242 replies to this topic

[foodie52]

Yes, and another one that uses pictures (not Rorschach) and the subject has to offer a narrative to describe what they imagine is going on.

I took that test when we applied to adopt! Picture was from the 30's: any idiot could tell that you were supposed to translate the stallion and the shirtless man in the picture into something sexual. We've all taken Psych 101. It was stupid.

I wonder what is going on at the New Yorker. Ultimately it's the responsibility of the editor to catch weaknesses. I remember reading somewhere about William Shawn and how he was a stickler about facts.

[Wilfrid1]

We are three editors down the line from Shawn. It's certainly more loosely edited today, but overall it's usually a very good read. I get miffed when it doesn't live up to its own standards.

[g.johnson]

Strangely, Bill Buford, late fiction editor had a reputation for extreme anality.

[Wilfrid1]

An engaging profile of beyond-obsessive jazz person Phil Schaap by David Remnick last week.

But believe me, he wasn't "queuing up" records in the studio. He was "cueing up" records. In the New Yorker... :sigh:

[Liza]

Congratulations to Alex Ross, one of the 2008 MacArthur grant recipients.

[Sneakeater]

In last week's New Yorker, there's an essay on Lionel Trilling by Louis Menand.

I want all the lawyers to read it and consider how it reflects on the Supreme Court jurisprudence of Felix Frankfurter.

[Wilfrid1]

In case any of the fans of British comedy here missed it, Zadie Smith published a charming little memoir about her father's love of the stuff in the holiday issue. Many memories here, and I liked her insightful comment on Tommy Cooper actually dying on stage.

After reading it, go to You Tube and watch some Cooper clips; don't miss "The Hats". I also recommend searching for Charlie Drake and pulling up the extraordinary, anarchic clip from his series "The Worker". (Okay, that one is here.)

[Behemoth]

In case any of the fans of British comedy here missed it, Zadie Smith published a charming little memoir about her father's love of the stuff in the holiday issue. Many memories here, and I liked her insightful comment on Tommy Cooper actually dying on stage.

After reading it, go to You Tube and watch some Cooper clips; don't miss "The Hats". I also recommend searching for Charlie Drake and pulling up the extraordinary, anarchic clip from his series "The Worker". (Okay, that one is here.)

That was a great article, just read it this morning. Thanks for the youtube tip.

[yvonne johnson]

In case any of the fans of British comedy here missed it, Zadie Smith published a charming little memoir about her father's love of the stuff in the holiday issue. Many memories here, and I liked her insightful comment on Tommy Cooper actually dying on stage.

After reading it, go to You Tube and watch some Cooper clips; don't miss "The Hats". I also recommend searching for Charlie Drake and pulling up the extraordinary, anarchic clip from his series "The Worker". (Okay, that one is here.)

That was a great article, just read it this morning. Thanks for the youtube tip.

I really liked this essay of Smith's. The way she intertwined the memories of her father and of his death, her and his enjoyment of comedy and comedy in general,and her anticipatory, fearful experiences of her brother's stand-up performances read really well.... and it was funny.

I've not read any (either?) of her novels...maybe I will.

[bloviatrix]

In case any of the fans of British comedy here missed it, Zadie Smith published a charming little memoir about her father's love of the stuff in the holiday issue. Many memories here, and I liked her insightful comment on Tommy Cooper actually dying on stage.

After reading it, go to You Tube and watch some Cooper clips; don't miss "The Hats". I also recommend searching for Charlie Drake and pulling up the extraordinary, anarchic clip from his series "The Worker". (Okay, that one is here.)

That was a great article, just read it this morning. Thanks for the youtube tip.

I really liked this essay of Smith's. The way she intertwined the memories of her father and of his death, her and his enjoyment of comedy and comedy in general,and her anticipatory, fearful experiences of her brother's stand-up performances read really well.... and it was funny.

I've not read any (either?) of her novels...maybe I will.

White Teeth and On Beauty are worth reading. Stay away from The Autograph Man - it was unreadable.

[ghostrider]

In case any of the fans of British comedy here missed it, Zadie Smith published a charming little memoir about her father's love of the stuff in the holiday issue. Many memories here, and I liked her insightful comment on Tommy Cooper actually dying on stage.

After reading it, go to You Tube and watch some Cooper clips; don't miss "The Hats". I also recommend searching for Charlie Drake and pulling up the extraordinary, anarchic clip from his series "The Worker". (Okay, that one is here.)

That was a great article, just read it this morning. Thanks for the youtube tip.

I really liked this essay of Smith's. The way she intertwined the memories of her father and of his death, her and his enjoyment of comedy and comedy in general,and her anticipatory, fearful experiences of her brother's stand-up performances read really well.... and it was funny.

I've not read any (either?) of her novels...maybe I will.

Yes, very nice piece. Left me a bit melancholy as I face a similar situation with my mother in long-term care out in St. Louis.

Also left me pondering the whys & wherefores of stand-up, having just seen Maine comedians Bob Marley, with George Hamm opening, at Portland's fine Merrill Auditorium last week. Hamm is a misanthrope & wasn't always funny. Marley is one of those rare comedians who seems to genuinely like people & is able to be funny without exhibiting an underlying core of meanness. (Well, OK, his nana may be writhing in her grave, but I still think he loved her.) He has a great ear for Mainers' speech & mannerisms, & pokes fun at them while conveying his affection. Not an easy line to walk but he seems to manage it. The fact that he sold out the 2000-seat auditorium for 6 straight nights over Xmas week indicates that he's on to something.

And as for opening a show - it was the antithesis of Edward Aczel. Marley filled the stage with 100 people, starting with a high-school marching band, then a rocker off in the corner playing "Another One Bites The Dust" over & over again, then jugglers, clowns, bagpipers, Moses, Jesus, perhaps Gandhi..... Then he rode in on a dogsled, jumped off & high-fived Jesus. How do you do jokes after that?

[Wilfrid1]

I needed to load up the archive to do some research (honestly), and soon lost myself in June, 1950.

Among the entertainment options: "Art Tatum communing with his piano...and Charlie Parker's strident little jazz band" at Cafe Society on Sheridan Square. Dancing and dining in the open-air at Tavern on the Green on "smog free" evenings. Vic Damone on the Starlight Roof of the Waldorf-Astoria. Homestands by the Giants and Dodgers as well as the Yankees.

The editorial content begins with a casual by James Thurber and includes a long piece on car racing by A.J. Liebling which I haven't read.

Perhaps auspiciously, there's also a review of premium European beers available around town, and remarks on pairing beer with food. From which we re-learn that everything old will one day be new again.

ETA: Also a short story by Peter de Vries and an article on D.H. Lawrence by Alfred Kazin. No contents page in those days, so you have to look and see. I really do need an extra twenty years of this mortal coil to catch up with New Yorker back issues.

[Wilfrid1]

From the same year, at the Versailles club on 50th:

Edith Piaf in a basic little black dress and occasionally in far from Basic English, does those wisps of French ballads about heaven and earth and love and death with artfully artless perfection.

[bloviatrix]

I needed to load up the archive to do some research (honestly), and soon lost myself in June, 1950.

Among the entertainment options: "Art Tatum communing with his piano...and Charlie Parker's strident little jazz band" at Cafe Society on Sheridan Square. Dancing and dining in the open-air at Tavern on the Green on "smog free" evenings. Vic Damone on the Starlight Roof of the Waldorf-Astoria. Homestands by the Giants and Dodgers as well as the Yankees.

The editorial content begins with a casual by James Thurber and includes a long piece on car racing by A.J. Liebling which I haven't read.

Perhaps auspiciously, there's also a review of premium European beers available around town, and remarks on pairing beer with food. From which we re-learn that everything old will one day be new again.

ETA: Also a short story by Peter de Vries and an article on D.H. Lawrence by Alfred Kazin. No contents page in those days, so you have to look and see. I really do need an extra twenty years of this mortal coil to catch up with New Yorker back issues.

Last week I went back and pulled the Ogden Nash poem Everything's Haggis in Hoboken to celebrate Robert Burn's birthday and proceeded to waste the better part of a half hour flipping through the May 19, 1951 issue. I've been meaning to pull the Updike piece about Ted William's final game, but I need to find a free hour or so because I know where that will lead me.

[Wilfrid1]

The famous bit is included in the selection of Updike's work in the current issue.