Tidy Tidbits: Recent Reading, etc.

FEELING GRATEFUL

The Chief Penguin and I were extremely fortunate, lucky, actually.  We endured an anxious 48 hours in New York as Hurricane Irma moved closer and closer to our coast and to the possibility of obliterating our stretch of paradise.  But as Irma shifted eastward and the winds changed direction, we were the beneficiaries of good fortune.  We returned home earlier this week, and yes, there were big trees uprooted and a fair amount of debris, but our house was intact and dry.  We heaved a big sigh of relief while sympathizing with many of our friends nearby who lost power for 5, 6, 7, 8 or even 9 days.  And we feel for the many thousands of people in the Keys and Puerto Rico who were not so fortunate.

 MOMA

Before we left Manhattan, we walked the High Line and paid a visit to the Museum of Modern Art for lunch in their café (good food at a very reasonable price) and a tour around the Robert Rauschenberg retrospective.  It turns out we were there just before the exhibit closed.  Quite a range of works from paintings with objects like metal fans or a stuffed bird affixed to the canvas, to colorful textiles, and even a vat of brownish bubbling mud.  To read more about Rauschenberg’s work, here’s an exhibit review from the New York Times.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

CURRENT READING

 Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Coming Home by Amy Dickinson

Many of the memoirs I’ve read in the past year or so have dealt with the act of dying.  While Ms. Dickinson has had more than her share of hardship and disappointment, she has a basically positive attitude about life and this book ends on an up note.  I especially enjoyed her account of growing up in a teeny tiny burg in upstate New York (not all that far from where I grew up) and what it was like to choose to return there to live permanently as a middle-aged adult.  Not something I would have chosen for myself.

From finding love post 50 to navigating the shoals of gaining acceptance from her newly acquired stepdaughters, it is a heartfelt, candid book.  Dickinson also writes the “Ask Amy” syndicated advice column carried in many newspapers. (~JW Farrington)

What Happened by Hillary Clinton

I am a Hillary fan (not that I think she ran a perfect campaign) and was one of her supporters.  I got her new book immediately, have begun it, and am about a quarter of the way into it.  Two immediate observations.  One, she comes across as warm and flexible and human in a way that she has never been before in her public life.  Two, she shares her regrets, personal mistakes, and apologizes for her loss in the election.  She doesn’t take all the blame, but she says she’s sorry in a way I can’t ever imagine a male politician doing.  I can’t envision any man writing this kind of soul-baring prose.

But, it is a very long book and she is wordy and so determined to be comprehensive that I get bogged down periodically and have to set aside the flow of words.  Even though she lost, her candidacy was an historic first, a fact that may have gotten lost recently.  She provides a very good chapter on what the challenges and obstacles are for female politicians in general.  Some of those also apply to women scaling the corporate ladder.  I will persevere on the book.  (~JW Farrington)

ON THE HIGH LINE

Note:  All photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

 

Manhattan Adventures

WAITING OUT IRMA

We led a schizophrenic existence the past few days enjoying lovely sunny fall days in Manhattan while mentally anxious about Hurricane Irma’s path and the fate of our Florida home. We were some of the fortunate ones; by the time Irma reached us, she had lessened in intensity and the wind direction sent any potential storm surge away from our house. We did not suffer any damage, just a few downed trees and branches around our property, while many in our area are without power.  While we waited, we walked, ate, went to museums, and spent time with our granddaughters.

EAST SIDE VIBE

The Upper East Side is a new neighborhood for us as we’ve always stayed in midtown or the West Village in the past. We love the West Village, its irregular streets, its funkiness, its cutting edge restaurants, and its overall small burg feeling. But, there is life for us in the UES too. The streets, while straight and grid-like, are bustling with people and places to shop, and a European aspect to some blocks. The dining is mostly more traditional, Old World German or French bistro-style, with in between a Chinese or Vietnamese eatery. Lots of bakeries too. Where Italian food seems to predominate in the Village, here it’s French. Although we did discover Nicola’s, a family-friendly popular restaurant serving delicious Italian food.

MUSEUMS

Met Breuer

We are a short walking distance from Museum Mile on 5th Avenue and have visited two museums already. We had long ago been in the Met Breuer building when it was the home of the Whitney Museum, but not since then. Flora Bar, their coffee and pastry outpost, offers a wide selection of coffees and teas, but also a tasty slice of greens pie and an awesome sticky bun that has sugar on top, but is not too sweet. It’s a pleasant spot to while away the time.

We were less impressed with the one exhibit on display. A retrospective of furniture, ceramics, jewelry, and textiles by the designer Ettore Sottsass, it was challenging for those who had never heard of him. With label text written in high museumese, it was not nearly as accessible to a general audience as it could have been.

We bought a Met membership since that gives us entry to the big Met on 5th Avenue and The Cloisters as well as here; if, however, we had bought admission tickets for just this museum, we would have been disappointed that there wasn’t more to see.

Neue Galerie

My friend Patricia has been singing the praises of Neue Galerie for several years, both for their collection and for the luscious Viennese pastry at their Café Sabarsky. We went and were very impressed on both counts. Feeling relieved after Irma left us intact, we indulged in a celebratory lunch starting with champagne and ending with a shared slice of apple strudel. The Chief Penguin went the traditional route with bratwurst, German potatoes, and cole slaw while I had what might be called, the “ladies special.” It was a mound of delicate fresh crabmeat salad covered by a silky ripe half an avocado with a few micro greens and cherry tomatoes around it. Just perfect!

Concentrating on Austrian and German art from about 1880 to 1940, the museum’s permanent collection includes lots of Klimts and Schieles as well as works by other artists of the period. An especially beautiful work is Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer,” which Gallerie founder Ronald Lauder purchased in 2006. This study in gold was the subject of the excellent feature film, Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren.

“Woman in Gold” from Neue Galerie

We also appreciated seeing the first ever museum exhibit of works by Richard Gerstl, an Austrian painter known for his revealing portraits, both of himself and his musician friends. His early suicide, after an affair with Arnold Schonberg’s wife, resulted in his work being sent to a warehouse for many years.

Note:  All other photos by JWFarrington.

Tidy Tidbits: Screens & Pages

LIGHT FARE

With hurricane Irma on our minds and the strange anticipation of not knowing what its track will be—will we just get rain or will we be wiped out—it’s time for some diversion.  Here are two recommended films, one fun, the other sobering, and two books, both easy on the brain.

BIG SCREEN

Dunkirk

Watching this film is an emotionally battering experience.  It’s excellent, but challenging.  Told mostly from the perspective of an individual unnamed soldier, it lacks a traditional narrative arc.  Instead, the film focuses on three fields of battle, the beach or mole where 300,000 British troops are hemmed in and trapped, the air following three fighter pilots, and the sea with endless scenes of watery graves, fires, and a desperate struggle to survive.  There is one story line that epitomizes what made Dunkirk especially memorable and that is the father and son, ordinary citizens, who were among the volunteers who took their personal boats and bravely rescued soldiers from the sea.

The Big Sick

The title of this film was almost enough to put me off seeing it, but it got such rave reviews, we did go.  It’s a very good film.  Kumail, an aspiring stand-up comedian, who happens to be Pakistani, meets and falls in love with an American woman.  Meanwhile his mother keeps inviting potential Muslim wife candidates to drop by at family dinners.  When Emily ends up in the hospital, Kumail must interact with her skeptical parents. I don’t care for stand-up comedy and found the first fifteen minutes of the film not to my liking, but then got into it.  It’s funny, believable, and complex all at the same time.

 

ON THE PAGE

The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

This is a fast-paced coming of age story set in Manhattan at the famed Barbizon Hotel for Women.  Darby arrives there in 1952 from small town Ohio while in 1916 Rose lives there in a refurbished condo with her successful and rich boyfriend.  Darby is a Katie Gibbs “girl”, but through a strange twist of events ends up never marrying and is still living there. A journalist, Rose has had career issues.  When boyfriend Griff decamps back to his ex-wife and kids, she is stuck and becomes obsessed with the mystery surrounding Darby McLaughlin.  The period detail is great, the story fanciful with attributes of a fairy tale, but overall, it’s great escapism! (~JW Farrington)

 Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Thanks to my friend Bonnie who reads a different Anne Tyler novel every summer, I purchased this new one.  It’s a contemporary re-telling of The Taming of the Shrew and is humorous and fun.  The writing sparkles and you can’t help but be caught up in this eccentric family and its detailed rules for living.  Scientist father Louis Battista routinely forgets his lunch and expects it to be delivered to his lab, younger sister Bunny is light on brains, but attracted to Edward, her supposed Spanish tutor, while prickly, blunt-spoken Kate makes a week’s supply of meat mash for their nightly dinners.  When her father cooks up the idea that Kate should marry his foreign lab colleague, Pyotr, so he can stay in the U.S., their joint campaign tests her mettle.   This book is one in the Hogarth Shakespeare series of his plays retold by noted novelists of today.  (~JW Farrington)

Cover photo:  Sunrise over the bay ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Tidy Tidbits: End of Summer Reading

It’s almost Labor Day and the unofficial end of summer.  If you are off for holiday over the weekend or just home with some free hours, here are a couple of lighter books plus an engaging biography of a neglected writer who deserves more attention.

What have you been reading this summer?  I’d love to know!

BON BON FOR THE BEACH

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

I have been noticing Williams’ novels on bookstore shelves, but this is the first one I’ve read. It’s a historical novel and a romance, but that doesn’t completely describe it. It also has a frothy element as its two main characters, Annabelle and Pepper, are rich and beautiful women who could have any man they wanted. The stories of these two alternate with most of the novel focusing on Annabelle in 1930’s France and Germany and her involvement with two men, Stefan, a German resister, and Johann, a high-ranking Nazi general. Annabelle and Pepper meet in 1966 in Florida when a pregnant Pepper sells Annabelle her 1936 Mercedes roadster and Annabelle takes her under her wing, sort of. It’s a delightful romp in the high life, mostly, and perfect escapism. (~JW Farrington)

SPIES IN PAKISTAN

Bloodmoney by David Ignatius

I occasionally read Mr. Ignatius’ columns in the Washington Post and decided to read this spy novel on the recommendation of my good friend Margaret.  I didn’t find it as fast-paced as many reviews indicated, but I was fascinated by the tradecraft of spies—surveillance detection routes, for example—and the disguises, duplicity, and double-dealing required by operators on both sides.  I became more engrossed the deeper into his version of Pakistan I got.  (~ JW Farrington)

 

FORGOTTEN FENIMORE   

Hulton Archive, Getty Images

Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist by Anne Boyd Rioux

As a relative of James Fenimore Cooper, Constance Fenimore Woolson gained entrée to select company and, initially, received more attention for her work than she might have otherwise.  Later praised as the finest woman writer of her time, Woolson wrote a wide range of short stories and several novels.  She traveled widely and often lived for several months in different climes, everywhere from Florida and Florence to England and Egypt.  She became acquainted with Henry James, and although both were somewhat solitary souls dedicated to their writing, they enjoyed a close friendship.   At one point they even lived in the same building in Florence one floor apart.

Woolson’s work, however, didn’t fall neatly into one movement or another; she wasn’t strictly a regionalist nor was she a student of social mores.  She came between Sara Orne Jewett and Edith Wharton in time and hence, after much success, but uncategorizable, she was mostly forgotten after her early death.  The fact that her death was most likely by her own doing didn’t help.  I knew about Woolson from my reading of James’ biographies and was pleased to learn more about this vibrant, independent woman.  (~ JW Farrington)

Miss Grief and Other Stories by Constance Fenimore Woolson

Readers owe a debt of gratitude to Anne Boyd Rioux for her engaging literary biography of Woolson and for resurrecting a representative sample of her short stories.  Having read the biography with its detailed discussion of Woolson’s work, it is a treat to discover her.  I have now read a few of the stories here and so far liked the most the title story, “Miss Grief,”  about a successful young male writer and a middle-aged poor woman writer who wants to be published.  It has both some humor as well as pathos.

I found the nature imagery too rhapsodic for my taste in her Great Lakes story, “St. Clair Flats,” but I thought the premise of “A Florentine Experiment” with its twists and turns was intriguing and with its emphasis on dialogue definitely reflective of Henry James.  Both the biography and the story collection were published in 2016.  (~ JW Farrington)