The New Yorker
This week we again encounter that rare phenomenon: the New Yorker I read cover to cover (issue date: November 13, 2006), including:
- a fascinating and deeply disturbing piece about Lagos, Nigeria. I just started All Souls, about which I will certainly be posting anon, but what struck me in the very first chapter is how the best non-fiction makes you aware of things you had no idea of, and the very best makes you aware of how in fact you had no idea of things you thought you knew. Lagos? I had no idea. Though I'm a tiny bit--really very small but still there--suspicious of the purportedly objective tone of the essay. Not that I don't think Lagos is like that, but the generalizations seem a bit, not general, not one-sided, but, perhaps, disputable? Though then again, maybe not.
- a profile of Olafur Eliasson, who has one of the best names ever, and is from Iceland, and is one of those paragons of creativity who amaze me, and did The Weather Project at the Tate which was so so cool (yes, we lay on the floor and looked up at ourselves in the mirrors).
- a meandering Janet Malcolm piece on Alice B. Toklas that is informative, but oddly cranky in that Janet "I was sued and now I have deep sympathies that you can't possibly understand" Malcolm sort of way.
- a disappointingly mediocre Helen Simpson story (if you like your contemporary women's literary realism short, and with an occasional touch of the magical, you must read Getting a Life which is just unbelievably good).
- a lovely and very informative piece on Leonard Woolf (the other pieces are, alas, unlinkable except for the Simpson story which, take my word for it, you do not need to read).
- a fascinating and deeply disturbing piece about Lagos, Nigeria. I just started All Souls, about which I will certainly be posting anon, but what struck me in the very first chapter is how the best non-fiction makes you aware of things you had no idea of, and the very best makes you aware of how in fact you had no idea of things you thought you knew. Lagos? I had no idea. Though I'm a tiny bit--really very small but still there--suspicious of the purportedly objective tone of the essay. Not that I don't think Lagos is like that, but the generalizations seem a bit, not general, not one-sided, but, perhaps, disputable? Though then again, maybe not.
- a profile of Olafur Eliasson, who has one of the best names ever, and is from Iceland, and is one of those paragons of creativity who amaze me, and did The Weather Project at the Tate which was so so cool (yes, we lay on the floor and looked up at ourselves in the mirrors).
- a meandering Janet Malcolm piece on Alice B. Toklas that is informative, but oddly cranky in that Janet "I was sued and now I have deep sympathies that you can't possibly understand" Malcolm sort of way.
- a disappointingly mediocre Helen Simpson story (if you like your contemporary women's literary realism short, and with an occasional touch of the magical, you must read Getting a Life which is just unbelievably good).
- a lovely and very informative piece on Leonard Woolf (the other pieces are, alas, unlinkable except for the Simpson story which, take my word for it, you do not need to read).
posted by Becca at
8:58 PM
3 Comments:
We ALWAYS get our New Yorker late. Like this one? We'll get it Thursday. I only figured this out because I'd read what you had to say and then go running around looking for that one and then it shows up later in the week. Blah.
By
Dawn, at 9:12 AM
I only read the Leonard Woolf piece, which I too enjoyed though I have to say I was a bit annoyed by how often the author treated/used VW's fiction as direct commentary on her marriage. Anyway, thank you for reminding me to go back and read the rest of the issue.
By
Margi, at 10:12 AM
I'm sorry to hear the Simpson story is forgettable, especially after that great Lorrie Moore story last week (or was it the week before? Even when I don't, like Dawn, get my New Yorker late, I almost always read it late...)
Looking forward to this one, though.
By
Anonymous, at 1:19 PM
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