Bringing up bébé
French parents are strict, and they do not share power with their children. I like this method of parenting, and so does Pamela Druckerman. I posted about her at Prospero.
Crazy sexy Teutonic
Imagine a cross between Thomas Mann’s “Death in Venice”, the CLUE board game and a wargames fanzine. I wrote about Roberto Bolaño’s newly-released “The Third Reich” for Prospero.
Five things about willpower
Humans are funny and frail. It all boils down to that, really.
Click here to read about it.
Michael Fassbender
I wrote about this blue-eyed man for GQ, which chose him as one of their Men of the Year.
Before the interview, I was warned that Fassbender “is ADD” and that during our talk I should get to the point. This is a typical thing for a publicist to say, and it does not mean that her client has difficulty organizing tasks or completing activities. It means that he is rude, and it means not to be offended because she warned me.
It turned it that Fassbender wasn’t rude at all. He was quiet, nice, and slightly weird. Here is the profile.
Everything is more complicated than you think
Gosh, John Jeremiah Sullivan. He is to essayists what Charlie Sheen is to sitcom actors (*so good he makes it look easy). I had the lucky task of asking him questions for Prospero.
Solitary males and proper nouns
Posted about Paul La Farge’s novel Luminous Airplanes at Prospero. Read it instead of the new Murakami, maybe.
Spin me a yarn
Whenever I see a new novel described as “the thinking man’s X”, my eyes narrow into slits.
Colson Whitehead’s new book, Zone One, is a zombie novel, and I reviewed it for the Boston Globe.
The book has been getting great reviews, but I didn’t like it too much. Has anyone else cracked this one open? I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
All-U-Can-Eat de Kooning
A whole floor of swamp monsters! Okay, not a floor. A room. Two rooms.
I blogged about the de Kooning show for Prospero. It is a good idea to eat something before you go— ideally not something from the MoMA cafeteria (soup and sandwich: $20).
Justin Theroux’s dork voice
When he talks about his personal soundtrack—”If I’m in scenic country, a little Nouvelle Vague on the iPod”—you have to forgive him, because he may as well be talking about poison dart frogs or laser tag.
—I did a mini piece on Justin Theroux for GQ. In the photo shoot, the magazine dressed him up like Serpico. They omitted the scene where Serpico wears socks with Tevas.
