Liars and Saints

  In my childhood, I had a coffee table book about the history of Broadway. The part that stunned me was a segment on Hal Prince. Having taken on "Cabaret," Prince constructed massive mirrors--mirrors that would "confront" the audience. Thus the members of the audience would stare at themselves throughout the night. Prince was saying: "Don't think you can detach yourself. You likely would have been complicit in history--if you were wearing Sally Bowles's shoes." Twisted little boy that I was, I also felt drawn to "Night, Mother." Every evening, Kathy Bates would announce her intention to commit suicide. Two hours would pass. Then, Bates would commit suicide--the end of the evening was (also) the end of her life. I had this book before I "found" Sondheim. Something in the DNA told me, You should just pay attention to this information about Liza Minnelli and Pearl Bailey. And the stats about Zero Mostel. If you're very young, ...

  "Happening" is a memoir by Annie Ernaux; I chose it at a time when I couldn't read anything lengthy. It was listed among great novellas, though I don't think it is fiction. It's intimidating to read something by a Nobel winner--why not start with a novella? Ernaux begins with an HIV test. She sits in a waiting room and listens as a biologist speaks into a phone. "No, your cell count is normal, perfectly normal." She immediately understands what is being not said but instead implied: "You have AIDS, and I can't comfort you. But  perfectly  is a word with three syllables. It takes a long time to say. So I might just say it several times." Immediately, Ernaux is sending a subtextual message: I'm a writer, and I notice things. She proceeds to make a character out of herself. In her fury and terror, she imagines that a particular man she just saw ("half-heartedly") is a villain from a comic book; he roams the streets of Europe; h...

 I'm delighted that "Hadestown" is having so much success this week. The proshot knocked me over. First, there is the witty costume design: the Earth tones of the laborers, the black/silvery style for the Fates, the seasonal shift in Persephone's "look." Second: the ending. The Pulitzer winner Wesley Morris--focusing on "Ragtime" and "Giant"--recently argued that new Broadway productions refuse to challenge or disturb a ticket-buyer. By contrast, "Hadestown" doesn't let us comfortably despise any of the characters. And it has a brutal ending--a courageous choice for the writers. Third: Patrick Page. I was not alone in watching the proshot and thinking Patrick Page deserved the Tony Award. Andre De Shields was excellent, AND Page still deserved the Tony win. My old writing teacher likes to say that she writes about "the space between the sidewalk and the curb." The liminal space. When you're neither here nor the...

 My daughter has fallen for "The Magic Tree House," and I can see why. These books recreate the past; they are not simply history lessons. By putting Jack and Annie in the middle of a dinosaur stampede, Osborne grants every child-reader an important wish. Let me actually *travel* in space and time. The very first sentence fragment in the very first book is brilliant. "Help! A monster!" How do you beat that? Susie demands a rereading sometimes. Twice, we have wandered through "Mummies in the Morning." There is spookiness--a tomb robber, a ghost-queen, a mirage. Occasionally, there is a villain; the "pirate" segment involves a "Captain Hook" figure. What you do not find is humor, character development, or stylistic innovation. Susie doesn't mind. If the book is too frightening, Susie then needs to sleep with her door open. (In childhood, I always felt that if I covered my ear with a blanket, I would grant myself immunity from any vill...

  James Dailey had a rough time in Vietnam, came home, watched his life unravel. He was like the speaker in Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA." Struggling with addiction, he lost his family. He began hanging out with unsavory characters. One of those characters--Pearcy--took a 14-year-old girl out for a drive. He tried to rape her, but he was impotent. In a moment of confusion, he believed that the kid was starting to laugh at him. In a frenzy, he stabbed her over thirty times and left her corpse in a puddle. To confuse the police, Pearcy claimed that he was with James Dailey on "the night in question." This was false. But the story gained momentum. The DA recruited a group of jailhouse snitches. Various secret promises were authored.  Testify against Dailey, and we'll offer perks. Dailey has thus spent decades in jail. At one point, Ron DeSantis declared his intention to execute Dailey. The murderer himself declared that Dailey was innocent. All but one ...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZvsjbF785g&pp=ygUTbWFkZGllIHRyYWlsZXIgMjAyNg%3D%3D&ra=m I thought "Maddie's Secret" was mind-blowing. It never *works* to make you laugh. The writer/director never seems to break a sweat. Instead, the movie is a singular vision. It's like you're handed "alien goggles." And you see the world in a new way. We begin with Maddie skipping down the streets of L.A., occasionally sniffing jasmine. She is like Maria von Trapp. The world is wonderful! But she needs to make more money if she wants to start a family. So her partner pressures her to share one of her cooking videos with the world. Fame arrives--and its impact is pernicious. Maddie immediately faces criticism because of her weight. She had a traumatic childhood, in which her mother blamed her for family difficulties. (Her mother would often assist with purging sessions--Mom would hold the ponytail so strands of hair didn't dip themselves in the toilet water.) ...