The "Order" Edition
Dear readers,
Here in the Book Nook, last week I mentioned that I’d recently finished two books.
The first—Martin Amis’ “Zone Of Interest.” It’s the book on which this year’s Academy Award-winning movie is based. It is a very compelling read (and disturbing, yes). A trilogy of male characters tell the story. It is obsessive and squelches emotion you wait and you wait for it (the emotion) to find its way out. Which it does. Quietly yet explosively. It makes me appreciate how brilliant the film adaptation was in the sense that it took off so completely from a very acute angle of the novel. The camera and the actors also stamp out emotion. But the knowledge that this is a human impossibility pervades on screen, as well.
Second — Xochitil Gonzales’ first novel, “Olga Dies Dreaming.” It’s ultra-contemporary and completely relatable. But it is another novel about identity in part defined by race and ethnicity, and also loss. I picked it up because Gonzalez’ second novel, “Anita De Monte Laughs Last,” which I am currently reading, got such hugely positive reviews so before I read the second I wanted to see where she was coming from.
Both the novels are super-readable, character-driven, I’d say “easy” to read, like in a Reese’s Book Club kind of way (which ‘Anita’ is). While I didn’t know her as a fiction author, it turns out that I had read a huge amount of Gonzalez’ non-fiction, which you have, too, if you are a subscriber of the LZSP. I have run a number of her pieces over the years, mostly from The Atlantic. The non-fiction is also easy to read, I’d say. But also in an interesting and brilliant way. As in a Pulitzer finalist kind of way.
This week’s most important stories from politics, business, health, the arts, and pop culture by, for, and about women in the news has made it to my short list. Enjoy.
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And… Happy Passover! We are hosting a relatively large crowd this year, enough to necessitate an extension to our already-long dining room table. I’m dashing off now to run several different sets of tableware through the dishwasher. How do they get so sticky (gross!) stored on a high shelf and/or tucked away cabinet? For those occasions that you need 5 sets of plates, cups and platters to take you through your meal, you will be asking yourself the same question.
Also, the art of polishing silver is very under-rated. Mr. Carson didn’t show up for the kiddush cup cleaning session so that’s another thing I need to go focus on.
Our meal and seder itself will be fun and festive—hope you who are celebrating will also enjoy.
Peace to All!
The Pic(k) of the Week:
The Best Dressed At The WNBA Draft via The New York Times
Caitlin Clark’s Staggeringly Low Starting Salary, Briefly Explained via Vox
POLITICS:
In Defiance Of The West, The Taliban Will Stone Women In Public Again via The Globe and Mail
How 2000 Elderly Swiss Women Won A Landmark Climate Case via Vox
BUSINESS:
What Do We Owe Women For Childcare and Housework? $3.6 Trillion via Bloomberg
HEALTH & WELLNESS:
Women In Menopause Are Getting Short Shrift via The Atlantic
I Always Knew I Was Different. I Just Didn’t Know I Was A Sociopath via The Wall Street Journal
#MeToo:
L.A. Ethics Panel Approves Fine For Former CBS Exec Leslie Moonves Over Interference With LAPD Investigation via The Los Angeles Times
#MeToo Stalled In France. This Actress Might Be Chanting Things via The New York Times
THE ARTS & POP CULTURE:
Porn Set Up Women From The Start via The Atlantic
Revisiting Clara Bow, the Scrutinized “It” Girl Who Inspired Taylor Swift’s New Song via Vanity Fair
’Civil War’ Director Alex Garland On Why Writing Female Leads Is Less Boring Than Writing For Men via The CBC
Laurie Anderson On Making An AI Chatbot Of Lou Reed: ‘I’m Totally, 100%, Sadly Addicted’ via The Guardian
The Trials Of Lt. McFadden via Snap Judgment
OBITUARIES—HAPPY POETRY MONTH:
Faith Ringgold Dies At 93, Wove Black Life Into Quilts and Children’s Books via The New York Times
Beverly LaHaye, Influential Evangelical Activist, Dies At 94 via The New York Times
…AND WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT…?
Grandmother Holds Plank For 4.5 Hours By ‘Breathing, Staying Calm, and Not Shaking’ — And Sets World Record via People