about reading, writing, books, and all things bookish.
2019
The Morgan Museum and Library at 36th and Madison, NYC. Nearly my favorite place in the world.
Monday, May 20, 2019
I am not a robot.
I finished today Ian McEwan’s book Machines Like Me: A Novel.
Charlie, Adam, Miranda, and Alan Turing are the key players in this book that takes place in the 80s. And since Turing died in 1954, the stage is set for a good piece of fiction with always an eye on how good it all could have been, if only…
The ultimate irony of the book is that the brilliance of Alan Turing was snuffed out by society while the laziness and pedestrian aspirations of Charlie are allowed to live on and on and on.
Adam is the human-like robot purchased by Charlie while Charlie’s hopefully soon to be wife, Miranda gets involved.
But. Adam goes amok, and Charlie just lets him.
That’s the point at which it’s hard to like Charlie. Rather than asserting his authority over Adam, he acquiesces and simply waits for all the negative consequences of Adam’s misdeeds to unfold.
Adam stole, misrepresented, altered his own software, usurped his built-in functions, and became the one in charge.
Alan Turing ends the book by taking control of the robot’s redesign thereby restoring hope.
Ian McEwan spends most of his time in real life with scientists and not humanists who spend too much time “wallowing in the deliciousness of pessimism.” (From a 2010 interview with Michael Silverblatt.) Quote from too wonderful of an interview about Ian’s book Solar.
I am not a robot.
Ta da.
Till next time.
from Michael Silverblatt's website.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Every so often, I have to stop and rediscover my copy of Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom written by Leonard Marcus. And eventually, through the years, I always do. Find it. I love reading and rereading it.
Also, I'm on the verge of finishing Ian McEwan's new book, Machines Like Me. Ian can take the Falkland's war, two Brits, and a robot to create a completely plausible dystopian future that is actually our current life and make it toally real. Ian uses the Turing test by Alan Turing to tell the story. Turing said, that "the moment we couldn't tell the difference in behavior between machine and person was when we must confer humanity on the machine." The robot in Ian's book is named Adam and develops his own ability to transcend his programmed abilities. Ian also disparages the role of capitalism as it negatively impacts the labour of working people. It's a novel with a treatise.
The future is here. It appears.
Till next time.
Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Merritt Wever, Anna Deavere Smith, and the awesome Edie Falco are totally terrific even after 5+ years or so of Nurse Jackie being off the air. At the gym or on the couch, the show still holds up. Effervescent, tough, driven.
And in other news: The Gaithersburg Book Festival is live on BookTV today.
But I’m supposed to be shopping for a new desk chair today.
So I’ll probably figure out a way to do both. Shop and watch. All online.
And finally…I added 8GB of memory to my refurbished mac bringing the memory total to 12 GB. I’m SO happy. It now purrs along at the speed of thought or perhaps even faster. I’m happy with the added memory and even happier that I figured out how to install the cards myself...which was super easy to do but very scary.
And while 12 is not 64, it’s enough; and enough is as good as a feast.
Or so they say.
Till next time.
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Friday, May 17, 2019
You buy the book.
You read the book.
You meet the author.
She signs your book.
It’s just the best.
Rachel Kushner…author of The Mars Room.
The book is an accurate accounting of the prison system in America as portrayed through the life of Romy. Prisons are full of folks who are broken in a variety of ways with no two inmates sharing the exact same set of circumstances. It does seem that they might all have one thing in common. They all want a better life; and most, if not all, needed better parents. Much better.
A great book by a great writer with my favorite part being Richard Nixon’s visit to the Grand Ole Opry.
Till next time.
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Monday, May 13, 2019
Splendid!
Lampros!
Λαμττρóς!
Till next time.
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Sunday, May 12, 2019
For some reason, I woke up today thinking about books by Dava Sobel.
In college, she wondered why she was taking Italian. Then decades later, she found she was writing a book about Galileo’s daughter and their correspondence to each other…written in…Italian.
Such great books. Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter.
Respectively, 1995 and 2000. Still on my shelves and in my mind.
Also, watched Conan O'Brien interview Robert Caro on BookTV today. Standing ovation from a packed auditorium after an hour and a half of conversation at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills.
Looking forward to a little TV binging this weekend…but just until the spring showers abate a bit.
Alliteration.
Is there anything better?
Perhaps.
Perhaps a Starbucks cup on the set of Thrones.
Or.
Perhaps Giovanni Ribisi as Pete in Sneaky Pete explaining for his vocabulary-enriched audience that reality and truth are fungible.
Me?
I had to look it up.
Until then, how about some scrambled eggs, a nice cup of tea, some toast with butter and jam, and a generous scoop or possibly two of lovely avocado.
If only someone would pop over and prepare it all.
But once again. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
And now? Before I hit play?
Buy a toaster thingy. Or a horse. Or possibly both.
Till next time.
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Friday, May 10, 2019
Michael Silverblatt is clearly America’s best curator of books. He did a wonderful interview with Elizabeth McCracken and cited four book reviews that each loved her book titled, Bowlaway…a book about bowling.
Bowling?
Yes, bowling…as well as all the eccentric people and events that occur in the pursuit of candlepin bowling.
Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
Booklist by ALA
Library Journal
The goodness never stops coming. Thirty years worth of insightful and gracious conversations on KCRW via Michael’s devotion to writers and their books.
Delicious.
Even better than coffee and pie (lemon meringue…homemade) on the patio.
Till next time.
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Wednesday, May 8, 2019
It’s just so great to have the time to read. And it’s so great to have access to worthwhile material.
I finished Normal People by Sally Rooney and found it to be a bit too sad. The main characters were high school and then college students who went through all the normal growing pains with all the normal mistakes. And even though it was all almost normal, much of the malaise could have been avoided with parents who were more stable, attentive, and involved. The book does explore the relationships between and among the factors of money, scholarship, self-esteem, class, achievement, success, and simply not getting lost in a modern world.
And now, I’m partway into The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, and I’m loving the technique she uses to move through time and space in a non-linear fashion. The details of the book are accurate, I’m sure, but it’s bleak and tells the story of prisoners for whom life has been unkind and unforgiving. I’ll finish it because I want to find out what happens to the narrator and to, of course, Laura Lipp who simply cannot stop talking.
Finally, there’s the new book by Robert Caro, a giant of a writer who has dedicated his life to writing about a giant of a politician and public servant, President Lyndon Johnson. How proud Robert must be to know that his work is considered definitive…because it is…definitive.
Spending his life as well as several years in Texas with 32 million pieces of paper was the task he set before himself, and he has handled it all with humility and rigor. I’m such a sentimentalist for verisimilitude.
Where does that come from?
Till next time.
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Saturday, May 4, 2019
I was tidying up and ran across my Playbill for The Audience with Helen Mirren.
I’ve decided that that play must be THE best Broadway experience I’ve ever had and ever hope to have although the late Timothy Pigott–Smith in King Charles III was certainly a highlight of the stage.
Helen and Tim. What a treat. March 12, 2015 and November 12, 2015.
Till next time.
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Friday, May 3, 2019
I finished reading The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff. I have a mixed reaction to the book. There were almost too many love angles in the book when the book was actually about the heroism of British women who joined the French resistance in WWII. At times it felt like the book was looking forward to becoming a movie, and movies require love angles.
And oddly enough, today I caught up on reading The NYT Sunday Review from April 28 and found a piece about the French Ambassador and his partner, Gérard Araud and Pascal Blondeau, respectively. Seems to me, people named Gérard and Pascal can automatically be trusted to do the right thing.
It was a delightful article and brought the timeline of 1944 to 2019 to a hopeful conclusion. For Gérard, au revoir DC et bonjour NYC via their new home on 73rd with the French consulate close by on 934 Fifth Avenue between 74th and 75th.
Sweet.
Maybe I’ll drop in for a profiterole and a chat about the joys of being French.
Till next time.
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Sunday, April 28, 2019
Just when I think that BookTV can’t get any better, they broadcast the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival from New Orleans with many, many great writers and thinkers with the best being Douglas Brinkley who simply never stops writing passionately about America.
He teaches at Rice and lives in Austin. How does that work? However it works, it works. He’s the absolute best.
And all this brings me to the fact that I’m almost caught up with all past issues of TNYTBR, which so far have been a joy to read with the most surprising being the review of the book titled, Skeleton Keys by Brian Switek. He writes about the cultural and historical makings of our invisible inner strength…our skeleton.
How cool to be an expert on what keeps us all upright, strong, mobile, and potentially awesome.
One last question for the day. If you’re out of milk, how will a bowl of dry Cheerios taste for breakfast in the morning. We’ll see.
Till next time.
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Saturday, April 27, 2019
The Presidents.
Brian Lamb and Susan Swain have done it again.
On BookTV today, they broadcast a live discussion of C-Span’s newest effort to rank and explain former US Presidents. It was a wonderfully informative and humorous look at the 43 people who have been leaders of the free world.
And it included insightful audience questions and authoritative answers by the panelists.
LIVE TV. How great is that.
Till next time.
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Thursday, April 25, 2019
It is my understanding that there’s a new art form floating around out there. It’s called repositioned art through plagiarism or some such nomenclature.
Hard to believe that something that is illegal is now a financial endeavor. Not for me, of course. But for others. For sure.
And while all that tumult unfolds itself in the courts of law and public opinion, I find that I’m between books. Hate when that happens. To ease the pain of being temporarily without a good read, I’ve just discovered I’m also a whole season behind in watching Doc Martin.
Actually, I may not be behind; I may have simply forgotten that I’ve already watched season 8, which is equally disturbing.
My remaining task for the day? Figure out Doc Martin.
Till next time.
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Monday, April 22, 2019
My Sister, the Serial Killer
by Oyinkan Braithwaite
A book about two sisters in Nigeria. It’s a feminist look at family, beauty, power, loyalty, and ultimately the downside of keeping a knife in one’s purse. It SO reminded me of Cary Grant and his two aunts, Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, in Arsenic and Old Lace. In fact, it’s a dead ringer, so to speak, for that movie.
I may rewatch Arsenic. Haven’t seen it in awhile. Cary was rather over the top as Mortimer. But the two aunts, Abby and Martha, were too, too perfect. And of course no one could possibly be better than John Alexander as Teddy, a perfect facsimile of Teddy Roosevelt in all his delusion and grandeur.
In My Sister, unlike in the four-book set of My Brilliant Friend, I skipped no pages. And while the end of My Sister was abrupt, it was completely complete with an ending that could have ended no other way.
Late in the Day
by Tessa Hadley
I gave it a chapter and then…that’s it. The book tells the story of two couples and their lives together. But there’s nothing about these two couples that makes them any different from any other couples particularly since none of the characters carries a knife.
So what now?
I’m thinking The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I started it and didn’t finish it a couple of weeks ago, but the time now seems ripe to return to a classic. I was going to read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman; but actually, ever since I read and loved The Graveyard Book, I’m wondering if anything he ever wrote could be better than that. Ghosts, graveyards, murder, knives, benevolence, violence, survival, humor, and a nice ending. Hard to beat.
Till next time.
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Wednesday, April 17, 2019
A few disjointed but profoundly interesting bits and notes from the LA Times Book Festival from this past Sunday:
Panelists: Nathan Gardels and Nicolas Berggruen (philanthropist)
Why study history? “What’s past is prologue,” says Shakespeare.
Capitalism is not a natural OS...it can be improved.
Pre-distribution of the income of a business means everyone owns a piece of every business.
In other words, bring people in from the beginning in all business enterprises vs post-distribution of a business’s profits through taxes, which are susceptible to tax evasion practices.
EXAMPLE: If Uber goes public, they open at $100 billion. If the state of California were to own 5% of Uber right from the beginning, the state would receive an immediate $5 billion for its tax base.
For justification of this system, Uber uses roads that were built by taxpayers so the taxpayers should benefit directly and immediately from the $100 billion publicly-traded business.
In a pre-distribution business model, the lady or the fellow owns a piece of every business from the very beginning which means that everyone is automatically invested in those businesses.
We are optimizing humans to serve technology when we should be optimizing technology to serve humans
This panel posed alternative ways to optimize a capitalistic economic system that would yield more public benefits while at the same time valuing the role of humans in the equation.
It was a very enlightening and hopeful panel. I liked it more than practically anything else I’ve encountered with regard to economic stability and growth.
Go Team.
Till next time.
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Tuesday, April 16, 2019
So when you’re looking for wisdom from thinkers, activists, and good-hearted souls, you look to Marcus Aurelius, Michel de Montaigne, Frederick Douglass, Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, Naomi Klein, David Maraniss, Janet Napolitano, Meryl Streep, RBG, AOC, Douglas Brinkley, Ivanka Trump, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Arundhati Roy, Douglas Rushkoff, Jaron Lanier, Jonathan Kozol, and Pete Buttigieg to start.
I’m also quite fond of Brendan Gleeson. He seems very Irish-ish.
And then suddenly, there’s Hugh Laurie and his wife Jo Green.
6 minutes 55 seconds and
40 minutes 10 seconds
Sidwell Friends School,
Washington, D.C.
Politics and Prose Bookstore
May 9, 2016 Originally aired
August 13, 2016 Re-aired
Till next time.
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Sunday, April 14, 2019
A quick sweeping view of the news.
Really? What a mess.
Chevron paying 33 billion dollars for fracking rights in the Permian Basin
opioid addiction in the Appalachians
plastic bottles in the ocean
lead in Flint’s drinking water
global warming
gerrymandering
massive incarceration
the Mueller report
the growing military industrial complex
more threats of WMDs
wild Siberian tigers at risk.
That is way too much news, and yet to retain moral clarity, one must be informed. And even though a recent essay by Kevin Powers in TNYTBR says that the 50th anniversary edition of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five provides such clarity, it’s nice to look at something with less gravitas.
So how about a look back at Tig Notaro on This American Life with Ira Glass and Taylor Dayne.
Tig…the essence of sustainability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSwzYB545hY
“Excuse me. I’m sorry to bother you. But I just have to tell you. I love your voice.”
And then there’s also the LA Times Book Festival where readers, writers, books, and all things bookish are front and center and are supported by thousands and millions of forward-thinking and fun-endowed folks.
Two Days. Live on BookTV…cause really…what could be better.
Books, Tig, Taylor, and a second cup of coffee.
Anything else?
Oh yes. For lunch, a PB&J. Pear, Brie, & Jambon (prosciutto).
Word for the day?
Resilience.
Till next time.
Tig, Taylor, and Ira.
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Saturday, April 13, 2019
There are a lot of books on my plate at the moment.
Glad it’s the weekend.
Till next time.
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Thursday, April 11, 2019
Really. It’s really, really disturbing to think that the behavior portrayed by the actors on Billions might be an accurate rendition of the shenanigans deployed on Wall Street.
And if it is true, the only antidote is a nice spring road trip.
Till next time.
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Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Till next time.
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Sunday, April 7, 2019
Wow. Two hours of live TV.
Nomi Prins did a wonderful job explaining economics, banking, law, capitalism, and the intersection of them all. Peter Slen interviewed her and allowed her ample time to develop and explain it all. And it was made even more heartening by all the knowledgeable and earnest callers who asked good questions.
BookTV…the most valuable asset America owns.
Till next time.
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Thursday, April 4, 2019
Regarding one of my favorite food groups, I was saddened to read an editorial explaining that advertisers are targeting specific economic groups with the promise of easy comfort through cheap, sugary sweets:
On the other hand,
Till next time.
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Tuesday, April 2, 2019
To Walk Invisible. A PBS movie about the three Bronte sisters and their brother and father.
At the end, there were two shots of the sisters looking out to sea. The first was face on. The second was shadows.
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
I remember reading these and being MUCH more loyal to Jane than to Catherine. I don’t remember why. I just remember the feeling of loyalty. I should probably reread Wuthering and explore that reaction a little further.
And thanks to the Morgan Museum, which has NEVER failed to wow me, I saw the tiny handwriting and the small dress of…Charlotte Bronte.
The Morgan is a tremendously well-run organization with an educated and dedicated curatorial staff. It's lovely and amazing.
Till next time.
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Monday, April 1, 2019
Two bits of interesting collections just lying around.
The questions were,
“Can a woman play Lear?” Glenda Jackson leaves no doubt.
“Should I clean off my desk?” Undoubtedly.
Till next time.
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Sunday, March 31, 2019
Could there be anything better than being interviewed by Brian Lamb?
He's absolutely and positively the best. Not to mention the absolutely and positively most unique interviewer on the airwaves. Ever. Hands down.
Sorry, Terry.
Till next time.
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Friday, March 29, 2019
J. L. Carr wrote about the fundamental decency of ordinary villagers or so says Michael Holroyd who wrote the introduction to A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr.
According to Michael, Carr wrote about the fundamental decency of ordinary villagers via the main character Tom Birkin.
As a former soldier, Tom is a WWI survivor. But he came away from war with a stammer and a nervousness that troubles him. He is hired to restore a large religious painting in a small village church. The painting has been painted over several times but because it is several hundred years old, it is worth restoring.
In the end, Tom restores the painting, which in turn, restores Tom.
Two lovely phrases from Carr:
relentlessly unconventional
famously unorthodox
Very nice.
Till next time.
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Thursday, March 28, 2019
You meet the authors.
They sign your books.
And then even better than all that is that
You check them out from the library
As ebooks
So you can make the print really, really big.
Till next time.
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Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Instead of sending Tim Cook a nice note advising him freely about what was disappointedly missing from his Apple keynote on Monday, I’ve finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
This makes two books in a row (the first being Where the Crawdads Sing) where the main character is a young woman who is severely neglected by life but who rises above it all. Maybe that’s too much rags to riches for one week.
Never. The. Less.
Kya in Where the Crawdads Sing is abandoned by her mom and lives in a swampy part of North Carolina all her life, but in the end she spruced up her shack and found a nice young man to share it all with.
Eleanor in Eleanor Oliphant (not her real name as it turns out in the end) starts out with a deranged mom and winds up with a brutal boyfriend, a scar, an odd personality, a job, an unfiltered way of communicating with everyone around her, a new pair of boots, and a nice young man to share it all with.
Till next time.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Watched the Apple keynote yesterday.
“Yes, y’all. One billion pockets.”
Too cute.
But the best moment was when Steven Spielberg’s photo was displayed on the big board, and then a moment later, your eyes were on the actual man
on stage, in person, bigger than life, a very nice guy.
And BTW.
Titanium. Yes!
Even so...we all still miss Steve (Jobs).
And books. Oh yeah. Based on Michael Ondaatje's recommendation when he was interviewed in part 2 by Michael Silverblatt, I'm just starting J.L. Carr's A Month in the Country. It's the kind of book where you pretty much have to pay attention. I'll try. That's all I can do. Try.
Till next time.
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Sunday, March 24, 2019
It’s hard to know what to say in praise of Warlight. And it’s even harder to figure out just how exactly Michael Ondaatje wrote such a great book.
Having read the book twice now and listened to his interview twice with Michael Silverblatt, I think there’s nothing more heroic than spending five years researching war, rivers, tributaries, streets, spies, dog racing, people, history, thatched roofs, old cars, private schools, marriage, children, love, peace, and the aftermath of when all those factions collide…as they always do both in books and in real life.
But as heroic as all that research is, there is one thing even more heroic. And that one thing is writing a novel about it all so that the characters in the book are real and important.
Stitch, Wren, Darter, The Moth, Agnes, Olive, Rose, and Mr. and Mrs. Malakite.
The final conclusion? Even after a war ends, it doesn’t.
And just now? Today?
Finished Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The book tells the life story of Kya who finds herself as a six-year-old living as an orphan in a shack in a swamp on the coast of North Carolina in 1952. By the end of the book, she dies at age 64.
This book creditably weaves the theory of evolution into swamp life, human life, and societal life via a murder mystery and does so with complete success.
The characters include Ma, the New Orleans socialite, Pa, the down on his luck drinker/abuser, Kya, Jodie, Tate, Chase, Jumpin’, Mabel, and in the end, the Atticus Finch type lawyer named Tom who are all living in a village and a society where to quote Gloria Marie Steinem, “Men are going to need to learn a new way to be masculine.”
The book is a cross between The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, Nell with Jodie Foster, The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, and Beartown by Frederik Backman. It also contains the science of Jared Diamond, Edward O. Wilson, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, James D. Watson, and Carl Zimmer to name a few.
The book's science is accurate and is gently enough presented and explained to not get in the way of the story of Kya and her tragedies, hurts, losses, and wings.
Reading about Kya, grits, biscuits, eggs, boats, wharfs, lagoons, swamps, oaks, ferns, gulls, rip tides, sea water, ocean waves, shells, feathers, herons, mussels, and canned sardines with saltines, it is clear that every single feather and shell and tree and sunrise and tide pool is absolutely and intricately and permanently connected to every other single thing on the planet, and it is to our peril that we drain a marsh, put up a hotel, sell souvenirs by the bay, and interfere with this five-billion-year old perfectly balanced ecosystem that is known as earth.
But that wasn’t even what the book was about. That’s all just the back-story.
The front story is Kya, the orphan, and how she lived, became broken, and tried to survive.
I do admit I skipped over all the poetry. Even at the end. The very end.
I’m also very unclear about how roads can exist in marshes and how both trucks and boats can be driven through wetlands. And then there’s the beach right next to the swamp right next to the marsh right next to the highway. My knowledge of topography is obviously below par. Still…in the end, it’s the end.
And now I’ll read the reviews of Crawdads. It’s always good to conclude a few thoughts on ones own before reading the thoughts of professional literary critics. Keeps the head clear…er.
But first a bit of dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, white acre peas, and biscuits with blackberry jam or maybe just a cup of milky coffee while it all settles down and the tide recedes.
Till next time.
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Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Good grief. I can’t imagine why I thought Shakespeare wrote Orlando when actually it was written by Virginia Woolf. That takes some sort of real bravery to admit that. But there it is. Admitted.
Good grief2.
Oh, but wait.
As it turns out, Orlando is the lead male character in As You Like It, which of course makes it all good2.
Then comes the question of why so many British actors and why so few American actors are named Rupert.
Rupert Frazer-born 1947, United Kingdom
Rupert Graves-born 1955, United Kingdom
Rupert Everett-born 1959, United Kingdom
Rupert Penry-Jones-born 1970, United Kingdom
Rupert Friend-born 1981, United Kingdom
Rupert Grint-born 1988, United Kingdom
Now back to Warlight by Michael Ondaatje for my second reading. It’s an extraordinary book with insight into WWII, London, intelligence, growing up, hardships, adventures, Greyhounds, buses, trains, bombings, villages, and of course the light that is shed on all things war.
And in this book, even in all the chaos of uncertainty that war creates, Mr. Malakite grows a garden and builds a protective wall that keeps the strong eastern sea winds at bay. And finally, the Thames. The Thames is perhaps the main character in the book although I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be. Stitch, Wren, Agnes, The Moth, Darter, Olive Lawrence, Rose…they’re all there playing their parts…as best they can.
Sebastion Junger, when he talked about his book Tribe, said that after a war, it is missed. He means that war brings people together in extraordinary circumstances where everyone is asked to engage in tasks of necessity and bravery that seem impossible to endure. And after war, life returns to sameness. After war, the spikes of adrenaline are replaced by the predictability of pabulum. Seems like there should be better choices. In fact, there are.
For example. From Woody Allen’s Manhattan, here’s 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 because its worthwhileness is universally understood.
Till next time.
Three Ruperts.
Three more Ruperts.
Apples and pears by Cezanne.
Saturday, March 16, 2019
It’s such a great feeling when a TV show makes you laugh out loud. You look around sheepishly to see if anyone was watching and was glad no one was. Boston Legal does that for me nearly every episode. Then and Now.
What else? Today was a day to clean the office. But instead I got stuck on thinking about two of my all-time favorite things. Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson and my pencil box from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
And finally, after reading a bunch of books and watching the news and then subsequently thinking about attributes that make up the kind of person who is good to be around, I’ve decided on:
Kind
Generous
Honest
Easy-to-Please
But then that kind of person sounds sort of boring. So, I’ve added:
Fun
Today is subtitled: Pleasant Thoughts for a Saturday.
Till next time.
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Monday, March 11, 2019
For some reason, I thought it would be interesting to collect a bit of clarifying information about books I like by writers I like who are named Michael and who have been interviewed by Michael.
But now that I’ve gathered it all, I wonder…what was I thinking.
The requisite amount of work, a turn at the gym, a chocolate milkshake for dinner, and then a quick look for a like-new but perfectly affordable Prada handbag on ebay while listening to Kai Rysdall explain market economics to the listening public…before jumping back into Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue, which is a pretty perfect book that documents both the obvious and hidden ways that large conglomerates are actually in charge of lives like those of Nat, Archy, Aviva, Gwen, Julius, and Titus. This book relates everything to everything and can connect jazz records to midwifery to Cassius Clay to Stephen Hawking to Sergio Leone an Italian master of the spaghetti western in ways that are totally brilliant.
I really don’t want this book to end as it feels like I’m looking in on the private lives of real people. On the other hand, I’d like all their trials and tribulations to be resolved so they can all call it a day and be happy.
Marketplace.org
Tim Apple. Really?
A new Prada? $1,800 sans crossbody strap? Looks like that’s a pretty big no.
Maybe tomorrow. You never know.
Till next time.
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Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Everywhere I look lately, I see a reference to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius who was emperor of Rome and lived AD 121-180, age 59
Socrates 469-399 BC, age 70
Plato 427-347 BC, age 80
Aristotle 384-321 BC, age 63
Alexander the Great 356-323 BC, age 33
I wish it were easier to make a little chart of the above data. It would be so nice to have a visual artifact that represents temporal relationships. But alas.
Till next time.
BC
AD
4
6
9
4
3
9
4
0
9
3
7
9
3
4
9
3
1
9
2
8
9
2
5
9
2
2
9
1
9
9
1
6
9
1
3
9
1
0
9
7
9
4
9
1
9
1
1
4
1
7
1
1
0
1
1
3
1
1
6
1
1
9
1
2
2
1
2
0
1
9
Socrates
…
…
.
Plato
..
…
…
Aristotle
.
…
…
Alexander
…
Marcus
.
…
..
Aha, not the perfect chart, but it's a start. Hmm.
...
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
My admiration for Apple is just about endless.
Ten languages with which to quote Oscar Wilde seems pretty, pretty perfect.
I know. I know. Piddling around with electronics and Audacity is not exactly all that productive, cost effective, or even logical. But, truth be told? It was fun. And also as Algernon said to Jack (aka Ernest)...
The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
Arabic
German
Spanish
French
Italian
Japanese
Portuguese
Russian
Chinese
Till next time.
Saturday, March 2, 2019
The truth is rarely pure and never simple…in nine ten languages.
Till next time.
...
The truth is
rarely pure
and never simple.
Friday, March 1, 2019
Other than the Ides of March coming up in about two weeks, there are three observations for today:
1. I’ve been such a fan of Chanel No. 5 parfum for so long that I’ve rarely tried anything else when I’ve been in a store looking for free spritzes.
But suddenly, there it was…Estee Lauder’s Beautiful Belle. And I’m hooked.
Not only is the Belle fragrance great, but it’s long lasting; and that is something that No. 5 is notoriously lacking. Here today and gone by noon. Completely. Such a shame.
Hello Belle. Farewell Chanel.
But.
Only in the free spritz category, of course.
Much too expensive to actually purchase. Either one.
2. How can life be considered complete without seeing Glenda Jackson as King Lear?
The short answer?
It can’t. Previews started last night.
Glenda was on Seth Meyers the other night and was fabulous. My best memory of her is as Hedda in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. But it’s her diction and pronunciation skills that are so compelling. Plus she’s smart. I’m hoping I can find an audio book that she’s produced. And I don’t even have to hope it’s a good book as I don’t think she’d do any other kind.
After watching Glenda’s interview and seeing the King Lear ad in the Times, I was in the mood for a classic tale of life and loss and found Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan, and Elizabeth Moss in Anton Chekov’s The Seagull. A story of quiet desperation…as are most good stories.
3. And this brings me to the final episodes of The Americans. Relations between and within the old USSR, the supposedly defunct KGB, and current-day Russia are filled with hardship, disillusionment, distrust, more hardship, and loss of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life for average Russian citizens is still difficult, particularly for those living in small towns and communities. But at the same time, Russia has given us a huge amount of art, music, and literature that can’t be topped. Chagall, Tchaikovsky, Tolstoy, Baryshnikov, Sakharov, Solzhenitsyn, and Elena, Alex, Misha, and Gloria, (four Russians I've met in the recent past). I love the idea of Russia. Its people. Its culture. Its ability to survive. I wish it could be easier for them.
One line from The Americans might be a good summary,
“Life in America is not better than life in Russia. It’s just easier.”
Disregard that McDonald's cup in the background.
...
Thursday, February 28, 2019
I’ve always liked the quote from John Adams extolling the science of government and the importance of education. It was fairly easy to find his original quote thanks to the National Archives, which are housed at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.
And President Adams's actual digitized letter with this quote in his own handwriting is available through the Massachusetts Historical Society.
“I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy—my sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, and Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry, and Porcelaine.”
“Adieu.”
Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti were the epitome of perfect as they portrayed Abigail and John in the HBO seven-part series John Adams based on David McCullough's book.
And as good as they were, they just keep getting better in all their works.
And playing Washington? David Morse. Perfect.
And Jefferson? Stephen Dillane…even more perfect.
Bonsoir.
Jusqu'à la prochaine fois.
...
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
According to letters to the editor of TNYTBR, a book reviewer by the name of William Logan wrote a negative and "heroically ill-informed" review of Leonard Cohen’s book, The Flame. That’s what one letter said. Another letter-writer wondered if Leonard had stolen William’s girl. It seems there is universal appreciation for Leonard Cohen and that William underestimated this appreciation. At any rate, William is probably rethinking his low opinion of the much loved and much missed Mr. Cohen and his posthumously-published book.
In 2006, Michael Silverblatt interviewed Leonard, and here is that hard to find link:
Modern economic policy is SO complicated that you have to simply decide whom to trust in order to even try to begin to understand what’s going on with today’s world economy.
And the two people I’ve chosen to trust are:
Kai Ryssdal
marketplace.org
and
Kathleen Day
Broken Bargain: Bankers, Bailouts, and the Struggle to Tame Wall Street
Till next time.
Kai is the new...
Walter, the most trusted man in America.
And as Abigail Adams said, "Don't forget the ladies."
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Loved it.
I’m wondering what the DSM says about binge watching Russian Doll. I’ll have to check that out. Not that I watched all eight episodes in one sitting…but pretty close. Anyhoo. It was fabulous.
Fabulous. Fabulous. Fabulous. The writing was the real star of the show.
Living and dying fifteen, sixteen, seventeen times is not an easy feat to portray on film. And yet the writers did it.
And perfect? Natasha Lyonne.
What will season 2 bring?
Will there be a season 2?
We’ll see. Fingers crossed.
And doubly perfect? Harry Nilsson.
Till next time.
...
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Shelf space. I need more shelf space to house a few books that I own or would like to own. Storing books on a kindle is just not the same as looking at them on a shelf where they are handy and strong.
Amor Towles
A Gentleman in Moscow
Michel Houellebecq
The Map and the Territory
Karl Ove Knausgaard
My Struggle
Frederik Backman
Man Called Ove
Alexander Masters
Stuart: A Life Lived Backwards
Mohsin Hamid
Exit West
Ian McEwan
The Children Act
George Saunders
Lincoln in the Bardo
And then there’s Elena Ferrante. I was thinking I wouldn’t finish her Neapolitan Quartet…but then I did. These four books had seemed too long with too many characters to adequately and respectfully keep track of everything. But then suddenly, I decided to power through because I knew it would be worth it.
And it was. Of course it was. Lena and Lila. The four books tell the stories of their lives from childhood through grandmother-hood from an Italian perspective in the middle of the last century. Throughout all four books, there are truths and futility as well as sadness and mistakes and dozens and hundreds of situations of “if only”.... From the beginning, reading My Brilliant Friend is like looking at water flow over your fingers. At the same time that it’s there, it’s also slipping away.
And then finally, two interviews, not to be forgotten, on BookTV this weekend featured two books that are written by two energetic, articulate, and scholarly women who bring messages of warnings but also solutions. Mesmerizing stuff.
Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution—and Why America Might Miss It
Susan Crawford
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
Shoshana Zuboff
Seems like a lot. Yes. New shelves. That's what's needed.
And then.
Fifty years. Sesame Street. Evidently, I am the only woman in America who does not care for this show.
Don’t @ me. Or so advises Kai Ryssdal.
Till next time.
...
Friday, February 15, 2019
You’re driving down the street. Your car notices a used bookstore on the right. The steering wheel abruptly turns into the parking lot while expertly maneuvering the car into a space right in front of the store.
You think, “Why not?”
You go in.
Inside are hundreds and thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of used books. You find five that you’ve loved ever since you first read them, and even though you already own them, you buy them again.
You go home, take their picture, and explain the situation to the rest of your books who completely understand and accept this newest state of affairs without reservation.
And while the old books don’t exactly voluntarily make space on the shelves for the new books, neither do they balk at being scooted a little more to the left.
And the day is done.
Till next time.
...
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
It’s so great when I get in the mood to dust the bookshelves because I always seem to find a favorite book that I haven't read in awhile.
And today?
I found Lots of Spots by Lois Ehlert. This book with its wonderful art and witty poems is such a spirit lifter. PLUS, I met her one day at MOMA. She was DElightful. I'll never forget it. A brief but lovely encounter.
All her books are the kinds of books the best writers want to write.
A good day for dusting. A good day for books.
Till next time.
...
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
One of the nicest vignettes in cinematic memory.
A garden picnic with champagne, olives, prosciutto, brie, and bread.
Joe’s Palace
Michael Gambon, Danny Lee Wynter, and Rebecca Hall.
Yes, please.
Till next time.
...
Monday, February 11, 2019
Even though the book is beloved, lauded, and much acclaimed, it’s got a cast of thousands, and it’s difficult to keep up with everything that’s happening. Plus, the main idea is that when girls and women are denied an education, everything suffers. Page after page. Decade after decade.
Therefore. I’ve made a decision.
Instead of trying to force myself to continue reading Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet, I’m going to read instead Delia Owens’s Where the Crawdads Sing. But. There's a problem. I’m on hold. I am reader number 495 out of 52 available library ebooks.
Looks like I’ve chosen well. But it’s gonna be awhile. Hmmm. I wonder if awhile is one word or two.
Never. The. Less. What shall I do in the meantime?
One picture’s worth a thousand words.
Till next time.
How in the world does this happen?
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
A New Yorker by nature.
A reader by choice.
A Democrat by birth.
Ta da.
Till next time.
...
...
...
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Finished A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. This was published in 1989. I’m late. I know. Owen Meany and Johnny Wheelwright grow up together, watch the world evolve, perform in Christmas pageants, avoid the Vietnam War, emigrate to Canada, live, die, and think about it all. Every page of this book has a phrase or an event or a circumstance that is new and unique and without precedent in the world of books. John Irving and Michael Silverblatt talk many times throughout the years on KCRW. There’s nothing better.
Also finished Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak. It was a hard read. Artistic, poetic, post-modernist, difficult to follow. Five boys, many adults. All mostly just shy of reliable and competent. What the book does do over and over and over is demonstrate the follies of human choices.
Today was a three-hour live interview on BookTV with Dave Zirin who is an author and sports-writing aficionado. For three hours he talked sports, data, history, Title IX, NFL, NCAA, Nike, patriotism, money, profits, and how professional sports can be fixed for the benefit of the players, fans, and franchises. Prior to 1952, everyone listened to sports on the radio…mainly boxing and baseball, which was considered the American sport. By 1959, 90% of all households had a TV. Football emerged and was best served on TV and not the radio. Hence. The NFL conquered the nation’s attention while boxing and baseball have taken a back seat. Dave didn’t miss one beat. In a three-hour interview of questions, comments, readings, thoughts, and thinking, he gave a flawless, energetic, happy interview.
Peter Slen, the quintessential interviewer…a hero.
Till next time.
...
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Sadly, it’s so much more relaxing to write about books when the Dow rises 434 points.
The Testament of Mary
by Colm Toibin
A fictionalized account of Mary’s version of life after death in this instance read with perfect believability by Meryl Streep. But the star of course is Colm and his perfect conjectures about the reality of it all.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
This book absolutely captures Plath’s assertion about the grinding indifferent millstone of circumstance. Add poverty and the preferential treatment of boys over girls with regard to education, and life becomes exponentially harder than it has to be. Francie gets a good education in Brooklyn but ONLY because her father fabricates the paperwork so that she can get into a better school than the low-level one in her neighborhood. And that was Johnny’s main gift to his only daughter. And this single act of quiet civil disobedience made the difference.
Brooklyn
by Colm Toibin
Irish immigration to America brought people accustomed to disappointment. Yes, disappointment, but also with beliefs that things could get better. Eilis Lacey arrives by boat, finds quite a bit of luck, and adapts almost too easily to 1950s America. But it all rings true. And it rings true because of Colm. He doesn't miss a thing.
Wait Till You See Me Dance
by Deb Olin Unferth
This short story collection is up next.
NPR. NYT. Publishers Weekly. Good Reads.
They say it’s a go.
Which means it is.
But first, I’m finishing Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak who writes about Matthew, Henry, Rory, Tommy, and of course Clay. But it's the connection to Homer and his Illiad and Odyssey that makes this so exciting. Reading Bridge feels a little like reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez who takes you through a river of events that you can barely see but somehow completely understand. But back to Markus. Markus's The Book Thief is my all time favorite book. It's the perfect book with Liesel Meminger as the star along with Hans and Rosa.
This is a lot. Even so. It's the perfect amount.
Then.
On to the pedestrian.
What to have for dinner.
Maybe just a simple root beer float.
Yes. I think so.
Till next time.
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Sunday, January 20, 2019
After a cup of tea, a bit of egg, and a quick gaze almost out the window, here’s a thought for the day:
Till next time.
...
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
1/9/19
Ian Rankin in the Book Review commented about mystery books containing the complete package. But I think his list applies to all good books.
A strong sense of place.
Complex main characters.
Moral and societal issues.
Roller coaster plotting.
But even good fiction can’t really hold up to the real-life stories of people like Madeleine Kamman and Gertrude Jeannette who were two of several folks featured in the NYTimes Magazine from December 30, 2018.
These extraordinary women were deservedly chosen, and their stories were very well written. This particular Magazine is one worth saving (even though at some point, you have to stop saving and clipping).
Never. The. Less. This issue is one for the keeper file.
And then it’s on to mundanity (if that’s a word, and it appears that MS Word does not believe it is, but I digress). It’s energizing when it appears that the day gave you a gift by making your shoes fit better once you’ve put on a thinner pair of socks. But when by the end of the day, thick or thin, the shoes still don’t fit properly, you’re left with the disappointing mundanity of shoes and socks.
Luckily.
To make up for this insult and injury,
There’s still Brooklyn with Colm Toibin.
And it all turns good once again.
Till next time.
...
Monday, January 7, 2019
At the end of the day, you think nothing much has occurred, but then you look around and find out just the opposite.
A letter in the Book Review explained Nietzsche’s anti anti-Semitic views as referenced in Human, All Too Human, Nietzsche's book which explores enlightened reason and science.
An author (Ian Rankin) cleverly explained The Prime of Miss Jean Brody as being an absolute Tardis of a book. (A Dr. Who reference to being bigger on the inside than the outside.)
Gail Collins reviewed Patricia Miller’s book, Bringing Down the Colonel, which led me to wonder about a whole lot of stuff.
Nat King Cole is singing in the background.
And I’m finishing John Grisham’s The Innocent Man on Netflix later on.
It would be hard to find a Monday where more has occurred.
And finally, it would be really, really handy if Hey Siri could accurately spell Nietzsche so that I wouldn't have to physically Google it. Cause Nece ain't he.
Till next time.
...
Sunday, January 6, 2019
David Corn was live on BookTV today for three hours and did a wonderful job explaining his process for fact-checking and for his writing process for both his non-fiction and fiction books. It was a really great interview. Peter Slen, as always, was a superb interviewer. He seems to get better and better with each interview.
And I’ve done it again.
I’m in the middle of two books. I hate when that happens.
Reading on my kindle, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.
Listening on my iPhone, The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin and read by Meryl Streep.
Fortunately, they’re from two different centuries so I should have no trouble keeping the characters straight. It’s gonna be a delightful week.
One downer note: On BookTV, John Carlin (a brilliant young man) talked about his new book on cyber warfare by Russia and China and other nefarious creatures. VERY scary stuff. Best not to look.
Useful idleness. Is that what reading is?
No. But I DO like that phrase.
Till next time.
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Friday, January 4, 2019
Ineffably and invariably, the best moments of the day usually involve a slice of sunlight making its way through the window onto the table where it lights up a bowl of blackberries or a boiled egg or a cheese sandwich or maybe just a fragment of underdone potato, and then it’s gone, that sunny moment, until the next time the earth rolls around.
Sunlight.
Which brings me to dust.
And dusting.
I’m always surprised when I walk by a bookcase and notice a month’s worth of dust when it’s only been a week since I’ve dusted. And dusting brings me to Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust, which I read with my dad oh so many years ago and will reread soon.
But first, I’ll be needing to finish me latest book which is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I was so excited to find this book after it was recommended by a literary-type as one of the all-time greats. But now I see that there’s also a teacher’s guide for high school students. What does it mean to really like a book read by high school students?
It means it’s an extra good book.
A last fleeting thought beyond sunlight, dust, blackberries, potatoes, high schoolers, and nostaligia. Vivian Leigh as Blanche DuBois said in A Streetcar Named Desire that life was for art, music, literature, and tenderness.
Oddly enough she mentioned neither a border wall nor a government shutdown.
Till next time.
...
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
A cozy fire and finishing a book. A good way to start the year.
The book? A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. And yes, its copyright is 1943, which makes me way behind and which is not a good place to be at the start of a new year. But there it is.
And Francie is wonderful. She’s smart, independent, hard working, poor, continually hungry, cautious, in the shadows, but still manages to survive.
From a sociological perspective, it’s great to think that talent and hard work allow people to rise above their initial meager beginnings. But in fact, if Naomi Klein is correct (and she is), the economy for most people is not in their favor. For those who begin life in meager beginnings, saving a few pennies a week is not going to do it. Still…the book is grand, hopeful, and replete with cultural references and explanations for how and why society is where it is today.
It’s nice to be able to root for a hero even if she’s only in a book. I’m now thinking of reading Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, which I’ve already read but which seems like the right time to read again.
There’s just something about Brooklyn.
Till next time.
...
Tuesday, January 1, 2019 A Brand New Year with a few favorite things:
Actor Tom Hardy
Actress Tyne Daly
Writer Arundhati Roy
Playwright Alan Bennett
Broadway Play The Producers
Vitamin C
Bowl Mason Cash
Book Building Stories
Audio Book The Uncommon Reader
Song Let’s Go Fly A Kite
Bridge Brooklyn
Vacation Photo AMNH
Punctuation Oxford Comma
Fragrance Obsession
Titles My Struggle Can You Ever Forgive Me? The Meaning of Everything
