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Butler’s taking two weeks, but not leaving you empty-handed
By
Published: Aug 15, 2019
Category:
Beyond Classification
These are tricky times. A grinning maniac is driving the clown car of his administration at top speed into a wall — or is it that he’s preparing us for fascism? (There’s a smart column about this here.) Danger lurks anywhere guns are legal. The global markets are sending a message that could have been predicted. And on social media, the choices I see are two: “We’re screwed” or “2020.” So my business here is increasingly urgent: promote calm, sanity, creativity, laughter, entertainment, enlightenment. These choices ring those bells for me. I hope something here does that for you.
MEMOIR
The Tender Bar
J.R. Moehringer’s father, a noted disc jockey, was out of his mother’s life before J.R. was old enough to remember that he was ever around. (“My father was a man of many talents, but his one true genius was disappearing.”) His mother, suddenly poor, moves into her family’s house in Manhasset, Long Island. In that house: J.R.’s mother, grandmother, aunt and five female cousins. Also in that house: Uncle Charlie, a bartender at Dickens, a Manhasset establishment beloved by locals who appreciate liquor in quantity— “every third drink free” — and strong opinions, served with a twist.A boy needs a father. If he doesn’t have one, he needs some kind of man in his life. Or men, because it can indeed take a village. I’m told the audio book is a killer — great for a long drive.
Robert Caro: Working
Caro is the most acclaimed non-fiction writer in America. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography — twice. He has won the National Book Critics Circle Award — three times. And the Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. And, in 2010, he received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama. He writes very long books. “Working” is short: 207 pages. It tells the story of his work methods — years and years of research, years and years of writing and rewriting. It gives me fresh reasons to admire Caro: his dedication, his character.
Educated
We love survival stories, particularly when a plucky young woman, stranded in a terrible situation, Fights Her Way Out and Makes Something of Herself. There’s always a case worse than the worst case, but it’s hard to beat what Tara Westover was up against. Her father was a survivalist, certain that the government could show up any day to kill him. And he was a Mormon, which made him hostile to the idea of female agency. And he was crazy — a toxic narcissist, surely bi-polar or schizophrenic. His wife was under his thumb. Tara, the youngest of seven children, was under his boot.
Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir
Ruth Reichl’s memoir is — I’m not going to say “dishy,” I’m not going to say “delicious” — an important book about media disguised as a memoir with recipes. It’s 288 pages. It reads fast. The stories are sharp and memorable; as a bonus, they are as much about working with people and being a leader as they are about food. In crazy times, it’s a comfort.
THINGS
Moleskine Notebooks
Basquiat? Dylan? The notebooks are attractive, and they’re limited editions. But any updating is unsettling. Because in a world of fads and scams, Moleskines are the real thing, a gold standard. The leather-like cover takes more wear than you’ll ever give it. The elastic band is useful both to keep the notebook closed and to mark your place. There’s an inner pocket to hold business cards, receipts and small photographs. The spine is sewn, not glued, so the cover lies flat when it’s opened. The paper is acid-free. They last.
Allbirds
There are many reasons for the rise of Allbirds. Start with ecological correctness: Allbirds are made from knit wool and castor bean oil. Add gender nullification: The two primary styles (lounger and runner) are unisex. Add simplicity of pricing: Every style is $95 (kids styles are $49-$85). And, most of all, sockless comfort. And now — trumpet flare — Allbirds has introduced a new shoe for women: Tree Loungers. Think of them as ballet flats for the 21st century, correct for the office and… why not… the ballet.
Nam Prik Asian Chili Hot Sauce
Nam Prik is an Asian chili sauce that’s both spicy and sweet. Nam Prik (pronounced: nam-preek, literally “fluid chili”) isn’t like all the other smartly-labeled sauces you see on grocery shelves. It delivers fire and flavor, adding personality to eggs, Mexican food, Asian dishes, meat and chicken entrees — it could be the next Sriracha.
Egyptian Magic
If there’s a skin problem this stuff can’t deal with, I can’t find it. We swab it on the kid’s wounds at night; in the morning, she’s well on the return trip to flawless. Burns, scrapes, skin irritations, diaper rash, sunburns, eczema, psoriasis — it’s the go-to cream. Dry skin? When an exceptional moisturizer is needed, we open the Magic. Some use it on their hair, as a conditioner. As an anti-wrinkle cream, it’s a comparative bargain. After surgery, it’s said to reduce scarring.
NON-FICTION
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
Two books in one — and both are sensationally good. One is about Reverend Willie Maxwell, a black preacher in Alabama, who heavily insured his wives and other relatives… and killed them for the insurance. The other is about Harper Lede, 16 years after she published “To Kill a Mockingbird,” needing a new book to write, finding it in Maxwell’s trial…. And not writing it. Here is the book Harper Lee wanted to write, and couldn’t. And a book about herself that the obsessively private Harper Lee wouldn’t have dreamed of writing. In 275 pages, Casey Cep has written both.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
When I first heard of Theranos around 2012, I instantly smelled a rat: former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and General James “Mad Dog” Mattis served on its board. Why would a company with a purported mission to cure disease and save lives have multiple trained killers and war criminals on its board, but zero actual scientists? It would be like the board of Disney being composed entirely of porn producers. It made no sense. But it did: it was a scam.
FICTION
Annie Ernaux: The Years
I don’t know what to call “The Years” — history? memoir? — but I do know it’s the best book I’ve read this year. The story of her life… and maybe yours too.
Fleishman Is in Trouble
Here’s the first paragraph:
Toby Fleishman awoke one morning inside the city he’d lived in all his adult life and which was suddenly somehow now crawling with women who wanted him. Not just any women, but women who were self-actualized and independent and knew what they wanted. Women who weren’t needy or insecure or self- doubting, like the long-ago prospects of his long-gone youth—meaning the women he thought of as prospects but who never gave him even a first glance. No, these were women who were motivated and available and interesting and interested and exciting and excited. These were women who would not so much wait for you to call them one or two or three socially acceptable days after you met them as much as send you pictures of their genitals the day before. Women who were open-minded and up for anything and vocal about their desires and needs and who used phrases like “put my cards on the table” and “no strings attached” and “I need to be done in ten because I have to pick up Bella from ballet.” Women who would fuck you like they owed you money, was how our friend Seth put it.
The Queen’s Gambit
My favorite book. Reader Review #1: “I don’t read mysteries. I don’t read thrillers. I’m a Barbara Pym kind of reader, who likes books in which the big events are cups of tea. But I got ‘The Queens Gambit’ out of the library and couldn’t put it down. I gave it to my husband, who definitely does read thrillers, and he gulped it down in a day.” Reader Review #2: “My Kindle says I’ve read 1/8th of the book. I don’t see how I can stop.”
MUSIC
Vigilate! English polyphony in dangerous times
This is a collection of English Renaissance vocal church music — that is, all voices, mostly singing in Latin, no instruments. Think of this as “underground” music: Catholic composers responding to political and religious pressure by not telegraphing their beliefs. A powerful, moving hour of music
Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece
For more years than most of you have been alive, I have believed that Astral Weeks is Van Morrison’s transcendent work. And for as long as I’ve been publishing Butler, I’ve told you that — indeed, because it’s a largely unknown masterpiece, I’ve called it the poster child for this site. It’s possible I was only half-right.
TRAVEL
Travel Anywhere (And Avoid Being a Tourist): Travel trends and destination inspiration for the modern adventurer
You do not want to open “Travel Anywhere” if you have been drinking or toking. First, you will turn down the corners of pages of destinations, hotels and restaurants that are particularly appealing. Then you will go to the Web to see what it costs to go there. And then, if you are sufficiently blitzed, you will grab a passport and rush to the airport.
