Matt Keeley

And he lifts Pynchon’s Against the Day epigraph in a later book!

Congrats, Amber!

Looking forward to reading.

Have you read Laura Cummings’s Thunderclap? Features a digression on this!

Your inbox must be a nightmare!

Thanks!!

Refuses to show books’ spines to followers

Also wonder how much the typical reader knows how to recognize the signs of “prestige.”

Deckled edge, highbrow imprint, subdued cover, etc.

I know that I misinterpreted the signs a lot as a young reader, went to many books with expectations awry.

Bacurau suffered from this, I think: Great crowd pleaser in a Get Out mode, but never going to be treated like that.

Screenshot from Columbo. He his talking to his dog, which is sitting is the drivers seat of a car. “Okay, I’m gonna put you in charge. You take care of the car. You’re a responsible dog. When I get back, if the car’s okay, I’ll give you another cookie.”

“If the car’s gone,”

“I’ll give you another cookie anyway”

“because I love you.”

Happy Columbo’s Day

*Slow Learner

Pynchon's Early Learner, to be followed by Shadow Ticket.

Turn sharpness to 0, noise reduction off?

The first 4K I watched on my 4K (The Apartment) initially had smoothing despite me turning the obvious features off — also, is this on disc? Could maybe be a player feature rather than TV.

Same in Boston!

Always nice to get out of town for a weekend. And good to get back *before* those ominous clouds let loose!

Side effect of new gym habit: Body seems to want extra two or three hours of sleep a night?

OK on a long weekend, not great otherwise!

FWIW, I immediately sent this to the one estate manager I know.

Before I sent the link to settlement page, I double-checked: The author whose estate he handles had around a dozen books on the list.

The last survivor of the Hindenburg died six years ago!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_...

Update: It sounds like something that will show up in ambitious quantities on the new paperback front table of Harvard Bookstore and one copy will leave the store with me.

Ditto

I didn't even *hear* about it, much less consider pitching it. Guess it's going on the Christmas list.

Shocked that Updike’s letters have made so little impression in book media thus far: Didn’t even realize they were due until I saw Mallon review.

I know he’s somewhat unfashionable, but this sounds like a fine, fine book.

Remember starting to read this at Trinity College, Dublin and putting it down because of the endless anti-Catholic ranting.

I so wanted to enjoy!

(Probably a valuable lesson for me about feelings of marginalized people encountering The Canon though!)

Few actors exemplify the delightful wildness and mess that was the hallmark of Meisner technique better than Diane Keaton. What an incredible actor and career. impossible to imagine Reds, Godfather II, or Annie Hall, three of the best American films of the new Hollywood era, without her. RIP!

Delayed a few days by baseball, Issue 4, The Begats, is out now. A raft of quotes from my commonplace book about parents and children.

This is unreal. I hope he sues and gets all the money.

The Dismal Career Opportunities for Military Spouses For the partners of America’s active-duty service members, finding a stable, well-paid job is often impossible.

A reminder (from my 2019 @theatlantic.com reporting) that as military families go without pay this shutdown, many of them are single-paycheck households relying on the servicemember's income because the spouses have been pushed out of the workforce.

www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

They’re Trying to Publish the Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of

Loved this profile of the women who run Hagfish Books, another amazing company devoted to reissuing forgotten and overlooked titles.

A ★★★★★ review of I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) I remember watching this the first time and being a bit baffled by it. It seemed weirdly theatrical, the Scotland unconvincing and clichéd, and I didn’t pick up on any chemistry between Wendy Hillier ...

I wasn’t sure about I Know Where I’m Going the first time I watched it. Now I am. It is perfect. boxd.it/bkJTol

But, say, fifteen years ago, something like the Mole Song Trilogy would have a great release.

For up-and-coming: Yasuzō Masumura? The only film from him on Criterion Channel is basically samurai softcore, but movies like Giants and Toys are touted as rediscoveries.