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By
Published: 2008
Category: Beyond Classification
I loathe this day. It's always seemed to me a holiday ginned up by merchants to get Americans to spend any discretionary dollars they haven't blown at Christmas. And as for the “romance” of the night --- is there a human landscape more depressing than a restaurant filled with couples cementing their relationships with forced love chat, jacked-up champagne and heart-shaped desserts?
My mantra: Love is a 24/7, 365-day proposition. If you get it right as you go along, you don't have to show up big on Valentine's Day. Take it from me. I'm on wife #3. I know.
But, okay, I'm here to help --- even if “help” and “enabling” look a lot alike to me. So in the spirit of personal gifts, personally selected, let me try and steer you away from chocolates, perfume, jewels and bubbly and toward Kulture --- good stuff that doesn't go stale, presents that impress and delight without breaking the bank.
BOOKS
Fiction
Endless Love - Teen love becomes obsession, with all that teen energy.
Bel-Ami - He's so handsome he can sleep his way to the top.
Last Night - Elegant encounters, consenting adults.
Matrimony - When college lovers grow up....
Mildred Pierce - She loved her children, but on the side....
The Alchemist - He sought a treasure, found his love.
Sky Burial - Right after their marriage, her husband dies...but not her love.
The House of Mirth - What can a poor girl do?
The Quality of Life Report - New York career woman meets a man in the Midwest.
Memoir
Everybody Was So Young - F. Scott Fitzgerald's glamorous friends.
The Wilder Shores of Love - Women who left Europe for the desert.
C'est La Vie - Her husband dies. She moves to Paris.
Dreaming in Libro: How A Good Dog Tamed A Bad Woman - Exactly as advertised.
Food
Bistro Cooking - French without fuss.
Trattoria - Italian without fuss.
In Defense of Food - Lovers don't let lovers eat poison.
Real Food - The food that lovers let lovers eat.
Polemic
Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences - Yeah! Yeah!
Deep Thoughts
Pema Chodron - She sees crisis as opportunity.
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar - Dazzle any crowd.
Travel
Wallpaper City Guides - Best if accompanied by a ticket
Quiet Corners of Paris - Euro crazy? Make this your armchair travel.
Kids
Taro Gomi - Drawing = silence.
Advice
Improv Wisdom - He/she is good enough right now.
The Creative Habit - The secret is actually revealed here.
Poetry
Sharon Olds - Real love, sweat and all.
MUSIC
Down and Dirty
Etta James - The case for the one-track mind.
Les Negresses Vertes - Bring the club home.
Toots & the Maytals - That beat! That voice!
Dreamy
Jim White - Southern roads, late nights, foggy encounters
Nick Drake - Songs made of crystal, from the master of delicate,
Van Morrison - The song cycle only the cultists know.
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) - Only the name's been changed.
100% American
Levon Helm - He'll do this until Ford stops making trucks.
Wild Card
Al Green - His first gospel CD is surprisingly...hot.
Catch a Fire - The Wailers, before it was all about Bob Marley.
Sandy Bull - Guitars of all nations, ahead of its time.
Saloon Standards
Chris Gillespie - It's quarter to three....
MOVIES
Funny and Smart
It Should Happen to You - She'll take Manhattan.
Local Hero - He'll take Scotland.
Love Me Tonight - He'll take love.
THINGS
Altec Lansing iM9 inMotion Portable Speaker System for iPods - Sleek, small, powerful.
Shure E3c Sound Isolating Earphone Stereo Headphones - Like being in a recording studio.
SIGG Water Bottles - A gift so hip the planet will also thank you.
ART
Discovery Editions - the closest you can come to giving great original art.