is a series of amusing anecdotes about the petty and profound ways in which schools, teachers, kids, parents, moms, dads, and life collide. In my mind I kept comparing Jen to Bernadette in Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.
Next?
The Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell. Maybe. This book is one I should read but don’t necessarily want to read. I'm in two minds on this one.
I do know I want to read Wishtree by Katherine Applegate and can't wait to get started.
It’s a busy fall.
And to break it all up, I just rewatched Six by Sondheim for the third time. The music from Stephen is a gift like no other. And in the documentary when Dean Jones sings Being Alive from the 1970 production of Company, it’s heart-stopping. That song is in my head all the time. Before Dean sings, he says, “Well maybe there’s one more in me. Let’s find out.”
There was. And it was lovely.
Finally, I rewatched Alan Bennett’s film from 2015 titled The Lady in the Van with Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings. My favorite scene is from Alan’s study in a little house in Camden Town, London. I like the books, the shelves, the desk, the window, the fireplace, the color of the walls, the lamp, the chairs, the carpet, the mirror, the paintings, the framing of the shot, and both the sparceness and richness of the scene. It's just perfect. Alan also wrote The Madness of King George in 1994. How prolific can one writer be?
Very.
Welp. Happy Halloween.
Til next time.
Maggie and Alex and Alan...and don't forget Frances de la Tour.
...
Monday, October 23, 2017
It was on cable. I was flipping through the channels, and there it was…once again.
The question is. How many times is too many times to watch Beaches?
Two times?
Three times?
Five times?
Oh dear. Then again, x times over thirty years seems about right.
No worries. Moving on. BookTV does it again.
I watched Al Gore discussing his new book on climate change. A brilliant and instructive conversation. And then I also watched Hillary Clinton discussing her new book. Another brilliant interview.
Both leaders bring a strong intellectual gaze everywhere they look.
Then in the NYTBR I found a tribute to Larry McMurtry written by Douglas Brinkley. Writers are always at their best when praising other writers. And finally, Bill Clinton wrote a positive book review of Ron Chernow's new book on Ulysses S. Grant. Bill, Ron, and Ulysses. A good team.
One more thing. Three folks wrote letters to the editor of the NYTBR. They criticized Robert Gottlieb for dissing romance novels in one of his book reviews. Whoa. So. Based on those letters to the editor, I'm thinking of reading a Julia Quinn novel titled The Duke and I. Maybe. There's a lot on my nightstand at the moment including another Ian McEwan novel.
I hope Ian never stops writing.
Oh yes. Philip Pullman was interviewed in the Times about his previous books as well as his new book. Too good. Too good. Too good.
Til next time.
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Saturday, October 21, 2017
Randy Newman was on Prairie Home Companion tonight. It was a live video stream from The Fitgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. Randy Newman and Chris Thile. Pretty good. Pretty...Pretty...Good.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, October 18, 2017
The winner. George Saunders won the Man Booker Prize for Lincoln in the Bardo. Nothing could be better.
Til next time.
The Booker Prize. How could the day be any more just.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Just finished Saturday by Ian McEwan. Totally brilliant. Instructive and engaging. I took notes. A day in the life of Henry. I love the book but will never, ever eat fish stew.
This book packs philosophy, modernity, morality, decency, rage, and societal collapse all between the covers of a normal singular life.
How'd he do it? Willpower, insight, talent, perseverance? All the above?
Another thought.
Medicine, Law, Teaching, Writing.
The four horsemen of whatever is the opposite of the apocalypse.
Til next time.
Monday, October 16, 2017
A few notes about Victoria & Abdul versus the British Empire’s subjugation of India as portrayed by the PBS broadcast of Indian Summers will have to wait for another day except to say that cultural suppression of one group by another will always end badly even when romanticized by Hollywood.
One other thought. Judi Dench was brilliant in this movie and actually portrayed Queen Victoria as insulated and out of touch with the rest of humanity. The movie illustrates the lack of a need for a system of royal monarchies.
The whole idea that societies need monarchies seems passé, counter-intuitive, unfair, illogical, aberrant, and unnecessary.
On a brighter note, I caught on C-SPAN Nicola Sturgeon giving her party’s conference speech this week. She’s the First Minister of Scotland.
The speech was brilliant. And Nicola is wicked smart…even smarter than Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.
In short…Scotland…a new destination for consensus, democracy, education, non-profit energy production, equity, and financial stability.
Til next time.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
I’ve finished The Wonder. And then I caught Gangs of New York on TV.
Two big Irish-oriented narratives experienced in the same day.
Nearly too much reality. In both, there were themes of power, poverty, morality, struggle, death, confusion, injustice, and an ending. But there never really is an ending. There’s only repetition and recirculation of life’s familiar themes.
Learning from the past is a slow process it seems.
Next on the list is McEwan, Wilde, Knausgaard, Dreiser, or whoever somewhat miraculously appears in my sightline.
And after that maybe something like Victoria & Abdul. Or a quick trip to the beach. Or a slice of banana cream pie. Or a quick shopping trip to Pier 1. Or finishing the software upgrade to my old macbook. Or cleaning out the fridge. Or capturing the perfect selfie. Or…
Actually, I think I’ll tune into Bookworm. The beloved Michael Silverblatt is always so insightful about what comes next. The world of books world is lucky to have him.
Looks like a busy day after all.
Til next time.
The perfect selfie selfie.
Monday, October 9, 2017
I just finished A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré. What a brutal business is the world of spies and spying. There's actually plenty of evidence around to suggest that personal friendships over master spies are the way to end all cold wars. But, we seem to be a long way from those kinds of endeavors.
And now?
It was sort of a difficult choice to make because I already have some knowledge of the brutality of the Irish famine in the 19th century. Nevertheless, I've decided to read The Wonder by Emma Donoghue. And so far, it's got just the right amount of complexity and mystery topped with thoughts about the powers of religion and poverty and how those two phenomena interact and intersect. Ireland has come a long way. But the past is not past and must be regarded with care. So I'll read on and hope for the best.
Til next time.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
I don’t know why I’m always so surprised when I find something of value quite by accident as opposed to finding something because I specifically searched for it. But there you have it.
Today, I found quite by accident on BookTV a discussion of social economics led by Jeffrey Sachs who interviewed Nobel Peace Prize winner from Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus. It was a 90-minute gift.
Social economics is a movement wherein money is allocated from philanthropists and investors to entrepreneurs worldwide who do not qualify for regular bank loans.
This economic movement is supported by the United Nations under the auspices of the Sustainable Development Goals. There are seventeen of these goals.
They must be met according to the UN in order to sustain the planet. And there is no Plan B in case these goals don’t work out because there is no Planet B.
Goal 1: No Poverty
Goal 2: Zero Hunger
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
Goal 4: Quality Education
Goal 5: Gender Equality
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Goal 13: Climate Action
Goal 14: Life Below Water
Goal 15: Life on Land
Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
This was a great find for a Sunday afternoon. Glad I was in the right place at the right time.
Jeffrey Sachs and Muhammad Yunnus…unstoppable.
Til next time.
A concise reminder of what needs to be done.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Michael Silverblatt recently talked to an author about his own (Michael’s) innocence as a person and as a reader. It was a sweet moment.
And on some level, it’s probably an innate universal aspirational achievement…to be innocent.
I've never listened to an interview on Bookworm that didn't strike me as profoundly worthwhile.
And also.
Louise Glück and Colm Tóibín discussed their work at the LIVE presentation at the New York Public Library this past May. Louise read from her newest book of poetry. Colm read from his book House of Names, which is about Agamemnon. Louise mentioned Edith Hamilton’s children’s versions of Greek mythology.
Listening to the two of them talk to each other about their work, about Greek mythology, and about the art of writing was a brief liberal arts education.
They are heroic…in the best Greek sense of the word.
And now?
I’ve finished Glass Houses by Louise Penny and am putting aside Oscar Wilde for a bit because I want to start John le Carré’s A Legacy of Spies.
The Glass Houses book took me a little while to read. It was a bit disjointed in that it skipped from winter to summer from courtroom to bistro in the blink of an eye as if it were a screenplay written for TV. Plus there were lots of characters to keep track of.
So. I’m. Off. To the mysterious world of spies and espionage.
Til next time.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Lynne Olson was live for three hours today on BookTV. Her books feature World War II. She shared many facts about the war. 25,000,000 Soviets died. 400,000 Americans died. 6,000,000 Jews died. 400,000 Britains died. 6,000,000 Polish citizens died. 4,000,000 German soldiers died.
60,000,000 people worldwide died in this war.
And also.
The Vietnam documentary by Ken Burns is out.
The movie Dunkirk is out.
The series Occupied on Netflix is out.
It’s a lot for a Sunday afternoon.
The one and only upside of all this various media is that there are brave writers and thinkers out there who can dispassionately study all these historical details and thereby provide hope that principled leaders and everyday people will eventually come to consensus on the value, necessity, and honor of living in peace.
Everyday People with Sly and the Family Stone.
Til next time.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
I’m not meeting my goal of not reading two books at a time.
The only saving grace to the current situation is that one book is fiction while the other is not. I’m reading Glass Houses by Louise Penny and Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann.
Glass Houses is a mystery/crime/police/legal thriller and has gotten rave reviews. I find that I’m having to review in my head the new terms for the Canadian names for police, judge, chief, etc. This is slowing me down. But I’m assuming I’ll be up to speed soon. I’ve just started reading this book, but I already like the main character…Armand Gamache.
Oscar Wilde is a biography and is exceptionally thorough. The scholarship is trustworthy and the endnotes are plentiful. It’s sort of a slow read for me because I’m having to look up so many references.
Things I thought I knew have new contexts and include the work of Kierkegaard 1813-1855 (whose first name is Søren) and Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) (who is responsible for Palladian architecture and who was inspired by Roman and Greek architecture).
Wilde attended Oxford and understood a lot more about philosophy, art, architecture, and geography than is portrayed in his play (which I love with Dame Judi Dench) The Importance of Being Earnest.
My hat is off to Ellmann. His book and its documentation are quite substantial feats.
I’ve also selected the next two books after these two…
The Golden House by Salman Rushdie
A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré
October’s gonna be a busy month.
Til next time.
A Photo Booth rendition.
Friday, September 22, 2017
It’s sort of a funny thing to remember on a Friday afternoon, but I do remember the first time, a long time ago, when I realized that the person who wrote Charlotte’s Web was the same person who wrote Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. Elwyn Brooks White also wrote Here is New York and contributed in a major way to The New Yorker.
Not a bad memory with which to start the weekend.
And finally, here’s E.B. reading a bit from yet another of his books...
The Trumpet of the Swan.
Til next time.
E.B. White, 1899-1985.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
I was reading something recently about Ian Buruma. He is the new editor of The New York Review of Books. And then this morning I was watching the live broadcast on BookTV from the Brooklyn Book Festival, and there was Ian leading a panel discussion on refugees and immigrants.
The panelists were Darryl Pinckney, Masha Gessen, and Yasmine El Rashidi.
It was an outstanding discussion of America’s immigration process from writers and thinkers who have studied and written extensively about the issue.
In the end, Ian asked the panel what should be the process for immigrating to America. The panelists each had different perspectives, and there was no consensus. This lack of consensus was in itself instructive.
Masha suggested no criteria for those wanting to immigrate. Ian suggested there were pragmatic issues to be considered. Yasmine pointed out no one wanted to immigrate to Egypt. Darryl discussed whether citizenship was a right or a privilege.
And all too soon, the 2017 Brooklyn Book Festival came to an end.
Til next time.
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Friday, September 15, 2017
I should have been aware of Henry Fountain, but I wasn’t. Until this past Sunday that is.
Henry has written a book about the biggest earthquake in North America. The book is, The Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Everything.
He was at Politics and Prose Bookstore in DC, and of course BookTV was there to capture the event. The place was packed. Totally packed. Standing room only. Readers reside in DC. It was quite a sight.
But the book…the book…it stands alone as a testament to curiosity, scholarship, insight, and stick-to-it-tiveness.
And as great as the book is, the real star is Henry. Henry documented the 9.2 quake that took place in Alaska in 1964. A town and village were destroyed. And the entire region was permanently changed.
In the process of listening to him talk about his book, two big things were mentioned.
1. Henry met George. George Plafker. George was a young geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in 1964, and George personally investigated the Alaska quake. As George concluded and published the results of his study, he confirmed the theory of plate tectonics. It was the first conclusive evidence that the theory of plate tectonics was at the core of our planet.
All this in 1964. George is still alive. He goes to his office every day. And he loves geology.
This quake, George, and now Henry have changed everything we know about plate tectonics, earthquakes, and how the planet is structured. There are about 12 plates on the planet, and they’re constantly moving and bumping up against each other.
2. The talk that Henry gave was fascinating and informative, and lots of people at the end of the talk had lots of great questions.
One question in particular was about fracking and earthquakes.
Henry explained the relationship between fracking and earthquakes. For every one barrel of oil that is produced from drilling into rock and shale for oil and gas, fifty barrels of radioactive and chemically spoiled wastewater are produced. Because this wasterwater is radioactive and not easily disposed of, it is then forced into underground disposal wells…and voila. Earthquakes.
Fracking and wastewater disposal from fracking cause earthquakes. George and Henry. Two people who love science, pursued their scientific paths, and gave us The Quake.
Til next time.
~~~
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Jerry Pinkney created a beautiful book in 2000 titled Aesop’s Fables. He included The Rooster and the Fox on page 82.
The moral of the fable? Tricksters are easily tricked.
From Aesop’s Rooster to Geoffrey Chaucer’s 1390 A.D. Chanticleer, roosters and foxes have been around for quite awhile.
Til next time.
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Thursday, September 7, 2017
Books aside for the moment.
Today, I decided I needed a sugary treat.
How about an oatmeal cookie with raisins as well as a peanut butter and chocolate granola bar? Yes, please.
So off to the grocer I went.
But when I got home, I was in for a lesson in corporate packaging. I took photos.
And even with the slight discrepancies, they were both very deeeelicious.
Til next time.
Brought to us Partially Produced by Genetic Engineering by General Mills Sales, Inc. and The Quaker Oats Company. Verrrry Interesting.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
I finished reading Broken River and was impressed with how the book wove together such a wide and oppositional variety of events, characters, action, and circumstance. The book captured almost all of life’s normal foibles and had an ending that couldn’t and shouldn’t have happened any other way.
Currently, I’m reading Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. The book is readable and illuminating. AND it’s written by an historian who can be trusted to present the best historically-documented research available.
Also, George Saunders and Michael Silverblatt are back in my sightline as they discuss on KCRW's Bookworm Lincoln in the Bardo…an all-time great book that I am going to reread.
And finally, Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress was interviewed and featured several times live on BookTV this past Saturday at the 17th Library of Congress National Book Festival. She’s absolutely perfect for the job. I’ve heard her interviewed several times, and she is consistently pro-book, pro-library, and pro-reading at the level of 100%.
And really finally, I caught an interview with Jack Dorsey, Founder and CEO of Twitter. Very impressive young man. He spoke for over an hour and seems to be a respectable and conscientious businessman who is striving to increase his company’s capital while simultaneously striving to do good work and improve the world’s struggling and broken situations. I should probably check my twitter account more than once every blue moon. I feel like I’m missing out…
Til next time.
There are several Bardos but only one Lincoln.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
John le Carré has a new novel out. It got a good review, and I'm going to read it. Which brings me to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which I bought on dvd and have watched probably a dozen times. There's nothing in the movie that is not wonderful including Tom Hardy, which of course brings me to Taboo on BBC featuring Tom as a sea captain and shrewd businessman up against mighty and ruthless sea-faring forces and then the movie Legend wherein Tom simultaneously plays two twin brothers who run an illegal and gangster-oriented racket in London. Tom is great in all these parts. I wonder if he's a nice person. I bet he is.
What else?
I’ve finished reading two books by Andrew Sean Greer. Less…about Arthur who travels the world looking and writing and The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells…about, well, Greta, who travels from 1918 to 1941 to 1985 always as the same person living her life in difficult times. Totally excellent books.
And finally, I’ve just started reading Broken River by J. Robert Lennon, and I was hooked by page one.
A busy summer.
PS I was thinking of buying a small, small car for zipping around town. And I was thinking how nice it would be to be sold a small, small car for zipping around town by the salespeople at Lexus. They are so accommodating and pleasant. Then again, $$$$$.
A bicycle maybe?
Til next time.
A colorful day...
Monday, August 28, 2017
I learned really interesting things yesterday from BookTV, and I thought to myself, “Self, you should write those down. Nah, I'll wait till tomorrow.”
But now, I can’t remember what they were. Good intentions...
But wait. I just remembered. Hurray.
Robert Smalls
son of Lydia and Robert,
an enslaved person,
a sea captain,
a US Congressman, and
great, great grandfather to Michael Boulware Moore of South Carolina.
Robert Smalls lived from 1839 to 1915 (aged 75). He was a leader of leaders and could have easily been lost to history if not for the author’s efforts to document his life and achievements. The author was Cate Lineberry and the book is Be Free or Die. The event took place at Politics and Prose Bookstore in DC on July 10, 2017. It was really great. And the place was packed.
Always heartening.
I wonder if Brian Lamb is aware of the contributions he's made to the book world. I suspect not. I think he keeps too busy to reflect too much on the gift of books that he's given us. But maybe not. Maybe he's aware of how great BookTV is. Plus, the website and its searching capability are second to none. Thank you, Mr. Lamb.
Til next time.
Friday, August 25, 2017
This week has flown by. Karl Ove Knausgaard has a new book out, and Kathy Bates has a new Netflix series.
Karl Ove never stops writing. I think he should write a Netflix series for Kathy. Two great talents telling stories. I bet it would be a hit series.
I was listening to a conversation about the concept of Character Quotient, which is tangentially related to Intelligent Quotient and Emotional Quotient.
Because the best scholarship defines those kinds of measurements as highly susceptible to situation (situational dependency), I won’t worry too much about them.
What else? Might try the Elena Ferrante books again. Rave reviews. I tried the first one, but it didn’t take. Maybe I’ll give them another go.
Or better yet…maybe I’ll reread Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
Choices, choices.
Til next time.
What to read next...
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Today marks the day I finished reading The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North/Catherine North.
How Claire invented this character and this book is a mystery. A miracle of a mystery.
It’s a book of morality supported by science, philosophy, religion, history, and geography. In the end, it concludes (for now) in a way that is a relief.
Also at the end of the book, the publisher has included a list of rather straight-jacketed questions for discussion. The questions were so plodding that I am now assigning myself the task of Forgetting them so that the magic of the book will stay with me.
It’s easy to believe that if I could live forever by repeating life over and over, I would engage in “putting things right that once went wrong,” which is something Harry consciously chose not to do except for keeping track of Victor.
If I were in a position to right wrongs, I would first have to consult with the Dalai Lama, Karen Armstrong, Noam Chomsky, Malala Yousafzai, Jimmy Carter, Lawrence Wright, H.W. Brands, Douglas Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, Jared Diamond, E. O. Wilson, Janet Yellen, John Lewis, Angela Merkel, Arundhati Roy, and RBG. To start.
A gem of an idea made into a book. Probably even better than tomorrow's eclipse.
Til next time.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2017
I’m a third into The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North/Catherine Webb, and I’m mesmerized.
Harry is a person who is reborn repeatedly with full memory of all of his past lives. By age three of every life, he is able to remember all his previous experiences as well as everything he has accumulatively learned in school and in life. In short, he has full awareness of everything he has ever encountered throughout all the hundreds of years of his existence.
He is also a member of the Cronus Club, which is a Club for people just like him.
This book is a cross between Quantum Leap and Tuck Everlasting while creating plausible situations where philosophy, history, religion, politics, war, life, purpose, and being all intersect. Harry is not a character who is out to do good like Sam in Quantum Leap. He is merely living his life and living in the world in pretty normal ways as a doctor, spy, professor, scientist, or groundskeeper among many.
This book is a whole new genre. It’s even better than the Harry Potter idea because there’s no magic involved…there are only ordinary people who live repeatedly.
And my best guess is that I don’t think Harry will ever come back as a giant bug, which is good, because that’s a whole different kind of story.
Til next time.
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Sunday, August 13, 2017
Wallace Shawn, son of William and Cecille, was interviewed this past week on Bookworm.
Wallace has written a new book, Night Thoughts. I’m going to listen to the interview again. And then, maybe probably even again.
His book is an analysis of the lucky, the unlucky, the haves, and the have-nots and is thoughtful, reflective, and unapologetic. His manifesto may not change the world but it certainly does explain it. And that’s not nothing. In fact, it’s quite significant. He’s in a unique position to document how we got here and what should happen in this uncharted new world. His writing and stance are brave. But then again, he’s in a position to be brave. Not everyone is.
And as Chris Hedges once said kindly, "You do what you can do."
Til next time.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Amazingly, today Kai Ryssdal of marketplace.org recommended seeing the movie, Wonder Woman. I’m gonna work that movie into my schedule. I’ve learned more about finance and economics by listening to his radio show than I did in my college economics course…Sadly, I wasn’t a good economics student, and even sadder is that I had a well-known economist as my prof. I should have stepped up, leaned in, rose to the occasion, took better notes, or simply paid more attention. It’s never too late.
Til next time.
Hollywood, call me. I'm in the book.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
I finished The Answers: A Novel by Catherine Lacey.
What happens when the world of science can reduce the essence of a human being to a mass of neurochemicals through which each person can be manipulated to need, feel, and want according to a specified and authorized set of criteria?
That’s what this book explores.
And in the end, this level of manipulation is what is actually taking place now in the perceived world according to writers who write about big data and its corporate use.
The book ends with the main character simply turning off her smart phone.
So…while computers with air gaps and apps that disallow tracking and novelists who switch off their phones might be the answers, none of those things appears to be happening any time soon.
Proceeding with caution is the answer.
But actually, it’s pretty exciting to think that the human brain is studying itself one brain at a time. Maybe it will reveal why chocolate is so good and why John Philip Sousa always sounds so wholesome.
But for now, far from the madding crowd as well as all things tech is a cookbook by Judith Jones who died this past week. I have her cookbook as a gift from Scot. Thank you again for sending this my way. It’s elegant, delicious, and free from all neurochemicals as far as I can tell.
Til next time.
March 10, 1924 - August 2, 2017.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
The Times had a piece today about the statue of Friedrich Engels.
Seems the twelve-foot tall statue has been restored and repositioned to Manchester, England from Ukraine where the statue had been cut in half and discarded.
The article mentioned Engels’s book published in 1845, The Condition of the Working Class in England. In this book, Engels documents the movement of people from farm life to city life to the industrial revolution to the capitalization of workers to the resultant reduction in the quality of life for these workers and their families…basically in perpetuity.
I found the entire book on Gutenberg.org and am up to page 99.
Also, based on the article in the Times, I remembered that some time back I had read Down and Out in Paris and London published in 1933 by George Orwell who documented much the same kind of demise and distress of the working class.
So I thought I’d revisit it. But as I began searching for Down and Out on my shelves, I couldn’t find it. I persisted.
And finally. Eureka. There it was. Housed between 1984 and Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent. I suppose at some point in time that seemed a better location to me than say something based on…I don’t knoowww…maybe Dewey decimal.
At any rate, next time I need it, boom, I’ll know just where it is.
PS Note to AT&T. How's the whole net neutrality thing coming along? My internet wifi system lately seems w a y t o o s l o w. Thanks for checking on that for me.
Til next time.
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Thursday, August 3, 2017
A perfect ending with the tip of a hat for 65 years of consistent service to Queen and country captured perfectly and spontaneously by Hannah McKay for Reuters.
Til next time.
Prince Philip exits stage left.
Monday, July 31, 2017
November 5, 1943 - July 27, 2017 (age 73).
Sam Shepard died last Thursday. I saw his play Fool for Love at the Friedman Theatre on November 14, 2015. Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell were the leads. The acting was so intense and the plot was so desperate that the only thing that made it bearable was knowing that Sam, Nina, and Sam R. weren’t actually living those particular lives of quiet and not-so-quiet desperation.
Til next time.
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Sunday, July 30, 2017
Three big things.
Elon Musk released his new $30,000 electric Model 3 car. AND he's got deposits and orders for 500,000 more. Even though I love my electric golf cart, I'm still a bit cautious about the idea of zooming down the highway at 70 mph and suddenly running out of juice. But 500,000 people can't be wrong. Can they?
Garry Kasparov has a new book out. He's a world chess champ (he beat IBM’s machine). He was interviewed on BookTV. I believe his perspective on Deep Thinking can be trusted. But then again, maybe not.
Geoffrey West talked about his new book on Scale. Geoffrey is a theoretical physicist. To be as smart as he has got to be exhausting. Or perhaps exhilarating. Probably the latter.
Big things are happening. Even on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Til next time.
In the slow lane with two loyal companions...
Friday, July 28, 2017
How is it possible to live all this time without having Lorrie Moore’s books as part of my sensibilities? I Do Not Know.
But yesterday, after idly clicking around here and there and reading about various book reviewers and bookish type folks, there she was.
There she was. Talking on a youtube video with Deborah Treisman from The New Yorker’s book festival in 2010. Lorrie was serious, funny, witty, relaxed, accomplished, and much admired by her audience.
So a few more clicks on Amazon and done.
Dusted and done. Done and dusted.
She’s now on my kindle and in my sphere of all things good.
And even better?
It’s Friday.
PLUS.
On my totally awesome Bose speaker, Nick Cave is singing on a play, repeat, play, repeat…basis The Boatman’s Call (brought to my attention by Bill Nighy in the movie About Time).
And once again?
It’s Friday.
Plenty of time to read and then read some more.
Til next time.
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Thursday, July 27, 2017
As is my custom on Thursday, I tune in to listen to Michael Silverblatt. And whoa. There he is interviewing Arundhati Roy about her new book, which I finished yesterday. YESTERDAY!
Utmost happiness right here on my computer.
Michael said many things in praise of her novel as a work that stretches the frame for what a novel is. He also said specifically about the book that its portrayal of power shows that power tries to reduce life to dichotomies of two and then destroy one. He got the essence of the book exactly right.
Arundhati also talked about the novel as a work that is not a film or an essay or a history book. “The time when writers were dangerous has passed. And it must come back.”
The book she has written is not dangerous except for dreamers, idealists, and revolutionists who need a dangerous book. The book is an accurate accounting of dreams, hopes, plans, corruptions, meanness, broken hearts, and broken pieces that come together for a whole new heart. A perfect book.
Til next time.
Michael interviews Arundhati...today.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Today, I finished Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: A Novel. It seems both respectful and disrespectful of such a monumental work to write something here in my little journal. But letting the day go by without acknowledgment doesn’t feel like an option either.
So here goes.
How did she write such a book, such a big worldly book? At the end, she thanks a total of 91 people including friends, family, publishers, sustainers, and encouragers, and she does this with a light and sincere touch. But after writing this monumental book about power, war, poverty, loss, love, and hopeless hope, the acknowledgments feel far too generous. It was all her. Really. This book is all from her.
I love the book. Love the book. Love the book. The characters who survived. The characters who didn’t. The graveyard that became a home for the living. The births, the deaths, the absolute eye for truth, the courage to tell the story…it’s all there. And now it’s totally in my head.
So.
Here’s wishing utmost happiness to Anjum, Tilo, Musa, Naga, and Dr. Bhartiya. Not to mention Arundhati and her mom Mary.
Til next time.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Pamela Paul is the editor of TNYTBR. She led a panel discussion at the Miami Book Fair on November 21, 2015. She asked five authors the question, “Why read?”
For me, I read to find out what it’s like to be backstage with Patti LuPone or in Afghanistan with Sebastian Junger or in Delhi with Arundhati Roy or in Ireland with Frank McCourt or in the Galapagos with Jared Diamond or in Berlin with Markus Zusak or in the Gulag with Solzhenitsyn or with Harry in Hogwarts or in Ohio with James Thurber or with Toni Morrison in Paradise or in Latin America with Eduardo Galeano or in France with Michel Houellebecq or by the sea with Iris Murdoch or in NYC with Donna Tartt or on the Rez with Sherman Alexie or anywhere with Oliver Sacks.
If I couldn’t read, I’d just be stuck on the side of the road waiting for the dust to settle and the clouds to part.
Ooh, that was way too theatrical. Time for a dish of ice cream and maybe a little Gershwin. After all, it is summertime.
Til next time.
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Thursday, July 20, 2017
Gosh. Everywhere I look lately, there’s Henry David Thoreau.
I’ve even got two books on the shelf that I’ve had for a while and have not yet read.
Awhile? Okay. QUITE a while.
Henry Thoreau a Life of the Mind by Robert D. Richardson, Jr. and
The Annotated Walden
Walden; or, Life in the Woods Edited by Philip Van Doren Stern.
But MAINLY, Douglas Brinkley has an essay in the July 9 edition of the NYTBR, page 12, and that reminded me that July 12 is Thoreau’s 200th birthday.
Douglas Brinkley has done as much for history, the environment, and biographies as any writer can possibly do.
He’s a writer of writers. Thank you, Douglas.
Thoreau said, “In wilderness is the preservation of the world.”
Til next time.
Quite a bit of reading to do...
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Organizing photos today and found several I like from NYC.
Captured the Rockefeller Building in just the right light.
Took the bus to 155th and Broadway to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Love this sidewalk on 6th Avenue and in Thurber’s book and film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Popped over to MOMA to see Monet.
Went to Columbia University’s Rare Book Room to see FDR’s letter to Frances Perkins and Carl Sandburg’s Fog poem for Otto Harbach.
Finally found Hall of Fame for Great Americans at Bronx Community College.
Used the phone at the 42nd Street NYPL.
Hopped the train to Poughkeepsie to see the Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Caught Staten Island from the air.
Til next time.
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American Academy of Arts and Letters.
50th and Sixth Avenue.
Monet at MOMA.
On the way to the rare book room at Columbia University.
Totally priceless.
Little cat feet.
Bronx Community College.
One of the last working phone booths in America.
From Grand Central to Poughkeepsie...a snap.
The miracle of Staten Island.
Monday, July 17, 2017
Saturday, October 25, 2014…MOMA…Lunch…Second in line…With my friend EWW…Right behind…
Lois Ehlert.
We couldn’t believe it. There she was in person, for real, in line, with her editor waiting for the café to open. It was glorious.
She spoke to us, and we to her. It was great.
And to make it even better, if that’s possible, I had just seen her latest work on display at the Society of Illustrators the previous Wednesday.
It was a totally fabulous experience. I have most of her books and love them all. Thank you, Madame Lois. From your number one fan.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, July 12, 2017
In November of last year, I saw the exhibit of 39 paintings by Max Beckmann at The Met. Because I can never remember his name, I’m including it here. So hopefully, the next time I need this info, boom, there it’ll be.
Brain researchers have cautioned folks against consistently relying on the web to remember things…nevertheless…
Til next time.
Perhaps Max would have loved this shot.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
I know it's problematic since she won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but I'm setting aside Alice Munro's short stories in favor of Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending, which won the Booker Prize. At least for now. The women in Alice's stories seem a little too sad. And I'm looking for women characters more like Tina Fey in 30 Rock, a show which still stands up to funny, funny, funny. And Netflix has all seven seasons.
So even though 30 Rock is old, the jokes are still good and buoyanty...if that's a word but which I'm pretty sure is not.
Til next time.
Playbuzz Image...
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Caught, quite by accident on C-SPAN today, President Obama receiving the Profiles in Courage Award from Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston.
It was a wonderful ceremony and an inspiring affirmation of national pride.
And I caught it just by being lucky.
Happy Birthday, America.
Til next time.
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Sunday, July 2, 2017
Herb Boyd was live on BookTV for three hours today. He did a wonderful job outlining his books, sharing the history of our country, and fielding questions from callers.
The three hours went by quickly. Too quickly.
His latest book is about Detroit.
David Maraniss has written about Detroit as well. Both men have talked about Marvin Gaye and the impact his musical abilities had on the nation.
Music, literature, art, and BookTV in one nice package.
Detroit. Right there in Michigan.
Til next time.
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Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Suddenly today, I woke up thinking about three books:
A Tale of Two Cities
Crime and Punishment
War and Peace
I suspect this is not normal.
Nevertheless. I thought I’d do a bit of surfing in order to lock down these books, their authors, and related bits.
Charles Dickens
England
1812-1870 (58)
Oliver Twist
Nicholas Nickleby
A Christmas Carol
David Copperfield
Bleak House
A Tale of Two Cities
Great Expectations
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Russia
1821-1881 (59)
Crime and Punishment
The Idiot
The Brothers Karamazov
Notes from Underground
Leo Tolstoy
Russia
1828-1910 (82)
War and Peace
Anna Karenina
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
WOW.
I’m reading Colm Tóibín at the moment: House of Names. Maybe this is somehow connected to the books above. Maybe not.
I’ve read Colm’s Nora and watched Brooklyn and after each am left practically on empty because of his all-consuming story-telling abilities.
I listened to Colm and Michael Silverblatt discuss House of Names on KCRW’s Bookworm and then decided to read the book, which is about the Greek story of Agamemnon.
After I finish, I’m going to re-listen to the interview to make sure I got it.
The book is hard to put down and tells a story that does not speak well for humanity. But then again, I’m only half-way finished.
I do remember in a humanities class in college wherein the professor dutifully explained Agamemnon and his triumphs and tragedies to a group of us young and inexperienced college types. Bless his heart. He persisted.
And here I am. Again.
Reading. Reading. Reading.
Til next time.
Much thanks.
Monday, June 26, 2017
A big weekend for books.
Gay Talese was interviewed for nearly two hours by BookTV’s Peter Slen. Gay is 85, has written many books, and was named after his Italian grandfather Gaetano Talese. The whole two hours was instructive, historic, and maybe perhaps a bit too revealing. Mr. Talese seemed to think that the interview would be edited when in fact, BookTV does not edit. BookTV merely lets the viewers watch and form their own conclusions. At any rate, the interview was lovely, and I hope Gay and his family are pleased.
As of today, I’ve finished listening to Hamilton by Ron Chernow. And I’ve watched Oliver Stone’s four hours of interviews with Vladimir Putin. It’s quite alarming how much the conversations, issues, and actions between citizens, politicians, and governments have not changed in the last 240+ years.
Next? It’s Magpie Murders written by Anthony Horowitz and read by Allan Corduner. Atticus Pünd is the famous detective in the book and is probably going to solve a crime. The book is quite good and is a nice summery change of pace.
But first…a quick look at CR’s report on cable versus streaming. Why not both?
Til next time.
Always reliable...
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
It's hard to believe that a book as good as Joseph Had a Little Overcoat can actually exist. But it does. It's layered, beautiful, optimistic, and rich in life.
A favorite for the ages.
Til next time.
Simms Taback, February 13, 1932 - December 25, 2011.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
It’s hard to remember a time when there were Sundays without BookTV. Today, I very luckily caught the remarks of David McCullough as he spoke at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston.
David’s new book is a collection of 15 of his speeches that he has given around the country over the past several years.
But better than listening to him talk about his speeches was simply listening to his wisdom about the art of appreciating history.
An NPR reviewer said the book was a gift. Quite.
I also read a review in The New York Times Book Review about Stephen Fry who reads aloud the entire collection of the stories of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The reviewer was right. I listened to Stephen read a bit on Audible, and yes, it’s a winner. The whole thing. Nearly 63 hours of a great set of stories. Almost irresistible.
And finally for today, Jeffrey Tambour gave a very sweet By the Book interview for TNYTBR on May 21, 2017. I’m clipping it, saving it, and storing it in my big green scrap book.
Til next time.
His favorite book? Lincoln in the Bardo. I totally agree. It's an astonishingly great book.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Identity politics was part of the discussion on KCRW’s Bookworm on December 15, 2016 discussion. Michael Silverblatt discussed with Rahib Alameddine Rahib’s new book. At the end of that conversation Michael said to Rahib, “The pleasures, the delights of this book, are not just the heartbreaking truths about how we live without equality but also the way literature elevates us and makes any one of us anyone’s equal.”
I know that professional research societies try to test and promote theories and hypotheses about the nature of human activity and behavior, but writers of fiction can many times better explain the subtleties of humanity through story better than a theorist who produces a collection of scientific observations.
I’m pretty sure that our species has evolved so that the power of story is what moves us the most.
So.
On a nice afternoon, a freshly brewed cup of coffee and an insightful story are the ingredients for time well spent.
Chris Ware wrote Building Stories, a book that rings true throughout all of its component parts. He's a genius.
Til next time.
Building Stories by Chris Ware.
Monday, June 12, 2017
The week has gone by quickly. In fact, it’s sort of a blur…at least the day-in and day-out duties of daily life are a blur. But the books…the books I’ve read and listened to…are each in sharp detail.
At the gym
I am listening to the incomparable Allan Corduner read the unabridged version of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. In fact, I’m finishing this book today. A young girl’s life is disrupted by the second world war in Germany. She finds protection in books and ultimately mourns the death of everyone she loves. Death is the narrator in this book. He tells the story of war and its costs. He knows his duty. And sadly and efficiently, he carries the souls of the departed respectfully away. Death ends the story with the statement that he is always “haunted by humans.”
During the commute
I am listening to Hamilton written by Ron Chernow and read by Scott Brick. The cost of establishing a new country after the Revolutionary War remains a debt to humanity even today. The deaths and destruction of so many and so much are well below the capacity of our species to work things out peaceably. And yet…it took a war. And of course after the war, Hamilton gave us our modern banking system and national treasury based on beliefs, laws, and practices of Dutch and English banks. The book is a masterpiece of scholarship, storytelling, and accuracy. From this book to Lin Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, learning about Hamilton is an unforgettable experience.
In the evening
I am reading Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. In fact, I’m finishing this book today. A bardo is a place in the Tibetan religion where the departed go while they wait for the next part of their journey. Abraham Lincoln and his son Willie are the people in the book for whom the reader’s sympathies are focused. I’m going to relisten to George’s two interviews with Michael Silverblatt when I’m finished with this book. The book is a treasure in both content and contemplative value. The most surprising aspect of the book is simply the way it’s crafted with all the in-betweeners offering their perspectives on life in general and on their own lives in particular.
World War II
Revolutionary War
Civil War
I don’t know why these three books have appeared in my reading life all at the same time, but I’m taking the opportunity to consider the continuing value of what it means to be a reader.
Next book?
Something lighter I’m thinking.
Til next time.
Here we go...lighter and perfect...from beginning to end.
Monday, June 5, 2017
It was quite extraordinary to watch a live broadcast of BookTV yesterday.
Matt Taibbi was interviewed for three hours and was totally knowledgeable and pleasant. Callers knew his work and appreciated his writing.
His knowledge-base is well above average and is fueled by his abilities and training as a journalist.
He mentioned as an easy aside that when he studied in Russia as a college student, he read Anna Karenina…in Russian. He also mentioned he lived in Mongolia for quite a while and played basketball for the MBA.
The Tolstoy reference began at 1 hour, 39 minutes, 55 seconds. I’m sure there’s a way to write that more scientifically, but I don’t know what that would be. So, here tis:
Peter Slen asked, “Have you read Anna Karenina in the…?”
Matt says, “Russian? Oh yeah. Yes. That was one of the first books I actually read in Russian. I know how that sounds because it’s such a big book. But Tolstoy…one of the great things about Tolstoy…I can’t believe I just said that because it sounds so pretentious…but Tolstoy’s writing, you know, even in English, even in translation…it comes through that he has this incredible rare gift for the powerful simple sentence. Right? Like he finds the absolute simplest way to communicate the most complicated thoughts. And his prose has this kind of like, uh, pulsating force that kind of picks up speed over time. And even in Russian, he…my Russian is good but not fantastic…let’s put it that way...but he uses simple words and simple structure in a way that is just, I think, gorgeous.”
There we have it. An interview with a journalist who writes about international politics, finance, and world events but who can also discuss his understanding of Tolstoy, Gogol, and Dostoyevsky.
The entire three-hour interview is definitely worth a rewatch.
Quite a day.
And it ended with a caramel classic shake from Sonic.
Small.
After eight.
.˙. Half price.
With extra caramel.
They never seem to put enough in. Oh dear.
Til next time.
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Friday, June 2, 2017
I caught a bit of a BookTV interview with Hillary Clinton when she spoke at BookExpo in NYC at the Javits Center yesterday evening.
She was so well-spoken and strong.
She shared her ongoing commitment to environmental concerns, economic stability, education, equity in the workforce and in politics, and to encouraging people to run for local offices.
She discusses all these ideas in more detail in her new book, Untitled Memoir.
She was asked what she liked to read for fun. She explained her interest in mystery books and she listed four authors she likes:
Louise Penny
Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs
Donna Leon
Talk about a great endorsement!!!! Wow!!!!
Those are next for me after I finish Penelope Lively’s How It All Began which I love and which is breezing past me to the point that I barely know I’m reading.
What a treat. Lots to plan for.
Til next time.
She persists.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Today, I listened to Michael Silverblatt speak with an Italian writer, Claudio Margis who wrote a new book, Blameless.
Michael was his usual gracious and insightful self, and the author was grateful to have his work tended to so well.
In addition to the details of Claudio’s book, they discussed ancillary ideas and specifically ideas of Voltaire and Nietzsche.
Nietzsche (Germany, 1844-1900) as the writer of the concept of Ubermensch related to his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra was discussed.
Voltaire (France, 1694-1778), as the father of pessimistic optimism, was discussed with optimism being examined, rejected, and reposited. Even in hardship, Voltaire wrote there was still the possibility of growing a garden. Voltaire’s Candide was referenced.
The two men, Michael and Claudio, were conversant in all aspects of the writing of Nietzsche and Voltaire and their contributions to thought.
There is nothing more instantly and sustainingly humbling than listening to Michael and his writers. I don't know what we'd do without him. His nearly 30 years on the air with KCRW are absolutely unprecedented. Thank you, Michael.
I first came to know of the work of Amy through her 2005 book Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. The book is one of my best possessions. I bought it, read it, and time passed in a blink.
And then I was thrilled to meet her at a conference in May of 2008.
She graciously allowed me to take a photo of her holding her wonderful book Cookies. I emailed her a copy of the photo. She replied with a cheerful greeting of thanks.
This past December of 2016, I bought a signed copy of her book Textbook at Strand. I read it in one big gulp and found it to be as profoundly inventive and comforting as I had anticipated. Time passed in another blink.
Amy’s life and perspective on life were and are as unique and engulfing as any person I’ve met. No more books from Amy’s hand seems inconceivable. And sad beyond words.
It’s more than I had hoped for. Listening to Allan Corduner read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is actually better than reading the book to myself. And that doesn’t often happen…for me at least…that a recorded book is better than reading it myself.
Allan Corduner of Topsy Turvy…of Gilbert and Sullivan fame…as well as countless other achievements is a treasure. With his German, Jewish, and Swedish background, he brings a profound realism to this particular book that makes not listening to him impossible.
But the real treasure is the book itself, of course. I’ve read this a couple of other times, and it still retains its power. Germany. WWII. A dark and perilous time. But a time not to be forgotten. And this book does just that by explaining life and struggle through the eyes of Liesel, Rosa, Hans, Max, and Rudy. Liesel’s story takes shape when she finds a book titled, The Grave Digger’s Handbook.
Markus Zusak. An extraordinary writer.
This book along with the film Conspiracy starring Kenneth Branagh and the book Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi clearly illuminate what made the rise of fascism possible in WWII Germany. These books and film also give insight into the values and actions of today's Angela Merkel. She's doing a good job.
The world is up against a lot.
But still, a garden can be grown.
Til next time.
A transcendent experience.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Penelope Lively recommends keeping the books one has read so that you'll have a record of what you value and who you are.
Done and done.
Til next time.
...
Sunday, May 28, 2017
This past week, I’ve come across three separate things which explore the occurrence of coincidence in daily life.
Paul Auster’s book, 4321, is about life’s coincidences repeating themselves over and over in the life of his one main character, Ferguson. Ferguson appears, lives, dies, reappears at Princeton then Columbia and then at a city college. Ferguson weaves in and out of various coincidences involving writing, revolution, war protestation, love, riots in Newark in the 60s, and finally…the book ends.
And it all involves big plans and even bigger coincidences as in John Lennon’s “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.”
Then as a break from reading, I click on Amazon Prime’s American Pastoral by Philip Roth starring Ewan McGregor. The book and movie take place in the 60s sandwiched between the American Dream, revolution, war protestation, riots in Newark, and the American dream.
Scenes of Newark, NYC, life in the 60s, the revolt of youth via Paul Auster. Scenes of Newark, NYC, life in the 60s, the revolt of youth via Philip Roth.
The unplanned reading and watching of those two particular book/movie narratives during the same time period is quite a coincidence and perhaps poses a question of, “What does this coincidence mean?”
Probably nothing.
Except.
Then I’m reading about Penelope Lively in an essay about her life’s work. The essay, written by Charles McGrath in the May 7, 2017 issue of The New York Times Book Review, is a through and intriguing look at a writer who knows her craft and who will always write because…she’s a writer.
Her latest book is next on my list…How It All Began.
McGrath’s essay led me to several youtube interviews with Penelope who talked about the value and frequency of coincidence in life and in her books.
Imagine that. Coincidence as a theme of life.
I like it. As do Paul, Philip, and Penelope.
Til next time.
Penelope and Me...Me and Penelope.
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Today, I was reading a pretty-recent book review of a book by Duff McDonald who makes a case for the failure of Harvard Business School to live up to its own published creed of producing MBA graduates who (paraphrasing) have a “heightened sense of responsibility to conduct their business lives in socially responsible ways.”
The book reviewer, James B. Stewart, says there is plenty of evidence to support Duff’s critical claim.
Interesting review and compelling book.
A quick look at the stats shows that there are around 9,000 applications to HBS each year. HBS rejects 80% of those and admits around 1,800 applicants.
According to the review, this means there are 1,800 HBS graduates each year who are less interested in solving societal problems than there should be.
Even if this is true, how much world repair can a mere 1,800 people do?
Perhaps a lot.
HBS was founded in 1908. That’s well over a hundred years of time to graduate lots of problem-solving folks who can contribute to the public good.
And currently, according to the HBS website, there are 46,054 living HBS MBA graduates…right this minute.
46,054 people should be able to put their collective heads together, solve quite a few problems, and thereby contribute mightily to the public good…almost immediately…as well as right on into the foreseeable future.
And because I’m sitting here, at the moment, looking at a book autographed for me by Jane Goodall while I listen to Kai Ryssdal on Marketplace via NPR, I’m thinking about two people who have solved many problems and who have nicely contributed past, present, and future to the public good...Jane Goodall and Kai Ryssdal.
Are they MBAs from HBS?
Jane Goodall, Ph.D., Cambridge.
Kai Ryssdal, M.A., Georgetown.
Sweet.
Til next time.
The day I met Jane...March 15, 2003.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
There’s something big and noble and grand about a group of people who gather information, talk it over, write it up, and distribute it for the rest of the world to read, ponder, learn from, and access.
Johannes Gutenberg (Germany 1395-1468) had no idea what The New York Times would do with the printing press he invented around 1450.
But to know that the Times’ German-made printing press churns out millions of pages every day on behalf of worldwide readers is humbling and aspirational. In every way.
I’d have to think really hard to come up with an entity that has given me more direction and insight than this group of folks. Every day for decades.
The photo of the actual press along with an article about the people who run it were in yesterday’s paper.
Photo by Andrew Renneisen. Article by Terence McGinley.
Kudos and much thanks for the nice work.
Til next time.
...
Saturday, May 20, 2017
I started the day by watching the live broadcast of the Gaithersburg Book Festival on BookTV. The best one I watched was The Vaccine Race by Meredith Wadman. IT WAS GREAT!!!! She thoroughly explained viruses and vaccines in 45 minutes…on live TV. Whoa. Her expertise is phenomenal.
And then for some reason or other I wound up searching for a couple of Malcolm Gladwell youtube/presentations for The New Yorker. I listened to his lecture on genius and his interview with Michael Lewis.
Malcolm’s genius presentation focused on capitalizing on those who can and will spend 10,000 hours of focused practice on their interests.
Malcolm’s interview with Michael Lewis revealed that Michael’s father when Michael was a boy told him that their family crest said, “Do as little as possible and that unwillingly. For it is better to receive a slight reprimand than to perform an arduous task.”
Michael clearly has not followed his father's joking admonition. Michael's books have created these movies:
The Blind Side
Moneyball
The Big Short
Flash Boys
Time for a nap.
Til next time.
...
Friday, May 12, 2017
When you have a slight head cold on a Friday night, there’s nothing better in the world than listening to Michael Silverblatt interview Paul Auster on Bookworm from past interviews in 1993, 1999, and 2002.
But then it does get better because I’m just in the middle of Paul’s new book, 4321.
Head cold? Schmed cold. I’m soldiering on.
I wrote Michael a fan letter a couple years back. I’m thinking of writing him again. Are you there, Michael? It’s Friday night. I wonder what you’re reading.
Michael is a writer’s perfect reader and a grand conversationalist. His perfect manners are at a level ten as is his intellectual virtuosity.
It’s very easy to obtain an entire liberal arts degree at both the undergraduate and graduate levels just by listening to him in conversation with all the best writers of today.
His work over the past three decades is unique and based entirely on two things: 1) Michael’s love of books and 2) Michael’s generosity. He’s had an enormous effect on my life. What a gift.
Til next time.
...
...
Monday, May 8, 2017
Ever since yesterday, I’ve been thinking about Penelope Lively and Moon Tiger.
On October 23, 2013, I was at the Morgan in NYC viewing the exhibits…one in particular…Bookermania.
I took a photo of part of the exhibit which ran around three walls before I saw a sign that said no photos.
The Morgan had arranged for 45 books whose authors had received the Man Booker prize over a 45 year period to be elegantly displayed on a thin shelf that ran the length of three walls. The exhibit was stunning in its simplicity and profound in its honoring of authors and their work.
And today as I revisited that photo, I discovered Penelope's book.
As it turns out, I had inadvertently taken a photo of a book with which I was unfamiliar and that wouldn’t reappear in my mind until nearly four years later…today.
This is just one more reason among dozens and hundreds of why I love the Morgan.
It’s focused, cozy, sophisticated, complex, relaxed, easily accessible, and relentless in its pursuit of knowledge. The staff is a group of serious art historians who are dedicated and qualified at the Ph.D. level.
The whole place is a reprieve for the mind, and I bet the staff love their jobs. I hope so.
Every single exhibit I’ve ever seen there has left an impression on me of total goodness.
In a world of bumper to bumper traffic and big box stores where millions and billions of exact duplicates of stuff we all need are housed and sold, it’s lovely to go to a place of learning just for the sake of learning.
ON the other hand, the privatization of knowledge means that you have to have a ticket to get in and nothing’s for sale.
Nevertheless, there’s Penelope…in all her goodness…waiting for readers.
Til next time.
...
Sunday, May 7, 2017
What a day!!
Started the day with reading a piece about Penelope Lively in The New York Times.
Penelope won the Booker Prize in 1987 for Moon Tiger. Her contemporaries are Margaret Drabble and A.S. Byatt. She’s working on a new book and has no plans to retire unlike two of her other contemporaries, Philip Roth and Alice Munro, who have announced their retirements according to the article by Charles McGrath who can absolutely be trusted to get the facts straight.
After reading this article and realizing I'm not familiar with her books, Penelope is of course next on my reading list.
And then…the big wait was over. Neil deGrasse Tyson was on BookTV and was interviewed live by Peter Slen for three hours.
Woohoo. Great and perfect and not nearly long enough.
The interview was totally engaging. Lots of great call-in questions and lots of great discussions about black holes, worm holes, speed of light, and good ol’ Albert.
If I could do any kind of time travel, it would be to bring forward Einstein just so that he could see what he’s given us. And then of course we would need him to advise us about what we should be doing for the future of the planet, humanity, and the subjects of physics, math, and science.
Lots to think about today. From Penelope to Neil to Albert. Including a book given to me by an old friend.
And finally, there are certainly all kinds of things to celebrate.
Til next time.
.
.
.
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Tis a serious day today.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm,” said Winston Churchill.
Three recent movies about him are:
The Gathering Storm with Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave
and
Into the Storm with Brendan Gleeson and Janet McTeer
and
Churchill’s Secret with Michael Gambon and Lindsay Duncan
Til next time.
...
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
I can absolutely live without steak tartare and eggs benedict (if I must), but I can’t live without the Sunday New York Times even when I’m a dauntingly three weeks behind in its reading.
And now? Done. Just like a cake.
Til next time.
.
.
.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
I just finished listening to Rod Pyle on BookTV as he explained his book Amazing Stories of the Space Age.
He talked for over an hour about all things space. He also explained the roles of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in their efforts to develop recoverable rockets and to colonize Mars.
This presentation was a totally mesmerizing collection of amazing stories.
I learned there’s water in meteors, twelve people have walked on the moon, 3D printers are being tested in zero-gravity, a 25,000 mile tether could be made that would allow an elevator-like conveyance for transport between earth and a geosynchronous point in space, and on and on.
Rod said that Jeff and Elon have passion, brilliance, drive, and love for what they do.
Til next time.
...
Friday, April 28, 2017
Today?
A word or two about physical books versus Ebooks.
For ease of reading print and having a well-lit platform on which words appear, it’s the kindle/ipad.
But.
For the actual physical experience of touching paper, turning pages, holding a physical collection of ideas, and flipping to the back of the book for a quick peak at the ending, it’s hands-down, the physical book.
Plus, also in favor of the physical book is the fact that flipping through pages is a great way to gauge the total value of the book.
And further, there’s something called eidetic memory (photographic memory), which for me doesn’t work on the kindle/ipad but which does work in the physical book.
Most importantly, I want a physical facsimile of every book I’ve ever read and loved on my shelf…visible, accessible, and ready.
Alas. It's probably way too late for that.
Finally and unrelatedly, I tried a hot fudge sundae at McDonald's. Not that great, but the service was attentive and professional. Maybe I'll give it another shot. They also have caramel.
Til next time.
My Next Big Read...
Thursday, April 27, 2017
My copy of The Wind in the Willows is nowhere to be found.
I’m sure I’ve read it at some point, but I can’t actually remember doing so. And because the book has been referenced at least twelve times by things I’ve been reading or listening to this past week, I’ve taken this as a sign that I should start searching for it.
No luck.
But, I have found Alan Bennett reading the whole book on tape online for the BBC.
I’ve also found the entire book online as an Ebook through the wonderful folks at Project Gutenberg.
Alan reads all four parts of Mole, Ratty, Badger, and Toady, and he reads them with such consistent precision, that it’s easy to float down the river, enter the dungeon, and feast in Toad Hall with total comfort and wholesome believability.
Dulce, dulce libro. Thank you, Alan.
Til next time.
...
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Tidbits of mostly unrelated information:
Today, I heard Hearthrow pronounced HeathROW.
Yesterday, I heard Broadway pronounced BroadWAY by Fred Bass of Strand Books.
During John Adams’s day, it took six weeks to cross the Atlantic by boat.
Crispin Glover plays the lead in a film titled Bartleby based on the book by Herman Melville.
John Glover is an actor.
Savion Glover is a dancer.
Danny Glover is an actor.
Donald Glover is an actor.
Five talented people named Glover.
Til next time.
Friday, April 21, 2017
I discovered a new (old) book at the library...ArtfulReading by Bob Raczka.It's a book featuring works of art that feature books. It’s quite clever and well done, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it or even know that this book existed. But there you have it. A real discovery.
And thanks to Amazon, I now own three. Two for me and one for a friend.
Til next time.
...
Thursday, April 20, 2017
It’s really hard to keep up with everything that’s published…fiction, nonfiction, news, fake news, essays, audible.com, and on and on.
At the moment, I’m making myself finish Karl Ove Knausgaard’s newest book before rereading Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea as well as reading George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo.
Karl Ove’s book is about soccer, letters, and life. But it doesn’t have the depth of his My Struggle series, all of which I read and appreciated.
Nevertheless, soldiering on.
Til next time.
...
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
I’ve been enamored of late with Alan Bennett’s 1987 Talking Heads series from the BBC. He wrote a series of plays in the forms of monologues, which were acted out by Maggie Smith, Patricia Routledge, Stephanie Cole, Julie Walters, Eileen Atkins, Penelope Wilton, Juliet Stevenson, and Thora Hird.
They are magnificent studies of human behavior and even better studies of…what’s the word…oh yes, virtuoso acting.
Alan is a national treasure, but he doesn’t want to be called that. He said he’s too shy for that type of fame. Still…he is.
Til next time.
Monday, April 10, 2017
It’s always a centering experience to listen to Alan Bennett read from his plays. It’s his accent, his cadence, and his consistency of values that is always so settling.
For the London Review of Books, he reads a few excerpts from his 2016 diary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYn2SwtoLOU
Moving on far from the world of Alan and his plays, is a scene from Michael Clayton wherein three horses gaze toward George Clooney as he walks up the hill toward them. The horses don’t seem to mind. They seem to be thinking, “Hey, it’s George. Wonder what he's doing here. Maybe he has a carrot.”
And FINALLY!!!! After all this time, I’ve learned how to read Roman Numerals beyond the normal XIV=14. I have no earthly idea why it took me so long. And furthermore, I have no idea why suddenly I've now become interested enough to learn. Actually, now that I think about it, last night I was watching an old movie copyrighted with the Roman Numerals of MCMLXXXVII. And that was the inspiration.
M=1,000
C=100
.˙. CM=900
L=50
X=10
V=5
I=1
1,000+900+50+30+7=1987
Presto.
Now it’s back to two new books I’ve started reading. Chaos by Patricia Cornwell. Not sure why I’m reading about chaos. The book feels sort of like a TV movie script with lots of descriptions about the river, cars, sirens, fish for dinner, etc. Maybe I won’t finish it or maybe I’ll give it a few more pages. And then it’s on to 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster. Not sure what this is about, but it's been acknowledged as good. .˙.
One more thing I learned today. I learned how to make a “therefore” in math.
Period Alt h Period
.˙.
Lovely.
Til next time.
...
Monday, April 3, 2017
Robert Benjamin Silvers, editor of The New York Review of Books died March 20, 2017.
It’s a huge loss. He was the engine that produced scholarly and readable book reviews on a fortnightly basis for his “paper.” And he did this for 54 years.
From a 1997 interview with Brian Lamb, Robert said that of the 10,000 books submitted to him yearly, his paper reviewed 600 of them.
Currently, the Review has 130,000 subscribers @ $80 per year for a subscription budget of $10,400,000 per year. This amount coupled with ad revenues has always kept “the paper” in the black.
Their offices are in downtown Manhattan at 435 Hudson Street.
All of these numbers are factual and critical but at the same time are incidental. Their only importance is that that they allowed Robert and his team to publish book reviews that were completely independent of outside rules, censorship, or interference.
Robert’s sensibilities were such that he was always in search of good writing and verifiable facts. Erudite and kind are two words that his writers have consistently used to describe him.
Robert Silvers made a gift of his intellectual commitments, wanderings, and wonderments to the world for its benefit. He made it possible for readers and writers to connect and think about the issues that the world needs to be thinking about.
In 2006, he received the Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 2012, he received the National Humanities Medal by President Obama.
In 2014, he was named a Literay Lion by the New York Public Library.
In 2014, Martin Scorsese produced a film about Robert’s life and titled it, The 50 Year Argument.
Robert has received honorary degrees from Harvard, Columbia, and Oxford.
Two weeks ago today, Robert died at his home in Manhattan at age 87.
He’s gone.
But as he regularly said to his reviewers, “Let’s see what can be done.”
Til next time.
...
Friday, March 31, 2017
Swoosh!
A whole week just whizzed by.
Finished a highly acclaimed book by a Russian author. The book was touted as revealing and enlightening. However, I found it to be rather disjointed and dark. Maybe that best describes Russia. Disjointed and dark. But then again, it's really difficult to know what the Russian people really think about their country. We probably need more student exchange programs. That's where the future can best be shaped. Oh yes. The book? My Life As a Russian Novel.
Speaking of the future. Whoa. Elon Musk. SpaceX. Launched a reusable rocket yesterday. What a guy. Five hundred years from now, Mars might be a routine touristy day trip. I bet he has fun every single day.
Next book? George Saunders wrote Lincoln in the Bardo. I have no idea what it’s about, but it came across my desk. And I love George Saunders.
So. It’s a go.
Til next time.
Me and George.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Yea.
It’s the weekend.
Til next time.
A couple of these, and everything looks possible.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Finished Margaret Drabble’s new novel, The Dark Flood Rises. I think she got it all just right…not that Dame Margaret needs approval, but still…she might like to know that the book resonates with truth.
And the truth that Dame Margaret captured involves the cyclical nature of life and death.
To get to her truths, she included a lot of references to books and writers in much the same way that Michel Hoellebecq included references to books and writers in his book, The Map and the Territory.
And the truth is that when reading these two books in particular, I feel rich, which of course is not as good as being wealthy…but still…it’s pretty good.
The richness from these books comes from just simply knowing that Margaret and Michel crafted complex and bookish stories wherein their accomplished characters were ordinary and complicated but pretty much decent.
Can readers owe a debt of gratitude to writers?
Maybe…Probably…Undoubtedly
Til next time.
Much Much
Thanks
Sunday, March 19, 2017
According to my Kindle, I’m only 44% into Margaret Drabble’s new novel, The Dark Flood Rises. The book is about death, dying, aging, remembering, connecting, deciding, and living…not exactly in that order however.
I keep thinking, “No. I’m going to stop reading this book." But then, I keep coming back wanting to know what happens to all the characters she’s created.
The lives and stories of her characters intersect throughout time and place, which means it can be hard to keep track of who’s who. But in the hands of a writer like Margaret, there’s no trouble telling Fran from Claude from Christopher from Bennett.
So. Today with the encouragement of The New Yorker to spend time reading something that means something, I’m going to soldier on with Margaret’s crew because I know that this book is a book about something that means something. And when I get to the end, well...then I’ll know.
Also today, I have in my hands an actual book and not a digital facsimile. A writer in the NY Times mentioned this book as uniquely essential. So, voila, here tis. In my hand. Right this minute. The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua.
Til next time.
A uniquely essential book by Sydney Padua, 2015.
Saturday, March 11, 2017
The beloved Sir Ian McKellen, as he plays Sherlock Holmes in the film Mr. Holmes, is talking to his young bee-keeping helper, Roger (played by Milo Parker).
Roger asks if one of the stories Mr. Holmes is working on is real.
Mr. Holmes replies, “Of course. Fiction is worthless.”
But respectfully, that’s totally wrong, because just today I’ve started reading Dame Margaret Drabble’s The Dark Flood Rises: A Novel. And by page two I’m sold.
So on this rainy, cloudy day, I’ll be sitting by the fire learning about Fran, her life, and the dilemmas which I am guessing she faces.
And after Dame Margaret’s book, which will take a few days of focused and all-consuming reading, I’m suddenly and inexplicably in the mood to reread The Sea, The Sea by Dame Iris Murdoch.
Then maybe I’ll be off to visit the sea, the lonely sea and the sky, and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by (from Sea Fever by John Masefield).
A busy weekend. And very worthwhile.
Til next time.
The Sea, The Sea by Dame Iris Murdoch.
Friday, March 10, 2017
It’s possible and probable that there is way too much reading material available for any sensible person to process.
Nothing to do but soldier on. But then again...
Til next time.
A wordy life.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
I don’t really know why I feel so buoyant when I read the Arts and Leisure section of the NYTimes, but I do. There’s rarely an issue that doesn’t make me feel like I should be in my favorite seat on Broadway (left section, row C, aisle) or at the movies with a bottled water and medium popcorn.
This week’s feature of Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in the TV series Feud was perfect…as was the show. The show made it obvious what talent, strength, and perseverance Joan and Bette had to have just to be able to do good work. They had to be relentless...and they were...to the very end.
And then of course there’s Bette Midler on Broadway in Hello Dolly, which is going to be perfect when I eventually get there. The reviews and support are remarkably and appropriately positive.
In honor of International Women’s Day, I found an old photo of three trail-blazers in the fields of politics, business, and the arts.
And finally, I made a two-page list of women authors who are on my shelves and under my skin.
Lots of talent…everywhere you look…rising above it all.
Til next time.
Arts and Leisure...Always Available.
Hillary...Martha...Bernadette
Women
Write.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Dave Barry was live on BookTV today, but he wasn’t nearly as compelling as the MD, PhD who was on shortly after him.
Dr. Danielle Ofri has written a new book about physicians and how they do and don’t communicate well with their patients. Wow.
She was brilliant, accessible, and inspiring as well as being a scholarly practitioner of medicine.
She discussed what she had learned after completing research and publishing her latest book, What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear. AND she was at the best bookstore in the world, Strand at 12th and Broadway, NYC.
She has a clinical practice and treats patients at Bellevue Hospital. I am definitely going to get her book.
Click, click. Just did. AND it’s signed by the author. Go STRAND.
Strand Books also listed the rest of their calendar of author presentations, and that includes Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who will be talking about her new book at Strand this coming Tuesday.
Sure is a busy month.
Til next time.
strandbooks.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
After listening to Alan Bennett read aloud his book The Uncommon Reader on CD, I’m now reading the actual book for myself.
And I’ve again come across a reference to the book A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell (pronounced Pole, or so I’ve been told).
I checked on Amazon and low and behold (or is it lo and behold…I’ll have to check on that later), I bought the four-DVD, BBC filmed version of that book in September, 2007 at a cost of $49.99 even though now its price is $32.98.
I’m sure I watched it then, but now I think I’ll watch it again.
Til next time.
The box says, "The complete British miniseries based on the epic literary masterpiece." AND what can be better than epic.
Monday, February 27, 2017
From David McCullough’s John Adams, I learned that in 1812, the British naval forces burned Washington, D. C. This included burning all the books in the Library of Congress. Thomas Jefferson sold his personal 6,000 volume library collection to the LOC for $23,000 to help replenish the nation’s and world’s printed wisdom.
From Pat Conroy’s My Reading Life, I read for the third time ever the word amanuensis.
From Woody Allen’s Manhattan, I was reminded of his list about what made life worthwhile in 1979:
Groucho Marx
Willie Mays
The Second Movement of the Jupiter Symphony
Louie Armstrong’s recording of Potato Head Blues
Swedish movies
Sentimental Education by Flaubert
Marlon Brando
Frank Sinatra
Apples and Pears by Cezanne
The crabs at Sam Wo’s
Woody didn’t mention George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue…perhaps its worthwhileness is universally understood.
Til next time.
Woody Allen from the days of tweedy sports coats and cassette recorders.
Apples and Pears by Cezanne.
Friday, February 24, 2017
I finished Zero K by Don DeLillo. In this book, there are two almost parallel stories that eventually converge into each other. And this convergence is of course a reference to the eventual convergence of two actual parallel lines, which will ultimately converge into one due to the space/time continuum. As near as I can figure out.
Finished with Zero K, I've moved on to My Reading Life by Pat Conroy. I watched his widow on BookTV Sunday talk about Pat, his life, his writing, and his books. That was my motivation.
I’m also listening to William Hurt read on CD various short stories recorded at Symphony Space in NYC where William was introduced by Isaiah Sheffer, the founder of Symphony Space. What a blessing.
And finally, in the car, I’m almost finished with the 9th CD of Edward Herrmann reading David McCullough’s John Adams. For the second time. And still rivetting. I think I would not have made a good pioneer settler. Life was hard.
Oh, and even one more thing, I’m down to the last half-hour of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall via Amazon Prime. For the second time. I’m almost to the point where Anne Boleyn is going to be beheaded. Again for the second time. In addition to not being a good pioneer, I probably wouldn’t have made a good subject of King Henry either. Much too many beheadings…including Thomas Cromwell the King’s supporter and confidante.
From couch to car to computer to gym, there’s a lot going on.
Til next time.
The life of readers...
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Today?
A new word.
Calumny.
Haven’t ever heard of this word. And here it is…twice…in one week.
First, Paolo Sorrentino, the writer, gave this word to Jude Law, the actor, in The Young Pope when the Pope was talking about those who were critical of him.
Second, Abigail Adams used the word in a letter to a friend when she was writing about the newly passed Sedition Act of 1918 (of which she disapproved since it was an act that curbed free speech by making it unlawful to criticize the government). [Documented by David McCullough in his book John Adams as read by Edward Herrmann.]
But back to calumny.
It means…to defame or slander someone.
Calumny is a word that may appear very irregularly throughout the decades, but it’s nice to know it’s there. If needed.
Til next time.
9 CDs...flawless.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Just finished Paulo Coelho’s The Spy, a book about Mata Hari’s life and execution. Paulo certainly makes a convincing case for the criminal injustice she suffered. Even though his book is fiction, it is well researched and reasonable. I’m very glad to have read it.
Just started Don DeLillo’s Zero K. His interview with Michael Silverblatt was compelling and suggests that this book is going to be around for a long, long time.
Brilliant writers and books both.
And as I’m doing some spring cleaning…(basically a little bit of dusting), I find a gift that I received many years ago, and it’s a book that tops them all. And that’s not even counting the gift-giver’s inscription, for which I’ll always be appreciative.
The book?
Once I read it, it never left.
It’s Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera. It's a river of a book with wave after wave of language that made me feel as though I were moving toward something that was magic. And it was.
Now finally a little thought about the wisdom of books.
According to Alan Bennett in the film he wrote about Marcel Proust and titled 102 Boulevard Haussmann, Marcel and his housekeeper, Celeste, had this conversation:
Marcel asks, “Celeste. Do you read novels?”
“Occasionally,” answered Celeste.
“Why?” asks Marcel.
“They take me out of myself,” she replied.
Marcel responds, “They should take you into yourself. Every reader while he is reading is a reader of his own self. A book is merely an optical instrument, a lens, which the author offers the reader to enable him or her to discern what without the book, they would never have perceived in themselves.”
Thank you, Alan, for finally explaining this book phenomenon to me in words that are insightful and clear.
Plus, I’m honored that it was Mr. Bennett…the man who coined the phrase “habitual cheerfulness.”
Til next time.
GGM...Like no other...1927-2014.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
For years and decades, I’ve never run across the word amanuensis.
And now in the last week, there it is.
Twice.
First, Alan Bennett used the word in The Uncommon Reader to describe a young man named Norman who helped The Queen with her books. Norman was referred to as an amanuensis.
Second, I was catching up on reading The Book Review from January 29, 2017, and there on page 13 was a review of a book about the poet Boris Pasternak, whose life inspired the movie Doctor Zhivago in 1965. In real life, Pasternak’s companion was Olga Ivinskaya…his amanuensis according to the book reviewer.
Two times in less than a week…a new word.
An amanuensis is a literary assistant who among other things writes from dictations or copies manuscripts.
I need one…or could even be one.
Finally and perhaps even sadly, lots of what I think I know about Russia comes from that 1965 movie, which according to the book reviewer still stands the test of time rather well. Thank you Мистер Pasternak.
Til next time.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Yesterday, I was five weeks behind in reading The Book Review of the NYT. Today, I’m only two. Yea.
However, I’m between books, which is always awkward. I’m between books not by choice but because I’ve finished my list and am waiting for my next big read to come my way...as it always mysteriously and without any real plan does.
I’m actually thinking of rereading Ozick or Houellebecq again or maybe even Thurber or Common Sense by Paine.
Something…just haven’t quite decided what, yet.
Til next time.
Choices from NYPL.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
I finished listening to The Uncommon Reader written and read by Alan Bennett. The book is a novella about how The Queen became a reader.
And it’s perfect.
It all started when the nearly 80-year-old Queen was led by one of her escaped Corgis to a mobile library parked by the kitchen in the back of the palace.
She found young Norman, a kitchen helper, on the floor of the mobile library reading a book. She hired him to be her literary assistant AKA an amanuensis.
The Queen and Norman read everything from Trollope to Proust to Thackery to Ivy Compton-Burton and beyond.
Toward the end of the book, The Queen reflects that reading is not enough for her. She also wants to be a writer.
Alan quotes the fictional Queen as thinking, “A reader was next door to being a spectator. Whereas when she was writing, she was doing. Doing was her duty.”
“And she’d always been very good at duty.”
As her reading progressed over time, The Queen said, “At the risk of sounding like a piece of steak, books tend to tenderize one.”
“You go to a book to have your convictions corroborated.”
“At 80, things do not occur, they recur.”
In the end, while the Queen’s Prime Minister was not enthusiastic about the Queen becoming a writer, he does try to encourage her to write nonfiction rather than fiction, which he fears will be too close to truth.
The Queen does not want to write nonfiction. She wants to write fiction. But not gossip.
The Queen knows that Lady Bracknell said that “a life is crowded with incident.” And The Queen wants to create a book crowded with creative incident.
Both Alan and The Queen have lived lives crowded with much more than incident.
What good company for a sunny afternoon.
Til next time.
I'm in the book.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Before today, my knowledge of Rancho Mirage, California was nearly zero.
And that’s not good.
But on BookTV today, the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival from January 28, 2017 was broadcast, and all my favorite writers, environmentalists, thinkers, and leaders were on stage talking about their books, the world, and the future.
Eureka. I struck gold. I just can’t stop smiling.
This festival certainly rivals the Miami Book Festival in quality and scope. AND they’ve already set a date for their next year’s festival in 2018.
Clearly, my knowledge of Rancho Mirage, California has increased a thousand percent. And it’s all good.
Perhaps the best tidbit of info was from a panel and was from the incomparable Douglas Brinkley who told the story of a meeting he had with Boone Pickens. According to Douglas’s first-hand account, Boone’s 60,000 acres in Texas have been restored to their original natural state while at the same time becoming a powerhouse for wind energy.
Brinkley and Pickens. It’s a new day.
The most profound lecture was from Lawrence Wright who always gets his facts exactly right and his wisdom exactly focused. His talk was brilliant. On all levels. World peace, liberty, safety, freedom of assembly. He addressed it all.
The other notable feature of this festival was the audience. Each session was packed with serious attendees who were keen to learn.
The Rancho Mirage Writers Festival…a jewel.
Til next time.
Keeping both eyes open for BookTV.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Where does the time go?
A new book titled, Now: The Physics of Time by Richard Muller was featured on BookTV over the weekend. The author explained his book, his theory, and his take on time.
I watched the entire lecture and still wonder, “Where does the time go?”
I just finished Alexander Masters’s A Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found in the Trash. Alexander is a biographer and has written about Stuart, Simon, and a Diarist.
Alexander is like a very respectful and respectable detective as he delves into the lives of ordinary people while slowly painting a picture of their journeys.
After finishing 148 Diaries, I've started reading Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo. A bit depressing...but I'll soldier on.
Then queued up are:
The Maples Stories by John Updike followed by
Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen.
Not sure about Razor Girl, but I’ll give it a whirl.
At the gym on the treadmill, it’s Z with Christina Ricci on Amazon Prime.
Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald. Jeff Bezos…how does he do it all?
Plus, I’ve found a thunderstorm CD on Amazon Prime, and it’s perfect for playing while reading. Thunder and lightning go really well with a good book.
And finally…here are five books I really like, recommend, and have read many, many times.
Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull
When Marian Sang by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
Ella Fitzgerald by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden
Til next time.
Krull. Ryan. Giovanni. Pinkney. Borden.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
I’ve started making a list of movies from the past that I’ve liked and have watched multiple times and will watch again a few more times.
In no particular order:
The Lady in the Van
Adaptation
Birdman
Ghostwriter
Postcards From the Edge
Doubt
Margaret
Iron Lady
Friends with Money
Welcome to Me
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Reign Over Me
The Soloist
Lovely and Amazing
A Most Wanted Man
About Time
Calvary
The Singing Detective (Michael Gambon)
Shooting the Past
Illuminata
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Cast Away
The Pianist
Memento
Amélie
Page Eight
Fracture
O Brother, Where Art Thou
The Darjeeling Limited
Midnight in Paris
The King’s Speech
Bridge of Spies
Sliding Doors
Sylvia
The Hours
The Royal Tenenbaums
Stranger than Fiction
State and Main
25th Hour
Moonrise Kingdom
The Martian
Good Will Hunting
Michael Clayton
The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Interiors
Iris
Oh. My. Gosh.
That’s way too many movies to have watched.
And those are just the ones I really, really like and have watched more than once.
Oh dear.
Til next time.
Five handy favorites.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
In Monday’s Times, there was an article about a scientist from the 17th century. She was a botanist and artist from Germany living in the Netherlands where they speak Dutch (people in Denmark speak Danish).
The Lannoo Publishers in Belgium (where they speak Dutch, French, and German) have reissued one of the books she produced.
The book is titled: Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium and is available on Amazon. The article is very thorough about the quality of Maria Sibylla Merian’s scientific work and makes it clear that history, science, and books are perfect companions.
JoAnna Klein wrote the article.
Til next time.
Maria Sibylla Merian, the greatest botanist of all time.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Yesterday started with a coffee.
And then for some reason, I was reminded of the film Page Eight by David Hare who featured Billie Holliday singing Fine and Mellow in his film. On the Fine and Mellow album (which I found on Amazon), Billie also sang I Loves You, Porgy among ten other songs on her Fine and Mellow Volume 6 album from 1954-1958. This led me to read about Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess which led me to read Robert Gottlieb’s literary criticism in the Everyman’s Library publication of Rudyard Kipling's work. From coffee to Kipling all in one day.
AND
SUPPOSEDLY, Louis Armstrong said, “Ah, swing, well, we used to call it syncopation, then they called it ragtime, then blues, then jazz. Now, it’s swing.” If he did, that’s a totally brilliant synopsis of the history of something I’ve always wondered about.
AND
I read a book review that referenced Pierre Bourdieu’s study Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.
AND
From the season finale of Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson was holding a cup of tea and dropped it. The tea did not fall as fast as the cup and saucer. I need someone really good in physics to explain that to me.
Til next time.
The drop begins.
A closeup of tea.
Friday, January 20, 2017
I was thinking about George Washington’s book that he created as a writing exercise when he was a young boy in school. His schoolmaster evidently had him practice his penmanship by copying from a 1595 manuscript created by Jesuit priests who penned a book entitled Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. I read all 110 admonitions and found them to be not bad advice.
Seems like a good way to start the week end.
Til next time.
George on the one.
Washington's 1785 life mask.
A very good beginning.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
I’m not giving up. But my goodness. I’m trying to get interested and stay interested in Montaigne, and I just can’t do it. Even Sarah Bakewell’s breakthrough and famously-accessible book that received rave reviews doesn’t hold my attention. I really just want to read Montaigne’s questions and answers. I prefer NOT to wade through parentheticals, addendums, historical footnotes, dictionary definitions, contextual underpinnings, and other sources that explain what I’m reading. I just want to read. I just want a readable translation of what the man wrote. I guess this means I’m not an ideal reader. Or I’m not an ideal reader of a 1560’s French philosopher’s writing.
But I’m going to stick with it. Probably. Maybe. Yes.
On a much brighter note, I’m well into Alan Cumming’s Not My Father’s Son. The book is great. Honest and truthful...with a world view of kindness and hope. I’m listening to it read by the author, and I’m actually starting to speak with a wee bit of a Scottish brogue. It’s totally grreat!
And still more brightness. I finished Amor Towles's Rules of Civility. It's about life in NYC in the 30s and 40s. And at the end of the book, Amor includes George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, a book which illuminates 110 brrilliant guideposts for decent living. Well done, George. And thank you.
Til next time.
Montaigne tilts the world.
Monday, January 16, 2017
I finished Avid Reader and am overwhelmed with the accomplishments of Robert Gottlieb. His life with Knopf, Simon and Schuster, and The New Yorker is unique and practically unbelievable.
Throughout all the years that I’ve been reading books, I had no idea he was the editor of so many of the ones that have shaped the life of my mind.
Unbeknownst to me till now, he’s been part of my life as I read everyone from Sylvia Ashton-Warner to Toni Morrison to Robert Caro. It’s a connection. A solid one. Unbeknownst to him. But essential to me.
Then, there’s TV. The Young Pope. Jude Law. Wow. He certainly captures the entire flavor of life in Vatican City as an actor, but it’s Paolo Sorrentino, the series mastermind, who created and directed such a daring tale. A ten-part series. Very brave…including an effectively bizarre connection to Cherry Coke Zero. Where will it all end?
Til next time.
Please recycle.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Very Cool
1. Ten years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone.
2. There was a really great line from Mrs. Hudson on Sherlock last night. A police office stopped her after a high-speed chase in her new, red Aston Martin, “Wait. You there. Stop right where you are. Do you have any idea what speed you were going at?” Mrs. Hudson replied, “Well of course not. I was on the phone.”
Til next time.
Ten years of connections.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Three Four Things That Came Up This Week
First Thing: Choices
Robert Gottlieb said, “There’s a need when you’re young, to announce your standards, your preferences; to identify yourself through your choices.”
IMO, these seem to be pretty good choices for forward-looking youngsters. AAUW
ACLU
Habitat for Humanity
Heifer International
LWV
Nature Conservancy
NOW
NPR
PBS
Planned Parenthood
Southern Poverty Law Center
Also, according to The Times, Charles F. Feeney just gave away most of his eight billion dollar fortune in support of four broad categories of very good choices:
Higher Education
Public Health
Human Rights
Scientific Research
Second Thing: Acting
I’ve seen Nina Arianda in six performances:
2011 Midnight in Paris
2014 Tales from Red Vienna
2015 Fool for Love
2016 Crisis in Six Scenes
2016 Goliath
2016 Florence Foster Jenkins
AND. She was featured in a nice article in The Times Magazine, February 17, 2012. I liked the part where she explains how Woody Allen wanted her to be holding a camera when shooting the Versailles scene in Midnight in Paris.
Third Thing: Conversations
William F. Buckley, Jr. said that he enjoyed conversations with people of intellectual curiosity and cultural diversity. Robert Gottlieb said he enjoyed eight or nine hour dinner conversations.
Gravitational Waves Detected February 11, 2016, The New York Times
What a day.
Til next time.
Monday, January 2, 2017
When two things—seemingly unrelated and separated by decades and events— intersect, should I pay attention to them?
And if so, to what extent?
So. Here are the two things.
Yesterday, I finished the book by Alexander Masters about Simon the brilliant mathematician, and then I started Robert Gottlieb’s memoir.
In Robert's chapter titled, Working-Simon and Schuster, Robert talks about the incomparable four-volume set of books published in 1956 and titled, The World of Mathematics put together by James R. Newman.
Math. There it is.
Two significant references to math, both new to me. And both within the space of a 24-hour period.
I looked up The World of Mathematics on Amazon.
Bingo. There they are.
Amazon has the used and aging four-volume set.
For sale. $12.96 plus shipping for $3.99.
Should I buy this set and protect them from obscurity? Are they, in fact, obscure? Where would I put them? Would I enjoy actually reading them?
I almost feel like Bill Gates when he felt compelled to buy Leonardo da Vinci’s scientific notebook for $30.8 million from Christie’s.
Almost.
Til next time.
The World of Mathematics edited by James R. Newman.
Leonardo's scientific notebook also called...Codex Leicester.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Wow. A whole new calendar year begins today…as do my new year’s resolutions.
I resolve to…hmmm. Can’t decide. I’ll put that off for later.
I did just this morning finish Alexander Master’s biographical book about Simon, who was and is a maths genius. And it is maths. After reading the book, I’m fairly certain that there are multiple kinds of maths. The book had pretty much just the right of mathematical formulas and explanations but was mostly about the unique, odd, and perplexing lifestyle of a genius. I’m glad I read it.
The book I’m starting today is Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb with publication by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, which is just about the best publishing house ever except for the fact that they don’t use the serial comma in their title. I wish they did. I’m a big fan of the serial comma.
And finally, I watched a live broadcast of BookTV this morning with two of my favorite book people. It was totally mesmerizing. I loved, loved, loved it.
I can’t even remember my life without BookTV.
Til next time.
Robert Gottlieb...a name you can trust.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
John Lithgow keeps popping up in my life at every turn. He brilliantly plays the part of Prime Minister in The Crown, which I watch for an hour each day on Netflix while I’m at the gym trudging along on the treadmill.
John and his book of poetry are on my shelf, which I just dusted. The Poets’ Corner. Perhaps the best book ever.
He was a NYPL Live guest along with James Shapiro as they discussed The Year of Lear. It was just such a meaningful discussion between two people who love Shakespeare and who understand his work.
And finally, he was on stage in Arthur Miller’s play, All My Sons along with Diane Wiest, Patrick Wilson, and Katie Holmes. At the end, the cast stood together on stage and took their bows with such an extraordinary amount of humility that I think I stopped breathing for a moment or two. Possibly more. January 7, 2009.
So, Mr. Lithgow, you’re on my mind. Maybe it’s time to rewatch The World According to Garp or maybe even Bill’s Lear.
Yes. I think so.
Til next time.
A perfect book.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
This season,
I have just remembered
That I am fond of ginger snaps,
And now I am
Consuming them with enthusiasm.
Til next time.
Snap!
Thursday, December 22, 2016
My. My. My.
Last night I finished reading Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters. It’s from 2004. I stumbled upon it based on a review of Alexander’s latest book titled, A Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found in the Trash, which I have queued up on my kindle for right after I finish Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen and another book by Alexander titled, Simon: The Genius in My Basement.
My life seems to be one long reading list.
Stuart: A Life Backwards was made into a movie way back in 2008 and starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Alexander, the writer and Tom Hardy as Stuart, the tragic hero of the book.
It’s not a holiday type of book, but I don’t really need a book for holiday spirit. I have coffee and fudge for that.
But Stuart.
Stuart. Stuart. Stuart. This book. It’s an exact replica of a life gone incredibly wrong. And even with multiple opportunities to right itself, Stuart’s life continued to beat him up and keep him from ever achieving even the smallest smidgen of happiness or contentment. Ever.
The book belongs on the shelf beside Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. Both books should be required reading for all college freshman majoring in economics, social work, and political science. IMO.
And now on to Razor Girl which I actually started reading this morning. It doesn’t really feel like the kind of book to read after reading about Stuart’s life…now that I think about it. In fact, it feels a bit disrespectful. So I think I’ll save Razor Girl for a sunny or a rainy spring day.
And finally, I actually have one more book queued up on my kindle: Avid Reader: A Life by Robert Gottlieb. Can’t wait.
Busy. Busy.
But even so. I watched Florence Foster Jenkins with Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, and Simon Helberg last night. I’m ready to go to interior decorating school. Is there such a school as that?
Til next time.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Read something that means something. That’s The New Yorker’s motto.
So, that’s what I thought I’d do today now that I’ve finished some other must-do items including the fact that I've:
Had coffee.
Watched BookTV’s American Book Awards broadcast.
Organized a bit of music.
Had lunch.
Tried a new hairstyle.
Went back to old hairstyle.
Planned dinner.
Had more coffee.
Finished Mister Monkey
I finished just this morning, Mister Monkey by Francine Prose. My first two thoughts when I first started reading this book several days ago were plastered with yellow CAUTION tape.
Monkeys and chimps are two different animals. I learned this from Jane Goodall. And Francine seems to use the two terms interchangeably in this book. I wonder why. Poetic license? She’s unaware?
My second thought was “Oh, no. Each chapter is written from a different character’s perspective.”
I’ve always preferred novels over short stories because the characters have a longer time to develop and become real. So if each chapter in this book was going to be from a different character, that was a potential problem.
But then after the second chapter of Mister Monkey, I was hooked. And by now at the end, I’m glad I read the whole thing. It’s a work of art. The takeaway? I’m glad I’m not a Broadway play director, and it might be nice to be an ER nurse.
Francine Prose. Thank you. Very much. For writing something that means something.
Til next time.
A busy day ahead.
A few singers who always get it right.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
All you have to do is listen one time to Patti Smith singing A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall and you know that the Nobel Committee made the perfect decision when they gave the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature to Bob Dylan.
Imagine.
Being Patti. Being Bob.
It was such a beautiful moment to listen to Patti as she faltered, stopped, and asked to begin again. The conductor granted her request, and she was unconditionally loved.
The musicians behind her shined
and the audience pulsed
and it was all exactly right
and it's all right there forever
for the world to witness
whenever it needs a graceful boost.
Simple goodness.
Today's New Yorker.
She and her words.
His tune.
Her voice.
His poetry.
And all the images.
Right there…today. Forever.
"Could we start that section? I apologize. Sorry I’m so nervous."
The applause almost didn’t stop.
Til next time.
A moment for the ages.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Michel Houellebecq
Karl Ove Knausgaard
Amor Towles
It’s amazing to me how I just stumble on to stuff.
And I stumbled on to those three writers.
I just finished A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles, and I loved it.
The Count, in the 1920s, is a Russian aristocrat who is sentenced to living the remainder of his life in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow.
And although he is now living in much reduced circumstances and under house arrest, Count Restov retains his manners, his sense of propriety, and his dignity. This, of course, makes him the hero of the book.
And after four decades and right up until the very last page, the reader is unsure of whether or not he makes it.
Music, history, food, friendship, loyalty, and literature infuse the story with lovely details that are central to the values of the book’s characters.
There are even footnotes in the shape of endnotes that illuminate the significance of the book’s themes.
And the author? The author.
Amor Towles. He used to be an investment strategist of some sort, made a LOT of money, retired, and is now writing books. It is unclear how Amor came to be so knowledgeable about Russian history.
But it seems to me that he got it all exactly right from the Tsar, to Marx, to Lenin, to Stalin, to Khrushchev. And that’s not forgetting Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, and Chekhov who are each also part of the book’s heroic nature but who are only a bit more heroic than the ordinary people who never call each other comrade when dining together but merely…friend.
Til next time.
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Tonight, A Prairie Home Companion streamed live from Manhattan’s The Town Hall in both audio and video formats.
The new host, Chris Thile did a great job along with Yo Yo Ma on cello and Steve Martin on banjo with Bach winning the day.
The nation of NPR has waited to see if Garrison’s replacement could hold his own as host.
He can. Bravo!!!
The show ended with a remembrance of Dylan Thomas and the Welsh song All Through the Night. A pretty fabulous event.
Til next time.
The Town Hall...on 43rd between 6th and 7th.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
BookTV.org featured three historians on their In Depth program this past Sunday.
The topic was Pearl Harbor, which was attacked 75 years ago today, on December 7, 1941.
The three historians were well versed in the events of the day and gave a full and accurate account of the situation and losses.
Peter Slen led the discussion for a very full and rewarding three hours. The featured historians were:
Steve Twomey
Eri Hotta
Craig Nelson
Til next time.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
In today’s paper there was a photo of the ten best books of 2016 brilliantly photographed by Rebecca Mock.
Some of these ten have rather dark messages, which means we might need a lighter look at a koala and butterfly interacting as well as some empty-nest chickens playing the xylophone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch-sxElzF3A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKKN0lAlATQ
Til next time.
Books photographed by Rebecca Mock of The New York Times.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Catching up on reading The New York Times Book Review.
The nice thing about being three weeks behind is being three weeks behind and looking forward to three weeks of reviews.
On page 31 of the November 6, 2016 edition, there is an essay by Judith Newman who reviewed several books written on the subject of being happy.
The first book she reviewed was Walking on Sunshine by Rachel Kelly. Rachel refers to Yeats and his happiness-oriented poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.”
At poetry.org, there is a recording of Yeats reading that very poem, which he wrote early in his career. Yeats won the Noble Prize for Literature in 1923.
If I could engage in time travel, I’d bring back William Butler Yeats and have him sit down over a good Irish stew with Bob Dylan and let them compare notes. And of course, I’d youtube the whole encounter.
Back to Judith’s take-away from the five happiness-type books that she reviewed, she seems to conclude that happiness will come when we:
Work hard
Play nice
Take a few steps at a time
Watch our pocketbooks and
Don’t try so much
And that’s all without buying a ticket to either Innisfree or Duluth.
All seems fairly doable.
Plus, I’m looking forward to Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, whom I adore and then on to Wonder Women by Sam Maggs. Also, I bought a book of 400 animal stickers. All three books from the incomparable Strand Books in NYC on Broadway and 12th. These three are for after I finish The Children Act, which is so compelling I can’t put it down and don’t want it to end.
But it will.
Til next time.
not exactly a memoir...or so says Amy.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Brothuh, we gon’ be alright.
On Prairie Home Companion last night, it was a rerun from February 6, 2016.
Chris Thile adapted and played Alright, which is a song by Kendrick Lamar.
https://www.prairiehome.org/shows/51405
Chris is a virtuoso on the mandolin. And I just looked up the word virtuoso to make sure I’m using the word correctly. Turns out, I am.
His gift transcends anything ever played on the mandolin…ever…as well as anything Garrison ever conceived...including Lake Woebegone.
Quite a feat.
Chris has a one-and-a-half-year-old son named Calvin to whom he dedicated Alright.
A perfect performance coming at just the right time and very much worth repeating.
Brothuh, we gon’ be alright.
And then later last night, I caught the 67th National Book Awards on BookTV.
Lisa Lucas quoted the poet Toi Derracoitte who said, “Joy is an act of resistance.”
Art, books, and music…acts of joy.
With that encouragement, I just checked out a new book from the library, so I’m set for the next few hours on a rainy Sunday reading The Children Act by Ian McEwan.
I was going to read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, but it’s not available at the library (already checked out with a long wait-list).
Colson told Terry GrossMichael Silverblatt the audience at the 33rd Annual Miami Book Fair that he usually spends his Sunday afternoons “weeping over my regrets.” Since he just won the National Book Award for fiction, there’s not much weeping going on today I suspect. He concluded his acceptance speech by encouraging three things:
Be kind to everybody
Make art
Fight the power
And finally, in the spirit of full disclosure and inspired by Maria Bamford’s similar admission, I own a Thomas Kincade painting, which I very much like.
Just had another thought. My ideal job would be sitting in front of a 27" Mac in a building at 242 W. 41st Street in New York City and being a fact-checker for The New York Times...in case they're wondering.
Til next time.
Reminds me of Roald Dahl's Matilda.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
I’m not sure why I decided to read Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.
The book is about “a laugh-riot of a family,” according to Ann when she was being interviewed by Michael Silverblatt.
However, her publisher described the book as “a heart-breaking tale of tragedy and loss.”
To my mind, the publisher got it right.
Six children, two families, two coasts, marriage, divorce, re-marriage, divorce, etc. It’s not really a laugh-riot.
I don’t think I smiled or chuckled…even once.
Also, I had difficulty keeping track of the many characters and their relationships to each other, their parents, their step-parents, and their step-step-parents.
The children didn’t receive much nurturing from their parents. The parents didn’t seem to be aware of the various messes that were circulating around them, and I don’t remember any scene that I thought was a happy-family or even an average-family moment.
But I do recall many scenes that presented characters who were unnecessarily endangered or lost.
I’m not sure why it was a NY Times best seller. But Michael with his generous spirit gave Ann a warm and positive interview. Michael is a writer's best reader and such a powerful intellectual.
But now, it’s on to The Whistler by John Grisham. I’m thinking a good and tough mystery will be a buoyant change from family malaise.
Also, I need to finish A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles. I love the Count...including his manners, his restraint, his indefatigable spirit, his books, his daily routine, and his sense of style and decorum even in his reduced circumstances. I hope it ends well.
And finally and eventually, I’m going to return to Sarah Bakewell’s How to Live Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer. I've been trying to read this for well over a year and probably closer to four.
Lots to do.
There will barely be time this week for even a small bite of pie.
Plus, somehow I’ve discovered on TBS, Alia Shawkat in Search Party. She’s SO good. On-demand…many episodes to watch.
Til next time.
This will be the year of Montaigne.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Highlights from a week in NYC…the cultural and financial capital of the world…trying daily to live up to its potential.
Ten images to click on.
Image:
Ten more images to click on.
Image:
The final eight.
Til next time.
Image:
Sunday, November 6, 2016
What a day.
Three hours of live TV with three historians on BookTV.
These three scholars demonstrated such knowledge, integrity, wit, charm, and devotion to history and to writing that I can’t stop smiling.
Three scholars on live TV make a nice Sunday so much better than perfect. BookTV is such a gift. Thank you to Brian Lamb and Peter Slen.
What would life be like without C-SPAN2.
I’m going to email historian William Seale and see if he wants to have lunch. I’m thinking Sara Beth’s on Madison Avenue…let’s say Thursday at 2:00? My treat.
Yesterday, I finished reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I had previously watched the four-part miniseries but wanted to read the book. The series and book are nice companions that make the characters and story lines much richer. Even so, the miniseries wins the day. Frances McDormand IS Olive. No question about it. From Fargo to Olive, Frances is an artist extraordinaire.
After Olive, I started reading A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles. I don’t know how I stumbled onto this particular tome but so glad I did. Even though I’m just barely into the book, I’m ready to live at the Metropol in a room with “a desk and chair, a bed and bedside table, and a high-back chair for guests.” Seems like that’s a line right out of the writing of Henry David Thoreau.
I did watch Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange last night at the movies and then caught up with him on SNL later. SNL fell a bit short or even a lot. And Doctor Strange needed a more overt plot line. The plot gets buried in various sword fights and scene changes. Benedict does much better as Sherlock and Alan Turing and Julian Assange. I hope he continues down those kinds of paths. Only time will tell. The accolades given to Doctor Strange by the NY Times seem oddly misplaced. What happened I wonder.
That’s enough. No more coffee today. Time for a Coke.
Til next time.
Freshly-ground coffee beans brewed in a French press. Ah.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
It’s funny how you walk into a library and find a book that you didn’t even know existed…but boom…there it is on a shelf displayed just so by a silent librarian who mystically knew that somebody for whom this book would be perfect would soon come along and find it.
So you spend three hours reading it from cover to cover, and then you’re totally inspired to do something really great.
Woody Guthrie by Nick Hayes.
Til next time.
A treasure from the library.
The beginnings of a tune from Buffalo Springfield 1966.
Monday, October 24, 2016
It’s been a busy week, and it all started with trying to renew my NYPL card.
Through that process, I wound up at the site of NYPL Live and watched Margaret Atwood and Fiona Shaw talk for well over an hour about their work.
It was great.
From Fiona I learned more about Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, and from Margaret I learned about the diminishment of species and the numbers of specimens within species with particular attention to birds.
Birds face four apocalyptic dangers:
1) habitat loss,
2) poisoning,
3) glass window strikes, and
4) cats.
Margaret is committed to keeping birds abundantly healthy. They are lucky to have her on their side.
Back to Shakespeare. Their love of his work is inspiring. Fiona is an expert with Richard II while Margaret knows all about The Tempest. I think. I may have to rewatch the broadcast to make sure I have all that right.
From there I went to three other video presentations:
Tim Wu and Douglas Rushkoff
Mona Eltahawy and Yasmine El Rashidi
Alan Cumming and Paul Holdengräber
There’s a lot to learn.
And some of that learning is ongoing with Hamilton, which was a Great Performance broadcast this past Friday on PBS.
Thank you, Lin.
Thank you, Ron.
Thank you, Alexander.
Til next time.
Experts on iambic pantameter.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walter Mosley had a discussion at the NYPL on June 14, 2016. They discussed their books and careers. Kareem’s dad was a jazz musician from Julliard. Kareem had wanted to be a writer since he was in elementary school. He hung out with musicians when he was a kid and mentioned Dexter Gordon and Sarah Vaughan. Kareem's latest fiction novel is Mycroft Holmes and has been well received. Walter's latest novel is Charcoal Joe and is another successful Easy Rawlins mystery.
It was a great 81 minutes.
Currently reading books by Ian McEwan. He has been interviewed several times by Michael Silverblatt.
All were lovely conversations.
Til next time.
Kareem and Walter knock it out of the park.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Three things to remember:
Elaine May directed an American Masters film about her comedy partner from the 60s (as in 1960s). Mike Nichols was the partner and comedy was their claim to fame. This documentary-type film is available on Amazon Prime. Lovely. And the two things that are most memorable are: 1) Mike was standing in line as a freshman getting ready to register at the University of Chicago when he started talking to the young woman in front of him. Who was that young woman? Susan Sontag. 2) When he was seven years old, Mike and his family left Berlin in 1939 just ahead of the war and landed in America on the UWS of Manhattan. Eventually and for something like six decades, Mike directed well over 50 plays and films that have defined the art of acting. How can one guy with a father from Russia and a mom from Germany do all that. Dunno. But he did. An American treasure.
And then of course there’s Hans Christian Anderson, a Danish writer of fairy tales. The Ugly Duckling. The Princess and the Pea, The Little Match Girl. To name a few. But mostly, Americans read those after they’ve been translated from Danish to German to English rather than more directly from Danish to English. I’ve always wanted to compare those two translations, so I might. The versions of those tales from Danish directly to English are in a book edited by Diana Crone Frank and Jeffrey Frank. And this book happens to be in my hand at this very moment. Diana is a Danish novelist.
Finally, I finished Fredrik Backman’s My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry. Quite a tale. I would really need to hear Michael Silverblatt interview Fredrik in order to make sure I’ve actually apprehended the gist of the book. International writers lend quite a perspective to life, and I’m glad I read this book translated from Swedish to English by Henning Koch. Elsa, Britt-Marie, Alf, and of course, Harry.
Til next time.
From Danish to English.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Decided to try reading the book What Maisie Knew by Henry James even though it’s been made into a movie, but I got bogged down a bit due to some of the syntax and the pace of the story. But clearly, Henry identified the difficult relationships that exist in family matters, and he did all this in 1897.
In the meantime, finalists for the National Book Awards were announced today. Twenty finalists were named including two of my favorites...Kate DiCamillo and Jacqueline Woodson. John Lewis was also named, and he’s my choice for the winner in the Young People’s category even though I love ALL the books by Kate. She’s a magnificent writer. It’ll be a tough decision for the judges. All will be revealed on November 16 in NYC.
AND the Society of Illustrators is hosting its annual exhibiton of original art October 26, 2016 through December 22, 2016. They are such a great group.
128 E. 63rd Street, NYC.
Til next time.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Two big things today.
I bought The Essential Yo-Yo Ma on CD from Amazon with AutoRip. The technology is flawless, and the music is transcendent. I’ll probably never stop listening to it.
And then.
Nina Totenberg talked about Justice RBG on NPR this morning. Seems the Justice has a new book coming out, and the reporting and interview were lovely but not as lovely as hearing the Justice in person at the 92nd Street Y.
What an inspiration. Too good to forget. October 19, 2014.
Til next time.
Photo from the CNN website.
Sandra Day O’Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan
The Big Four in the Justices’ Conference Room on October 1, 2010.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
I’ll have to admit that I’m totally addicted to live broadcasts on BookTV. And today was totally rewarding.
Professor Gerald Horne was live for three hours as he talked about his 31 books and his understanding of life in America.
BookTV always features people who can take complicated ideas and explain them in ways that are accessible and understandable. And Professor Horne did just that and more.
He certainly has his research procedures in good working order. He visits archives around the nation, records what he finds by taking notes, organizes his notes into groups, creates chapters from these groupings, and then writes the book.
That’s what he said. And it seems to be working because the feedback from those who called in was positive and appreciative.
Then because I’m a week behind reading the NY Times, I had to whiz through and get the gist of what I missed. But I always slow down for the obituaries. They always contain something a bit profound.
The obituary of Jack Garman, and though while sad, was uplifting. Jack was a NASA engineer who basically saved the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969 by telling Neil Armstrong to ignore the yellow warning light on his console and to go ahead and land.
Jack was right. The warning light was wrong. Apollo 11 was saved.
And Neil, Buzz, and Michael lived to tell the tale. What a story.
After that, I turned the page and found the moving obituary of Gérard William Louis-Dreyfus, father of Julia who was a recent winner of an Emmy for VEEP.
Gérard (known by William) was born outside of Paris in 1932. His father was named Pierre. Quite a life. It’s all in the Times. Sunday, September 26, 2016, page 31.
Another eventful day…from the world of words.
Til next time.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Just finished watching Alan Bennett’s The Lady in the Van with Maggie Smith. Loved it. The film got less than stellar reviews due to it being a bit slow according to the reviewer. I thought the whole thing was PERFECT!!! It was so good, I’ll probably watch it again.
There were several phrases and words that are completely British that I want to look up. At one point in her ongoing plan to live out her final days in her van and not “in care,” Maggie says something like, “I can do the bath myself. I won an award for it.” Quite sweet.
But back to books. And after purchasing thousands of them over the years as well as dozens of bookcases, a purchase of a new book must be carefully considered. That’s why I’m thinking, and JUST thinking, about purchasing The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd Edition, Unabridged and edited by Stuart Berg Flexner. I read someplace that a writer said he refers to it multiple times a day and can’t write anything without it. Hmm. How can I NOT have that kind of resource?
And finally, today I’m starting a new book by Fredrick Backman titled, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry. But that’s after I finish Cornelia Funke’s Ghost Knight.
A lot to do.
And that’s all in addition to trying to make my clock radio work. It will only pick up a radio signal from the local NPR station if I tie it to a ruler that is taped to the window sill.
Sad. Really.
Til next time.
Necessity is the mother of invention. (Or so they say.)
Sunday, September 25, 2016
What does it mean that I’m thinking today about Steve Jobs? It probably means that I have just updated all my Apple products to their latest operating systems, and I’m totally happy with the outcomes.
It also means that I’m just today getting around to watching the film by Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle titled Steve Jobs and featuring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet.
What a film.
And since it was based on the book by Walter Isaacson, it felt even better.
According to the internet, the film had a budget of $30 million and made $34 million. From various statements, that’s not good.
Seems good to me.
But evidently, a profit of $4 million on a film is not considered to be a success. This all makes me wonder what the costs and profits were for the book.
I wonder if that info is made public. Is a profit of $4 million on a book considered to be good? I have no idea.
But back to Apple. Apple has changed the world in the same way that Gutenburg, the Wright brothers, and Alan Turing did, and I’m glad Steve Jobs and his team (including his Apple IIe team) came along when they did.
The IIe was my first computer, and I’ve been hooked on Apple ever since. Steve Jobs. He changed everything.
And then there’s his ad campaign from 1997. He shared big ideas and big thinkers in a big and different way.
On the TV ad, which is now on youtube, Richard Dreyfuss was the voice, Tarsem Singh was the director, Shaan Sahota is the final photo.
Steve Jobs was an extraordinary person who altered...everything.
Think beauty.
Think victory.
Think different.
All these good folks did just that and more:
Albert Einstein
Bob Dylan
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Richard Branson
John Lennon
Buckminster Fuller
Thomas Edison
Muhammad Ali
Ted Turner
Maria Callas
Mohandas Gandhi
Amelia Earhart
Alfred Hitchcock
Martha Graham
Jim Henson
Frank Lloyd Wright
Pablo Picasso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmwXdGm89Tk
The world will never be the same.
Til next time.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
It’s really something to be part of a tribe of readers and thinkers…a tribe of people who consist of people like A. S. Byatt, sister of Margaret Drabble.
A. S. (Antonia Susan) has published a book about William Morris and his creation throughout his entire life of beautiful things.
And then there’s not forgetting Anthony Gottlieb who has written about philosophers in his new book wherein he includes guidance on understanding Descartes,
Hobbes,
Spinoza,
Locke,
Leibniz,
and Hume.
To know that Antonia and Anthony are busy with these projects while the world strives for repair is a feat of balance for the modern mind.
Other writers on my mind today were featured at the 16th Annual Library of Congress’s National Book Festival.
Candice Millard,
Douglas Brinkley,
Joe Meacham,
Sarah Vowell,
Ken Burns, and
Representative John Lewis.
Goodness.
Til next time.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
A whole week has come and gone. And in the meantime, I’ve become interested in how many books are published in the USA each year.
According to Bowker-type data, there were 304,912 new titles plus re-editions (like Charlotte’s Web for example) published here in the US in 2013, which is the most recent year for this kind of counting.
In the same period of time, China published 444,000 new books and re-editions.
But.
What about just new titles?
What’s the per capita breakdown for those two countries for just new titles (not counting re-editions)?
Well.
According to the International Publishers’ Association (IPA) and using my pre-algebra abilities to move decimals around and hit divide on the calculator, I estimate that in 2013 there were 10 new titles published in the US for every 10,000 readers while in the more populated China market, there were 3 new titles published for every 10,000 readers.
USA
10 new titles per 10,000 readers
China
3 new titles per 10,000 readers
Frankly, these figures seem extraordinarily…wrong.
But that’s what the reports say. And not just Wikipedia, either.
Still, all these numbers are very confusing. In the end, there are lots of books ready to be read. And yet, I’m having trouble deciding on my next big read. Colson Whitehead? Fredrik Backman? Ryan Speedo Green? Ruth Ware? Ed Yong?
Yes, please.
Til next time.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Been reading, reading, reading.
I finished The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick and found it to be a curious read. The main character, Arthur, finds out that his now deceased wife of many decades had a vibrant and rather mysterious life before she married him. And his task throughout the book was to find out about her past so that he could better understand his own life.
After Arthur, it was Good as Gone by Amy Gentry. It’s hard to replicate Gillian Flynn’s success with Gone Girl, but Good as Gone tries and is in the same genre. The book kept me guessing right to the end. At some points, it was difficult to keep track of who was telling the story. This required a bit of rereading from time to time. In the final analysis, the whole thing of safety and security is a quandary.
And now? Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman. Poor Britt-Marie (only her sister calls her Britt) is a character you immediately like and then dislike ten seconds later and then like again in a couple more minutes. I've really only just started reading this book. But already I can tell…it’s gonna be great. Funny how that happens.
Til next time.
Clearly...lots of books to be read.
Friday, September 9, 2016
J. K. Rowling’s play is a hit in London, and it’s a hit on my bookshelf. Finished reading it in one full day. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. And it’s my understanding that the play actually lasts for five hours and is performed in two sittings. The audience actually comes and goes…and they have the same theatre seat each time. Very cool.
Harry married Ginny and had three kids.
Ron married Hermione and had one daughter.
Harry’s middle child, Albus, gets into all kinds of mischief and danger at Hogwarts and eventually has to try and save himself and all of humankind including witches, wizards, and muggles.
Rowling wants readers and the audience to keep everything that happens in the book/play a secret. So who am I to question her authority. Mum’s the word.
My favorite things about this series are two in number: 1) I own all eight books in hardcover, have read them, and admire how great they look on my shelf and 2) platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross railway station is brilliant. What a perfect way to create a magical setting smack dab in the midst of a real one.
A great series of books. It’s hard to remember when they didn’t exist.
And then of course after the last page of Harry, there was the decision about what to read next. I hesitantly chose The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick for some reason. Either it was reviewed in the Times or it popped up on my Amazon recommendations or I simply stumbled upon the title or author somewhere along the way. I hate to think I chose it by stumbling, but that’s entirely possible. And as I was thinking about reading it, the deciding factor was the main character’s last name. Pepper. What a great last name for a book character.
I’m 29% into the book according to my kindle device which records that sort of thing, and I’m still waiting to, you know, feel connected to Arthur. I was hoping he’d be a little more grumpy or curmudgeonly.
What a thing to hope for.
After Arthur, it’s back to Fredrik Backman.
Until then, it’s time to ponder the elimination of the headphone jack on the iphone 7 and the corresponding loss of 394+ points on today’s DJIA. I suspect those two things are directly related. What a week.
Til next time.
Harry...right next to Brian Selznick.
Monday, September 5, 2016
It’s a leisurely day.
Just right for reading. And looks like J. K. Rowling’s play titled, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is up next. I’ve had this book for a couple of weeks now and have been waiting for the exact right moment for the magic to begin.
And that exact right moment appears to be now.
ACT ONE, SCENE ONE.
But wait. I’m down to my next to the last can of Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso Light. Might have to make a quick run to the market before I begin.
On the other hand, what’s wrong with a nice refreshing sip of water?
Til next time.
A good day for some magic.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Today?
Just finished Robert Sabuda’s interpretation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that comes complete with green-tinted glasses for the reader’s total enjoyment.
Bought this book yesterday at a bookstore that was going out of business. Great price but sad circumstance. I’m glad libraries can never go out of business.
And for the rest of the day?
It’s the Sunday edition of The New York Times with “All the News That’s Fit to Print” printed right on the top left corner of the very first page…all accompanied by James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of George Gershwin's brilliant tunes including:
Rhapsody in Blue
Cuban Overture
Catfish Row (from Porgy and Bess)
Porgy Sings (from Porgy and Bess)
Fugue (from Porgy and Bess)
Hurricane (from Porgy and Bess)
Good Morning, Brother (from Porgy and Bess)
An American in Paris
Til next time.
Baum and Sabuda and Oz and Me.
George Gershwin 1898-1937.
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Jeepers.
A whole week.
More than a whole week.
Whoosh.
Been busily reading a lot of books lately and watching a few films and Netflix series. Busy. Busy.
Finished A Man Called Ove and am on to two more of his books. Fredrik Backman, a Swede who can write, write, write.
Fredrik’s next two books on my list are:
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
and
Britt-Marie Was Here
In a Man Called Ove, there’s a bedraggled cat who acts as a supporting character to the life of Ove and his wife Sonja. Ove was a man who created a world of order in a world that was pretty much uncooperative. He struggled for decades to make it all work. And in the end…? The world wins, and the cat survives. Excellent book. Laughed out loud in many parts at Ove’s grumpiness and annoyances and am now thinking of buying a Saab.
And then another day comes racing across the sky and with it comes another cat who turned out to have a supporting role to the character played by John Turturro in The Night Of, which was an engrossing eight-part series on HBO. This series was disturbing and dark and sad and instructive in about that order. Whoever the author is…I think they got it all just about exactly right. Crime, prison, mistakes, the fallen, the redeemers, unending cycles, and a miniscule of hope.
And in the end, there was the cat.
Not to mention John Turturro.
John Turturro. Somehow I remembered his Illuminata from 1998. I bought the DVD, Amazon delivered it sans drone, and I watched it last night. The acting talent in this film is unlimited. And of course with Christopher Walken and his line, what’s not to love:
“My hair grows directly out
of
my brain.”
Christopher’s character loves many things:
Chocolate
Caravaggio
Revenge
Waiting for people...hoping they don't come
The circus
The sky at dawn
Long endless legs
The sea in winter
People who speak...very little
Empty places
Garlic
All of Italy
Vienna, though I've never been there
Knockwurst
Secrets
The dawn
Night
And you, I adore you. You astonish me.
Books and Films. Better than the treadmill.
Til next time.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Semi-finished a couple of semi-good reads lately although the one I’m currently reading has my full attention.
Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe was good for a bit in that it was witty, clever, and high-energy, but halfway through it felt very repetitive. So I skipped to the last tenth of the book and felt like I was still in the middle. I set it aside.
Quickly finished Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler but felt like the main character collapsed too easily by the end of the book from being strong and independent to being easily won over.
And now. I’m reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman from Sweden, and I’m totally hooked into this grumpy, curmudgeonly main character named Ove. I’m predicting Ove will hold up well through the rest of the book and will triumph in his struggle to keep his house neat, his neighborhood in check, and his life moving toward just a tiny bit of happiness. Regardless of how this book ends, I’m definitely reading Backman’s next two.
I also finished David J. Smith’s second volume of If the World Were a Village. I compared both volumes page by page to see if he did what I hoped. And yep. He did. Each statistic about the world’s population on each page was updated from the 2002 copyright to the 2011 copyright in exactly the same order and structure. A good man, he.
My book budget is way overdrawn. I may have to reach out to kickstarter. For what I’m not sure. Just a thought.
Til next time.
Books by David J. Smith.
Friday, August 19, 2016
From a 2001 BookTV broadcast, I had learned to appreciate Shelby Foote’s pronouncement that for writers, 600 words a day was a good day.
But then earlier this month, I watched Jeffrey Toobin on BookTV’s broadcast of In Depth and learned that his definition of a good day was 1,200 words a day.
Drats.
So far today?
A mere 57 words.
BUT for a bit of redemption: I am rereading The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq and am thrilled that the notes I highlighted last time I read this book are the same ones that I would highlight now…if…you know…they weren’t already highlighted.
The best line in the book is, “The map is more interesting than the territory.”
I suppose I like this book because the main character, Jed Martin, is a photographer and painter who sort of stumbles along with his life until he bumps into people who think he’s great. They put him and his work on a path for fame and fortune, which he lives with quite easily.
I do think that Michel Houellebecq is not actually a fan of fame and fortune, although he has plenty of both in real life.
At one point in his book, he uses the term “proletarian intellectual” to describe one of his characters. Perhaps that’s the way he actually sees himself. As a proletarian intellectual. And I think that’s a good thing.
But even if he only attributes that term to his book character and not himself, he is definitely the author of a pretty wonderful and really challenging book that I’ll probably reread at least every few years or so.
And now?
275 words.
And finally, I heard this on NPR this morning spoken by a 95-year-old blind man who read braille and who said, “Read books to learn the ways of life.” What a totality brilliant sentiment.
And now?
313 words–better than half of a Shelby Foote good day.
Til next time.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
A nice Starbucks doubleshot espresso on ice with a couple of back copies of the NY Times, and it’s a nice day.
But this is not to forget three writers who were on BookTV yesterday. They were panelists on the topic of Writing About War. They were:
Kim Barker
Janine de Giovanni
Christina Lamb
These three women have documented the human and emotional costs of the wars in Pakistan, Syria, and Afghanistan, respectively. Their remarks were insightful and flawless. Their books are collections of wisdom…first-hand.
They ended the panel with words of hope.
Til next time.
Saturday, August 13, 2016
I found a penny at the gym, picked it up, and have had good luck all day…resulting in a nice shuffling of photos of my favorite places in NYC.
Til next time.
A midtown souvenir shop.
Idina Menzel in If/Then.
Love by Robert Indiana.
NYPL Rose Reading Room.
Columbia at 115th and Broadway.
Rockefeller Center.
The French Consulate General on Fifth Avenue.
Conservancy Garden at 105th and Fifth.
View from the rooftop of the Metropolitan.
Adele by Klimt at MOMA.
Waterlilies by Monet at MOMA.
Alec Baldwin and Notorious RBG at 92nd Street Y.
Library and ceiling at Morgan Library on 36th and Madison.
Checking out The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery at the NYPL.
At Strand, buying Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Finished Submission by Michel Houellebecq.
Michel took French, German, and other thinkers and philosophers of the past and wove them into a story of current and future political life in France. The book has been deemed a satire. I read it as a grave and cautionary tale.
Francois is the main character, a writer and professor at the Sorbonne. As Francois lives his life and goes through the normal amount of existential angst, the reader goes with him. Francois's intellectual expertise covers the works of J. K. Huysmans.
J. K. Huysmans is a writer of olden days and propels the story forward as Francoise uses his expertise and scholarship on Huysmans to carve out his career as a respected intellectual.
Just as Huysmans turned away from nativism to symbolism in his writing and in his life, so does Francois.
My hope in real life is that Michel Houellebecq does not.
I’ve watched and listened to Les Mis too many times to believe that the French culture could be so easily conquered and replaced by a mere election of new leaders...as happens in this novel.
Perhaps because of this book, Submission, maybe it won’t be.
And to base my understanding of French culture, world politics, immigration, religion, philosophy, art, and literature on Victor Hugo’s book shows my own limitations as a big thinker…but there you have it… the French National Anthem as sung by Mirelle Mathieu.
M
Many thanks to Michel Houellebecq for seeing this book through.
Til next time.
Mireille Mathieu.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
And of course after spending the better part of two weeks reading all three of Stephen King’s books in The Bill Hodges Trilogy, I feel like I should probably get up and stretch my legs. Or at the very least do something productive like take out the trash, which is beginning to pile up around my desk…
Five minutes later…
And now with that done, I’m thinking about what a great writer Mr. King is. I’m not sure how he does it. How does he take mystery, murder, and mayhem and weave them around a story and into people’s lives so that readers actually do care about his characters that really don’t even exist.
He’s a man of letters. Twenty-six letters, fifty books, and many awards including the National Medal of Arts awarded by President Obama in 2014.
What could possibly be better.
Since I’ve spent all this time with Stephen’s characters: Kermit William Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson, I keep thinking there’s more. But, the trilogy has come to an end. Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch. I miss them already but wish them all well.
...
And now? Nothing to do but to start something new, and I'm thinking Submission by Michel Houellebecq. After reading his The Map and the Territory some time back, I’m ready to go back to France and pursue another journey through time, space, philosophy, liberty, and art, particularly after Karl Ove Knausgaard reviewed Submission in the NY Times Book Review and said he himself aspires to produce the quality of Houellebecq’s work. Quite a compliment from an international best-selling author. So yes. Looks like it's going to be Submission.
But first? A little supper of mac and cheese to help ease the transition from one big read to another. Finishing Stephen King's latest trilogy feels like a huge accomplishment. I can't even imagine what he felt when he finished crossing every t and dotting every i. Maybe he took a day or two off. Maybe I will, too.
PS I wonder what the desks of King and Houellebecq look like?
Til next time.
Stephen King and Barack Obama.
My sad little desk.
Monday, August 1, 2016
Three Five Big Things Today
1. Shakespeare
BookTV filmed a tour of the Folger Shakespeare Library in D.C. It was spectacular. This particular library is the world’s best depository for all things Shakespeare including original manuscripts, signatures, and folios. It’s an amazing place, and the director, Michael Witmore, is a Shakespeare scholar who is placed in the exact right position to keep track of it all and to promote its importance in humanity’s understanding of humanity.
The Folger allows researchers to use the facility. I would love to go there and search the archives. I’ve done that at the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University. All of these facilities are first-rate and are run by very dedicated professionals.
But back to Shakespeare. I caught John Nettles on Netflix with Shakespeare: The Legacy. It was perfect.
I’m almost finished watching the HBO series on John Adams, and it’s most astonishing that our nation actually became a nation. From monarchies to revolutions and then back to monarchies and finally on to various forms of democracies…seems to be the pattern of the world’s governments. I like to think of David J. Smith’s book If the World Were a Village in trying to get a handle on what is actually happening on our planet. But my copy has a 2002 copyright. And, hurray, it’s been updated as of 2011. So, it’s off to the bookstore.
3. Harry Potter
My copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is supposed to be delivered to me today by Amazon; and so far it's not here AND it’s almost 8 PM, which is the bewitching hour at which time Harry will be officially late.
4. Stephen King
I’m well into Book One of Stephen King’s The Bill Hodge’s Trilogy. I’m hooked. But I still think his On Writing is his best contribution to the literary world so far. He’s far from done. What a guy.
5. Tallulah
I watched this film today on Netflix. It stars Ellen Page and Allison Janney. I was worried that it was going to be too predictable, but about half-way through, it suddenly allowed the characters to become more complex and less 2-D. My takeaway is…hold on.
Til next time.
Reducing the world to a manageable view.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
There's something really good about watching Good Will Hunting once a year.
It's a film with no car crashes, no exploding bridges, and no high-speed chases. But then again, it was made way back in 1997 when special effects were less of a consideration than they are now.
Nowadays (is nowadays a word?), box-office success for most films requires multiple crashes, many explosions, and unending high-speed chases with lots of close-ups of mess and mayhem.
But back to Good Will...hard to believe that the film was written by two newcomers to Hollywood (i.e. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) and that the movie does such a great job of letting great actors act.
Comparing the acting and plot of Good Will to the latest pyrotechnically-perfect Bourne film, and I may have to return to Good Will many more times to remember what a great actor Matt Damon is (not to mention the late Robin Williams).
In the meantime, I’m off to the beach.
I just downloaded all three of Stephen King’s books in The Bill Hodges Trilogy: Mr. Mercedes,
Finders Keepers, and
End of Watch.
I'm wondering about car crashes, exploding bridges, and high-speed chases. I wonder if there will be any, a lot, or none?
I'm betting...none.
Over 4,000 people on Amazon gave Mr. Mercedes five stars. Yum.
Stephen King.
Til next time.
A master teller of stories.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Finally, I’m finishing the Sunday NY Times. And on the last two pages of the front-page section is an article featuring my favorite bookstore. Strand.
The owner of the 18 miles of books in the Strand Book Store on 12th and Broadway is Mr. Bass. He requires all potential employees to pass a literature quiz before they can be hired.
I took the quiz that was in the paper and am sad to say I only got 11 out of 20 correct.
But now that I've looked up the answers and have been practicing, I get 20 out of 20 correct, and that’s even counting the two trick questions. Ibsen did not write Waiting for Godot, and Kerouac did not write Naked Lunch.
I wonder if Mr. Bass allows do-overs.
Til next time.
Keeping America great. One book at a time.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
A total of 209 characters.
Hard to reduce something that profound to 140 characters for a tweet.
But then again, the following has 80 characters and is quite beautiful.
…"we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
In 1776 without benefit of TV, internet, video games, email, twitter, facebook, and cars, people had a lot more unencumbered time on their hands.
And for those who were good at storytelling and wordsmithing, there was a lot of time to write letters, diaries, and poetry and to thereby learn how to choose words carefully and to express important ideas in ways that possessed artistry and elegance.
For example, John Adams could have said to Thomas Jefferson, “You write very well.”
Instead.
John Adams said to Thomas Jefferson, “I trust the eloquence of your pen.”
These are the thoughts I’m having as I watch the 2008 HBO series John Adams while I’m trudging on the treadmill for my goal of three miles per session.
So far, so good.
And then listening to the work of the brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton in the afternoon gives the world balance. Lin’s confidence that turning Ron Chernow’s book into a rap musical for Broadway is stunning.
I love this musical.
And although I’ll never see Lin in the lead role, I can listen to his efforts at any time. I finally broke down and bought the Hamilton CD.
Amazon streaming is okay, but having the physical CD that I can carry here and there is better than always considering where a wifi spot might be; and besides, I’m committed to a life of non-streaming (non-tracking) services.
What else? BookTV has recently produced a series of interviews with scholars who have written books about the world’s hotspots. These scholars have published wisdom, perspective, and first-hand knowledge in accessible and unbiased language.
I suspect that the hour-long presentations by each of the scholars listed below are more powerful than reading their books. At first. But the books will provide more thorough and specific details and deserve a slow and careful read for those invested in building a just, verdant, and peaceful world.
These seven authors allow us:
To understand the tensions between India and Pakistan and why Pakistan provides protection to the current-day Taliban.
Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition
by Nisid Hajari
To understand the war and the solutions in the Middle East.
The Mirror Test: America at War in Iraq and Afghanistan
by J. Kael Weston
To identify and understand the pressures and peoples of the Middle East over time and currently.
ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror
by Michael Weiss
To identify the values and intentions of the Chinese government in modern-day economics.
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
by Evan Osnos
To experience life in a refugee camp where new lives are born and old lives are spirited away in Kenya.
City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp
by Ben Rawlence
To see the historical effects of British colonialism on Irish citizens.
The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
by Timothy Egan
To understand the roles of America, Texaco Oil, the Catholic Church, and Joseph Stalin in the Spanish Civil War, which was between the Nationalists led by Franco and the Republic leaders elected by Spanish voters.
Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
by Adam Hochschild
I’m so humbled by the people who spend years and years researching their subjects and writing their conclusions with such generosity and precision. Thank goodness for curious people and for Gutenberg and his printing press (circa 1440).
Til next time.
Monday, July 25, 2016
I made a list of people portrayed in biography-type movies that I’ve seen in the last several years. I included 52 people. John Adams with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney is a seven-part series and is a realistic look at how the nation was founded. The film is based on David McCullough’s research, and it gets me through three miles at the gym on my ipad and treadmill. I have previously listened to the book on CD, but there’s nothing like seeing two actors at the top of their craft demonstrating what a cold and snowy winter in Boston at the start of the revolution was really like.
Maybe I’ll add to the list as time goes on; but then again, maybe 52 is exactly the right number.
Plus. I made the list into two columns.
Sort of like a quiz that I can practice on from time to time.
1. Pancho Villa ...Antonio Banderas
2. W. S. Gilbert ...Jim Broadbent
3. Arthur Sullivan ...Allan Corduner
4. LBJ ...Bryan Cranston
5. Dalton Trumbo ...Bryan Cranston
6. Alan Turing ...Benedict Cumberbatch
7. Julian Assange ...Benedict Cumberbatch
8. Abraham Lincoln ...Daniel Day-Lewis
9. Iris Murdoch ...Judi Dench
10. Queen Victoria ...Judi Dench
11. Charlie Chaplain ...Robert Downey, Jr.
12. Nelson Mandela ...Idris Elba
13. George Bush, Jr. ...Will Ferrell
14. Winston Churchill ...Albert Finney
15. King George VI ...Colin Firth
16. Nelson Mandela ...Morgan Freeman
17. Oscar Wilde ...Stephen Fry
18. John Adams ...Paul Giamatti
19. Winston Churchill ...Brendan Gleeson
20. Edward Snowden ...Joseph Gordon-Levitt
21. Charlie Wilson ...Tom Hanks
22. Frida Kahlo ...Salma Hayek
23. Truman Capote ...Philip Seymour Hoffman
24. Alfred Hitchcock ...Anthony Hopkins
25. Richard Nixon ...Anthony Hopkins
26. Darth Vadar ...James Earl Jones
27. Truman Capote ...Tobey Jones
28. Virginia Woolf ...Nicole Kidman
29. Mahatma Ghandi ...Ben Kingsley
30. Richard Nixon ...Frank Langella
31. Abigail Adams ...Laura Linney
32. Alexander Hamilton ...Lin-Manuel Miranda
33. Ayn Rand ...Helen Mirren
34. Queen Elizabeth ...Helen Mirren
35. FDR ...Bill Murray
36. Martin Luther King, Jr. ...David Oyelowo
37. Jack Kevorkian ...Al Pacino
38. Sylvia Plath ...Gwyneth Paltrow
39. Harvey Milk ...Sean Penn
40. Juan Peron ...Jonathan Pryce
41. Stephen Hawking ...Eddie Redmayne
42. Joseph Mallard William Turner ...Timothy Spall
43. Edward R. Murrow ...David Strathairn
44. Julia Child ...Meryl Streep
45. Margaret Thatcher ...Meryl Streep
46. Amelia Earhart ...Hillary Swank
47. Erin Gruwell ...Hillary Swank
48. Mary Poppins (P.L. Travers) ...Emma Thompson
49. Anita Hill ...Kerry Washington
50. Malcolm X ...Denzel Washington
51. Idi Amin ...Forest Whitaker
52. Beatrice Potter ...Renee Zellweger
There's an incredible list of films about people on wikipedia, and it's by decade.
I saw Laura Linney and Liam Neeson outside the Virginia Theatre in NYC in 2002. They were pleasant and friendly at the stage door after giving a full-on performance of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Laura got in a cab. Liam went to a restaurant. I went home.
Til next time.
Laura and Liam, 2002.
Laura and Paul, 2008.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
I finished reading two middle-grade-ish books.
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. I was hooked from page one. Caitlin is the main character. Her thinking is completely and totally logical but completely and totally without consideration for the bigger picture. Her teacher helps her see the world from another’s point of view; and ultimately, the ending is…as it should be. I didn’t discover that this book had won the National Book Award in 2010 until I had finished the book. But clearly, the committee chose well.
Raymie Nightengale by Kate DiCamillo. Raymie is the star of this book. She has a plan to make her life right. And even though her plan might lack a doability factor, she is still resolute in her efforts and totally focused on her multi-part mission. Two new friends along the way, Louisiana and Beverly, are both part of the solution and become friends to stand up for. Kate DiCamillo has never written a word out of place in the thousands and millions of words she’s organized. I met her once. She is BRILLIANT. I wonder why I didn’t have her sign one of her books.
I wonder if I’ll ever finish reading all the books I want to read. Maybe.
Til next time.
Thousands and millions of perfectly-ordered words. All by Kate.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Clicking through HBO, and there’s Michael Gambon in 2002 as LBJ in Path to War.
He played the part exactly right with genuine anguish and the correct accent. It’s a difficult film to watch since it reflects a time of civil unrest and a misguided war. He was as good as Bryan Cranston in All the Way...both the movie and Broadway performances.
But my interest was drawn to Michael and not LBJ or Bryan. So back to Michael. I got to thinking about his movies that I've watched recently:
Path to War
Dumbledore in Harry Potter
The Singing Detective
The Quartet
Salting the Battlefield in The Worricker Trilogy
He obviously has innate talent and a serious approach to his craft.
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching him even in his role in J.K. Rowling’s A Casual Vacancy. However, this particular film couldn’t quite capture the book, which I read and for which I sort of needed a graphic organizer to help me keep track of all the characters. I am, of course, glad to have read the book, and I'm ready to buy her next book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which will be released July 31, 2016.
But. Again. Back to Michael.
Michael Gambon…what’s not to love. AND he’s Irish. As am I.
Til next time.
What would we do without the BBC?
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Today began in an ordinary way.
Caffeine, NPR, a bit of breakfast, three miles on the treadmill, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, shopping, lunch, and then The NY Times at the office.
From the Sunday Magazine, I’m reading along and come to an article by Wyatt Mason about audiobooks in which Wyatt complains about actors who are employed to read books aloud and who inadvertently over-act and thereby lose sight of the book.
Wyatt states that he prefers to listen to the author read her/his own work as opposed to listening to an actor.
Wyatt further mentions that this preference was confirmed for him when he heard W. G. Sebald read aloud from his own book Austerlitz.
So I go to Amazon and try to find an audiobook of W.G. (Max) Sebald reading aloud from Austerlitz. I want to hear this for myself.
I look for an Austerlitz audio recording. Doesn’t exist…at least on Amazon.
Next, I try a Google search and find a Youtube video of Sebald himself discussing and reading from Austerlitz at the 92Y on October 15, 2001, which is of course right after 9/11.
Sharing the stage with Max (Sebald) is Susan Sontag.
They are brilliant.
Then, another Youtube (which has mysteriously reverted to autoplay) shows Max being interviewed by Michael Silverblatt on December 6, 2001.
I go to Bookworm and listen to them.
They are brilliant.
They discuss that German writers in the 19th century felt that how a writer wrote prose was as important as what the writer wrote.
They discussed other 20th century European writers who have influenced Max.
And as usual, Michael is indeed conversant about all these works.
Listening to Michael discuss literature is always instructive and enlightening and mesmerizing and daunting and humbling.
He is a writer’s best friend. He is definitely a reader who is first among equals when discussing books with his guests…and he’s been doing this for nearly 30 years at KCRW’s Bookworm.
While listening to them expand on Max’s work, I simultaneously go to Wikipedia, which says that W. G. Sebald is one of the greatest authors of all time. It also stated that he died tragically in a car accident on December 14, 2001 in Norfolk, United Kingdom, eight days after talking to Michael.
Max was 57 at the time.
Although all of this discussion, history, listening, reading, and searching took place over a long period of time, for me, it all took place within the span of a few hours. It’s all very weighty and will require a bit of extended thinking.
Til next time.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
I just finished reading the short story The Enemy by Pearl S. Buck. I suppose that a discussion on the ethical and cultural issues contained in this short work could go on for weeks and months and years. It is a story so perfectly crafted that you forget that you’re reading marks on a page rather than standing by a Japanese surgeon who has to decide what to do with a young man who needs immediate surgery.
What else?
My new AT&T wireless system in my office is VERY cool and was flawlessly installed. It’s so nice not to worry about gigabytes and hertz speeds and hotspots and overages. Just turn on the light and get to work.
I also bought new Vans today via Amazon. Love ‘em.
And finally, it’s time to look at my beautiful book Libraries.
Til next time.
New shoes and a lovely book.
Monday, July 18, 2016
I just finished The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall. It was based on a true story, which I didn’t realize until I read the author’s notes at the end. The book did a very good job of combining the art of fiction with the facts of reality. Sort of made me want to go get an old grocery cart and push it up and down a street or two to see what I could find.
Also today, I listened to Michael Silverblatt interview Geoff Dyer about his new book White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World. It was a good interview and definitely put the book on my to-read list. The book has gotten high marks on Amazon. And even The New York Times Book Review recommended it.
And finally, I purchased a new digital internet plan from AT&T. I’m happy.
One more thing: the words "fictive language" popped up in a book I started reading...Sapiens:A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. The book, as I recall, was recommended by Sebastian Junger. The book is a thorough rundown of our human species and may explain the rather tenuous state of affairs in which the planet currently finds itself. But now I’ve got to look up the meaning of fictive language although I am SURE that I’m already supposed to know this. If I ever did, its meaning has temporarily fled the scene.
Til next time.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Oh, dear.
Looks like Cynthia Ozick has written a book of essays about the decline and pending fall of “serious” literature and its corresponding critical analysis.
The New York Times book reviewer who bravely reviewed Cynthia's book suggested that Cynthia should be kinder and gentler with her thoughts about those who have intellectual gifts and those who are evidently lacking.
This reminds me of what Jimmy Stewart as the character Elwood said when Elwood quoted his mother in the 1950 film Harvey. His mother always said,
In an unrelated vein, AT&T wants another $100 a month from me to replace one of their hotspot products that is giving me very poor and basically unacceptable service. They seem unsympathetic to the fact that my family has had AT&T for over 60 years without ever once missing a payment or causing them grief. Maybe they should consider a loyalty discount for customers like me before my loyalty goes poof and is gone. I'm just saying...where's the love.
Til next time.
I wonder if these two books are considered serious literature? Perhaps not. But they're still two of my all-time favorites. Ah, well...
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
I finished reading The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, and it was wonderful…as in flawless.
It had a perfect balance of philosophy and velocity.
The characters and storyline were both realistic and metaphorical.
The story, which had just the right amount of magical realism and science fiction, was a realistic look at what happens to the natural world when global warming changes the very structure that allowed plants and animals to successfully adapt to planet Earth throughout four billion years of evolution.
To do all this within the pages of a book is quite an accomplishment. To do this through a lost robot named Roz and an orphaned gosling named Brightbill is an even greater feat. Peter Brown. Total success.
And now? Cynthia Ozick has a new book of essays reviewed today in The New York Times. Can’t wait to read them. Both the review and the book.
Til next time.
By Peter Brown.
Friday, July 8, 2016
On June 27, 2016 on NPR, there was a seven-minute piece of political analysis. And at the end, there was a guitar instrumental.
I was mezmorized.
A few clicks…and now I own it.
On all my devices. To be played over and over and over.
Bane’s Grave by Tony Furtado and Dirk Powell on an album titled Come to the Mountain: Old Time Music for Modern Times.
A song about the blues in the world of masterful guitar players and afficianados.
None of the other songs on this album interest me…at all. But this one song, this one bluesy song, this one song caught sorely by chance and out of the blue, well…I can’t stop listening to it.
Til next time.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Sebastian Junger was in my life again today.
He was live on BookTV. He was brilliant and was exceptionally well received by those who called in with questions. This also may be one of Peter Slen’s best interviews yet.
Sebastian talked about his book Tribe and discussed war and the way it brings people together for the common cause of survival.
The entire three-hour interview was a lesson in history, reason, neurology, discourse, and culture.
Sebastian’s first successful book was The Perfect Storm, and my copy for some unknown reason is housed on a shelf in my collection between Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer and Toni Morrison’s Paradise. At some point, I may have to develop a better system for properly housing my books...in the meantime...
His book Tribe will be successful and influential…as are all his books.
His scholarship is rigorous. His thought processes are rational. His work habits are systematic. His soul is very serious.
He values the writing of Peter Mathiessen, Joan Didion, and John McPhee for the musical quality of their language, their use of vocabulary in original ways, their efficiency with the story they are telling, and the way in which they share the world with readers without drawing attention to themselves.
His written interview on May 12, 2016 in The New York Times in By the Book mirrored his interview today.
Finally, he recommends The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine, which I just now purchased on my kindle from Amazon.
Sebastian is a national treasure. And now...to read.
Til next time.
Peter Slen and Sebastian Junger.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Elie Wiesel died today at age 87.
His life and books are revered around the world.
He was born on September 30, 1928 in Sighet, Romania.
His father was Shlomo Wiesel.
His mother was Sarah Fieg Wiesel.
His wife is Marion Wiesel.
His son is Shlomo Elisha Wiesel.
Elie won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986. Joseph Berger of the The New York Times wrote about his Peace Prize in 1986. Joseph also wrote Elie’s obituary in The New York Times, today.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” (From Elie Wiesel's Nobel Lecture in Oslo, Norway, December 11, 1986.)
Til next time.
Alfred Nobel in 1896 left his wealth to the world by arranging for prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, and peace. Photo by A. Mahmoud.
A reminder of strength.
Friday, July 1, 2016
Seems like a good day to blog a bit.
I’m reading Michael Grant’s books on my kindle. There’s a whole bunch of them. He presents quite a good dystopian look at the world with all its foibles and failures.
Then at the gym, it’s Amazon Prime with Jonathan Schwartzman and Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis (who was interviewed recently by Terry Gross) in Bored to Death. Clever and engaging. I wonder why they cancelled it?
Yesterday, I listened to a Selected Shorts reading of a graphic novel titled The Night Bookmobile written by Audrey Niffenegger and read by Christina Pickles. Quite spooky.
And now? Time for a French Vanilla Iced Coffee from Sonic. Except I think I’ll request not so much ice this time around.
Plus, I wonder if I need a new and comfortable reading chair.
Til next time.
A nice selection of chairs.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Golly.
Where does a whole week go?
I just had a Proustian moment as I picked up David Wiesner’s book Art and Max.
I purchased this book on December 23, 2010 at Barnes and Noble on 82nd and Broadway in NYC.
Can’t really say why I suddenly today picked up this particular book on this particular day, but there it is.
Presto.
Published and purchased in 2010.
Reread and re-enjoyed in 2016.
That reminds me…United Airlines lost my luggage on a flight in November, 2015. And in that luggage was my self-knitted wintry wool scarf knitted on a road trip in 1990. I wonder who’s wearing it.
Til next time.
A great read.
A great bookstore.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
I was just now looking on the NYPL website to see if I could figure out when book six of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard would be available. I couldn’t figure it out.
But I did notice that the library was advertising the opportunity to make a donation to the library and thereby have your name put on a brass plaque that would then be affixed to a chair or table.
Cool. I thought. I’ll maybe do that for myself. I’ll dedicate a chair to myself and then when I go there to read, I’ll sit in “my chair” and then hope that it’s at a nice table.
Okay, I thought. Before I click, I’d better decide how much I’m willing to donate. $50? Not enough. Better make it $100.
I clicked for more information. A chair is $5,000. A table is $50,000.
New plan. I’m going to drive to Sonic and buy a French Vanilla Iced Coffee, find a comfortable chair that I already own, and reread Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast.
Done.
Til next time.
This looks like the perfect chair for me.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
BookTV was live from the Printers Row Lit Festival in Chicago this weekend. I watched it all. And tomorrow? Back to the gym.
Sebastian Junger was particularly intriguing with his book titled, Tribe. He was well received by the audience, and there was a long line for him to sign books. Good for him. And then at the end of the interview, somehow it was broadcast that he owns a café in NYC. The Half King. I am SO going there the next time I’m in Chelsea. Plus, he wrote The Perfect Storm, which I couldn't stop reading.
The other writer was Mark Kurlansky who wrote Paper: Paging Through History. I LOVED the notion that someone of his caliber took the time to research and write such a good book about paper. The audience was really interested, and I was heartened. I just now looked up how much it would cost if I bought a ream of good rag paper from Amazon. Over $30. I’ll have to look at the budget. Might be worth it. I love good paper.
Til next time.
Really good paper and a really good book.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Caught Jude Law being interviewed live online by Charles McGrath last night at a TimesTalks event. It was an intriguing look at how actors choose parts and hone their craft. There was discussion about the difference between film and stage. Film belongs to the director. Stage belongs to the actor.
And then this morning, on the treadmill, I was watching Louie C. K. season 4, and he was reading The Story About Ping to his TV show daughter. Ping had 42 cousins. Seems like a few too few.
Til next time.
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese. Viking, copyright 1933.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group was interviewed at BEA (Book Expo America) on May 11, 2016 by Peter Slen of BookTV. The interview was broadcast yesterday on C-SPAN2. And it was GREAT!!!
Michael explained who the big five publishers are in order of their profits:
Penguin Random House
Harper Collins
Simon and Schuster
Hachette (including Little Brown and Grand Central)
Macmillan
I was sad that Penguin and Random have merged. I was devoted to the notion that Bennett Cerf had established Random House in 1927. Hard to believe that the house lasted this long without merging. But it did.
Bennett and a partner decided they would publish a few books “at random.” Hence, Random House.
And now PenguineRandomHouse.
Bennett, through Random House, won a court case in 1933 that allowed Ulysses by James Joyce to be published in the US. Ulysses was first published in 1922 in its entirety by Sylvia Beach in Paris.
Bennett was a supporter of great books and free speech. But that’s not the only reason I like Bennett. He was kind, smart, pleasant, and he supported writers of all kinds.
Back to Michael Pietsch. He sounds like the perfect CEO of a publishing house. He’s a good business manager, and he’s also a great reader of great books. Maybe with him in charge, Hachette will climb up the ladder of profits.
Oh yes. The other really important thing among many that Michael said was that Hachette’s sales were about 80% physical books and 20% ebooks. Yea for the physical book.
That’s good news for the book publishing business. And for me, if I like the ebook, I’ll buy the physical book. And currently on my kindle, I’m reading The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. It’s great.
Til next time.
Peter Slen and Michael Pietsch at BEA, 2016.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Just finished a brand new book by Jerry Pallotta. Ocean Cousins is about what life is like for kids who get to live by the ocean. It's a great book that makes you want to be a kid all over again.
Wouldn’t that be something to just go out your door, walk to the edge of the water, and then go for a salty savory swim whenever you wanted.
And of course if you had 64 cousins, it would be even more of a party every single day.
Jerry also sent me a lobster claw. Thank you, Jerry. You’re the balm.
I wonder if Steve Forbes has his own personal lobster claw. He’s live on BookTV right now. I’ll share mine with him if he calls me. I have two.
Til next time.
Pretty scary.
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Finished Book Five of My Struggle…it was an effortless read…without struggles…but not without thinking.
And the first and most prevailing thought is…he has daughters.
What are his plans for preparing his daughters for growing up and meeting someone like him? Will Karl Ove simply let his old patterns of behavior be learned and repeated by his daughters? Or will he step up and do some parenting.
Regarding his education:
When I read earlier volumes, it was clear he had read widely and the best. What was unclear until Book Five is when he actually had the time to do all this study. Turns out it was college.
Book Five is about college, and that’s when he studied, read, wrote, and decided to pursue the life of a writer above all else.
He discussed Julia Kristeva who created the practice of studying intertextuality, which if applied to Karl Ove’s work would certainly find intertextual connections with Proust, Roth, Nabokov and Dawkins in In Search of Lost Time, Portnoy’s Complaint, Lolita, and The Selfish Gene, respectively.
I’m still thinking about his daughters. He learned about literature in college. But where did he learn about parenting? Clearly not from his dad. And although his mom was always there for him, she was never quite visible.
So now that he has more time, maybe he’s made some choices about what kind of parent he wants to be and what kind of parent his children will write about when they're grown. Maybe right at this moment...this very moment somewhere in Sweden...he’s reading Dr. Spock in Norwegian.
For me, it’s going to be hard to read something else after reading these five volumes. They were pretty much all consuming.
And even though they were supposed to be autobiographical, I’m thinking there’s a lot of fiction in these pages.
Surely.
Nevertheless.
Reading something else will invariably be a bit of a letdown. But I suppose that because time marches on, the next book will present itself at some point.
Til next time.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
1. Without BookTV, who would I be?
2. Without BookTV, whom would I be?
Sadly, I’ll have to look that up. First one sounds right. Second one sounds pretentious.
My guess?
First one is correct.
Wouldn’t that be great!!
Unpretentious AND correct.
So.
I'm into Paul Theroux’s Deep South. I keep thinking it will get better. So far, he’s only interviewing folks who are in depressed economic areas and who are struggling financially. David Maraniss’s book about Detroit is a fuller look at depressed economic areas. But I’ll read a bit further to see if Paul shares other deep south insights from a fuller perspective.
In the meantime, I’m halfway through My Struggle Book Five. Reading two books at a time is insane…but somehow it works.
My next book is SPQR by Mary Beard. I can’t wait. But then again, My Struggle will be finished, and that will be a let down.
Tomorrow? Sunday's The New York Times, coffee, and feeding the stray cat who has suddenly appeared...without a Cheshire smile.
Til next time.
Plus, I'm thinking it's time to reread Building Stories by Chris Ware.
Saturday, May 14, 2016
I lived successfully through yesterday’s Friday the 13th. No problems…unless I consider the DJIA. Moving on.
Three big things:
I finished Even This I Get to Experience…again. I LOVE listening to Norman Lear read his autobiography. He reads it on 15 CDs and puts his life in the context of what was going on in politics in America from the 1950s to the present. He slept in the Lincoln Bedroom. He worked with Bob Hope. He saw Charlie Chaplin on stage in Los Angeles in a round-about-theatre. He made Archie Bunker a touchstone of America’s conscience. He lunched with the Pope. He bought Robert Frost’s farmhouse “The Gulley” in Vermont. He owns an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. He appeared with Lena Dunham at the Sundance Film Festival this past January. Too perfect.
What if I took a road trip to Vermont and popped in to say hello? Would he be okay with that?
And then?
I watched Barney Frank and his Showtime documentary funded by Indiegogo and the Norman Lear Family Foundation among others. Barney Frank is a remarkable national treasure. Everything from his wit to his intellect to his 45 years of public service rings true and good. He actually has achieved what the original framers of the Declaration had in mind when they wrote, “…we pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” I wonder if Barney Frank would like to go to lunch with me and talk about all manner
of shoes and ships and sealing wax,
of cabbages and kings,
and why the sea is boiling hot,
and lovely tungsten rings.
Call me. My treat. Plus. I’ll validate our parking.
And finally?
I’m just starting book five of My Struggle. It’s hypnotic. I’m reading along and time passes and nothing really happens in the book. Just like in book one, book two, book three, and book four. It’s a puzzling situation…to read books about a man’s life where nothing happens except the ordinary. Karl Ove Knausgaard. He hitchhiked from Venice to Norway and lived to tell the tale.
That’s enough for one day. Time to think about my day as Eleanor would say.
Til next time.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
It takes two hours and three cups of coffee to read Sunday’s edition of The New York Times from cover to cover. That timeframe does include two brief breaks. One to feed a stray cat a cup of Purina Cat Chow Complete on the front porch and the other to water the geraniums growing happily by the back fence.
In today’s paper, there was an extended article about a woman named Ruth Arcone who baked pies and worked for Cupcake Café in Manhattan before it recently closed and eliminated Ruth’s main job. She continues to work her second job as the night-shift monitor at a women’s shelter while living in a one-room residence at the Geffner House. Although she used to be homeless and without any financial resources, her current situation is nearly equally dire. Her final act at Cupcake Café when it closed this past Easter Sunday was to hand-deliver an Easter cake to the women’s shelter at West 40th and 10th Avenue. The cake had a passion fruit curd filling with coconut cream cheese icing.
Susan Hartman was the journalist who documented and gave us Ruth’s story, which has yet to find a hopeful ending…even though it’s spring.
Also in today’s paper were three additional thoughts.
Mercedes Bass honored Renee Fleming for 25 years of world-class singing at the Metropolitan Opera.
Carnegie Hall celebrated its 125th birthday on May 5.
President Obama and Bryan Cranston discussed LBJ and Bryan’s portrayal of him on stage and film through All the Way…LBJ.
It’s a world of news.
Til next time.
March 13, 2014. All the Way with LBJ played by Bryan Cranston.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Wil Haygood was live on BookTV yesterday, and I missed it. But not really. BookTV archives everything. So with a few clicks, it will be like I was there all along.
I started a new book by Bill Bryson, The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain. He’s a humor travel writer.
And after Bill?
It’s Karl Ove with Book 5.
Lots to think about.
Wil, Bill, and Karl.
Til next time.
Is there anything better?
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Just finished reading: The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero by Timothy Egan.
This is a tough book to read. It’s page after page of horrific documentation of battles of the Civil War. The losses of life are staggering. And even more horrific are the ways in which soldiers suffered. Irish fought Irish. Families fought families. Everyone fought everyone. To the death.
The British supported the South because they needed the cheap cotton produced by unpaid slave labor. Britain’s textile economy was based on high needs for cotton and wool.
Certain groups from the North also supported the South because they were afraid of losing low-paying jobs if slaves became free and moved north in search of work. John Wilkes Booth was one such man.
Thomas Meagher opposed slavery on moral grounds and reasoned that oppression of humanity could never be justified whether it was in Ireland, Tasmania, or America.
Frederick Douglass met Thomas in Ireland where the two men representing three different continents followed the exact same moral compass and led masses of people toward higher ground.
The book in total is about the life and death…achievements and ambitions…duty and talent of Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced Mar).
He was unstoppable right up until the very end of his life, which he lost at the hand of a paid assassin.
The book is divided into three parts:
Thomas’s revolutionary life in Ireland, his exiled life in a Tasmanian prison colony, and his escape to America.
He was a poet, statesman, explorer, fighter, storyteller, singer, and righter of wrongs.
He died at age 43 and left a widow and a young son.
His achievements and values are well documented in The New York Times as well as the Library of Congress.
His life.
1823-1867.
Born in Ireland.
Died in Montana Territory.
Two weeks shy of his 44th birthday.
Til next time.
Thomas Francis Meagher from Waterford, Ireland.
Monday, April 25, 2016
“Sit down, and I will tell you the story of my life.”
That’s a line from a P.G. Wodehouse short story.
The Man Upstairs is the short story and is read by Mike Harris of LibriVox.org, which is an organization that records books in the public domain.
The books are read aloud by volunteers, and then the recordings are available for free to the public.
Their motto is:
“Acoustical liberation of books in the public domain.”
Another motto for them could be:
Making the world sweeter and better one word at a time.
Currently, I’m reading Timothy Egen’s The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero.
This book tells the story of Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced Mar like in star) who lived during the potato blight in 1845 in Ireland and who helped his fellow Irish citizens to rebel against Queen Victoria in England for equal rights and equal access to the British Empire’s power.
He lost the fight, was tried for treason, was exiled, and wound up in America to achieve great things.
The book repeatedly reminds me of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange as well as the current crisis in refugees fleeing oppression of various sorts from their own countries.
At the time of the potato famine, the population of Ireland was eight million. One million of them died of starvation.
My great-grandfather was Patrick and was born into a family of survivors in 1860. He emigrated from Ireland and sailed to America in 1880.
He became a US citizen in 1892.
Timothy Egan's book is a sobering look at a dark time in history made more poignant with today’s headlines virtually repeating most of the main struggles of people’s efforts all over the world to simply survive.
With these kinds of sobering books, it's necessary every now and then to access a little P.G. Wodehouse to balance the load.
Til next time.
Great-Grandfather Patrick...1860-1922.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Is there anything better than sitting by a fire on a chilly rainy evening while sliding through the final pages of a Bosch novel and waiting patiently for the release of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s fifth installment of My Struggle?
Oh my gosh. The fifth volume came out yesterday. Just in the nick of time.
Til next time.
Friday, April 15, 2016
Two new discoveries. For me. Not to rest of the world. Evidently.
I’m slow to find things. Evidently.
Tom Hardy
Michael Connelly
Flipping through my AppleTV, I found Legend, a film about the British Kray brothers who were gangsters. And twins. Tom Hardy played both brothers…quite a technical feat. He was brilliant. He was so good, that for a moment or two, the world of gangsterdom seemed quite attractive.
Then of course, the brothers went to prison and died in fairly horrible circumstances.
The final conclusion? Crime does not pay.
At any rate, Tom’s acting was great. And then I remembered he was also great as a minor character in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Gary Oldman and Benedict Cumberbatch.
So then I was off to find another film with Tom and found Locke, which takes place totally in a car…a BMW, which is of course a VERY nice car. The film was totally great. And Tom carried the whole movie with 100% screen time.
I don’t know how he carried it off. Totally focused. Totally masterful acting. In short, Locke is a study in flawless acting.
Books?
At the moment, I’m hooked on Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller series. The characters, details, representation of law and justice, as well as the slow reveal of a complex detective story make these books great reads.
Additionally, they are NY Times best sellers and have been for quite a long time. Again. New to me but not to the rest of the reading public.
Comparing these accessible, page-turning detective books with books that receive a critic’s analysis for sophisticated writing and great intellectual achievement, and the world of publishing can be quickly confusing.
The dilemma becomes a dichotomy of popular books versus critically acclaimed books. And who gets to be a critic? Who gets to decide if a book has staying power or is only a temporary phenomenon? Seems like it should be time. Time will tell.
At any rate, whether a book receives popular approval, critical acclaim, or even both, reading it should be an enjoyable experience. Just like TV.
Til next time.
Monday, April 11, 2016
Yesterday, I listened to Greg Jackson and Michael Silverblatt talk about Greg’s new book of short stories titled, Prodigals.
The short stories are about privileged thirty-somethings trying to find their paths in life. I read one of the stories in The New Yorker…Wagner in the Desert. The story and the book are definitely worthy of Michael’s acclaim. This short story even steered me toward looking up the relationship between the real Wagner and Nietzsche, and how many short stories can do that?
Back to the book.
The New Yorker loves Greg’s book.
The Paris Review loves Greg’s book.
The NY Times Book Review loves Greg’s book.
Bookworm loves Greg’s book.
Me. Too.
The writing is compelling. The story is clear. The characters are developed. And they move the plot along. All of the story grammar is indeed in place. And as I was reading it, I wasn't even really aware that I was reading.
One caveat is that the characters are easy to dislike. They have everything. Everything. Education. Achievement. Ivy League connections. The right shoes. The right car. The right spouse. Yes. Everything. But they seem to be carelessly unaware of their privileged lives.
I personally don’t know people like this, but Greg seems to imply that people like these do actually exist.
IF that’s true, it would probably be a good idea to require all high school graduates to engage in a two-year stint in national service like the Peace Corps or AmeriCorp or Teach for America. This type of community service would help the nation, the volunteer, and those in need.
But back to the book. Of course I’m buying it. The book combines philosophy, religion, music, art, culture, and human interactions. What’s not to buy?
Greg Jackson is going to be a great writer for a long time to come and is already doing his part to repair the world.
And then?
It was time for the 21st Annual Los Angeles Festival of Books broadcast live on C-SPAN2’s BookTV.
The panel I enjoyed the most was a history panel on Sunday, April 10, 2016.
It was thrilling to listen to three scholars talk about their research. Thrilling.
Michael Schuman
Confucius: And the World He Created
Mary Beard
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
Mark Molesky
This Gulf of Fire: The Destruction of Lisbon, or Apocalypse in the Age of Science and Reason
Bill Boyarsky was the moderator.
The festival event planner who decided to put these three people with these three particular books on the same panel made a brilliant decision. The conversation was connected, enlightening, and delightful from beginning to end.
Til next time.
Michael, Mary, Mark, and Bill. Four good eggs.
Friday, April 8, 2016
I was struck by the spring cleaning bug and started with 50 old VHS tapes that are ready to be sent to the recycler.
One of those was a classic lecture I recorded on BookTV in 2005. Before I part with it, I just now checked to see if the compelling lecture by Harm de Blij (pronounced doo BLAY) was available online.
I searched BookTV and NO. Couldn’t find it. His name didn’t show up in their search box.
I searched Google and YES. There it was. Stored under the title of the lecture rather than Dr. de Blij’s name.
His life was devoted to the notion that geography matters. And it does.
Til next time.
From BookTV on August 23, 2005.
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Susan Sontag and Doris Lessing came across my desk today via Michael Silverblatt’s Bookworm.
Susan (1933-2004)
Born in NYC. Died in NYC.
Doris (1919-2013)
Born in Iran. Died in London.
Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007.
Michael interviewed Susan’s son, David Reiff in 2008. In paraphrase about his mother, David said she had “the rage to know things, to consume things, and to be curious.”
What a nice epitaph. The rage to know things. Where does that rage come from? Does everyone have it? Can it be acquired? Can it be lost? Can we live without it? I suppose a good psychologist would know the answer to all that.
And then racing back to 1995, Michael interviewed Doris. She said in paraphrase, “Good books should be read as experience and enjoyment and should not as universities require be deconstructed and analyzed in order to find messages, meanings, and symbols, which is basically a communistic attitude toward literature via Stalin to encourage the working class to produce heaven on earth.”
Wow. Did she really say that? Yes. And more.
She explained that she herself wrote in order to resist the ideas under which she was being forced to live as she was growing up.
For her, the purpose of writing was “holding myself together against pressure…I needed to write…Writing is something I sort of got on with.”
What a nice phrase, “holding myself together against pressure.”
She also discussed her notions of marriage through her fiction, The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five.
Then in 2004 in a second interview with Michael, she discussed A Love Child and the great war, which is WWII and the way in which it’s being forgotten.
She said, “We think about specific great battles but the war was everywhere, and it was horrific. It went on and on and on, and it did so much damage and hurt so many people…the results of which are still with us. Or maybe it’s even healthy that it’s forgotten. People can’t go on brooding about horrors indefinitely.”
Also in this interview, she expressed great concern about the dumbing down of culture because people don’t read as much. BUT. She goes on to say. There have always been different kinds of cultures. Cultures based on written words. Cultures based on oral storytelling. Cultures based on songs.
Then they went on to talk about her book, The Grandmothers: Four Short Novels.
As Michael found meaning and metaphor in things like “the cove,” Doris did not. She said, “You’re putting ideas into my head.”
Everyone will read a novel and find ideas and meanings that are very, very specific to their own psyches and lives without the intention of the writer.
My take-away from all this? The best novels are written in order to simply tell a good story.
Telling a good story is the goal of good writers according to Doris. But a noble and incidental byproduct of being able to tell a good story is the passing on of the values of a culture…big and small…notable and passing…current and obscure…timeless and temporary.
Listening to Michael is exactly like procuring a shiny new liberal arts education brimming with beauty and truth.
And as Nadine Gordimer said, “Truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is.”
Thank you, Michael.
A nice piece by Kristy Davis in 2009 about Michael in the spirit of Oprah is:
I was all set to watch Steve Forbes live on BookTV today, but he was on the Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia this morning. C-SPAN tweeted that he was okay but unable to proceed.
Instead, they rebroadcast a 2014 lecture he gave at Politics and Prose Bookstore in DC. During this broadcast, he explained that a good economy is based on products and services and that money is a symbol of those products and services.
Money is not the goal. Products and services are.
With regard to economic disparities and problems, he explained that the problem is NOT that products and services cost more, it’s that money has been devalued…meaning that money is worth less and less as time and the Federal Reserve march on.
He did say that the actions of the Federal Reserve should have as much influence on the money supply as does the Weights and Measures Division. Hmm.
His appearance on BookTV has been rescheduled. I will watch it. There is much to learn. From him.
So it was just coffee, The Times, and now…Lin-Manuel Miranda on CD from Hamilton while I fix lunch composed of avocado, salami, cheese, and a few odd bits of this and that.
Back to The Times. One piece that was unsettling was a piece about Anderson Cooper (age 48) and his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt (age 92). She is optimistic about love and the next phone call bringing good news. The piece is in contrast to a 2014 film I watched this past week starring Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Connelly, Shelter. Paul Bettany wrote, directed, and dedicated the film to the couple who lived outside his building. Anthony and Jennifer play characters who are homeless in New York City and who move around living under bridges, in shelters, in alleys, and even in the open air. Eventually, the character played by Anthony dies from exposure in a NYC winter storm.
It would be interesting to have Steve Forbes explain the vast disparity in incomes between the rich and the poor and how to equalize wealth in a democratic manner. Is this even explainable? Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes seemed to think so.
There was also a book review written by Michael Kazin who reviewed Spain in Our Hearts by Adam Hochschild. Sadly, I probably learned more about the Spanish civil war in 1936 from Kazin’s book review than I had ever understood before. Page 8.
Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, George Orwell, Eileen Orwell, FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, Roman Catholic Church, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Stalin, Franco, and even Gary Cooper...they were all included in the review.
It was a really well-written review about an equally well-written book.
Other facts from the book review?
Orwell wrote Homage to Catalonia.
Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Picasso painted Guernica.
Louis Aragon, W. H. Auden, and Pablo Neruda wrote verses.
And in the end? National forces led by Francisco Franco in 1939 overwhelmed the Republic forces and “captured Madrid and established a dictatorship that endured for almost four decades.”
But by far, the piece I enjoyed the most in today’s paper was a Q&A with Ray Magliozzi (of Car Talk) who went to Cuba to observe the ways in which 1950s cars are still running and looking good with their new Hyundai engines and their original and restored Chevy and Ford bodies. It was a good piece. And a good way to end the day.
Til next time.
Lin tweeted a video on a trip to DC on March 14, 2016. He woke up with a stiff neck. His father is in the background singing a tune. Go, Dad.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
If I don’t write this down to remember it, I know I’ll regret it.
I finally got around to watching The End of the Tour. I had resisted because it seemed opportunistic or commercial or just disrespectful to David Foster Wallace and his body of work.
But there it was on one of my screens; so I watched it.
And of course, I’m glad I did. Not because the movie was so illuminating or accurate or true or salutationist toward journalists (quite the opposite in many scenes) but because it led me back to David's interviews with Michael Silverblatt spanning nearly a decade on Bookworm at KCRW.
The first interview was 1996 and began with a discussion of fractals, the Sierpinski Gasket, and the structure of Infinite Jest. The interview climbed from there.
Dave (1962-2008) had just published Infinite Jest at 1,079 pages. And really, the only person to properly interview him about the book was Michael.
The interview was like all of Michael’s interviews…informed, pleasant, serious, both casual and specific, and always, always, always generous and gracious.
In regard to part of their conversation about the role of academics and talent and at about time marker 22:20, Dave says “I’m not Wyndham Lewis by the way. It’s not a pro-fascist book.”
Michael immediately replies, “And although it may look like The Apes of God, it isn’t The Apes of God in its size and length…”
Dave reacts mid-sentence to Michael’s reply with a genuine giggle at Michael’s immediate recognition of this rather obscure reference. Two minds on the same page crossing time and space at exactly the same moment.
Wyndham Lewis wrote The Apes of God in 1930 and is probably pretty well forgotten by all except people like Michael and David who share a common intellectual curiosity and a common commitment to the purpose of writing.
This is ALL to say…it was a lovely moment at 22:20 from 1996 listening in on two people whose lifes’ works bring…equal amounts of comfort and direction.
Til next time.
Photo by Suzy Allman for The New York Times. Published in the paper on April 29, 2009.
Friday, April 1, 2016
It has been said that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Crack Up, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."
But Shakespeare adds, there’s the rub.
ATT, Verizon, or Apple for the new iPhone SE?
Should be a simple task, and yet…I can’t decide. There are too many competing variables that contradict each other making a wise choice or a smart choice or an informed choice purely a matter of luck.
Maybe next week will bring more clarity or more intelligence. Or maybe not. But what’s the rush. The old phone still works.
Finished today, The Relic Master: A Novel by Christopher Buckley. Dismas, Dürer, and Magdalena…I’ll miss them, especially Magda who in 1517 as an apothecary knew a lot about medicines procured from plants. Very valuable information to possess. The battle scene from this book was hard to read.
And then for some reason, the Relic book put me in mind of Richard Peck’s The Teacher’s Funeral and Cynthia Ozick’s Heir to the Glimmering World. I think because they both deal with historical fiction written in an exacting and plausible way, they are in the same vein in my head.
Next book is…Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead: A Novel (winner of the Pulitzer Prize). And then on to Michel Houellebecq’s Submission, which has been on my mind for quite some time now.
I think someone should write a book about a person who had to learn to game the system in order to survive but who now can’t stop gaming the system even though she now runs it. Old habits die hard. Who said that? Hmm.
Time for lunch? Nope. Just finished. Five big marshmallows. Okay. Ten.
One more thing. Three mallards were sitting on the front lawn this morning.
Spring. Gotta love it.
Til next time.
Kraft. Hard to beat.
Waiting for the break of day.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Gosh. There’s so much news in today’s Times that my brain can hardly accommodate it all. However. Five items do stand out for future remembering:
1. Brandon Stanton of the famed Humans of New York website was highlighted for his open letter to Donald Trump. Brandon has 17 million followers. I knew of him but until this particular article, I didn’t realize how much I like what he’s all about. Seventeen million. I'm one of many.
2. Bob Ebeling died at age 89. He was a chief engineer who pleaded with NASA on Tuesday, January 28, 1986 not to launch the Challenger, which ultimately exploded due to O-rings that Bob knew would not stand up to the cold Florida temperatures on that particular day. He shouldered the blame for this explosion for 30 years because his arguments had not been persuasive enough to postpone the launch by a day or two when the weather would have warmed. It’s still unclear why NASA did not heed his warning.
3. Pamela Druckerman wrote Je Suis Sick of This outlining her experience with the terrorists attacks in Brussels and Paris. It was of interest to me not necessarily because of its content (which was very good) but because it was a first-hand account from someone who lives in Paris. First-hand accounts of events by people who are present, attentive, literate, clear, and reflective have always attracted my attention. The best wisdom of the ages has always come through those kinds of folks.
4. Angela Duckworth is a psychology professor at University of Pennsylvania. Her research is on character development. She recommends teaching but not metricizing it. She likes three broad areas of character development with subheadings under each for legitimate areas of attention:
A. Characteristics that help you achieve your goals
grit
self-control
optimism
B. Characteristics that help you relate to and help others
social intelligence
gratitude
C. Characteristics that enable thinking
curiosity
open-mindedness
zest for learning
5. John Jeremiah Sullivan researched a lengthy piece for the Magazine outlining the history and significance of Broadway’s Shuffle Along. The take-away? Everything is connected to everything else for all time. This piece will be the ultimate go to piece for depth and understanding of this classic work of musical and cultural theater. What an accomplishment. A seminal work of journalism. Not an easy feat. And perfectly written from beginning to end. Additionally, George C. Wolfe and Audra McDonald were interviewed for Times Talks recently and were upliftingly serious about their craft and devoted to their message, which is…art matters. And Savion Glover? Well. Savion Glover was a genius at age four and still is at age forty-two. He makes Shuffle Along sing.
It’s all in the Times.
Til next time.
A potpourri of the Times.
Friday, March 25, 2016
From the global to the local.
Elton John is 69.
John Kerry is in Brussels.
Vladimir Putin’s approval rating is high.
Genetically-engineered mosquitoes are buzzing around.
The holly bush at the corner of the house is chock full of happy honey bees.
My library book is due back at the library.
Til next time.
One of hundreds.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Reading a novel is participating in an examination of the relationship between humanity and the soul of the world. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho makes this clear. The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq is also an example of this process.
Reading a novel can also be mere entertainment, a productive way to spend an afternoon, or a respectable distraction from thinking about all the things that must be done like laundry, mowing the lawn, polishing the silver, and feeding the gold fish.
The best novels of course do all that and probably more. But where does one stop? I’m thinking of scaling back and reading only Don DeLillo novels for the next several months until all the chores and "all the things that people must get done" are done.
But then there are always Books 5 and 6 of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard (1968). His excerpt of Book 5 in The New Yorker was a great reminder of a relatively new writer who can make the great world spin, which means I’ll need to add Colum McCann and Colm Toibin to my list.
So now I’m back to a plan of reading way too much. And that includes at least four authors from recent New York Times Book Review sections.
The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories by Joy Williams (1944). Her view of life is that humans have totally ruined it. The review in the Times acknowledges this and still absolutely makes you want to read the book. The fact that this review outlines a collection of short stories about how bad humans are and you still want to read the book means the book review is a really great book review.
Then there’s Colm Toibin (1955). I finished Nora Webster: a Novel, and he got it just right. The death of Nora’s husband, how she handled her life, and how her children grew up are the foci in this novel. In this book, there was always the tension between those in Nora’s community who wanted to simultaneously help her and to also peak in and see what she was up to. As I read, I found myself always judging Nora on how she balanced her motherhood duties with her need for freedom. And then there’s another one of his books on my list. Brooklyn. It’s been rewritten as a movie. But the book wins hands down…probably. I'll know just as soon I've read it.
This leads to Colum McCann (1965) and his book Let the Great World Spin. I read it, and the assorted variety of characters is its strength. The Catholic priest, the grandmother, the children, the drug dealers…and all the rest live in a world where small graces are rare but can be found…and without really looking that hard. Colum mentions in his interview with Michael Silverblatt the book by Don DeLillo (1936) titled, Falling Man: A Novel about the days and years after the towers fell. Bringing moments of peace and grace to the human condition is what the best books do and it's what Don DeLillo does...book after book.
And finally, I come to Andrea Wulf (1972) and her book The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World. I was reading the review of this book and immediately remembered Steve Jenkins’s book Never Smile at a Monkey because Steve includes the Humboldt squid, which is as tall as a tall man and has thousands of teeth in its tentacles. Humboldt discovered this species and thus named it. Humboldt was a most remarkable man, and this seems like quite a remarkable book.
So.
Do the laundry, mow the lawn, polish the silver, feed the gold fish, carry on with The List?It's all a blur. Nevertheless. Choices must be made...today.
Til next time.
Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Four references in one day to MacBeth?
Really.
Lin-Manuel Miranda in his song Take a Break documents a letter that Alexander Hamilton wrote to his sister-in-law:
My dearest, Angelica
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day”
I trust you’ll understand the reference to
Another Scottish tragedy without my having to name the play
They think me Macbeth, and ambition is my folly…
And then I was listening to Isaiah Sheffer of Symphony Space read the short story Wes Amerigo’s Giant Fear by David Schickler. The dog in the story is named Lady MacBeth.
And finally, flipping through my Netflix wish list, was Ethan Hawk’s modern-day Hamlet as well as his research on Macbeth available through PBS. And then a few more rudderless clicks, and there’s Macbeth starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard with the DVD being released this past week.
How many hints does the world need to provide? I’m thinking it’s time to wash up and settle in with the bard of bards.
Til next time.
Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Douglas Brinkley was live on BookTV yesterday from the book festival in Tuscon, Arizon. He’s a presidential historian. I met him in Texas at a talk one time. He signed my book, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America. His talk was brilliant. We all loved it.
His newest book is about FDR and the national park system. Douglas explained that if several Presidents throughout the years and decades hadn’t set aside public lands and public parks throughout the nation, we would have only towers, strip malls, highways, and parking lots as far as the eye could see. Douglas is a very committed scholar whose expertise on the history of conservation and the value of nature is unique and powerful.
I also learned from Douglas that on August 30, 2015 President Obama restored Mount McKinley back to its original native name of Denali. Denali is the tallest mountain in North America.
Also, yesterday, Jonathan Kozol was featured in a talk about his book, Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. He was brilliant and compelling and unstoppable. I didn’t even know he was scheduled to be on. I just turned on the TV, and boom, there he was. What a gift to America he is. His message throughout all the years he's been writing about education in America has been exactly on point. Better schools equal a better world.
And then today, on BookTV, the festival in Tucson continues. Timothy Egan was featured as he talked about his book The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero. The Irishman in question? Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced Mar and rhymes with star). This talk was brilliant. History should be taught through simple story telling.
Today? A really great day.
Til next time.
Douglas Brinkley (1960).
Jonathan Kozol (1936).
Timothy Egan (1954).
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Annie Dillard wrote a book that I just now bought.
The name of the book is An American Childhood published in 1987. Annie won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1975 for her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
And I’ve done it again. I’m in the middle of three books. One by the nightstand. One by the fire. And one on the kindle.
Eventually…
Til next time.
Friday, March 11, 2016
I’m one-third into The Relic Master: A Novel by Christopher Buckley.
Dismas is a relic collector who keeps Albrecht and Frederick in ancient relics while Martin Luther makes his mark with his 95 objections.
Dismas’s latest find is THE shroud, which of course was made from fine linen by Dismas’s buddy, Dürer.
It’s as implausible a book as any I could predict, and yet, I can’t stop reading it.
The book presents 16th century life as if it were happening today with all the corruption, danger, and human foible that exists in any modern political campaign.
In addition to the grandness of the book, is the life of Christopher Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, Jr. In spite of being born into wealth and privilege, Christopher has applied himself. Sort of a rare bird. He lives in Connecticutt, New York, and beyond. He seems to never stop working.
As I’m reading about Albrecht who has mistakenly purchased THE shroud from Dismas, I see in my head Michael Gambon who steals every scene of every movie he’s ever been in. He even steals scenes in this book…and he’s not even in it…by about 500 years.
The book feels like it was written by a 16th century scholar of religious and economic life. The accuracy of the book in terms of dates, places, and people seems exactly right. Translating history into a best-selling novel is an extraordinary accomplishment and would be hard to top.
Speaking of translating history into a best-seller, I’ve been listening all day to Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It’s a three-hour album. Eventually, I’ll have to do something else. But for now, I’m good.
Til next time.
2015.................1953...............2009
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
I finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho last night. The main character is a boy who is a shepherd in Spain. He loves his job. He appreciates the solitude, the loyalty, and the simplicity of his daily life.
At some point, he goes on a journey to find his treasure in the pyramids of Egypt, and he meets several people along the way who impart wisdom and assistance.
The main thesis of the book paraphrased is “at the moment of commitment, the Soul of the World conspires to assist you.” For the boy, it all works out. And for that, I am glad. It means there’s hope.
I loved the book. From the Englishman to the shop owner of crystal to the alchemist, each character played a part in the boy’s life…and not by accident.
According to the book, the script of the world is ready and is to be embraced.
Again, glad it all worked out for the boy and glad to hear of the premise that the Soul of the World will help out when needed.
However.
I can’t help but think of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart where it doesn’t work out and where the world doesn’t conspire to assist the main characters and where things actually do and very dramatically…fall apart.
I also think of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things wherein the Soul of the World does not step up to help. But maybe when things don’t work out, that’s part of the world’s script as well. Not a cheerful summary...and one to which I don't actually subscribe...but perhaps an idea to consider.
As I think about these three books, I am so lucky to have them by my side. They are part of my skin. I wish I could remember how they each arrived on my doorstep. Must be the God of Good Books.
These heavy thoughts are why I am waiting patiently for something lighter like the Selected Shorts CD Funny Business produced by Symphony Space and which I ordered Monday and which was supposed to arrive today via Amazon’s Prime Two-Day shipping guarantee. It’s not here. Amazon? Are you listening?
And finally, I'm well into Christopher Buckley's The Relic Master: A Novel. Let's face it. He can write. And tell a story.
Til next time.
Paulo (1947)...Chinua (1930-2013)...Arundhati (1961)
Monday, March 7, 2016
Jane Mayer was live on BookTV for three hours yesterday. She talked about her newest book, which is about the undue influence that billionaires inject into the democratic process, which of course reduces the power of the democratic process.
Lots of people called in, and the support for her premise was 99.9% positive. It was very heartening to find a journalist who was so well received and who had completed such a professional and thorough analysis of the data included in her book, Dark Money.
And then for some reason I started looking online for a program called Selected Shorts and found it broadcast on WNYC. There’s also a weekly iTune podcast, to which I am now subscribed.
The program takes place at Symphony Space at Broadway and 95th in NYC. Isaiah Sheffer (1935-2012) founded the organization. I just ordered one of their CDs from Amazon. Can’t wait till it arrives. One of the stories on this CD is The Day the Dam Broke by James Thurber. This Thurber story was published in The New Yorkeron July 29, 1933 and was read by Alec Baldwin on March 21, 2014.
Good stuff is sustained throughout the ages.
Til next time.
95th and Broadway, NYC.
Funny Business.
Friday, March 4, 2016
I listened to Loretta Lynn’s interview on NPR this morning. She’s pretty much unstoppable and sort of flirty I thought. Way to go. She was genuine, confident, and energetic. She spoke easily and with no posturing. Maybe being born in 1932 and married at age fifteen accounts for her tenacity.
After listening to the interview, I still don’t know Loretta’s political leanings, but I have to believe that if she were the majority whip in Congress, we’d have our next Supreme Court Justice in a matter of hours.
Cissy Spacek’s image from The Coal Miner’s Daughter always comes to mind when I hear about Loretta’s life. Both women prove that anything’s possible.
I also listened to Richard Price’s interview on Fresh Air from 2015. What a character. Richard’s Russian Jewish grandfather read all the great Russian writers in Russian. Richard’s maternal grandfather was a great storyteller about his own rough life in NYC as a street kid. Richard mentioned that Lorraine Adams is his wife and that John Sterling is his editor.
Richard was 65 at the time of the interview. As he ages, he noted that 65 is the new 64.
He was also interviewed by Michael Silverblatt in 2008. Michael pointed out that setting, detail, time, and character are the strengths of Richard’s stories. Richard said writing is scary and he brings panic to the page. And this is what allows him to produce his work. Panic.
Richard was well versed in literature, culture, and life on a NYC street. He mentioned Hubert Selby, Studs Lonigan, Coltrane, and the beat generation. He graduated from Columbia and always knew he would be a writer. He explained that he has to be “in” the book. He can’t phone it in. He is VERY high energy.
With regard to how his writing has developed over time, he said, “I don’t need to say it eight different ways when one will do. Maybe that’s confidence or just impatience.”
Well said.
And finally, I’ve discovered that Alan Bennett’s short stories are available with him reading them for the BBC. I can’t stop listening.
Til next time.
Loretta...Cissy...Richard...Alan
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Oh WOW. The star for today and for decades to come is Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the music and lyrics for Hamilton currently on Broadway.
I downloaded the entire album from Amazon Prime, and I can’t stop listening to it.
Maybe I was a rapper in a former life. Or a duelist. Or a treasurer. Whatever. But I love this album.
Lin-Manuel’s interview on PBS was first rate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAiEVjW-GNA
And of course, the Broadway hit is based on Ron Chernow’s biography titled…what else? Alexander Hamilton with a copyright of 2004.
Lin-Manuel Miranda also wrote the music and lyrics for In the Heights which I saw on Wednesday, December 23, 2009.
Is he for real?
Til next time.
Scene from Hamilton at The Public Theater on Lafayette and Astor Place.
On the cover of The New York Times Style Magazine, July 19, 2015.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
David Strathairn has been popping up in all my media in the past week or so.
He introduced the actors on Selected Shorts at Symphony Space in NYC on January 27, 2016.
He played the hero, Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good luck in 2005.
And now he’s performing weekly in The Blacklist with James Spader.
He also introduced Zabar’s coffee for Selected Shorts.
Listening to him reminded me that I’m out of Cavalli’s Silver Balsamic Vinegar from Zabar's.
And finally for the really big news, as the new month begins, I learned how to embed sound into each page. This new skill took me many, many hours...way too many for such a simple task. Nevertheless, done.
Here's David whom I have coaxed into pronouncing his name...thrice.
Til next time.
Perfect as Edward R. Murrow.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
A big thank you to George C. Wolfe who explained why I love Broadway so much.
TV is for characters.
Movies are for the story.
Theatre is for ideas.
And wow. He said it so confidently, that it must be true.
All this time, I couldn’t quite figure out why I’m willing to spend $200 for a Broadway ticket. And now I know. Thank you George and Audra.
Til next time.
Thursday, 11/12/15
Friday, 11/13/15
Saturday, 11/14/15
Friday, February 26, 2016
Read the book or watch the movie?
This weekend, it’s watch the movie.
And the envelope, please…
The winner is…Smiley’s People with Sir Alec Guinness.
The heart wants what the heart wants.
Til next time.
John Le Carre's Smiley's People.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
On November 17, 2012, Charles McGrath of the NY Times interviewed Philip Roth about Roth’s announced retirement at the age of nearly 80 at the time.
McGrath reported that on Roth’s computer resided a Post-it note with a sentence that read, “The struggle with writing is over.”
Roth said, “I look at that note every morning, and it gives me such strength.”
He’s written 31 books since 1959.
Hermione Lee also interviewed Philip around that time and said he was impeccably courteous to fans when Hermione and Philip went out to eat during her interview with him.
Speaking of Jane Fonda (born in 1937), her hip was replaced in 2005, and her knee was replaced in 2009. At some point with all these titanium parts, will Jane still be Jane?
In other words, where does the essence of a person reside. In her joints? Her muscles? Her pancreas? Probably not…but then where?
Perhaps Jane’s essence is in her talent, ambition, and opportunity.
Talent? Ambition? Opportunity?
The TAO of it all?
Wonder what she’s up to today?
Is she thinking about the Tao of Paulo or the strength of titanium or something else entirely?
Til next time.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Memory.
That pesky talent that comes and goes.
I was reading a book review about something or other, and the reviewer stated that the author’s work didn’t hold up to the works of O’Connor, Hemingway, or Tolstoy.
Big names to be compared to.
And then I realized, I couldn’t remember the first names of O’Connor, Hemingway, or Tolstoy.
But rather than cheat and look them up, I waited.
And in less than a minute...BOOM! The memory kicked in, and there they were.
Sandra Day O’Connor
Frank Hemingway
Dostoyevsky Tolstoy
Wrong. I knew immediately that they were wrong and was mortified.
But still I didn't cheat. I waited thirty more seconds and then another BOOM!
Flannery
Ernest
Leo
Memory. Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it.
Til next time.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Hard to believe a more perfect day could exist.
The Times. Ella and Louie on Amazon Prime. Starbucks. And a whole day unencumbered.
Last week in The New York Times Style Magazine on page 260, there was an illustrated interview with Mindy Kaling.
Today, I decided to interview myself…in case The Times doesn't get around to it.
Til next time.
The Illustrated Interview.
Best of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Umberto Eco died yesterday. He was my connection to semiotics (signs and symbols) and the fact that scholarly ideas can be woven into compelling fiction.
There aren’t enough hours in life to follow all the paths of all the people who have placed their ideas on paper. But I did follow one sentence in Umberto’s lecture at Brown University in 1997.
“The supreme happiness lies in having what you have.”
This was a sentence spoken by one of his fictional characters. Googling this sentence found the text of his Brown lecture in a scanned book titled, Interpretation and Overinterpretation.
(In The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work, Louise Rosenblatt clearly explains that the meaning of any text resides within the reader.)
NPR’s reporting on his death led me to finding (again) another Italian writer…Elena Ferrante and her Neapolitan trilogy. Elena’s four books are everywhere I look. They seem to be creeping up on me like an out-of-control Virginia Creeper (a plant I love..so I will take this as a good and compelling sign).
NPR also led me to Ann Goldstein, the famous New Yorker translator of Ferrante and Primo Levi.
Italian literature…all paths lead there evidently.
And finally, for today, I actually remembered watching the live broadcast of Book Expo, 2005 with Umberto, Barbara Ehrenreich, John Irving, and Bob Herbert on Book TV. This particular broadcast with these four people is where my real interest in Umberto Eco was piqued and began. This event altered the universe (or at least mine). And I wasn't even in attendance. Clearly, without BookTV, I would be someone else entirely. Brian Lamb? Are you there?
And really finally, I met Barbara on February 24, 2002 when she gave a talk about her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. She was with Michael Moore and Ben Cheever at the 92nd Street Y. She signed my book and was so gracious as were and as did Michael and Ben.
Today I listened to Darryl Pinckney’s interview with Michael Silverblatt on Bookworm. Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was referenced, of course, which led me to four interviews that Michael and Susan completed well over ten years ago.
In one of the interviews, Susan said, “Literature is an education of the heart and of the consciousness. It’s an enlarger of sympathies. It’s a deepener of feeling.” Books, art, and movies…should all do this. Work should be ambitious.
In one of her essays, she wrote about three people she admired and saw connections within and between:
On a far less intellectual note from Better Call Saul, I learned about Saul’s desire to have a cocobolo desk. This is a special kind of wood and is protected in the marketplace. Why he wants this desk is unclear.
The best desk I ever had, which was not then and is not now protected, was a Steelcase with two pullout shelves. I wonder where it wound up. I loved that desk.
Til next time.
A gem of a desk.
Monday, February 8, 2016
For some reason, today I was in the mood to listen to Michael Silverblatt interview Brian Selznick.
On May 10, 2007, they discussed Brian's graphic novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Their conversation included a discussion of film, Georges Méliès, drawing, and illustrating. And eventually of course, they got to Maurice Sendak.
As Michael explained, Sendak’s artwork draws the reader in to the story through illustrations with perspectives that begin from a distance to illustrations with perspectives that surround the reader.
And as always, Michael's comments are seriously accurate.
Selznick's three wonderful graphic novels on my shelves are:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Wonderstruck
The Marvels
The discussion with Michael and Brian led me to search for Michael’s interview with Maurice Sendak on May 18, 1992.
Michael and Maurice talked of E.T.A. Hoffman, Dumas, Grimm, Tchaikovsky, and Melville. Their discussion clearly validated Maurice’s desire to be viewed as an artist and writer of books, poetry, and opera as opposed to being an artist and writer of books for children, which he said is a reductionist view and one of which he disapproved.
Maurice also mentioned his editor, Ursula Nordstrom who was with Harper Brothers when Maurice started out as a young artist. Leonard S. Marcus collected Ursula’s letters to her writers and published them in a book that I love, Dear Genius.
Well done, all.
And as always in the world of books, one thing leads to another until finally, it's time for lunch.
Til next time.
Three graphic novels.
Wild Things.
Ursula's life in letters.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
As proof that I should probably pay more attention to popular culture, I just discovered that the Super Bowl is today. Evidently it’s their 50th anniversary.
At any rate, today I’m still thinking about two BookTV broadcasts that I watched yesterday.
Ben Rawlence has a new book titled, City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp. This book took him four years to write. During these years of research, he lived on and off in Dadaab, Kenya and documented what life was like in this refugee camp for half a million displaced persons. He specifically documented the lives of nine people and described their problems, injustices, and hopes over a multi-year period. No running water, no electricity, no sewage system. But he doesn’t just document their lives, he knows how to fix the problem. And it’s all in his book. His presentation and Q&A were quietly brilliant.
The second broadcast was a tribute to James Billington who has run the Library of Congress for twenty-eight years from 1987 to 2015. Twenty-eight years. A lifetime of service. He established a culture of making sure that the LOC was accessible to people. It wasn’t just for researchers. It was for everyone. The tributes to him shared by four scholars and a moderator attest to the generous and expansive intellectual gifts he has provided our nation. The LOC is a living and vital collective of the world’s cultures and serves as a compendium of our humanity’s actions and beliefs. All the librarians who work at the LOC, including Jim Billington as head librarian, are completely devoted to that premise. The remarks by Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York were particularly poignant, witty, and sweet.
James Billington...librarian of all librarians.
From Kenya to the Library of Congress all in one afternoon.
Til next time.
Ben Rawlence.
Vartan Gregorian.
James Billington.
Friday, February 5, 2016
I have always been a fan of the serial comma.
Commas add clarity…always.
We saw an unusual rock star, a kid and a genius.
or
We saw an unusual rock star, a kid, and a genius.
Which is it? A rock star who was not only a kid but a genius as well?
or
Was it three different people?
In the recent HBO documentary, Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists, Bob Mankoff’s editor told him that he needed to use more commas in his new book, How About Never? Is Never Good for You?: My Life in Cartoons. His reply? On camera, without benefit of script or forethought, and in the blink of an eye, Bob suggested adding an appendix with simply a bunch of commas.
I myself am a fan of the ellipsis. And there are many ways to write an ellipsis.
But I prefer…this way.
I just dug out my copy of The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker. It’s fabulous. I’m going to read it this evening and then DVR Gloria Steinem on Bill Maher for later viewing. But back to the book. The book cost $37.80 when I bought it in 2006 on Amazon. I noticed it now costs $42.82. I am ready to buy the update...whenever it becomes available...IF it becomes available.
…Til next time.
Edited by Robert Mankoff with forward by David Remnick. Comes with two CDs and 68,647 cartoons from 1925 to 2004.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
I submitted a short story to The New Yorker. It’s titled Marrying Simon. I wonder if they’ll accept it. That would be nice. Really nice. They wouldn't even have to pay me. Wait...
Til next time.
Two types of top hats.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Today, I tried Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and will be returning to Starbucks soon.
Also today, I found someone who’s been hiding in plain sight all along.
William Keepers Maxwell (1908-2000). He was editor of The New Yorker for forty years from 1936-1975. He also wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and essays. He was editor to John O'Hara, John Cheever, and John Updike among many.
And finally, I ran across a reference to George Orwell (1903-1950). His original name was Eric Blair. But he didn’t like that name so he chose George after the patron saint of England. He chose the name Orwell, which was the name of a river by his home. In 1944, he adopted a baby named Richard Blair who is now 71. George Orwell died in 1950 when Richard was five years old. Brian Lamb interviewed Orwell’s biographer, Jeffrey Meyers on BookTV's Booknotes on March 11, 2001.
Where would we be without the printed word.
Til next time.
1984 and Down and Out in Paris and London.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Time for pencil talk.
Evidently, the king of pencils is the old Eberhard Faber Palomino Blackwing, which was discontinued in 1998 (also Faber-Castell made these).
The “new” Blackwing is by California Cedar and is supposedly not as good as the original. Nevertheless, the general consensus for these very expensive pencils is:
Palomino Blackwing is great for sketching. Darker. Softer and needs much more sharpening. Seriously black and seriously smooth.
Palomino Blackwing 602 is great for writing. Half the pressure. Twice the Speed.
More specifically:
Palomino Blackwing 602 is for writers and is gray with a black eraser.
Palomino Blackwing is for artists and is black with a white eraser. This one needs constant sharpening.
Two sites which thoroughly review these pencils are below.
But now? It’s Friday and nearly time for the weekend. But as Dowager Countess of Grantham asks, “What’s a week…end?”
Til next time.
Sample from each pencil.
The "real deal" originals.
The formidable Maggie Smith/Violet Crawley.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
As of noon today, Joyce Carol Oates and Michael Silverblatt have been friends and colleagues for over 40 years after having met at Princeton. And during that friendship, they have discussed her books, literature in general, and the ways in which books both evolve and stay the same.
I’ve listened to three of their recent conversations on KCRW's Bookworm this week, and I am over the moon with what I’ve heard.
It’s been like eavesdropping on two people’s dinner conversation and benefitting from their expertise and thoughts and wisdom without the duty to come up with something equally profound or clever or enlightening or even grammatically correct.
Michael Silverblatt…going strong on KCRW for over 25 years. JCO going strong for over 50 years as a writer and thinker.
Who needs lunch when Bookworm is available? Well, perhaps a little something...a profiterole, a carrot stick, some scrambled eggs, or maybe just some toast with jam?
Til next time.
Michael with his books and his life.
JCO receiving the National Humanities Medal from President Obama, March 2, 2011.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
I’ve decided to be more consistent with abandoning books that I should read but don’t really like. That new year’s resolution leaves me with Make Me by Lee Child and Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. Easy reading…for a change.
In today’s NY Times, there was an article about Louise Bourgeois, an artist who lived in NYC in a Chelsea townhouse at 347 W. 20th. The home was described as being in a state of bohemian dilapidation. Nice. Functionality trumped everything…evidently. A nice bio piece about an artist who lived a full and productive life.
There was a book review about the life of Iris Murdoch who wrote letters and books in longhand with a Montblanc fountain pen. Ah. So that’s the trick.
Yesterday, I listened to an interview from 2005 with Michael Silverblatt and Michel Houellebecq about H.P. Lovecraft. The interview was enlightening and focused on the qualities of goodness versus pessimism and how the two interact.
Must novels have happy endings? Should novels have happy endings?
Paraphrasing Houellebecq, the art of the novel is not designed to express joy whereas poetry and paintings are.
Houellebecq referenced Clifford Simak who wrote City, a novel about dogs who now are masters of earth because humans have moved on to other universes.
Based on the notions in this book, Houellebecq says, “Humanity can be replaced…and probably will be.”
Contemplating these thoughts is a great luxury.
Til next time.
A work of art.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
I’m trying to finish Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, but it’s tough going. On a kindle and probably even in a physical book, it’s difficult to understand the chronology of what is happening. The main character keeps dying and being reborn over and over. But I wouldn’t know this unless I just now went to Amazon reviews and read that explanation. The book seems unnecessarily confusing.
Glenn Frey of the Eagles died Monday. The 2013 documentary on the History of the Eagles on Showtime is being replayed. The best written response to his death was written by Marc Eliot. http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/19/opinions/eliot-glenn-frey/
Til next time.
Timothy B. Schmit, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh.
...
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Spent the morning reading the Times, sipping Starbucks, and listening to an old album of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli.
Reading. Sipping. Listening. This triptych lacks the Puritanical work ethic, and I probably should get busy and go dust something or plant something or wash something. Nah.
Back to the paper. There was a lot of news to catch up on. Some good. Some not. Starting today, I’m implementing the habit of just scanning the bad and then reading and rereading the good. As George Lucas said, “Focus dictates reality.” And who doesn’t need a reality of goodness on which to focus.
One writer somewhere in today’s paper said that in today’s world there was not enough work for artists and writers. There aren’t enough magazines, newspapers, publishing houses, editors, museums, and galleries to take care of all the loose talent that’s out there looking for an audience.
I thought, “How true.” And then I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a USA Department of Art, Department of Poetry, and Department of Literature each analogous to the Department of Defense.”
And then I remembered, oh my gosh, we do. They’re called the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
I wonder what their relative budgets are.
And then in today’s travel section, Naples was the featured destination and Elena Ferrante was the star. She keeps popping up everywhere I look these days. Everywhere. The reference is usually to her trilogy based on her life in Naples.
My Brilliant Friend
The Story of a New Name
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
The Story of the Lost Child
But wait. These are four titles and not three making her most famous collection a quartet and not a trilogy. I’ll have to figure that out eventually. But not now.
Time for Sunday brunch.
PS In today's Magazine, many people wrote in to confirm the brilliant writing of Karl Ove Knausgaard's piece on brain surgery from January 3, 2016. Quite good news. For all concerned.
Til next time.
Purchased on ebay not too long ago.
Friday, January 15, 2016
I started reading a new book yesterday, and it’s totally better than a box of chocolates. I was hooked from page one.
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami.
I’ve also got the next book selected, but I’m not too anxious to get to it because it will mean I’ve finished with Haruki. And I’m not looking forward to that. At all.
But for now, it’s all good.
Til next time.
Haruki Murakami won the WELT Literature Prize.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Amidst all my saved NY Times Book Reviews, I came across a note I’d made on October, 30, 2005. It was a note from an interview with Jane Smiley wherein she listed seven novels to read on an island.
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
Justine by Marquis de Sade
Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
And then, today I was listening to Michael Silverblatt interview Maggie Nelson about her book The Argonauts from June 11, 2015. Michael mentioned three theorists he studied in college.
Roland Barthes (1915-1980)
Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
Michael went on to explain that when studying ideas, study the ideas as they come up rather than starting with a list of “these are the ideas I must study.” Nice.
Words are the world we live in.
Affirmation of intellectual wanderings with Michael is as comforting as mac and cheese, sun-dried sheets, and Renee Fleming’s high C.
I also listened to Michael interview Richard Ford. “Art is the daughter of time,” says Francis Bacon quoted by Richard Ford.
Enough thinking for one day. Time for a walk in the wood.
Good job.
Til next time.
Jane Smiley recommends 7 novels including one of her own.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
My new book from Strand Books arrived this week. Took me about six hours to read Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware. Jimmy is the troubled main character for whom nothing seems to go his way. Jimmy represents what happens to the human spirit when the harshest of life’s events never stop coming. I’m looking for an antidote to this book. Very glad I read it, but now I’m looking for buoyancy, which this book definitely does not provide.
And that antidote may be Salman Rushdie’s Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights: A Novel. He wrote this book as a take on The Thousand and One Nights (known as the tales of Arabian nights). His interview about his new book with Michael Silverblatt on KCRW’s Bookworm was heartening. Even with all Salman’s troubles in the past, he ends the interview with lots of hope for humanity by saying, “The victory of evil is not inevitable.”
Buoyant. Once again.
Til next time.
Michael and Salman at KCRW's Bookworm radio show.
Monday, January 11, 2016
I made the huge mistake of watching The Thomas Crown Affair…I don’t know why. Maybe because I love the Met.
It got me to thinking about what makes a great painting great. I suppose a course in art history would help me, but then again, it’s much easier to just wonder.
I found two paintings. One is considered great and is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the other is a mass print available for purchase from Pier 1.
I can’t quite decide which I like better. This does not speak well for my sophistication level in the world of art. I know.
Fortunately, it's time for lunch.
Til next time.
Two creative efforts.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
They never stop coming my way. Books.
For some reason, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton came into view highly recommended.
So now, it’s on my Kindle waiting for its turn. I know I've read it at some point in the past, but it's time for a revisit.
Plus in my hand is a book I love…The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton, which I have had for some time and read not too long ago from cover to cover in one setting.
As I kid, I read every biography I could get my hands on. I'm glad they're still around.
The House of Mirth.
Til next time.
A biography by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Andrew Lloyd Webber was in my living room yesterday. Via TimesTalks.com of course.
He was so generous with his answers to the young interviewer’s questions. He even played the piano while Sierra Boggess sang Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. That feeling of being a witness to goodness existed throughout the whole talk and lingers even now the next day when I listen to Sierra again.
As she was leaving the microphone, she patted Andrew on the back as though they were old school chums. Very touching.
During his talk he explained how his musicals came to be and gave insight into the differences between how he worked when he started out his career versus how he works now.
The most interesting explanation of how he has come to write so many wonderful tunes is when he said, “I’ve always got music in my head…of some sort. It’s just the way I am.”
He discussed Phantom, Evita, and Cats as well as others. The audience loved him.
Til next time.
Lucky Me.
Monday, January 4, 2016
David Maraniss was brilliant yesterday on BookTV. His recollection of hundreds and thousands of facts from his many books was quite astounding. He talked for three hours about everything from war to politics to journalism to baseball. And of course Peter Slen is a perfect interviewer. I can't even remember life before BookTV.
Karl Ove Knausgaard in The New York Times Magazine wrote a wonderful and lengthy piece about a British neurosurgeon, Mr. Henry Marsh, who travels to countries and performs surgery on patients with removable brain tumors. The humanity with which Karl Ove wrote the piece was totally consuming. I couldn’t stop reading it. I suspect that the worldwide medical community has by now contacted Mr. Marsh to offer him unlimited financial support for his technical skill and humantiarian service.
The world of print continues to matter. And that’s a good thing. As everyone knows.
Til next time.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
I read somewhere that blogging was a rather dishonest way to remember things. That's true...IMO...only if you don't have a lot to remember.
Here goes. Two weeks ago, Cynthia Ozick wrote an essay on truth and gossip for the NY Times Book Review. I didn’t really understand it. I read it twice and still didn’t get it. I assumed that Cynthia was slipping. But then today, three people’s letters to the editor appeared in the Book Review about Cynthia's brilliant essay. Out of probably thousands of letters of feedback that were submitted, the three that were chosen to be published were from a cantor, a rabbi, and an academic. Oy. Obviously, it is I and not Cynthia.
Anyhoo, more stuff to remember.
Daniel Sada wrote One Out of Two about spinster sisters…twins, Gloria and Constitución. They are single, orphaned, and becoming increasingly identical as they move into middle age. The review in the Times was positive. Also referred to in that review was another book about sisters by Barbara Pym titled, Some Tame Gazelle, which the reviewer referred to as remarkable.
Three books are out about microbiomes and the microbial community’s relationship to the good health of us humans. Evidently, we each are chock full of microscopic creatures. The review said we each house 100 trillion of them in and on our bodies. I wonder how they counted them all.
Karl Ove Knausgaard has the feature piece in the Magazine on brain surgery. He never stops. His fifth volume of My Struggle is out in April. It’s actually already out just not yet translated from Norwegian to English.
David Michael Carr (1956-2015) of the NY Times revealed how he came to his professional life beyond all expectation: "I worked a lot." The New York Times Magazine, December 27, 2015, page 41.
Three Broadway plays to see:
Forrest Whitaker in Hughie
Andrea Martin in Noises Off
Danny Burstein in Fiddler on the Roof
The sixth and final season of Downton Abbey, which was understandably but mistakenly called Downtown Abbey by lots of folks (including me) when it first hit the streets here in the US in 2011, begins tonight on PBS.
David Maraniss is live on BookTV for three hours…today.
Buy light bulbs.
Pay the light bill.
Til next time.
A moving image. Imagine that.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Optimism.
That’s the word du jour.
And speaking of French, I was at Grand Central Terminal recently after a train trip to Poughkeepsie when I decided to pop in to that little bookstore inside Grand Central.
I heard three women from France having a lovely time and lovlier conversation in…à la française, of course.
The Little Prince was there, I bought it, and followed the women out of the store. I smilingly approached them and asked them how to pronounce the book’s author, Antoine De Saint-Exupéry.
They pronounced it for me joyfully.
The best things have always happened because of a book.
Someone from the past emailed me and said I was a book angel. I accept. Much better than a diet angel, which I am starting today. Happy New Year.
I read a review of a book about cotton. There was a summary statement about the US economy that said
the 18th century was about sugar
the 19th century was about cotton
the 20th century was about oil
I don’t recall that it said anything about the 21st century.
My guess is the 21st century is about…gosh. This is harder than it looks. What economic boom has driven the US economy in the 21st century? I’d say, let’s see now, I’ll guess…books.
Ha.
I’ll go with oil…still.
But eighty-four years from now, after the century has had more time to develop and when economists in 2100 look back on the previous century, I’m betting they’ll say the 21st century was about renewable energy.
The financial industry surrounding renewable energy is already in full swing. And Germany is leading the way. Creating ways to use solar, wind, geothermal, and maybe even moonbeams is going to improve the world’s economy in substantial ways that will lead to lots more world goodness.
And lots more world goodness will certainly lead us to books.
What would the US economy look like if it was based on the production and consumption of books?
Who would benefit?
Everyone, obviously. But specifically, the paper industry, the printing press industry, the shipping industry, bookstore employees, bookbag companies, artists, paint brush producers, all manner of art suppliers, ebooks, ebook paraphernalia, and of course writers and their writerly needs.
Sounds like an economy based on books would be a worldly win-win.
And thinking more about books brings me to Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle, and Julia Child. I was flipping through this book and was actually thinking about making Boeuf Bourguignon.
But after studying the recipe and realizing that making beef stock would take 4 to 5 hours with the other portion of the searing and baking taking another 3 to 4 hours, I’m rethinking the whole thing. But I’ll probably do it.
Perhaps. Possibly. Eventually. Maybe.
Til next time.
Julia. Julia. Julia. What a cook.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
The December 27 issue of the Sunday Book Review of The New York Times was dedicated to poetry.
There was a two-page section called poetry round table where accomplished writers shared the poets and poems that were meaningful to them.
What was most interesting in that section was that there were no redundancies. Maybe the editors edited out references to the poems and poets that were repeated. But probably not.
It is more likely that each writer identified quite uniquely with the world of poems.
I’m betting that if there was ever a classical-music round table that there would be many redundancies among the participants.
Maybe poetry is a singularly felt art while music is more geared to be a group art.
The other thing that I’m going to check out from this issue is on page 18. Kathleen Rooney reviews a book of poetry by Jennifer L. Knox titled Days of Shame & Failure published by Bloof Books, which publishes only one or two titles per year. For that reason, that book has GOT to be good. When a publishing house exists to promote just one or two books per year, its books have got to be worth noting.
And that’s the other thing. The only way I know if a poem is good or not is if someone, like a poetry critic, tells me. This of course is highly confusing and is unlike listening to a piece by John Philip Sousa (1854-1932 and son of Maria and John) whose tunes are always stirringly good and don’t require a critic’s nod.
These thoughts lead me to Birdman, which I’ve watched three times and will watch at least once a year probably forever or at least for a long time.
It’s great for maybe six reasons:
1. Michael Keaton rocks.
2. Alejandro González Iñárritu was the director.
3. Ed Norton was perfect.
4. Michael Keaton rocks.
5. Naomi Watts can do no wrong.
6. Anything is possible.
Now…on to Days of Shame & Failure.
Til next time.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Interesting tidbits:
1. Star Wars has grossed $440 million since its release on December 18.
2. Carli Simon’s dad founded Simon and Schuster.
3. James Patterson’s first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number was rejected 31 times before it found a publisher with Little, Brown in 1976. His current novel, Cross Justice published by Little, Brown is number one on the NYT Bestseller List today.
4. Ayana Mathais said the best book she’s read this year is Vivian Gornick’s Fierce Attachments.
5. Francine Prose said the best book she’s read this year is Shirley Jackson’s Hangsaman.
6. Dana Stevens said the best books she’s read this year are Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan tetralogy.
Things to do:
1. Repair the zipper on my jacket that mysteriously broke yesterday.
2. Take down the tree and pack it for next year.
3. Make chicken salad from the baked chicken left over from Christmas dinner.
4. Buy some more of my favorite new wine: Spice It Up by Whispering Meadows Vineyard and Winery.
5. Call my optometrist and see what these floating black specks are all about. Ah. Scratch that. They just went away.
6. Finish reading on my Kindle The Smartest Woman I Know by Ilene Beckerman. Makes you want to be an old Jewish woman from Russia and live above your candy store on Madison Avenue. At least for a week or so...or maybe not. But it's a great book. I'm going to read more of her work. New Year's Resolution Number One.
Til next time.
Friday, December 25, 2015
What will it be? A trip to the cinema to see Star Wars or a read-aloud from a book by Charles Dickens titled, A Christmas Carol originally produced on December 19, 1843 and signed by the author’s great-grandson David Charles Dickens in 1993 and given to me as a Christmas gift in that very year. Much appreciated. Still.
What a day.
Til next time.
David Charles Dickens (1925-2005) great-grandson of Charles Dickens.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
The First Annual Pineapple Upside Down Christmas Cake.
Early today at the grocery store, which was packed with happy shoppers, I noticed on the canned fruit aisle right at eye level a can of sliced pineapples while a few shelves down the maraschino cherries waited patiently.
A quick check on the smart phone (aka iphone), told me that I had all the other necessary ingredients at home waiting to create this new tradition.
Three hours later, the thing is in the oven, and Betty Crocker is back on the shelf.
I’m using an ill-advised spring form pan which allowed the melted butter to leak out prior to pouring in the batter. After cleaning up the mess made by the melted butter, arranging, pouring, and popping it all in the oven, I’m wondering if a ubiquitously store-bought but nice Christmas fruit cake might not have sufficed especially now that I’m listening to the still-leaking butter sizzle, pop, and smoke in the oven.
I’m too chicken to look. Best case scenario is that it will be delicious and the smoke alarm won’t go off.
UPDATE FORTHCOMING
Yes.
Til next time.
Totally worth it.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
At this festive time of year, my thoughts turn to Robert Sabuda, the king of the pop-up book. Each of his books is handmade individually. His master’s degree is in paper engineering (I think). Maybe the fact checker at the NYT could check on that for me.
Anyhoo, I have several of his books as well as his Christmas card collection, all of which I love. The Christmas card pop-up collection comes in a lovely blue tin box with white snowflakes stamped on it.
And then it feels right to start reading:
Several sentences about writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg
and
A Field Guide to Writing Fiction by A.B. Guthrie, Jr.
I also need to finish How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell.
With a Strand Bookstore gift card that I just received, I'm thinking of buying Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults by Ambrose Bierce.
Along with a pecan pie that I am going to bake, it’s gonna be a good great holiday.
Til next time.
A Few Good Books with All the Right Stuff.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Things I feel I will never tire of:
Homemade tacos
New Yorker cartoons
Vince Guaraldi Trio
Everything Cynthia Ozick thinks, writes, and says
My New York Public Library card
webmd.com
All things Apple
19…21…25…
Harry and David’s Pepper and Onion Relish
Dawn dish soap
Percale sheets
My green two-wheeled Travelpro bag which is now permanently lost in United’s lost luggage department
Sunshine on the dining room table...gets me every time
Til next time.
Lost.
Friday, December 18, 2015
For some reason, Adele was on my mind this morning.
In 2011, she sang three songs in the NPR studios in Washington, D.C.
Evidently, she walked in, sat down, and sang three songs without even taking off her coat and gloves.
And now with 25 and her son, she is launched. Again. What a voice.
Click below to go the NPR link and watch the 14 minute video of her singing. Fabulous. Unfortunatley, NPR has added a 21 second ad at the beginning. Tisch. Tisch. Tisch.
I’ve always had a weakness for people who think clearly and write with clarity. This weakness has led me to Primo Levi.
The Complete Works of Primo Levi was reviewed in the Book Review on November 29, 2015.
Primo was featured on the cover at his typewriter and in front of his bookshelves. He died April 11, 1987 in his apartment building in Turin.
His documentation of his imprisonment in Auschwitz leaves us with an account of a huge and monstrous sadness through writing that is clear and unequivocal.
In the preface to the book he states, “It seems to me unnecessary to add that none of the facts are invented.”
Each of his stories is written so that others can know what he knew. It’s his gift to us.
And then as I watched the news on BBCAmerica last night, it was reported that a Syrian refugee mother had just given birth to her daughter in Germany and had named this brand new baby Angela Merkel.
The horrific and the hopeful all in one lifetime.
Til next time.
Monday, December 14, 2015
The Marvels took my yesterday and made it perfect.
Brian Selznick’s drawings and text are absolutely seamless.
Then today, waiting and clicking, I found illustrator Peter Sis accepting the Horn Book award for Pam Munoz Ryan’s The Dreamer in 2010.
The Dreamer is about the life of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda who changed his name from Ricardo Reyes Basoalto because he didn’t want his father’s name.
Pablo Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, and Pam did a wonderful job of making you care for and about poetry, Pablo, freedom, and literature.
And with regard to Peter Sis, Tracy Mack of Scholastic had asked Peter to do the illustrations for Pam’s book. And then to make it even more interesting, Peter used to live on Neruda street in Prague.
Neruda street in Prague is named after the Czech poet Jan Neruda. Pablo took the name Neruda to honor Jan Neruda.
The world is so full of interconnections, it’s sometimes hard to just walk down the street with an unobstructed view.
In his acceptance speech, Peter said that he has always tried to make his illustrations serve the text. That’s what he said, “serve the text.” Quite elegant.
Til next time.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you listen to Keb’ Mo’ live on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion from Town Hall in NYC, and you realize you’ve missed a whole lifetime of singing the blues.
On February 13, 2016, Keb' Mo' will be performing the blues in Mumbai.
Maybe I’ll see about getting a ticket. That would be quite a journey.
Shortly after that, on February 24, Keb' will be back in the states in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
But the blues in Fort Lauderdale don’t feel quite right. So maybe Mumbai.
In the meantime, The Marvels by Brian Selznick arrived in last night’s mail. It’s gonna be a busy day.
Til next time.
The Marvels arrived December 12, 2015. Thanks Amazon Prime.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
It’s SUCH a great day. I’ve got four books checked out at once from the NYPL’s ebook system.
The Complete Works of Primo Levi was featured on the cover of the NY Times Book Review recently. And after learning about his life with a few clicks on Google, this book was essential. It will be hard to read, but you can’t look away from the truth of war and the effort to tell its story.
I’ve been wanting to read Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan for some time now; I’ve got a few pages to go. And while I want to find out what happened, I don’t want the book to end. Pam is a magical writer who touches the world with her talent. I love the book and am moved by Friedrich, Father, Gunter, Mike, Frankie, Ivy, Susan, and all the characters that make up this globe-spanning story of music and courage. I don’t want to finish the book because the story will end, but today I will. I know she’ll give me a good ending. That’s just her nature.
Thomas McGuane was interviewed not long ago by Michael Silverblatt, and it was like listening to old friends talking about their lives and their worlds. So, naturally, Crow Fair became an immediate must read for me. I can't wait to get started.
And finally, I just finished Jumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies. What a collection of wisdom and observations in a series of short stories where people simply endure and then ultimately triumph. Jhumpa was also interviewed by Michael and seems brilliant. She doesn’t just seem brilliant. She is.
Four books. NYPL. Kindle.
Finally today, The Marvels by Brian Selznick will be delivered. Amazon Prime...what a deal. This book is a graphic novel and while it's available on Kindle, it just didn't seem right to read it in digital format. So click, purchase, wait, read. That's the plan.
Plus I’m cooking beans. Another good Saturday.
Til next time.
Four books from NYPL.
Friday, December 11, 2015
I’ve been thinking about cooking a pot of beans.
I don’t really like beans, but I like the IDEA of beans.
Soaking them.
Seasoning them.
Adding bits of this and bits of that and cooking them for days or weeks or hours or however long my recipe book suggests.
Slow cooking. It’s all so homey and slow and old-fashioned.
And using my rarely used Staub French Oven pot is going to be thrilling I’m sure.
But all this is just at the thinking stage.
There’s no action in sight other than buying a bag of beans and retrieving the pot from the back, the far back of the storage cupboard.
In the end, I’m merely in the planning stages.
Just thinking really.
Actually just toying around with the idea of cooking a pot of beans.
Til next time.
Staub cast-iron pot made in France.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
David Mamet
I’ve watched his State and Main film several times since it was released fifteen years ago. I love it. Obviously.
His talent is boundless. How does he do that? How does he distill his life’s insights into a two-hour treatise on human foibles and triumphs and do it with such wit and quip.
Why does he have so much talent when I can barely find a word that rhymes with bunny.
Funny how that happens.
Til next time.
Photo from Broadway Buzz.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
I’ve been looking for the perfect desk lamp for years and possibly decades. And now with LEDs and CFLs, it’s totally confusing.
Watts. Voltage. Lumens. Kelvin.
I found a little chart that just MIGHT be helpful in my ongoing search for light.
Til next time.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Thinking today about rock, Paris, books, writers, and thinkers.
I’ve always been late to the game when it comes to rock. And yet I understand totally Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia and the role that rock music plays and can play in the upheaval and correction of society’s constraints.
In the same vein, Karl Ove Knausgaard’s youthful connection to the rock music of his day is interspersed throughout all his books.
The writings of Stoppard and Knausgaard portray the role of rock as central to society’s developing awareness—called societal phenomenology for short.
I can even see and appreciate the role that Patti Smith’s People Have the Power plays in the music of U2 and Eagles of Death Metal.
Rock is a way of getting past artificial societal constraints.
But…all those rock songs of protest, of change, of power to the people, of trying to right wrongs…are just songs. And I don’t really think those songs have much influence over those in the seats of real power.
Those in the seats of real power who individually and collectively control Wall Street, Main Street, and all the hamlets and villages in between don’t really listen to rock. Probably. Although I don’t really know that for sure.
Maybe they do. Maybe they listen to rock music, all day, every day, even on weekends. Or maybe they’re busy listening to bluegrass or reggae or cello music or Sweet Adeline recordings. I just don’t know.
I am simply guessing that they are very Type A people who place rock and music in general at the bottom of their daily and no doubt grinding agendas.
So.
Maybe rock changes the world. Maybe it doesn’t.
Then arises the question, what about books? Do books change the world? Do books make a difference?
Certainly the people who produce books and rock feel that they make a difference. But do they? Maybe they do. Maybe they don’t.
But a world without rock and books seems quite empty.
So, I vote to keep them. All of them. Books. Rock. Music in general. Even Gregorian Chants.
Til next time.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
The Christmas season begins today with coffee, the NY Times, an afghan, a fire, the tree, and then a three-hour live interview with Cokie Roberts on BookTV. Lovely.
The Book Review today is extra thick with book recommendations and reviews. Robert Hughes has a book out posthumously.
There’s a wonderful piece about the Dali Lama in the Magazine.
But the best thing about today’s burgeoning collection of media is in the Travel section. It was a lengthy piece about the joys of theatre in London. I wonder if I’ll make it to the Garrick Theatre to see Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. If I’m going to do it, I’d better get busy finding tickets…it ends January 16, 2016.
The theatre article had advice on faux pas in the British theatre community. Standing ovations…not so much.
Ice cream at intermission (intervals)….a common treat.
Aisle seats…against the wall and not like Broadway theatres.
Playbills available…for sale.
Air conditioning…called air cooling not very effective.
January 16 will be here in a blink. As for now, maybe I’ll bake some snickerdoodles while Cokie talks. Or perhaps just a few sticks of celery and carrots to match my new year's resolutions.
Til next time.
Chrstmas 2015.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Luggage still lost. United has not responded to my overnight baggage claim-form that I submitted on November 24, 2015. Maybe they’re waiting for me to simply forget that I no longer have my luggage or a week’s worth of clothing and “stuff” that I’m having to repurchase. My hopes are still high.
Finished volume 4 of Knausgaard’s My Struggle. He is clearly appealing to the voyeuristic nature of our species as he describes the private moments of his teenage years. I’m not sure that I’ll read volumes 5 and 6. The end of volume 4 makes him appear to be a little bit mean or maybe even a lot. But then again he was only 18, which is not really a fully developed person.
Maybe as an adult, he is a perfectly nice person. Maybe as an adult, he is kind, helpful, understanding, supportive, caring, etc. However, investing many more hours to read volumes 5 and 6 of a writer who might still be a little bit mean, might be asking too much.
I’ve always assumed that writers that I like were fairly nice people. Then again, great writers don’t have to be nice people, they just have to be great writers. And he is. A great writer. Okay. There you have it. Volumes 5 and 6 are next on my list.
And of course, on a merrier note, the tree is up and topped.
Til next time.
Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Luggage still lost. I sent United a bill. We will see.
Currently reading volume 4 of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard.
Karl Ove also reviewed Michel Hoellebecq’s newest book Submission. The review was brilliant. NY Times Book Review, September 8, 2015. He put the book in the context of his own perspective on world literature. Just what every good reader does…automatically without effort and without thought. It’s simply what the mind does.
But then on September 22, 2015, two people wrote in to say that Karl Ove made the review about himself and not the book. That’s like saying the bee pollinated the flower and didn’t even notice the fence post. The bee is not supposed to notice the fence post. The bee is simply supposed to pollinate the flower, which it does without conscious effort. Karl Ove got readers ready to read the book. That was his job.
Mission accomplished. With aplomb and honesty. I've read the review twice and will probably read it again.
My next book? Submission by Houellebecq.
What else is going on? I’ve learned two new words.
The penultimate bus seat is the next to the last seat on the bus.
The word catholic means universal.
And finally, the turkey is in the fridge and is still frozen. Blow torch? Eat out? Cook frozen? Wait til Friday? …Saturday…Sunday? Hope for the best? Enjoy cranberries and mashed potatoes? There’s still another 24 hours.
Til next time.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Just ordered a book I found at the Morgan Library and Museum last week in NYC. But I ordered it online and saved $15. And $15 is nothing to disregard. It arrives tomorrow. FedEx. Love that Amazon Prime.
The Flower Garden. Can not wait.
Til next time.
TASCHEN 365 Day-by-Day: The Flower Garden.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Just got back from NYC and the Society of Illustrators exhibition of children’s literature art exhibit. It was worth a million bucks.
Then there was MOMA, Metropolitan, Morgan, Whitney, Strand Books, and lunch at Fairway. It was a perfect trip except for the fact that United Airlines lost my luggage.
Yes. They’ve sent me 15 texts saying they are still looking. I suspect they are not. It is probably time to start flying a different airline even though I’ve been a loyal United customer for twenty years…hmmm.
Lots of flights and only one luggage lost. Maybe that’s a good track record. For them. Not for me.
Where’s my luggage?
Til next time.
Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Gustav Klimt at MOMA.
Leaving NYC at 1 MPH.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Michael Silverblatt interviewed Charles Baxter who talked about the concept of forbearance (patience within a difficult time) and then recommended these:
There’s Something I Want You to Do by Charles Baxter
The Master and Margarita by Michail Bulgakov translated by Michael Glenny
The Works of Love by Wright Morris
Fire Sermon by Wright Morris
So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
The Case of Mr. Crump by Ludwig Lewisohn (admired by Thomas Mann)
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Collected Stories and Other Writings by Katherine Anne Porter (Rope, Noon Wine, Pale Horse, Pale Rider)
The Collected Stories by Grace Paley
Wittgenstein’s Mistress by David Markson and David Foster Wallace
Crybaby of the Western World by John Leonard
Til next time.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
I just listened to Michael Silverblatt interview Mary Karr about her memoir. During their talk, they discussed:
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Duke of Deception: Memories of My Father by Geoffrey Wolff
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
The Goshawk by T.H. White
Speak, Memory: an Autobiography Revisited by Vladimir Nabokov (rhymes with redeemer)
Mary Karr recommends these questions to craft a well-written memoir:
How do you know who you are? And how do you know you know it?
What do people usually like and dislike about you? How do you want to be perceived and in what ways have you ever been false or posed as other than who you are?
Is there any verbal signpost you can look for that suggests you’re posturing? Do you start talking about heavy metal or philosophy?
Other books on my list based on reviews, recommendations, or simply bumping into these in a bookstore:
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Watt by Samuel Beckett
Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor’s True Story of Auschwitz by Olga Lengyel
The Tao of Travel by Paul Theroux
The Widow and the Parrot by Virginia Woolf
Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness by George Saunders
Til next time.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
What was I doing on Monday, November 2?
I was watching Fargo on the FX network, of course.
What was Bill Cunningham doing on Monday, November 2?
He was photographing the literary lions at the New York Public Library’s annual Library Lions dinner, of course.
Bottom row, from left, Alan Bennett, Judith Jamison, Maira Kalman, and Karl Ove Knausgaard. Top row, from left Anthony Marx, Gloria Steinem, and Evan R. Chesler.
Bill also photographed Tom Wolfe and Salman Rushdie as well as many other talented folks all published in the NY Times, Evening Hours column today.
I watched the documentary of Bill just this week, and I suspect he doesn’t realize how important he is. He’s a treasure who documents treasures.
Til next time.
Photo by Bill Cunningham of the NY Times.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Just downloaded three new books.
My Struggle Book 3 by Karl Ove Knausgaard
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Transatlantic by Colum McCann
I always promise myself not to read three books at a time, and yet here I am, downloading three books at a time.
And now sitting by the fire with coffee in hand, I’m thinking about this really nice briefcase I use to have.
A long, long time ago when I was a grad student, as a gift to myself, I thought a briefcase rather than my falling-apart-at-the-seams backpack would be a nice reward for my years of study and effort. I found one in a department-store window that was beyond my budget but was clearly meant to be part of my life, I felt sure.
I asked the floor manager—a tall stoic woman with a stern and serious look—if I could leave my name and number so that when and if the bag ever went on sale, maybe she could call me.
Without speaking a word, she went to the window, got the bag, marked it down, and sold it to me. She merely said, “Thank you and enjoy the bag.”
I did and carried it for years and decades and finally gave it up...for what I don't recall.
I found a photo of one just like it on ebay yesterday. Its price is higher now than it was when mine was sitting in the window. And even though it’s not very practical for today’s needs, it’s still quite lovely.
It’s a handmade creation that marries form and function with care and seriousness. Is seriousness the right word? Not really. Care and craftsmanship? earnestness? commitment? precision? excellence? Maybe all those plus some.
The designer is Etienne Aigner who crafted his purses and bags in his signature style…dark red leather with a nice signature lining and a lovely A emblem.
The beauty of sentimentality. Briefcases and sales managers. What a lovely gesture this was. And after all this time, it still moves me.
Til next time.
Briefcase by Etienne Aigner.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Ten years ago, I made a list of people who had influenced my thinking. I just rediscovered this piece of paper, and I STILL like the list.
I’d add a couple of names…like…I’ll have to think on that some more. It’s a big decision.
Til next time.
The List
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Just finished Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple.
Nine thoughts. Maybe more.
1. I want more books exactly like this one.
2. I laughed out loud many times in a sustained way and then was totally embarrassed to be sitting in my own living room laughing out loud. I remember doing that as a kid, too.
3. I cheered when the author skewered Microsoft, page after mighty page.
4. I was validated when the author dismissed Seattle as mere mountains and water with nothing artistically sustainable about the city or its residents.
5. I totally believed Elgin Branch and Bernadette Fox were real people.
6. I loved the TED talk and the author’s bravery for showing a slide of mice with wires coming out of their brains with the wires having been put there by brain surgeons. Or were they rats. Can’t recall. Just checked. They were monkeys.
7. I rewatched Ken Robinson’s TED talk. Brilliant. For real.
8. I know that the MacArthur genius people know what they’re doing and that they’re selecting all the right geniuses because they selected Bernadette.
9. The total flip at the end of the book which negates all the Seattle and Microsoft dissing that the author made you love is genius.
Bernadette doesn’t exist. Sadly.
In the credits at the end of the book, Maria Semple thanked dozens and almost hundreds of people for their help.
When she wins her MacArthur, they will be proud.
What a book.
Two things not to forget:
1. Staring softly into the distance toward the horizon releases the brain’s endorphins. (At last, idleness receives validity.)
2. Bee’s favorite book was ROME Past and Present A Guide to the Monumental Centre of Ancient Rome With Reconstructions of the Monuments.
Til next time.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Memo to any senior executive at Apple who might be cruising the internet looking for suggestions from customers:
I upgraded my mac to El Capitan and now I am required to use your cloud for all my photos because you have removed the much loved Photo Stream option from this OS version.
It seems clear to me that this is an attempt to force customers to purchase cloud space from you rather than store their own photos on their own macs.
This is troubling for five reasons…probably more:
1. I paid a lot of extra money for extra hard drive space on my mac just so I’d have plenty of room to store all my photos.
2. I don’t want a machine that will force me to do something, i.e. use the cloud.
3. I am a long-time loyal Apple customer and advocate. I think treating customers with more consideration is equal to doing good business. This latest move feels shabby for a great company like Apple.
4. Apple has enough capital in the bank, do you really need my extra $50 a month to balance your budget?
5. I know that Apple doesn’t really have my little problem on its radar screen and that Apple is expanding the universe and saving cultures, peoples, languages, economies, freedom, and all the rest…but still, I’d like the option of saving my own photos on my own machine.
I also know that no one from Apple will actually read this post.
Are you there Apple? It's me, Marsha.
Til next time.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
For maybe a couple of decades by now, I’ve been trying to re-find the perfect house slipper. I’m looking for a pink slipper that I had years ago and should have bought ten pairs of but didn’t. It was perfect. Slip-on. Padded. Embroidered...along with a couple of other attributes I recall appreciating.
In the book world, this slipper would be classified as “out of print.” I will soldier on.
Meanwhile, while that search continues, I’m thinking of books that can shed light on the conditions in which the world finds itself. A few clicks on Google, and voila. I stumble upon Stewart Brand’s list of 76 books to “sustain and rebuild humanity” at brainpickings.org.
This site has a long view of humanity and promotes writers, thinkers, and books that are fairly optimistic that all will be well.
Before finding that site, I listed seven books that I thought were an essential part of understanding humanity. But none of my books is on his list. What does that mean?
Perhaps my seven focus on stories we shouldn’t forget while Stewart Brand’s recommended books seem to be in a category called optimistic.
When I need optimism, I turn to Neil deGrasse Tyson. What’s not to love about Neil? He’s brilliant, educated, informed, articulate, and energetic. A renaissance thinker to be sure.
Nevertheless, here’s my list of seven that shouldn’t be forgotten:
The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
John Adams by David McCullough
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell by Bertrand Russell
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
To write these kinds of books requires the ability to look squarely at a situation and write unflinchingly with as much truth as can be mustered.
Good books matter. All eighty-three of them.
Til next time.
...
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Everywhere I look lately, there’s a reference to Shirley Jackson. This morning I was reading a two-month old book review that was casually lying around. The review was by Paul Theroux. The book was a biography about Shirley Jackson (1916-1965).
In that review, it specifically mentioned her short story The Lottery. I realized that I had never read this even though I’ve had it on my shelf for years and possibly decades.
Paul implied that most people had read this in high school. Without a doubt, I am behind.
Thirty minutes later…done. In the story, a village of 300 people held a lottery once a year on the 27th.
Quite out of the blue, today is the 27th.
Art imitates life, but clearly life imitates art.
Back to the story. Both as a short story and a meditation on humanity's shortcomings, it's about as true as true can be and remains a call to do better.
What else is lying about waiting for me to find it?
Til next time.
Shirley and I. Together at last.
Friday, October 23, 2015
In 1785 Jean-Antoine Houdon of France made a life-mask of George Washington at his residence—Mount Vernon, Virginia.
This mask is now located at the Morgan Library and Museum on Madison between 36th and 37th in NYC.
At the time I took this photo, I couldn't believe it. I'm glad I have the photo from March 14, 2014.
Til next time.
A 1785 life mask of George Washington.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
You know you’ve enjoyed breakfast way too much when two hours after you’ve eaten, you discover a bit of maple syrup under your left eye. At least it was Grade A.
In a more bookish vein, I’ve had 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley for ten years, and I can’t make myself read it. Why is that?
Something more hopeful is that I’m nearly finished with Nora Webster: A Novel by Colm Toibin. A woman, a widow, a mother, music, war, religion…he ties them all together in a big and literary way. If I do ever get to 13 Ways…, I’ll think about Nora.
Til next time.
Monday, October 19, 2015
BookTV was live yesterday from the Texas Book Fair in Austin. Two brilliant writers (among many) explained their take on the world.
The only thing left to wonder about is why they aren’t in charge of something really big. With their expertise, they could quickly bring a fix to the problems of 1) war in the Middle East and 2) voting rights in America.
Michael Weiss explained how to better understand the people of the Middle East and how to resolve the current warfare. His insights were quite illuminating.
Ari Berman explained the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision to reduce the power of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The vote was announced on June 25, 2013 and was 5-to-4.
On a lighter note, Prairie Home Companion was streamed live on Saturday evening. Chris Thile played the mandolin throughout the evening. How’d he get so good? Practice, practice, practice?
And the Royal Academy of Radio Actors with Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman performed with its usual brilliance.
Garrison Keillor is retiring this year at age 73. His replacement has not been announced. Perhaps he is irreplaceable.
Til next time.
Michael Weiss.
Ari Berman.
Fred, Tim, Sue, Chris, and Garrison.
Friday, October 16, 2015
I'm just into Nora Webster: A Novel by Colm Toibin, and I can't stop reading it.
Til next time.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
At the Brooklyn Book Fair televised on BookTV, there was a panel discussion on cities.
Vivian Gornick discussed her book about a woman who walked the streets of New York. The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir. She also has an article called Why I Live Where I Live.
This discussion reminded me of a splendid piece in the Times from earlier in the month. The Flâneur Discovers Paris, a Step at a Time by Elaine Sciolino on October 2, 2015.
A flâneur is a person who walks the city for the purpose of walking the city, engaging and enjoying it without purpose or aim. Aimless walking.
Lovely thoughts.
Til next time.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Just when you think you can't listen to one more NPR report on the war, there's Tony Bennett singing duets with extraordinary musicians, and one's faith in humanity is restored.
Til next time.
Tony Bennett. Duets II.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
There are some very smart people in the world. Some are reliable and trustwory while others...not so much.
Fareed Kazaria is one who can be trusted.
Fareed reviewed a book titled The Shape of the New, which was written by two university profs.
The book features and offers critiques of ideas by five compelling people:
Adam Smith
Karl Marx
Charles Darwin
Thomas Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton
Fareed liked the book and states his reasons in the NY Times Book Review on August 23, 2015, page 14.
I trust Fareed. His parents did a good job raising him.
Til next time.
Fareed Zakaria.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Extremely cool and incredibly smart. Thom Hartmann was live on BookTV yesterday. He’s published 25 books and has his own radio show. He’s an expert on the economy, politics, and journalism. Plus, he gets his facts straight before he develops an opinion, which is always a good thing.
Plus, I’ve found Colm Toibin. Not sure why it took me so long. But there you have it.
What a world. Colm Toibin from Ireland and Karl Ove Knausgaard from Norway in one small American mind via my kindle and YouTube.
Til next time.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
The one and only advantage of being 52 weeks behind in reading the Sunday New York Times Book Review is that you occasionally re-find valuable clippings tucked in the pile between every three or four weeks worth of editions.
And when you do find those previously read clippings, you get to feel great all over again simply because you found something that you’d quite forgotten all about but which had given you such a surprisingly happy lift at the time.
On Sunday, November 9, 2014 in TBR on page 57, Edward O. Wilson wrote a perfectly splendid essay on the Boy Scouts Handbook from 1942. He says it was one of two books that he read during his high school years.
He’s been such a force for intellectual goodness all these decades that to find and then re-find his reflections on boyhood aspirations produces a real and lasting jolt of cheerfulness.
This clipping goes in my “Keepers” file…to find again another day.
Til next time.
Woefully behind.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
On NPR's The Moth Radio Hour today, a victim of a violent and random physical assault said there were basically three things that people said to him over the years during his lengthy recovery time.
He said these three sentences, which were always offered as words of comfort, were not helpful:
1. Everything happens for a reason.
2. What happened is in the past; it’s time to move on.
3. If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.
He didn’t share what, if anything, people said that actually did help him. From his story, it sounded like the only thing that really helped was time. From his voice, he is still recovering.
His name is Ed Gavagan.
He spoke of the memory of the attack and the subsequent PTSD that he suffered.
This put me in mind of Umberto Eco’s book talk wherein he identified three types of memory:
1. automatic memory which gives us the ability to function
2. semantic memory that allows us to make sense of the world (an encyclopedic knowledge)
3. autobiographical memory that allows us to know ourselves
Til next time.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Things I’ve been meaning to keep track of:
Corey Robin of Brooklyn College and his blog,
Heather Parton of Digby and her blog,
And the following people most of whom are alive and well…but sadly not all. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Eduardo Galeano
John Updike
Arundhati Roy
Sarah Vowel
Jared Diamond
Gloria Steinem
Malcolm Gladwell
Alexander Solzhenitzyn (The Gulag Archipelago)
Andrei Sakharov and his wife Dr. Elena Bonner (whom I met on Thursday, May 10, 1990 in Columbus, Ohio)
Cosmonaut Sergei Avdeev (whom I met on August 28, 2005 in Corpus Christi, Texas)
Ursula Hegi
Cynthia Ozick
Michael Silverblatt
Isaac Stern
Chris Hedges
Christopher Hitchens
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Edward Snowden
Evidently, I’m interested in people with interesting ideas...
The Cosmonaut in 2005 signed my program from 1990 when I met Elena Bonner. He was generous with his time and committed to peace...as were Dr. Bonner and Sakharov. I save everything.
Til next time.
Sergei Avdeev's autograph.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Until I watched Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim on TV last night, I’d nearly forgotten how much I love him.
And I will never get over having seen A Little Night Music on Broadway twice…Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury on December 22, 2009 and again with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch on December 23, 2010.
What would the world do without all of us sentimentalists?
Til next time.
Stephen Sondheim
Catherine...Angela...Bernadette...Elaine
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
I’ve just finished reading the first 70 pages of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle Book 2. On every page, there’s some sort of truth. A lot of truth. Universal truth.
He takes his insecurities, rages, joys, perceptions, resentments, and insights and wraps them all up in little vignettes about a trip, a birthday party, a baby stroller, an argument, or a cup of coffee.
There are no chapters in the book. It just keeps going and going. It’s hard to stop reading it.
Nothing happens except for…everything.
Book 1 was about his youth and growing up. Book 2 is about his children and his writing life.
He knows about Shakespeare, Rembrandt, and Newton. He buys books by and about Galileo Galilei, Malaparte, Per Maning, Delacroix’s diary, Poul Vod’s book about Hammershoi, and Turner.
What is absolutely unclear is what period of time did he learn about all this and who taught it to him.
He eats Italian but prefers Norwegian:
pork chops and cabbage
beef stew
vegetable soup
dumplings
meatballs
lung mash
fish cakes
mutton and vegetables
smoke-sausage ring
whale steaks
sago pudding
semolina
rice pudding and
Norwegian porridge
There are a million words, maybe more, in all six volumes. This is gonna take a while.
By the time I finish volume six, I’ll probably find out that Karl Ove is not really who he says he is. I hope that doesn’t happen.
Til next time.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
The folks in the know—linguists, writers, neurologists, those sorts of folks—are predicting that our species will return to the visual picture over the printed word as our main tool of mass communication.
While it is true that we are indeed a visual animal that relies on how things look, it is also true that we are a thinking animal who relies on words and sentences to express a thought.
Hopefully, we won’t develop into two camps–those who flip through TV channels, play video games, watch YouTube, tweet truncated quips, and upload instant selfies versus those who read and write long and complicated books.
The troubling thing about the potential shift to a picture-based world from a word-based world is that it may be driven entirely by the market.
Even on the NY Times website and the New Yorker website, it is VERY easy and tempting to click on the picture and the video without reading the articles.
And of course, each click brings a compelling ad for a car, a mortgage, or a new must-see movie starring Johnny Depp.
One comforting thought is that we have Sarah Weinman with Publishers Marketplace who guides us through all the ins and outs of the big wide world of books and sales.
Til next time.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
I have quite suddenly developed a need for uncluttered surfaces. Sofa table, desk, dining table, library table, shelf, counter, those sorts of things.
It may be due to the fact that I’ve watched Mary Morris explain the difference between fewer and less as well as the differences between hypens, en-dashes, and em-dashes on the New Yorker video website.
She had a very nice and uncluttered desk.
hypen
used in compound modifiers
ex. I prefer lemon-laced drinks.
en-dash usage
used in place of the word to
ex. The schedule says from 3–4 pm.
On a mac keyboard, option key plus hyphen.
em-dash usage
to set off explanations
ex. The theatre—a mainstay of life—was shuttered.
On a mac keyboard, option plus shift plus hypen.
Til next time.
Monday, September 14, 2015
NOTE to the incomparable James Spader of The Blacklist:
It’s called a slide rule not a slide ruler as was referenced in the Lord Baltimore episode 104.
BTW, you’re a national treasure. Your work with Kelley’s Boston Legal and with Mamet’s Race was stunningly moving. Your talent is endless.
I actually loved the slide ruler reference. Very cute.
Til next time.
After Race by David Mamet, December 20, 2009.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Google has changed the font it uses.
Til next time.
Old Font vs New Font: Hmmm.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Nostalgia. Today’s a day for it.
Salman Rushdie was just interviewed on NPR about his new book. He’s such a fine speaker and writer and human being.
And then for whatever reason, I recalled that John Updike (1932-2009) during a BookTV in-depth interview on December 4, 2005 said that he chose a particular font for his book covers because he liked the way his name looked with that font sans serifs.
His three-hour interview with Susan Swain is profoundly memorable and insightful. It highlighted a man of letters who was a talented and kind literarian.
He said as a writer and a person, “You do what’s possible and what seems just and true to you.”
This interview was made unbearably perfect by his wisdom but also by the complete preparation and professionalism of Susan.
I’m going to rewatch this interview in its entirety once a year…if not more.
What else at the moment? Cokie Roberts is live on BookTV at the National Book Festival in Washington, D. C. She’s talking about her new book, which I’ve heard her speak about before.
And finally now, as I’m again watching the National Book Festival live from Washington, D. C. on BookTV, I just heard two quotes which seem important.
This is what Evan Osnos said as he talked about his new book and China's cultural ability to survive:
To persevere during unendurable situations.
This is something David McCullough or perhaps John Updike said about life:
The good life is the life of high purpose.
It’s hard to throw a stone in any direction and not hit a bookish event. Lucky me.
Til next time.
BookTV December 4, 2005
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Dr. Oliver Sacks died early this morning. Long before we are ready to let him go.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Looks like the stock market has come to its senses, so it seemed like a good time to rewatch a BookTV broadcast with Shelby Foote from 2001.
Shelby died in 2005 four years after this interview with Brian Lamb.
Shelby was an expert on the civil war and provided Ken Burns with content for Burns’s Civil War series on PBS.
This is one of my all-time favorite BookTV live interviews.
Shelby in just the first fifteen minutes explained the importance of:
Shakespeare
Mozart
Chekhov
Proust
Without this interview, I wouldn’t know that 600 words a day is a good day.
Til next time.
Shelby Foote at his desk in Tennessee in 2001.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Finished The Map and the Territory and will probably reread it again in the not too distant future. Can’t say why I like it so much. But, I do.
It’s the whole aura of the intersections of life, art, money, philosophy, success, life, death, and existentialist angst. That’s a lot of stuff for one book.
Plus, it’s in France; AND it includes Michelin maps…AND that’s the same Michelin that rates restaurants, which makes it even better particularly in light of the Helen Mirren movie titled, The Hundred-Foot Journey.
And then I’m happily into the first half of volume one out of six of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard who evidently was called Karl Ove when he was a kid growing up in Norway. Nothing unordinary happens in this book; and yet, I keep turning the page. Page after page.
Yesterday in The NY Times, there was quite a good piece written by Edward Frame who wrote about what it was like to be a captain in a three-star Michelin restaurant in Manhattan. He didn’t say which restaurant but it only took like four clicks on Google to find out. I wonder if he realizes that. Oops.
Anyway, it was the piece I most enjoyed reading in yesterday’s paper; and I read the whole paper minus The Book Review, which I’m reading later this week. R. L. Stine is interviewed therein. I wonder what he’ll have to say. He’s had a long and happy career.
Finally, I took this photo of the ceiling of the Rose Reading Room at the NYPL before they closed the room for repairs. One of the roses from the ceiling fell to the floor last year; and they are checking each panel and partition and making repairs. It’s a beautiful space. And I love it.
Til next time.
Rose Reading Room NYPL
Monday, August 17, 2015
I had no idea that Michel Houellebecq and Karl Ove Knausgaard would require so much time. Well spent.
Til next time.
I did, however, find time to make this Sunflower Mosaic.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
“Sometimes I’m happy
Sometimes I’m blue
My disposition
Depends on you.”
Quote from Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow (January 6, 1931-July 21, 2015)
At long last, I’ve returned to Bookworm at KCRW.com and the incomparable Michael Silverblatt. And I was fortunate to start with a past interview (from October, 2009) of E. L. Doctorow before Doctorow’s death when they discussed Homer and Langley.
The interview was comforting and comfortable. It was like listening in on a conversation between two old friends who know literature and life and how those two entities merge.
Somehow, I have become much beyond delinquent in tuning in to listen to Michael on Thursdays at KCRW. Fortunately, we live in an era when everything is available everywhere all the time. So, it won’t be long until I’m back in stasis.
He really does bring balance to the world through his truthfulness and earnest nature. What a gift he is. I so love Michael Silverblatt.
After the Doctorow interview, I listened to part 1 and part 2 of Michael’s conversation with Karl Ove Knausgaard as they discussed My Struggle.
From Camus to Joyce to Stendhal to Proust to Barthes to Derrida to Ursula K. Le Guin to Little House on the Prairie, I couldn’t stop listening. What insight and wisdom they do possess. And they share their talents freely.
But now back to Joyce and Proust.
And of course, it is much, much easier to own Joyce and Proust than to actually read them. And sadly, even with good intentions, these two writers remain housed on my shelf.
Karl, however, will not remain so. After listening to Michael explain the essence of finding meaning in the ordinariness of daily living and of finding this meaning in Karl’s six volumes, I’m committed. Not easy summer reading for sure; but nevertheless, worthwhile.
I first found Michael on live TV at the Los Angeles Book Festival in 2002 when he interviewed Maya Angelou via BookTV.
It was a moving interview and unforgettably hopeful. Maya was at her peak in wisdom, recitation, and accessibility. She quoted many poems from heart including one by Edna St. Vincent Millay, titled Conscientious Objector. Maya was and will remain a star.
Michael always asks the writers he interviews the very questions I would like to ask. He’s such a treasure. He’s uniquely situated to bring spoken words and understanding to barely visible feelings.
And he does it without fail every week with every writer seemingly effortlessly. But actually, even though he makes the conversations look effortless, serious thinking requires serious effort. He’s just very, very good at making it look easy. No notes. No scripts. Just him, a book, a writer, a couple of microphones, and a grand thirty-minute conversation…once a week for nearly 30 years.
I even mailed him a fan letter once with a copy of one of my favorite books…The Writer’s Desk by Jill Krementz with an introduction by John Updike. I suspect he already had a copy. Then again, maybe not.
But before I begin My Struggle, I must finish my rereading of The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq whom Michael also interviewed in 2005. I’m one-third done with the book and completely hooked just as I was with my first reading of this French novel with its knowable characters and artistic meanderings.
Plus I should probably try out one of Maya’s recipes in her cookbook, Hallelujah! Deviled eggs perhaps?
At any rate, my dance card is full. And the Michelin stars are adding up.
One final thought for the day. I’m developing an irrational fear of running out of vanilla extract even though I haven’t baked anything for over six months. Troubling.
Til next time.
Karl...Michel...Maya...Jill...C'est moi.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch played Alan Turing in The Imitation Game brilliantly. The Turing Test is designed to determine if when speaking to a computer/robot, the human can discern whether or not she’s been speaking to a nonhuman. So far, no computer/robot has passed the Turing Test.
Ursula K. Le Guin was interviewed in yesterday’s By the Book in the Sunday Book Review. She outlined her Dirri Test, which she uses to rank really great books. Do I ReRead It? is the mark of a great book for her.
And then three Walters and a Walker came to my attention today; and it’s not even noon.
Walter Dean Myers
He reads aloud his poem, Harlem, at the Kennedy Center Storytime website. But the site appears to be inoperable. Is it my mac?
Walter Isaacson
He wrote about a memory of Walker Percy in New Orleans in this week’s Sunday Book Review.
Walter Mosley
He wrote about growing up in New Orleans in this week’s Sunday Book Review.
Til next time.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
George Eliot via Katherine Applegate in The One and Only Ivan gives us such a sweet sentiment for a sunny Sunday in August.
Til next time.
George Eliot. Writer...1819-1880
Katherine Applegate. Writer...1956-present.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Done. I learned how to change a photo to a cartoon using Photoshop and directions from
On October 25, 2013, I took the train from Grand Central to Poughkeepsie to see the Roosevelt Presidential Library. Took lots of pictures including these two. What a wonderful library. It makes it clear exactly what is possible.
Til next time.
Friday, August 7, 2015
I can’t explain it; but suddenly I’m in love with deviled eggs.
And not Julia Child’s deviled eggs, which she probably doesn’t even have listed in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking because probably deviled eggs are just much too common for the high-cuisine of the French who much prefer profiteroles to deviled eggs me thinks.
Anyhoo…Betty Crocker to the rescue. And sadly, I’ve had five seven of these in the past four three days. Which is actually ten fourteen. (The truth will set you free? Really?)
Oh my gosh. Time to go to the gym. Or to the hospital for a blood-thinning, cholesterol-reducing blood transfusion. Or does the latest scientific report exonerate the lowly egg as being healthy and not lethal?
Who can keep up. I should check the Mayo Clinic website on that. I should. I really, really should.
UPDATE:
Meryl, Meryl. Biofreeze? Really? It arrived. I read the directions. My knee still hurts; plus, now I smell like menthol.
And why is that? Why do I smell like menthol? Because menthol is the only active ingredient in Biofreeze.
Meryl, Meryl. How could you steer me in so wrong a direction?
I’ve loved you and trusted you through
Manhattan,
The French Lieutenant’s Woman,
Sophie’s Choice,
Silkwood,
Out of Africa,
Heartburn,
Ironweed,
Postcards from the Edge,
Adaptation,
The Hours,
Angels in America (my all-time favorite BTW),
A Prairie Home Companion,
The Devil Wears Prada,
Doubt,
Julie and Julia,
The Iron Lady, and
August: Osage County.
Plus, as Mother Courage in Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, you were better than perfect.
And now, after all that venting, all is well. Except for my knee…and Mamma Mia!, which unfortunately pops into my head every now and then.
Til next time.
Ah. The joy of cookbooks.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
E-R I M !
With an admiring nod to William Steig (1907-2003), here I am!
I just rewatched an old VHS of William talking about his life and work; he’s on my mind...so much so that I just bought an old copy on Amazon of Zeke Pippin. Should be here tomorrow. Love that Prime overnight for $3.99.
Today? Biofreeze should be here. Meryl Streep said in The Sunday NY Times that she uses this on her knee after a long-day’s shooting, particularly when she was working on her new film with Rick Springfield (yes, that Rick Springfield) who evidently has lots of energy as well as musical talent. We’ll see. We will see.
And speaking of music, Nina Totenberg was on NPR this morning talking about her father’s stolen Stradivarius. The family is having it returned to them today via the FBI's stolen artworks division. Her father died in 2012 at the age of 101 after never having seen his violin again after it was stolen 35 years earlier.
Her report was a totally awesome way to start the day. Sad but with a “cloudless blue-sky ending” to quote Katherine Applegate.
I saw Nina interview Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the 92nd Street Y on October 19, 2014. Justice Ginsburg was the best speaker I’ve ever heard. Plus, I waited around 30 minutes for her to exit the building to get a peek. (I was the only one who waited. The one other guy got cold and left.) She is tiny. But she’s powerful and also well guarded as she was put into a shiny black SUV and whisked away into the night.
I will never forget that evening.
One more thought. At the Pierpont Morgan Library in October, 2014, they displayed a letter written to Robert Bell by Harper Lee. It is a very nice artifact to study as the world (perhaps unwittingly or even unnecessarily) reads her latest book.
And today? Perhaps I'll listen to my new CD, which contains Handel's The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba; and maybe I'll continue with my rereading of The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq.
And for lunch, maybe Eggplant Parmigiana at Olive Garden. Very pedestrian but yummy.
Til next time.
Me at the 92nd Street Y before Justice Ginsburg took the stage with Nina Totenberg.
A busy day.
Harper Lee's letter to Robert Bell at the Morgan Library. Signed with her first name, Nelle.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
I’m almost finished with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Hmmm. I wonder if Michael Silverblatt has read this book. He is a wonderful interviewer of writers on KCRW every Thursday. He asks all the right questions about meaning, characters, relationships, and insights. I bet he hasn’t. I’ll have to look that up.
Then next, I’m rereading The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq whom I’m wondering if Michael also interviewed. I bet he has. I’ll have to look that up, too.
I wonder if “whom” is used correctly in the previous paragraph. Doesn’t sound quite right. Noam Chomsky would know. Steven Pinker would know. My eighth-grade English teacher would know. Seems like everyone knows but me. I’ll have to look that up, too.
It’s gonna be a busy day.
Til next time.
Michel Houellebecq
Michael Silverblatt
Sunday, August 2, 2015
The New York Sunday Times was great as usual; but it couldn’t hold a candle to BookTV’s live interview with Medea Benjamin.
She talked for three hours about war, peace, justice, truth, and world stability. She was as articulate and knowledgeable and interesting as anyone they’ve ever interviewed. And all the callers were respectful, inspired, and in awe.
She is thinking about a new book outlining what the world-wide financial situation would look like if it were based on a peace economy.
And right before her three-hour interview, Ralph Nader was interviewed by Andy Shallal who founded Busboys and Poets, a restaurant, bookstore, and meeting place. Brilliant. When Andy asked Ralph what he (Ralph) wanted to be remembered for, Ralph said that he wanted his work to continue through the next generation of leaders and activists and that it wasn’t his aim to be remembered personally.
I was reminded that Gloria Steinem said almost the exact same thing years ago when she was asked the same question.
What a world. What a world.
Til next time.
Medea Benjamin
Ralph Nader
Gloria Steinem
Saturday, August 1, 2015
The tune suddenly seemed to be everywhere.
I remembered it from Four Weddings and a Funeral. I remembered it from Heartburn.
Couldn’t place it. Couldn’t name it. Couldn’t find it in the credits. Anywhere.
Looked for an hour. Almost gave up. But suddenly, there it was.
Google and Youtube to the rescue. As always.
Georg Friedrich Händel’s The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIPfulWW7d0
Til next time.
George Frideric Handel. 1685-1759.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
While Hilary Swift got to take a photograph of Jacqueline Woodson and President Carter over lunch, I got to take a photograph of this sunflower blossom.
A splendid specimen.
Enough about sunflowers. Back to books. And movies of course. After all, it is summertime.
There are many reasons why movies aren’t as good as their book counterparts. There is one good example of this notion as observed in the movie, The Book Thief.
In the movie, because film is merely a 2D visual-only experience, the viewer doesn’t experience the smell of books being burned, the damp chill of a basement, the physical pain of a skinned knee, or the taste of a half of a piece of candy.
But when reading a book, the brain allows itself the luxury of all those senses and more. This is because when the brain’s owner is reading a book, the brain fills in and creates information through its built-in, self-generating neurological powers.
The result of all this brain power?
When reading a book, the reader experiences a multitude of sensations whether those sensations are actually physically present or not.
Thus, based on reading a book, the brain can give its owner the actual sensation of smelling smoke, becoming chilled, feeling a skinned knee, or tasting good food.
Sense memory. Phantom sensations. The brain does it all. Thank you to my brain.
Finally, in Sunday’s opinion pages of The New York Times, Oliver Sacks has a few final words about science and life that he gives to all of us as a gift. That’s Oliver…a giver…to and through the end.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Reading
Cooking
Writing
Feeding the birds
Watching movies
Summertime
So, Jacqueline Woodson and Jimmy Carter were interviewed by Philip Galanes over lunch at Clement Restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel in NYC. The interview was on the front page of the Style section in yesterday’s The New York Times.
Since I’m on page 8 of brown girl dreaming right this minute, it was a great coincidence that this interview was published at exactly this time. Plus, I always read everything there is to read by and about President Carter who is aspirational in every respect.
Summertime. A great place to be.
One more thing. Two more things. On page 15 of yesterday's Arts and Leisure section, Junot Diaz had a great memory of what book tours have been like for him. Plus in this same section of the paper, there was a piece about Jason Segel who stars in a new movie The End of the Tour about David Foster Wallace.
Til next time.
Jacqueline Woodson and President Carter. Photo by Hilary Swift.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Finished On the Move by Oliver Sacks. Quite a remarkable life. There was much financial freedom in Oliver’s life; and this allowed him to travel, move, explore, relocate, and to ultimately find himself.
But the more important aspect of his life that comes through in his writing is his intellectual capacity. When an idea came his way, he explored it thoroughly with focus and integrity. He’s a remarkable person.
I’m just beginning brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and am totally lost in her story. How, how, how does that happen. How does it happen that suddenly you’re not aware of your chair, your air conditioner cycling on and off, or the list of stuff that HAD to be done today. For me that’s the ultimate definition of a great book…do I become unaware that I’m reading a book. And for this book, I was hooked by page 8.
Til next time.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Possibly the greatest existentialist film in existence.
Stranger than Fiction (2006) is the film.
Zach Helm is the writer (1975-present).
Will Ferrell is the star.
Emma Thompson is the pulse.
Bavarian Sugar Cookie is the cookie du jour pour toujours.
But then again, there’s always Matilda (1996) with Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman and Mara Wilson. Book by Roald Dahl (1916-1990).
And there’s even Unstrung Heroes (1995) with John Turturro and Andie MacDowell, Maury Chaykin, and Michael Richards. Book by Franz Lidz (1951-present). Screenplay by Richard LaGravenese (1959-present).
Til next time.
Zach Helm
Roald Dahl
Franz Lidz
Richard LaGravenese
Thursday, July 23, 2015
The importance of saving and properly labeling photographs so that they can actually be found when needed can not be overstated.
From February 28, 2010.
At last.
Til next time.
The Times
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Since Woody Allen has a new film out, Irrational Man (2015), I thought it made perfect sense for me to rewatch Midnight in Paris (2011) and jot down all the artists and writers that Woody referenced in his search for meaning and satisfaction in the universe or at least in France.
Cole Porter
Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald
Josephine Baker
Ernest Hemingway
Juan Belmonte
Alice B. Toklas
Gertrude Stein
Pablo Picasso
Djuna Barnes
Salvador Dali
Man Ray
Luis Buñuel
T.S. Eliot
Henri Matisse
Leo Stein
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Paul Gauguin
Edgar Degas
Jean Cocteau
Georges Braque
Amedeo Modigliani
Claude Monet’s water lilies
Til next time.
Owen Wilson
Joaquin Phoenix
Sunday, July 19, 2015
I’m starting to make two lists…one a list of words I need and another a list of words I don’t need.
Plus, I made a nine-part picture similar to the end-page of each The New York Times Style Magazine. Plus, the magazine featured the new play, Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda which I am so going to go see.
Plus, I just tried to make mayonnaise using the recipe from Alice Waters who was featured in today's The New York Times Magazine. It didn't work. Plus, toward the end of all that whipping, I realized I would have to eat a raw egg yolk.
But hands down, the best thing in all of today’s paper was the piece in The New York Times Magazine by Jon Mooallem titled The Outsiders, which was about Carlos and Roby who help with the transition of released inmates back into society. It was the perfect story of humanity, mistakes, and redemption. And I mean perfect. The opposite of ordinary.
Til next time.
Words I Need
Ordinary
Words I Don't Need
Trope
Quotidian
Nine Pins
Saturday, July 18, 2015
I’ve been wanting to create a haiku triptych, which I think I invented.
So, today, I did. Plus, I wanted to use Katherine Applegate’s idea of black beginnings, stormy middles, and cloudless blue-sky endings. But I reversed them a bit.
Sunny Beginnings
Start the day with hope.
Do not listen to the news.
And things will be fine.
Very Blue Middles
Go have a nice lunch.
Make a list of must-do things.
Get through most of them.
On-Going Endings
Keep it all simple.
Follow the path before you.
And there it will be.
Til next time.
Haiku Triptych
Thursday, July 16, 2015
They came. They came. They’re here. They’re here. My four new/old books from Strand Books on Broadway at 12th in NYC were delivered flawlessly by the incomparable UPS delivery system on the dot, as promised, with a smile.
Empathy, morality, transcendence, joy…they all start with writers who ask the tough questions, locate a few answers, and then weave those answers into stories, characters, events, climaxes, resolutions, and various degrees of denouement.
And what you wind up with is a little bit more humanity than what you had when the sun first came up. Lucky me.
Til next time.
Four Books from Strand
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Ode to Katie
So, there I am,
browsing through Netflix
to see if Portlandia Season 4
has started streaming;
and voila…it has.
I binge-watch the whole thing
and then get to the last episode
where brave, wild women
go camping in the woods
to assert their humanity,
when I notice one of the characters
is carrying her guitar.
Cool.
At the end of the show,
this character starts singing.
The voice, the voice. I rewind.
I look more closely.
She’s been there the whole time.
They’ve been calling her K D,
which I heard as Katie.
But finally you hear her.
And suddenly you see her.
Kathryn Dawn Lang.
And you know you’re listening to God.
k. d. lang.
Til next time.
k. d. lang OC
Monday, July 13, 2015
Gary Saul Morson was on BookTV yesterday talking about his new book: The Fabulous Future?: America and the World in 2040. He teaches Russian literature at Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois.
He said that the reason to read literature is to take yourself out of yourself and see the world through the eyes of another. The development of morality begins with the ability to see the world through the eyes of another.
His devotion to Russian literature is unwavering because Russian literature from Dostoyevsky to Tolstoy allows readers to access complex characters who are navigating through the world in their own unique and complicated ways.
Except of course he said it all much more elegantly than this.
Then he talked about how egocentric we all are. For an example, he said, “No one ever says, ‘Why can’t you see the issue through your own eyes? Why must you always see everything through my eyes?’”
Empathy, morality, and living a good and decent life? It all pretty much begins and ends with stories…and books.
Professor Morson’s book is actually a look at America’s future written through the eyes of various experts. And these experts are not all that optimistic that the future looks bright. For example, the writer of the chapter on civil liberties says the only civil liberty we will have left in this country is the second amendment. All the more reason to write, read, and value really great books.
Til next time.
Professor Gary Saul Morson
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Wow! Atticus Finch. The whole thing is disturbing. I’m not going to read the new book by Harper Lee nor am I going to read about the new book by Harper Lee. My faith in decency needs to remain strong.
So. What else. Christopher Cerf got married last week at his apartment on the Upper East Side after the ceremony was rained out of Central Park; and then the reception was at the patrons' lounge at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I met Chris once in Chicago and wrote about him three different times on my old site. I wonder why I wasn’t invited to the wedding.
What else? I just ordered two books from Strand Books on Broadway and 12th in NYC. Probuditi! by Chris Van Allsburg because I gave my other copy away; and I ordered a signed copy of Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson because I've been wanting to read this and I needed to round out my order and it was signed by the author. And finally, from Amazon I ordered My Ears are Bent by Joseph Mitchell. It's here already. Kindle. What a thing.
UPDATE: I also added two more books to my Strand order. Jumanji and Zathura...both by Chris Van Allsburg. I got to looking through my collection and realized I was two books short.
Til next time.
Three postings about Christopher Cerf from the past:
Friday, December 28, 2012
I’ve been trying to purchase Building Stories by Chris Ware for some time now. Strand Books is out. Amazon is out. Barnes and Noble is out. The publisher is even out. It’s either a great book that everyone’s purchased, or the publishers didn’t order enough copies to be printed. It’s not a kindle-type book. It’s a graphic novel offered up in different physical formats. So, when it comes back in print, I’ll buy it. Pantheon Books is the publisher and is a subsidiary of Random House Books established in 1927 by Bennett Cerf of What’s My Line fame.
I met Bennett’s son, Christopher Cerf in Chicago, I believe, at a conference. He was lovely and shook my hand. I wish I had been a better conversationalist as he seemed willing to talk with me. Good grief. My awe tongue-tied me.
I know I’ve written about this chance meeting more than once. But it really was a lovely moment.
Wednesday and Thursday, October 14 and 15, 2009
William Styron came up this week in something I've been reading. I remember him sitting down with Christopher Cerf (Bennett Cerf's son) and talking to BookTV one weekend.
Mr. Styron wrote Sophie's Choice and Darkness Visible among many. The interview between those two life-long friends was quite wonderful.
And then, I met Christopher Cerf at a conference and told him what a great interview that was of him with Mr. Styron. He asked if it was still available. He hadn't seen it yet.
He was absolutely sweet and wonderful. He led Sesame Street and now leads Reading Between the Lions on PBS.
Bennett Cerf was on What's My Line for many years with Arlene Francis, Kitty Carlisle, Dorothy Kilgallen, and John Daly as host.
Bennett Cerf launched Random House publishers because he thought he'd publish a book every now and then at random.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
George Plimpton was the feature in the NY Times Book Review this morning. Since I am not part of his living-the-highlife-world, I just look in and imagine what all that privilege and power must be like.
But I do like what I see when I'm standing there with my nose pressed to the glass. I've always thought that people born to wealth and privilege should rather earn all that; and it seems like he did.
Plimpton's greatest feat was to found The Paris Review. And in the review this morning, it said that if you want to learn the unteachable skill of how to write, The Paris Review is required reading. Kerplunk. That's what it said. Interesting statement.
But back to George. Plimpton was a character actor in the A&E TV show Nero Wolfe based on the novel by Rex Stout. I loved that show and particularly loved it when Plimpton was on. A&E took it off the air; so I had to buy the whole DVD set from Amazon.
I watch those DVDs when I want to see a great detective and a smart sidekick solve the case through Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton respectively. What a team.
And Plimpton added that element of instant sophistication to every scene. The new book on Plimpton, which is what prompted these thoughts today, is published by Random House (a publishing house established by Bennett Cerf).
I met Chris Cerf, Bennett's son, at a conference one time and shook his hand AND spoke to him about his father Bennett Cerf whom I watched every Sunday night on What's My Line. Random House was started by Bennett who thought he'd publish a few good books every now and then at random.
So, all these years later, there's George, Bennett, Chris, Rex, Maury, Timothy, and me. So, I'll either read The Paris Review this afternoon or I'll watch Nero and Archie foil some bad guys.
Books Aplenty. Books Galore.
Building Stories by Chris Ware
William Styron
Christopher Cerf
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Today? Mastering the dilemma of “Now I lay me down to sleep…”
The topic of course is transitive and intransitive verbs.
Lay vs. Lie
Transitive verbs
need objects.
Lay
to place something some place.
Now, we will lay tiles.
Yesterday, we laid tiles.
All day tomorrow,
we are laying tiles.
For two straight hours,
we had laid tiles.
Intransitive verbs
do not need objects.
Lie
to recline and rest.
Now, I will lie on the couch.
Yesterday, I lay on the couch.
All day tomorrow,
I am lying on the couch.
For two straight hours,
I had lain on the couch.
And then of course, there’s the fib.
I do not tell lies.
I lied one time.
I am not in the habit of lying.
Til next time.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
A few favorite places in the Big Apple.
Til next time.
Woody Allen with Hans in Central Park.
MOMA
Favorites Page 1/3
Favorites Page 2/3
Favorites Page 3/3
Monday, July 6, 2015
I rewatched Chris Hedges talk on BookTV about his new book, Wages of Rebellion. I love everything about this man. He’s doing what all good activists should do. Look around, figure out what’s what, come up with some solutions, and do something.
Anyone who quotes Karl Popper, Howard Zinn, AND went to seminary as a young man, is my kind of thinker. He is a total advocate for the unsung and marginalized citizens of the world. He is completely focused on doing good research and sharing the results.
And then I read the piece about Arianna Huffington in yesterday’s NY Times Magazine. I have always admired her for her commitment to democracy, inclusion, logic, fairness, and fun. But the article made her appear to be a really hard-driving CEO who pays low wages and who must focus on money and power for survival. Actually, I’ve always had a hard time reading the Huffington Post. Visually, it’s got too much going on. The pieces seem to be non-linear and disconnected. So, when I really want to know something, my first hit is always the NY Times. But Arianna is quite a success story, and I much admire her smarts and verve. And finally, the piece said she was hiring writers. Wouldn't that be something...to write for the Huffington Post.
One more thing, I heard that The New Yorker receives 36,000 submissions per month from writers and poets. Or maybe that was 36,000 submissions per day or perhaps even per hour. The New Yorker is so exquisite and yet so inexpensive. They should charge more.
Til next time.
Chris speaking at Labyrinth Books in Princeton, New Jersey on May 6, 2015.
Arianna in her newsroom at 770 Broadway in NYC. Photo by Gillian Laub.
Christmas 2013 at The Times Building on 8th Avenue between 40th and 41st.
The perfect selfie.
Friday, July 3, 2015
I’m off to Barnes and Noble to buy The Best American Travel Writing 2014 edited by Paul Theroux. And quite out of the blue, I discovered his name is Paul Edward Theroux. There’s something about the name Edward.
And I just remembered the dog’s name in the film, Accidental Tourist…Edward, a corgi…the same breed of dog as the Queen’s.
Til next time.
Paul Edward Theroux Photo by William Furniss.
From the film Accidental Tourist with William Hurt and Geena Davis and Edward.
Queen Elizabeth and a corgi, "a big dog in a little frame." Photo by Tim Graham.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
It would be really great to easily understand the language of King Lear, Hamlet, or MacBeth. And it would be even greater to easily quote from a Shakespearean sonnet.
But barring that, I’ve decided to study Eds in the order they come to mind.
Edward Norton
Ed Harris
Edward Snowden
Edward Olmos
Ed Asner
Ed Sullivan
Ed O’Neill
Edward R. Murrow
Ed Koch
That’s plenty of Eds to keep track of for one day.
Til next time.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
There’s something about eating outside on a picnic table that is restorative. But then, when the meal is done, there’s a lot of extra cleaning up to do.
In the film Antonia’s Line, there are several scenes of outside dining including lots of joy and laughter. But there's not even one scene of the cleaning up part. That’s why movies are so great.
Til next time.
Outside dining from Antonia's Line.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Speaking more about David Hare.
David Hare is connected to:
The Hours
The Reader
Page Eight
Michael Cunningham is connected to:
The Hours
Bernhard Schlink is connected to:
The Reader
Anthony Minghella is connected to:
The Reader
Cigarettes and Chocolate
Dominic Minghella
Dominic Minghella is connected to:
Doc Martin
Martin Clunes is connected to:
Doc Martin
Bill Nighy is connected to:
Cigarettes and Chocolate
Page Eight
Syndey Pollack is connected to:
The Reader
Out of Africa
Meryl Streep is connected to:
The Hours
Out of Africa
And somehow it all comes back to David Hare. A study of creative genius and an unrelenting work ethic should begin with him.
David Hare Graphic of Connections.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Speaking of David Hare.
He wrote the screen play for The Reader, a book by Bernhard Schlink. The film starred Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes.
He also wrote the screen play for The Hours, a book by Michael Cunningham who won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for this novel. The film starred Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in 1923;
Julianne Moore as Laura Brown in 1951;
Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan in 2001;
Miranda Richardson played Vanessa Bell as Virginia’s sister.
Til next time.
Scene from The Hours. Virginia Woolf writing Mrs. Dalloway.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Although there are some people who after learning that the Amazon is the largest river on the planet would immediately buy a plane ticket to go there and check it out, I am comfortable just listening to a guy on BBCAmerica talk about the river and its impact on local and world environments. I know that favoring the reading of books and the watching of TV over travelling to places of interest can be problematic. And yet…here I am.
Finally, I just listened to somebody read aloud from his book on BookTV in a way that was a bit overly dramatic. It made me miss Dick Estelle on public radio’s Radio Reader from decades past. Oh My Gosh. I just googled him; and he’s still reading great books and broadcasting from Michigan State University. But now...he's online. Online. Another reason not to buy a planet ticket. Thanks radioreader.net.
Actually, one more thing. Norman Lear and Seth MacFarlane were interviewed in the Sunday Styles section in today’s paper. It was a great discussion with Seth showing just the right amount of deferential respect for the master of TV storytelling, Norman Lear. And even better...I’m listening for the third time to Norman read aloud his new book on 15 CDs, Even This I Get to Experience. Totally brilliant.
Til next time.
NOT Sunday in the Park with George
One Last Cloud
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
This past month, I’ve watched several films and decided to document their authors’ works. The following four are novels as well as films although as books I have not read them. But as films they are compelling. A Most Wanted Man with the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman...I’ve watched twice and will watch again. Tinker with Gary Oldman has my same admiration.
John le Carré
October 19, 1931 (age 83)
Born David John Moore Cornwell
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
The Constant Gardener (2001)
A Most Wanted Man (2008)
Photo by Sang Tan.
And then, watching the following plays and films written by David Hare is humbling. And watching Bill Nighy in four of them is too good to be true.
David Hare
June 5, 1947 (age 68)
Skylight (play-1995 and 2014 with Bill Nighy)
The Reader (film-2008 not with Bill Nighy)
Page Eight (film-2011 with Bill Nighy)
Turks and Caicos (film-2014 with Bill Nighy)
Salting the Battlefield (film-2014 with Bill Nighy)
David Hare and Bill Nighy Photo by Jamie McCarthy.
But really, it's The Book Thief that wins the day. The book not the movie. Markus Zusak is the author. Where does a book like this come from?
Til next time.
Photo from goodreads.com
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Oh wow. Sunday, coffee, and the NY Times. It’s exhausting. But it all put me in mind of last year at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Tales from Red Vienna starring Nina Ariana (Saturday, March 15, 2014) and When We Were Young and Unafraid (Sunday, July 6, 2014) starring Cherry Jones. This theatre is small enough in size that you can almost reach out and touch the actors. These plays were serious statements presented to a full house each night. The cast was perfect. The subject matter was serious. The audience was appreciative.
Yesterday on BookTV, they broadcasted live from Hyde Park in New York, specifically from the Roosevelt Library. Lucinda Franks talked about her book, Timeless: Love, Morgenthau, and Me while her husband Robert Morgenthau (age 95) looked on from the sideline. She explained how her life had started out as a rebel reporter and then surprisingly wound up with New York City’s longest-serving District Attorney, her husband Robert.
Then Molly Guptill Manning talked about her book, When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II. She explained how the book drives for the soldiers overseas resulted in the paperback book industry reshaping itself. Hardback books were too heavy for the soldiers, so the industry created paperback books using the dimensions of printing presses for magazines and then printing two books on each magazine-sized press sheet. These new books were all the classics from Mark Twain to Charles Dickens and were published as Armed Services Edition. Molly also explained how the publishers realized that soldiers needed to be able to read more easily and that two-column text was easier to read than one-column text. So, the format of each page was changed from one column to two. The book that she said touched more soldiers than most was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Between 1943 and 1947, 123 million of these books had been distributed. There sure is a lot to learn.
Finally, I learned of a website from Stephen Drury Smith as he talked about his book, The First Lady of Radio: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Historic Broadcasts. The site is http://www.americanradioworks.org and features lots of things but specifically features the old radio broadcasts of Eleanor and Franklin. Eleanor broadcasted a strength and resolve through her voice that is not necessarily present in the many books about her. Good to know.
Til next time.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
I’m reading On the Move by Dr. Oliver Sacks. He’s been an intellectual leader in the field of neurology for decades. This book is an autobiography that reveals how a gifted child grew to become a gifted surgeon. Dr. Sacks shared in the NY Times on February 19, 2015 that he is in the final stages of metastasized liver cancer. On Dr. Sacks’s website, there is an opportunity for people to leave him messages. It’s full of condolences and testimonials of people who have been impacted by Dr. Sacks and his gifts. His contributions to life have been substantial. And it’s hard to accept that he won’t be here to offer his guidance and wisdom. Life and death seem to be quite illogical leaving gaps and holes that can’t be filled.
Til next time.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Is it possible to do too much thinking? Yes. No. . . . Yes.
Between Netflix, HBO, NPR, the NY Times, and my Overdrive ebook public library account, I’m experiencing brain implosion. But I’ll soldier on thinking about the following.
1. I’m thinking about a writer:
John Updike wrote Of the Farm wherein he writes:
“On the single strand of wire
strung to bring our house electricity,
grackles and starlings
neatly punctuated an invisible sentence.”
I acquired that quote and photo from the art-focused movie Words and Pictures starring Clive Owen and Juliett Binoche. Juliett’s character said that the reason we need art is to help us understand a world that is flawed. And if the world weren’t flawed, we wouldn’t need art. Actually, that’s not what she said, but that’s what I think she meant. The movie had a rather unfortunate ending with the two main characters acting uncharacteristically and pointlessly mean toward one another. Nevertheless, I appreciate finding the Updike reference and the bird photo.
2. I’m happiest on Broadway:
I watched the Tony Awards recently sans commercials due to my splendidly adept AT&T DVR system.
The King and I won. I saw this play this past March and had a great seat. I’m gonna go back and see it again. The Lincoln Center is, in a word, life-saving.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon (the book) and starring Alex Sharp on Broadway was spectacular when I saw it in October, 2014. I’d love to see it again if I can get there in time. Alex won for best actor in a play over the classic English gentleman Bill Nighy who was also a Tony winner in best revival of a play, which is just as good a win IMO.
The Audience with Helen Mirren was history in lights, and Helen sparkled with wit and charm. She won for best actress. Plus, I had a great seat this past March. And ever since the BBC’s Prime Suspect, she’s been on my dream list.
3. I found this:
http://thegoldennotebook.org
In the process of buying on Amazon The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing who was referred to in a piece about Jenny Diski in last Sunday's NY Times Magazine, I came upon Juliet Stevenson who records books on tape and who has a perfect reading voice. In fact, her voice in a word is, compelling. I’m heading in her direction. I can see that now.
4. I’m listening:
On my iPad, I have The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman read by someone who sounds like Anthony Hopkins. I can’t turn away from it. But actually, it’s not read by Anthony Hopkins, it’s read by the author whom I just found discussing his work in a proper and illuminating way on a YouTube video. In the video, he said, “the purpose of life is to increase the amount of consciousness in the world (with consciousness being defined as the number of things we can call to mind)."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LgHOQk9g0w
He said J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is feeble and not worth reading more than once because the moral is overtly stated at the beginning.
(Tolkien: 1892-1973. Died in Bournemouth, UK.)
Likewise, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis he views as detestable work because the children suffer through all kinds of things and then are killed at the end. “What a waste,” concluded Philip.
(Clive Staples Lewis: 1898-1963. Died in Oxford, UK.)
Philip recommends reading Proust sitting at a table reading 20 pages a day and Kafka “of course.”
Proust
Kafka
Marcel Proust: 1871-1922. Died in Paris, wrote in French.
Franz Kafka: 1883-1924. Died in Austria, wrote in German
Philip was asked, “Are we the authors of our own lives?” He said, “Yes, but we’re not controlling our lives so much as telling the story of our life after we have lived it. Therefore, we should live our life as if we meant it so that we will have a story that is true and worth telling.”
5. BBCAmerica:
I DVRd Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel on BBCAmerica. I know it’ll be great. Perhaps even true and worth telling.
6. Garrison Keillor said:
Some poets write poetry that is too narcissistic, depressive, and grumpy. He may be right.
7. Freeman Dyson said:
Quantum mechanics comes closest to explaining everything in the universe but because it’s only understood through mathematics, it’s hard to explain in words. He said the two major scientific problems yet to be explained are dark matter and dark energy. Dark matter can be measured. Dark energy cannot.
8. Sally Kitch wrote a book:
Contested Terrain documents the needs and progress of women in Afghanistan. One woman featured in her book is named Jamila Afghani. Jamila runs education centers for women and girls in Afghanistan. She wants organizations and countries to ask Afghan women what the Afghan women actually need before they send in help. She is, in a word, epic.
Jamila Afghani
9. Lawrence Wright said:
He likes to eat at Eastside Café in Austin, Texas. He’s my new favorite history writer. Evidently he writes actual history that reads like a story rather than a textbook. Go Lawrence.
10. Joseph Ellis said:
Benjamin Franklin missed an important meeting in Europe because he had gout.
11. Hurray for the BBC:
I tried to read Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall at one point and gave it up because I felt the book required too much background information to be understood properly. But now that I’ve watched the whole thing through the eyes of the BBC via PBS, I get it. I wonder what this means.
12. I’ve rewatched this:
For the fifth time, I’ve watched Iris with the incomparables Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent. Since I’ve been stumbling around and searching for just the right word during several conversations lately, I wanted to make sure I was okay. This film helped. Everything’s fine.
13. Without this:
Brian Lamb changed my life with BookTV. I wish I could tell him this in person. But he’s pretty busy.
14. In a play:
Joshua Harmon was interviewed in the NY Times and said he starts every play that he’s writing with a question to be answered. For Significant Other, which I have not seen, the questions was, “How do you live when you know you’re not living the life that you think you ought to be living?” Egads.
15. I found this:
This recipe for crepes seems like just what I need for a dozen eggs that I just bought, which means I now have for some inexplicable reason two dozen eggs.
1 cup of flour
2 eggs
½ cup milk (I’m going to use coconut milk that I just bought)
½ cup water (again, coconut milk)
¼ t salt (I’m going to use sea salt that I just bought)
2 T butter
Stir, beat, fry for 2 minutes, flip, fry some more. Eat with some sort of filling.
UPDATE: Just finished these. Absolutely terrific. And after the first one, my flip was perfection itself.
Hillary and Elizabeth. What a magnificent world it could be.
Til next time.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
It’s amateur, poetry-hour in my living room.
Here are three poems.
Til next time.
House to Home
What does my house do all day
When I’m away at work?
Maybe it speaks. Maybe it creaks.
Maybe it goes berserk.
I miss my house when I’m at work.
But now that I’m here at home,
I don’t know why I worried so.
My house just said, “Shalom.”
Books
Ursula Nordstrom at Harper and Row
Was Editor One! in her day.
While editors come and editors go…
Self-publishing’s here to stay.
Goodnight Moon and Charlotte’s Web and
Where the Wild Things Are
Brown and White and our Maurice…
Each an Ursula star.
The Cello
I can’t seem to think of one single time
When a cello has given to me
Strategic help with bees or knees
Or mowing the lawn for free.
And yet, when I listen to Yo Yo Ma play
I don’t really have any strife.
Yo’s cello, you see, gives me all that I need
For all the days of my life.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
It's another rainy Sunday as I'm reading the NYTimes and enjoying the requisite three cups of coffee. One to get started, two to get going, three for a bit of excess, which used judiciously is not a vice.
Anyhoo, Harold Bloom's new book was reviewed by Cynthia Ozick in today’s paper. Two really smart people of letters talking to themselves and each other. What would it be like to be that smart? I bet it would be rather tedious living amongst all the rest of us who really need lots of charts and diagrams and really simple words to understand the world.
Harold and Cynthia seem to have a clearer understanding of the world's perplexities and connections than is actually required for a successful life. However, I do love what they've been able to do over the decades. First of all, their work ethic is second to none. Second, they're not afraid to take the same topic and explore it for 50 years. Third, they know a lot of big words. Fourth, they are metacognitively very confident. Fifth, they seem like really nice people. Sixth, they will always be remembered through their work. Seventh? There really is no need for a seventh.
There is nothing that Cynthia Ozick writes that is not to my liking. She writes with perfect word after perfect word.
Til next time.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Currently reading A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. It's a page turner. Just recently finished a signed copy of Hansel and Gretel a TOON graphic by Neil Gaiman. Loved it.
But I'd have to say the book that still stays with me even after reading it a couple of years ago is Building Stories by Chris Ware.
And then I've been thinking today about William Faulkner for some reason. I suppose that's because I heard on NPR that they are releasing a book with a vinyl recording of Faulkner reading As I Lay Dying. The excerpt played on the radio was perfect.
But really, Bill Nighy reading The Collectors by Philip Pullman was over the moon.
Bill Nighy. I heard that the French have wine. The Germans have cars. The Brits have Colin Firth. But actually, the Brits have Bill. He was perfect in Skylight by David Hare on Broadway. I sent him a fan letter. Hope he got it.
Til next time.
Bill at the stage door of the Golden Theatre, March 13, 2015.
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