YES I’M STILL READING MANHATTAN BEACH SO SUE ME
What can I say, we had house guests and Shabbos is different when you have house guests e.g. there’s more socializing and not as much reading no matter how many times you ask “DOES EVERYONE HAVE SOMETHING TO READ?” but I have about seven books on loan from the library, so
The Tyranny of Terrazzo, by Molly Fischer in The Cut, back in March
“In this era [the Millennial design era], you come to understand, design was the product. Whatever else you might be buying, you were buying design, and all the design looked the same.” DID I MENTION I’M REALLY INTO DESIGN LATELY? I love this article because it’s able to identify the moment we’re living through in historical context. (And don’t miss the quoted Peggy couch article from the The Awl, if you haven’t laughed your ass off about it already.)
The Uncanny Tale of Shimmel Zohar, by Lawrence Weschler in The Atlantic
This story is very frustrating. Because it’s a very good story told in a very bad way. It’s got an eccentric Jew, another eccentric Jew, attempts to recover the past, Kabbalah – tzimtzum!! IT’S GOT TZIMTZUM! imagine the possibilities!!! – and muttonchops. But the writer is very taken with himself, vastly overestimating our interest in the minutiae of his journey, as well as his own cleverness – which, fine. Me too. But there is so much potential, I wish it becomes a movie featuring museum lady Gravity Goldberg as the protagonist who goes on a long and winding journey to discover the truth about her newest exhibit and maybe the COVID-19 outbreak saves her reputation. OR MAYBE SHE KNEW ALL ALONG??