Liars and Saints

My main love is for characters who are not genteel, not dull. I like characters who fail to "fit in." And so my heart belongs to Sam Gross, a cartoonist who died recently. Gross seemed to enjoy little weirdos. A frog donates his frog legs to "the kitchen," but then he refuses to take the back exit; he wheels his amputee cart through the dining room, and he looks with horror at all the diners. A deranged penguin hovers like an angel above his earthbound friends; he says, "It's the flippers. You just haven't been flapping them hard enough." A snail falls hard for a tape dispenser and says, simply, "I don't care. I love her." Gross invented dream worlds. He had a sense of authority, and he didn't waste words. As always, God is in the details: Note the "bug eyes" on the frog (below).

 "Succession" pointed the way toward its own conclusion; it has been pointing for a few seasons. The show seemed to suggest that Roman was headed toward some kind of death; we saw him throwing himself in front of an angry crowd, and we saw him amping up his nihilistic language ("Dad, you're a monster," "nothing matters," "forcing the election of a fascist is just an act of producing good TV"). Roman didn't literally die, but his final scripted moments--"we're bullshit, we're clowns"--seemed like a kind of *spiritual* self-annihilation. The relentless backstabbing between Shiv and Kendall ("you're dirt," "you're unwell") seemed to be building toward a final betrayal. The actual betrayal was a delight; it led to one of the best lines this season ("I love you, but I can't stomach you"). Also, this scene had the most startling moment in a long while, I think; it's the moment when...

 Adele once said "the artist of my life is Beyonce." Well, for me the answer is Nicole Holofcener. I think Holofcener is on par with Mike White, and I think she is weirdly undervalued, year after year. Holofcener made five--actually five--stunning movies with Catherine Keener. These two seem to have parted ways (I can't unearth an explanation), but Holofcener continues to do her spiky, bewitching thing--with Edie Falco ("Steady Habits") and with Mellisa McCarthy ("Forgive Me"). There isn't a single dud in this list of titles. One theme that fascinates Holofcener is gift-giving. In "Walking and Talking," a couple has a fight about a mole; the fight is really about Anne Heche's controlling behavior. Heche's fiancee pretends to rise above the tension--but he later packs his biopsied mole into a tiny ornamental box, and presents the mole as a "pre-wedding surprise." This awkward moment ("Look, I'm being FUNNY!"...

  As Salvy nears his seventh birthday, he is shedding weight beautifully. And he had a chance to make a new friend, “Gusto,” but I (the owner) fucked things up. Gusto’s parents were throwing a dog-centric party, and they had actually invented an e-vite with striking graphic elements, and it just seemed to be too, too much. I said “no,” and I’m not sure that Salvy is ready to forgive me. In his middle age, Salvy loves solitude and the outdoors. This is so different from the early years, when he constantly wanted a cuddle. I try to suggest that I’m OK with the change—no one has to be “one thing,” all the time, year after year—but I’m torn. I’m getting practice in wearing a brave face. My husband and I are in New York this weekend, and we have stumbled upon Manhattan’s first exclusive Dental and Orthodontic Spa for Canines. Guess what? It’s in Tribeca. Just seeing the facade was great fun; we imagined Taylor Swift calling and requesting a teeth-bleaching session for her French bulldog...

  I’m seeing “Sweeney Todd” tonight, and the thing that has me humming is just language: Mrs. Mooney has a pie shop… Does a business, but I’ve noticed something weird: Lately all the neighbors’ cats have disappeared…. Wouldn’t do in *my* shop. Just the thought of it’s enough to make you sick. And I’m telling you, them pussy cats is quick…. People in Sondheim’s world are batty and shrewd, just like real people. Here is a “filibuster” answer, when someone inquires about human meat pies: What’s my secret? Frankly, dear, forgive my candor…. Family secret…. All to do with herbs! Things like….being careful with your coriander…. That’s what makes the gravy grander…. Even a streetwalker’s sales pitch is lyrical and precise and so strange: How’s about a little mischief? A little jig-jig? A little bounce around the bush? Wouldn’t you like to push me crumpet? It looks to me, dear, like you’ve got plenty there to push…. One reason people say this work is “Shakespearean” is that each major char...

 It's possible to forget that Tina Turner was a writer. But she was; she wrote books and lyrics. The first time she recorded a self-penned song, she memorialized her hometown: A church house, gin house.... A school house, outhouse... On Highway Number Nineteen.... The people keep the city clean. They call it Nutbush... Oh, Nutbush.... Nutbush city limits.... Turner needs very few brush strokes to paint a picture: Life is church, gin, school, toilet. Rinse and repeat. "City" is a grandiose term; this town is a few shacks and some fields. And "limits" seems to be both a noun and a verb: Nutbush severely "limits" the people who try to build a life in the church house, the school house. Twenty five was the speed limit. Motorcycle not allowed in it. You go to the store on Fridays.... You go to church on Sundays... They call it Nutbush... Having decided to play with the word "limit," Turner comments on your speed, and on the type of vehicle you mig...

  After an emphatic non-literary period, my son has returned to books. This is the greatest thing. I don't really know what Josh is absorbing, but I know he is happy to sit on my lap and half-listen to the stories of Rosemary Wells. I love these stories, so the pleasure is unfeigned, and this is one of the easiest half-hour segments in any particular day (for now). Rosemary Wells is.a role model for Judy Blume--and how could you ask for a fancier pedigree? Wells pays close attention to how people actually behave, and you can see this work in the subtlety of her stories. For example, two little bullies want to tease a small kid for wearing water wings to a pool party. The bullies don't understand that they're bullies--and they persuade themselves that squeezing the little boy tightly, brutally, is just a way of "giving a hug." In another story, a rabbit buys oozing wax fangs "for Grandma," but then he shoves the fangs in his own mouth and makes them ooze,...