APRIL 11, 2016

JUNE 20, 2016

6 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN 6 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN THE TALK OF THE TOWN 19 19 THESteve TALK Coll onOF Trump THE TOWN and foreign policy; Stephen the language Unckles of the on campaigns;the great migration “Schitt’s east;Creek”; the Harlem’s Only Livinggreatest Boy fencer; in New a playwright’s York; public retreat. pooping; the modern witch; catching up with China PROFILES Blythe Roberson Calvin Tomkins 2526 SHOUTSPlay It Again & MURMURS TestRagnar Your Kjartansson Knowledge and of theHumor art of Writing repetition.

Nicole Silverberg 26 PERSONALSHOUTS & MURMURSHISTORY

Calvin Trillin 32 FindingFleeing, MyHypothetically Gallop The journey from woman to horse LETTER FROM EUROPE Jordan Hall 36 ANNALS OF KNOTS James Lasdun 34 Alone in the Alps Knotty by Nature OnA solo the hike hunt on for a agreat man mountain obsessed trail.

AMERICAN CHRONICLES Michael Yarsky 44 ONWARD AND UPWARD WITH THE ARTS Gay Talese 40 The Voyeur’s Motel Vowel of Silence AThe choral hotelier composer who spiedwho hateson his the guests. human voice

A REPORTER AT LARGE Kady Ruth Ashcraft 50 PORTFOLIO Rachel Aviv 56 PartThe andCost Parcel of Caring ANew look York’s into theFilipina state of domestic the USPS workers.

Daniel Sargeant 56 OURFICTION LOCAL CORRESPONDENTS Sarah Shun-lien Bynum 66 The“The Burglar”Hero Scourge On the rise and fall of our masked men THE CRITICS FICTIONTHE CURRENT CINEMA Pat Landers Anthony Lane 6744 “Running“Everybody Iron” Wants Some!!,” “Miles Ahead.”

THEBOOKS CRITICS 77 BOOKSBriefly Noted James Folta 67 CarolineCharles Schaper McGrath 78 ForA founding the love motherof the bus of New York publishing. 70 Briefly Noted A CRITIC AT LARGE THE ART WORLD Alex Ross 81 Why Mallarmé matters. Kathleen Jordan 71 Zane Fergstein’s mommy issues ON TELEVISION THE CURRENT CINEMA EmilyMichael Nussbaum Yarsky 86 “Outlander,” “The Americans.” 73 “The Slow Drown” POEMS POEMS Chris MichaelMomina Shea Mela 36 “How to Take Off a Sari” 31 “White Space” MollyTim Bashaw Platt 3850 “Leaving the Continent” “Three Poems by Tim Platt” Michael J. Wolf 46 Michael J. Wolf “What’sCOVER Inside of Me” 60 “Sex” Tomer Hanuka “Take the L Train”

COVER Branson Reese “Where Are Ü Now”

DRAWINGS Drew Dernavich, Emily Flake, Ken Krimstein, Matthew Diffee, Danny Shanahan, Jack Ziegler, Bruce Eric DRAWINGSKaplan, Frank Charlie Cotham, Hankin, Michael Robert Crawford, Leighton, Tom Jom Cheney, Jorb, Shannon Michael Wheelie, Shaw, Rich John Sparks, Klossner, Edward Steed, Roz Chast, Edward Koren,Reid Michael Faylor, Maslin, Mark J.Vigeant C. Du ff(“Cartoony, Liana Finck,Caption Will Contest”) McPhail, Jason Adam Katzenstein ADS Jesse Benjamin (“Entourage”), Stephen Unckles SPOTS (“Orsnow”, Rodger Stevens “Homeland: Dog Version”, “Uhrzeitime”, “Equestrin”), Andrew Beck (“Einklock”), Taylor Moore (“Father Hats”, “Acela”, “Ballpark”), Kevin Bauer (“Jeff University”, “Loofah”, “Seedless”, “MetroStar”), James Folta (“Moyamota MaxiVan”), Elizabeth Stamp (“The Pastures at Farmingdale”) SPOTS Sasha Taran

CONTRIBUTORS A RT Matt Crowley Jordan Hall Elizabeth Stamp (The Talk of the Town, (MoviesGay Preview, Talese (p.“The 13) Voyeur’s Motel,” (p.“Knotty 40) byRachel Nature,” Aviv p. (36“The) is Cost of Caring,” p. 56) contributes to The Onionis the, but author contributes of thirteen a filmmaker books, among in New wonOrleans, the 2016currently Scripps p. Howard20) was recently Award named to Vice’s list nothing to society. Hethem lives in“The LA. Bridge: Sorry. Theproducing Building a ofdocumentary the for “Your on theSon first Is Deceased,” of “30 People her storyWe’ve Never Heard Of.” Twitter: @matthewpcrowleyVerrazano-Narrows Bridge”African andAmerican “Frank rodeo on clown.police shootings,Help! which appeared in Kady Ruth Ashcraft (Portfolio, p. 50) Michael Yarsky Sinatra Has a Cold,”Michael which J.includes Wolf the magazine last year. (Abovephotographs and Beyond, by p.the late Phil Stern. (Threatre Preview, p. 7, teaches a poetics of Ayahuasca class at Bennington College. She also writes for 15, “Vowel of Silence,” p. 44, “Keeping the “What’s Inside of Me,” p.James 46, “Sex,” Lasdun p. 60 ()“Alone is in the Alps,” p. 34) Funny or Die. Faith,” p. 73) will publishSteve his Coll first (Comment, seven- ap. writer, 19), a staandff receivedwriter, theis the2015 author “Quietest of “Bluestone: New and part autobiographical novel, No No No, Audience Member” Award from the NY is the dean of the Graduate School of Selected Poems,” whichAndrew was publishedLipstein It’s Myyyy Struggle, in JournalismDecember. at Columbia.Theater Foundation andlast prefersyear. His movies. new novel, “The Fall Guy,”(The Financial Page, p. comes out in October.23) founded 0s &1s Reads (0s-1s.com), a Kathleen Jordan Branson Reese digital bookstore/lit website, and works (GoingsCalvin Tomkinson About (“Play It Again,” p. 26(Cover) ) just illustrated at Meural, an art tech startup. Town, p. 6, “Nearing thecovers Asymptote,” art and p. 71 culture) his firstfor Thebook, New How MaySarah We Hate Shun-lien You? Bynum (Fiction, p. 66) is a television writer and producer based Yorker. “The Bride andJoshua the Bachelors”Mikutis has published two Nicoleworks Silverbergof fiction: in Los Angeles. She feelsis one so humbledof his many to books. (Dance“Madeleine Preview, p. 10 Is) isSleeping” and “Ms. (“Finding My Gallop,” be the voice of a generation. in rabbinical school. HeHempel graduated Chronicles.” from p. 26) is a comedian and writer named one of Brooklyn’s 50 Funniest People by Charles Bethea (TheHaverford Talk of the College’s Town, Without a (Noun) Matt Nelsen Brooklyn Magazine. #DahFook?!? (Food & p.Drink, 20) is p. a16 freelance) is the journalistSchool of basedBeep Beep in BoopCharles Boop. McGrath (Books, p. 78) is a food comedian for thisAtlanta magazine. and a regular contributor to former deputy editor of The New Yorker Sam Weiner Brittney Soldano (Copy Editor) is a newyorker.com. (The Mail,and p.a former5) is a staffeditor of the Times Book Matt Barats copywriter, crossword puzzle enthusiast, (Night Life Preview, p. 9) is writer for Seriously.TV.Review. “John O’Hara: Stories,” which a staff writer and editor at the magazine. and linguistic vigilante making the world Tomer Hanuka (CoverTim) won Platt an Inter- he edited and for which he wrote the He commutes from Yonkers.national Manga Award for his graphic(“Three Poemsintroduction, by Tim Platt,” will abe better published place, one in fixed typo at a time. p. 38) is a comedian, artist, and pup- EdgarBlythe Degas Roberson created “Ballet novel Scene” “The (ca. 1879) Divine,” by applying a collaboration pastel to a monotype, September. the one-off print mediumLangan that’s the Kingsleyfocus of a new show at MOMA. (Thewith Talk the of theartist Town, Asaf peteer Hanuka living and in the Brooklyn. Check out (The Talk of the Town, p. 21) is a human being who lives in p. 22, Shouts & Murmurs,writer p. 25 Boaz) is a Lavie.con- TimPlatt.squarespace.comAlex toRoss learn (A more. Critic at Large, p. 81), the Intributor the to InkClickHole, a headline contrib- to spontaneous style,magazine’s starting in music the criticbeeptowelling since boop 1996 —off malfunction),, performingis — Brooklyn,in cafés, utor to The Onion, and previous to being eighteen-Chris Michael seventies. Shea It(“White underlines Space,” the p. Newand, ofYork. course, She enjoysdancing. patting Almost dogs none in a Degas’s prints take centerMomina stage. Mela (Poem, p. 36) is a Paki- working on a book entitled “Wagnerism: blacklisted due to herstani participation poet based in in Lahore.truth31) spent that most his ofgenius 1997Art onwas inmeth. essentiallythe Shadow ofgentle,of Music.”them human evince way a senseand eating of being delicious ob- “NeuEdgar Jorker Degas, was: Aa contributor Strange New to theBeauty,” New graphic, on a historical arc of linear dinnersserved byof thehard artist. drives In with seventeen her closest sen- isYorker wonderful dot com .but oddly finicky, as the sorceryPat Landers from ( “RunningIngres to Iron,” Picasso. p. 64 )You is a humansational friends. brothel scenes, most of them Museum of Modern Art’s first Degas sensewriter hisand delight, editor who in “dark owes fi Sashaeld” mono- Frere- from 1877-79, they stand, sit, or loll show,Kevin ever. Bauer It makes(Classical a big Music deal Preview, of an un- p. types,Jones $5,000. at the effects enabled by attack- Carolinearound availablySchaper naked(Briefly and Noted often p. common11) grew printmakingup in Sandusky, medium: Ohio, mono-gradu- ing spreadsNEWYORKER.COM of wet ink with incising 70frumpily) is a atwriter ease. andOne comedian squats over from a James Folta the greatest city in the world: Pitts- type,ated createdfrom The by working Ohio inState ink onUniversity, a hard tools,Everything rags, and in( the“Round his magazine, hands and (see Round,” and his more. fi n-p. bidet. Another idly scratches one of surfacethen moved and thento Queens. pressing paper against gerprints).67) is a writer Shapes and aand comedian. atmospheres Wish burgh,her buttocks. Pennsylvania. Their milieuShe maywrote seem for it. The one-off results are unusual, to say loomthat inthere whites was and more textured to graysthe story.from Letterman,a far cry from and the candiedhas been glamour featured of theStephen least—going Unckles against (The Talk the ofcommon- the Town, Stygianwww.jamesfolta.com blackness: sculpted light, with onballet, CNN but, GQ the, THRtwo, settingsand other share letters. the sensep. 19) isnotion a writer that and a televisionprint is an producer. image a muscular feel. Those works, circa fact of women displaying themselves. multiplied.His first book, This I andLike theThose unfamiliarity Apples: On- 1876Daniel-85 Sargeant, from Degas’s (“The major Hero forayScourge,” into p. MattDegas’s Strickland preoccupation (Art alongPreview, this linep. ofscreen most Lust of inthe Hollywood’s works—some Matt hundred Damon the56) technique,is about 5’10”, are his175lbs. purest His monotypes, Pulitzer- 12takes) is nothing a standup away comedian, from the Tweets soaring at andDecades twenty 1996-2016 monotypes,, remains from museums unpub- andeligible by farcollection the most “ Youexciting. Call ThatElsewhere, a Ses- @strickbomb,quality of his and works, is currently but it helps hiding to andlished. collections worldwide, augmented hetina? tended” is now to available use the in mediumpdf. as a underexplain his their desk. intensity. Facing up to it, with more conventional pictures—make ground for pictures completed in the show’s superb curator, Jodi Haupt- the show special, in both the good and opaque0s-1s.com/neujorker watercolors or pastels. Innova- man, includes in a wall text the forth- the pejorative senses. Magnifying glassesEverything tive, perhaps, that’s in but the uninspiringmagazine, and are that’s mono- aboutright it. opinion of the great decadent are provided to let us feel like hotshot types, in oil paints,A of RT landscapes. Those writer J. K. Huysmans that Degas connoisseurs,The Neu bendingJorker was in a tolabor delectate of love in from subjects the people don’t youmuch see engage above Degas,(as well who as our regarded illustrators, women and those with art “an contributors attentive thelisted nuances. in the TheTable occasion of ContentsCULTURAL might); not rankle aCOMMENT single wasn’t cent was an outdoorsspent or madekind PHOTOofon guy. this project. BOOTH We’vecruelty, done a patient our share hatred.” of research That on rings fair withoutuse and itsparody payo fflaw of a(a fiSarah solidnal room LarsonWikipedia of fi rst-on Beverlyskim),He and Cleary, liked are pretty andto watch sureAlexandra we’rewomen. good, SchwartzFor but a we true. dowrites hope Certainly, about that the there’smagazine-not-to-be- scant desire. ratenamed paintings, understands pastels, thatJoshua and this drawings:Rothmanis somewhere on viewer, men’sbetween magazines that satire, characteristic—clawing parody, a crime-photography and homage. at Degas exhibit gives at the little sign of wanting DegasThanks hitting again on all to cylinders. andall that the havehistory spent of theirmanliness.present-day time on this, sensitivities—may and forMetropolitan trusting us well forMuseum absolutelywomen, of Art. no but conceivable only of liking reason. to subject On its own limited terms, the show interfere with aesthetic detachment, them to his very particular, somewhat does yield useful insight into Degas’s as the show unfolds. There are women creepy gaze. SUBSCRIBERS: Get access to our magazine app for tabletsGoofs andand smartphonesgaffes, at the

modernizing transition from careful ironing, bathing (lots of bathing; also —Peter Schjeldahl COLLECTION KOCH I. WILLIAM App Store, Amazon.com, or Google Play. Andrew (Access varies Lipstein by location & James and device.)Folta ART OF MUSEUM METROPOLITAN THE COURTESY RIGHT: Editors-in-Chief 12 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 4 THE NEW YORKER,4 APRIL 11,THE 2016 NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016

Edgar Degas created “Ballet Scene” (ca. 1879) by applying pastel to a monotype, the one-off print medium that’s the focus of a new show at MOMA.

In the Ink to spontaneous style, starting in the towelling off ), performing in cafés, eighteen- seventies. It underlines the and, of course, dancing. Almost none Degas’s prints take center stage. truth that his genius was essentially of them evince a sense of being ob- “Edgar Degas: A Strange New Beauty,” graphic, on a historical arc of linear served by the artist. In seventeen sen- is wonderful but oddly finicky, as the sorcery from Ingres to Picasso. You sational brothel scenes, most of them Museum of Modern Art’s first Degas sense his delight, in “dark field” mono- from 1877-79, they stand, sit, or loll show, ever. It makes a big deal of an un- types, at the effects enabled by attack- around availably naked and often common printmaking medium: mono- ing spreads of wet ink with incising frumpily at ease. One squats over a type, created by working in ink on a hard tools, rags, and his hands (see his fin- bidet. Another idly scratches one of surface and then pressing paper against gerprints). Shapes and atmospheres her buttocks. Their milieu may seem it. The one-off results are unusual, to say loom in whites and textured grays from a far cry from the candied glamour of the least—going against the common- Stygian blackness: sculpted light, with ballet, but the two settings share the sense notion that a print is an image a muscular feel. Those works, circa fact of women displaying themselves. multiplied. This and the unfamiliarity 1876-85, from Degas’s major foray into Degas’s preoccupation along this line of most of the works—some hundred the technique, are his purest monotypes, takes nothing away from the soaring and twenty monotypes, from museums and by far the most exciting. Elsewhere, quality of his works, but it helps to and collections worldwide, augmented he tended to use the medium as a explain their intensity. Facing up to it, with more conventional pictures—make ground for pictures completed in the show’s superb curator, Jodi Haupt- the show special, in both the good and opaque watercolors or pastels. Innova- man, includes in a wall text the forth- the pejorative senses. Magnifying glasses tive, perhaps, but uninspiring are mono- right opinion of the great decadent are provided to let us feel like hotshot types, in oil paints, of landscapes. Those writer J. K. Huysmans that Degas connoisseurs, bending in to delectate in subjects don’t much engage Degas, who regarded women with “an attentive the nuances. The occasion might rankle wasn’t an outdoors kind of guy. cruelty, a patient hatred.” That rings without its payoff of a final room of first- He liked to watch women. For a true. Certainly, there’s scant desire. rate paintings, pastels, and drawings: viewer, that characteristic—clawing at Degas gives little sign of wanting Degas hitting on all cylinders. present-day sensitivities—may well women, but only of liking to subject On its own limited terms, the show interfere with aesthetic detachment, them to his very particular, somewhat does yield useful insight into Degas’s as the show unfolds. There are women creepy gaze.

modernizing transition from careful ironing, bathing (lots of bathing; also —Peter Schjeldahl COLLECTION KOCH I. WILLIAM

12 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE MAIL

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Valley tech veterans which aims to “dis- that matter. Ventilla takes this philosophy dismayed when people with no training individuals,deavorthat of strikes a year not me ofisolating college.as geared them The not and reality toward mak- is CharlesCorrection Morris: Dana Goodyear’s “Mez- rupt” students’ education through data col- to an extreme with his theory that com- THETHE NEU NEW JORKER, YORKER, JUNE APRIL 20, 11, 2016 55 in education claim that they know best ingchildrenthat them AltSchool but, dependent rather, and towardotherson technology. likeparents it, which who Treasurecal Sunrise” Island, (April Fla. 4 th) misstated the lection and hyper-personalized learning puter-based translation technology will how schools should run. Max Ventilla, Jessiearecater focussed Elliotto the élite,on finding aren’t revolutionary achievement- at price of Amando Alvarado Álvarez’s mez- (“Learn Different,” March 7th). As an make the study of foreign languages ir- the founder of AltSchool, has commend- Sanorientedall. The Francisco, systemicsystems Calif. thatchange will wecreate need the is nextfully Thoughcal sold Iby applaud Jason Cox.AltSchool’s Bottles desire sell for to elementary-school educator, I know that relevant. Like the study of literature, music, able goals, but his vision misses the big- generationfunded public of leaders.schools, particularlyWhen education low-in-- createthirty andollars, educational not three environment hundred. that there is a real need for education reform, art, and other humanities, learning a lan- ger picture of how schools work. He sees Asalistscome a veteranfetishize ones, that public-school “big can data,” pay we for loseteacher, highly the learn- Iqual- am is both interesting and productive, the en- but by focussing on how technology can guage is valuable not only in and of itself AltSchool, and the technology that it’s dismayedingified and teachers, the when emotional providepeople connections withemotional- no training thatand deavor strikes me as• geared not toward quantify a child’s potential we lose the es- but also because it teaches important les- developing, as a way to transform edu- inaremental-health education fostered when claim services, children that andthey engage connect know in bestun-stu- children but, rather, toward parents who sence of education. AltSchool’s learning sons about logic and how human-devised Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, cation; in Mead’s article, one of Alt- howstructureddents schools to technological play. should These run. activitiesadvancements Max andVentilla, rela- that areaddress, focussed and daytime on finding phone number achievement- via e-mail to practices—in which schoolwork is done knowledge systems work—to say noth- School’s teachers, who began her career thetionshipscan founder expand are of their fundamental, AltSchool, horizons. has and commend they ac-- [email protected]. systems that will Letters create may the be editednext on a tablet, and then tracked and minutely ing of the essential synergies that link for length and clarity, and may be published in working in low-income schools, says that abletivateSara goals, children’sFalls but hisimagination vision misses and curiosity,the big- generation of leaders. When education- analyzed—anchors children to their ma- linguistics to other disciplines such as lit- any medium. We regret that owing to the volume she was drawn to AltSchool “because of gerandOakland, picture inspire Calif. ofexploration. how schools work. He sees alistsof correspondence fetishize “big we data,”cannot we reply lose to everythe learn- letter. itschines. ambition Avoiding to make technology systemic has change.”now be- AltSchool,Jordanaerature and Raiskin and history. the technologyLearning a thatforeign it’s ing and the emotional connections that Butcome this an iseff aort school for most whose people; thirty-thou schools- developing,Austin,language Texas is asnot a justway aboutto transform acquiring edu- a are fostered when children engage in un- THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 5 sand-dollarshould be teaching yearly tuition social isskills, equivalent collabo- to cation;profitable in skill—it’s Mead’s aboutarticle, getting one ofto knowAlt- structured play. These activities and rela- Edgar Degas created “Ballet Scene” (ca. 1879) by applying pastel to a monotype, the one-off print medium that’s the focus of a new show at MOMA. thatrative of work, a year and of responsibility. college. The We reality should is School’sCotherorrection people, teachers, :which Dana who isGoodyear’s beganthe real her point “Mez- career of tionships are fundamental, and they ac- thatbe helping AltSchool children and develop others likeinto it,dynamic which workingcalgoing Sunrise” to inschool. low-income (April 4th) schools, misstated says thatthe tivate children’s imagination and curiosity, caterindividuals, to the notélite, isolating aren’t revolutionary them and mak- at shepriceCharles was of Amando drawnMorris to Alvarado AltSchool Álvarez’s “because mez- of and inspire exploration. In the Ink to spontaneous style, starting in the towelling off ), performing in cafés, all.ing Thethem systemic dependent change on technology. we need is fully itscalTreasure ambitionsold by Island, Jason to make Fla.Cox. systemic Bottles change.” sell for Jordana Raiskin eighteen- seventies. It underlines the and, of course, dancing. Almost none Jessie Elliot Degas’s prints take center stage. funded public schools, particularly low-in- Butthirty this dollars, is a school not three whose hundred. thirty-thou- Austin, Texas truth that his genius was essentially of them evince a sense of being ob- comeSan Francisco, ones, that Calif.can pay for highly qual- sand-dollarThough I applaud yearly tuition AltSchool’s is equivalent desire to “Edgar Degas: A Strange New Beauty,” graphic, on a historical arc of linear served by the artist. In seventeen sen- ified teachers, provide emotional- and thatcreate of an a yeareducational of college.• environment The reality that is Correction: Dana Goodyear’s “Mez- is wonderful but oddly finicky, as the sorcery from Ingres to Picasso. You sational brothel scenes, most of them mental-healthAs a veteran public-school services, and teacher,connect I stu- am thatLettersis both AltSchool should interesting be sentand and withothers productive, the likewriter’s it, thewhich name, en- cal Sunrise” (April 4th) misstated the Museum of Modern Art’s first Degas sense his delight, in “dark field” mono- from 1877-79, they stand, sit, or loll dentsdismayed to technological when people advancements with no training that cateraddress,deavor to and strikes the daytime élite, me phone aren’tas geared number revolutionary not via e-mailtoward atto price of Amando Alvarado Álvarez’s mez- show, ever. It makes a big deal of an un- types, at the effects enabled by attack- around availably naked and often in education claim that they know best [email protected] but, rather, toward Letters parentsmay be edited who can expand their horizons. all.for lengthThe systemicand clarity, change and may we be need published is fully in cal sold by Jason Cox. Bottles sell for common printmaking medium: mono- ing spreads of wet ink with incising frumpily at ease. One squats over a Sarahow schoolsFalls should run. Max Ventilla, fundedanyare medium.focussed public We schools,on regret finding that particularly owing achievement- to the low-in volume- thirty dollars, not three hundred. type, created by working in ink on a hard tools, rags, and his hands (see his fin- bidet. Another idly scratches one of Oakland,the founder Calif. of AltSchool, has commend- comeoforiented correspondence ones, systems that we can that cannot pay will replyfor create highlyto every the qual- letter.next surface and then pressing paper against gerprints). Shapes and atmospheres her buttocks. Their milieu may seem able goals, but his vision misses the big- ifiedgeneration teachers, of leaders. provide When emotional- education and- • THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 5 it. The one-off results are unusual, to say loom in whites and textured grays from a far cry from the candied glamour of ger picture of how schools work. He sees mental-healthalists fetishize “big services, data,” andwe lose connect the learn- stu- Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, the least—going against the common- Stygian blackness: sculpted light, with ballet, but the two settings share the AltSchool, and the technology that it’s dentsing and to technologicalthe emotional advancements connections that address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to sense notion that a print is an image a muscular feel. Those works, circa fact of women displaying themselves. developing, as a way to transform edu- are fostered when children engage in un- [email protected]. Letters may be edited can expand their horizons. for length and clarity, and may be published in multiplied. This and the unfamiliarity 1876-85, from Degas’s major foray into Degas’s preoccupation along this line cation; in Mead’s article, one of Alt- Sarastructured Falls play. These activities and rela- any medium. We regret that owing to the volume of most of the works—some hundred the technique, are his purest monotypes, takes nothing away from the soaring School’s teachers, who began her career Oakland,tionships areCalif. fundamental, and they ac- of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter. and twenty monotypes, from museums and by far the most exciting. Elsewhere, quality of his works, but it helps to working in low-income schools, says that tivate children’s imagination and curiosity, and collections worldwide, augmented he tended to use the medium as a explain their intensity. Facing up to it, she was drawn to AltSchool “because of and inspire exploration. THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 5 with more conventional pictures—make ground for pictures completed in the show’s superb curator, Jodi Haupt- its ambition to make systemic change.” Jordana Raiskin the show special, in both the good and opaque watercolors or pastels. Innova- man, includes in a wall text the forth- But this is a school whose thirty-thou- Austin, Texas the pejorative senses. Magnifying glasses tive, perhaps, but uninspiring are mono- right opinion of the great decadent sand-dollar yearly tuition is equivalent to are provided to let us feel like hotshot types, in oil paints, of landscapes. Those writer J. K. Huysmans that Degas that of a year of college. The reality is Correction: Dana Goodyear’s “Mez- connoisseurs, bending in to delectate in subjects don’t much engage Degas, who regarded women with “an attentive that AltSchool and others like it, which cal Sunrise” (April 4th) misstated the the nuances. The occasion might rankle wasn’t an outdoors kind of guy. cruelty, a patient hatred.” That rings cater to the élite, aren’t revolutionary at price of Amando Alvarado Álvarez’s mez- without its payoff of a final room of first- He liked to watch women. For a true. Certainly, there’s scant desire. all. The systemic change we need is fully cal sold by Jason Cox. Bottles sell for rate paintings, pastels, and drawings: viewer, that characteristic—clawing at Degas gives little sign of wanting funded public schools, particularly low-in- thirty dollars, not three hundred. Degas hitting on all cylinders. present-day sensitivities—may well women, but only of liking to subject come ones, that can pay for highly qual- On its own limited terms, the show interfere with aesthetic detachment, them to his very particular, somewhat ified teachers, provide emotional- and • does yield useful insight into Degas’s as the show unfolds. There are women creepy gaze. mental-health services, and connect stu- Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to modernizing transition from careful ironing, bathing (lots of bathing; also —Peter Schjeldahl COLLECTION KOCH I. WILLIAM dents to technological advancements that can expand their horizons. [email protected]. Letters may be edited 12 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 for length and clarity, and may be published in Sara Falls any medium. We regret that owing to the volume Oakland, Calif. of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter.

THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 5 APRILJUNE 156 – 12,21, 2016 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN

The New York art world has long awaited the moment when Gregory Harry and Ileana Garalnik of Murray Hill’s vibrant underground clowning scene would realize the romantic potential of their on-stage chemistry in some intimate and frenzied pantomime. They are known as the “Ross and Rachel of clowns” (perhaps in reference to NBC’s Friends, a once popular sitcom), yet for ten years casting has kept them platonic—a child and her clumsy caretaker in “Babysitter Blues,”History a housewife is replete and withher rabid composer-pianists dog in “NYU Performance,” and composer-violinists, a lamp and her but too-big composer-harpists lampshade in are “Silly rare. Lamp.” One Well, no longeris Hannah must weLash, wait. a professorIn a one-time at Yale, performance whose music entitled is featured “Airbnb” in this a concert Friday at 233Miller Mott Theatre Street, on Apt. April 3B 7at. 11:30 am, HarryLash’s and best Garalnik work employs will shed a kind their of clothes strategic and patience: make love a simultaneous for (at most, oneembrace imagines) of Romantic one hour. yearning In the tradition and of clowning,postminimalist the show will stasis be wordless.that can yield Seating unexpected is first-come, pleasures. first-served—$15 Lash, on harp, orwill best be joinedoffer, seniorsby the free.pianist Lisa Moore, along with the gentlemen of the JACK Quartet and the voice-and-winds ensemble Loadbang. IMAGE BY JUAN LEGUIZAMON PHOTOGRAPH BY SAMANTHA CASOLARI odyne vocabulary (“optimization,” “liquidation,” “positive outcomes”), Loeb’s script has elements of comedy, thriller, and existential drama. But, de- THE THEATREA RT spite antic performances from its cast, directed by Josh Costello, the characters and circumstances 1 remain purposefully vague, offering more an ab- OPENINGS AND PREVIEWS cal spring. The cast includes Carolee Carmello, stract thought experiment than a visceral moral Andrew Keenan-Bolger, and Terrence Mann. chiller. (59E59, at 59 E. 59th St. 212-279-4200.) (Broadhurst, 235 W. 44th St. 212-239-6200. In American Psycho previews.) Stupid Fucking Bird Benjamin Walker plays the murderous financier Faithful to the spirit, if not the letter, of its source Patrick Bateman, in Duncan Sheik and Roberto Waitress material, Aaron Posner’s irreverent adaptation of Aguirre-Sacasa’s musical adaptation of the Bret Jessie Mueller stars in a new musical based on Chekhov’s “The Seagull” features modern dress, Easton Ellis novel. Rupert Goold directs. (Schoen- the 2007 film, about a small-town waitress who much direct address, and—as you might surmise feld, 236 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. In previews.) enters a baking contest, with music and lyrics by from its title—more cussing than usual. The first Sara Bareilles. Diane Paulus directs. (Brooks At- half of Posner’s version, more overtly inventive, Exit Strategy kinson, 256 W. 47th St. 877-250-2929. In previews.) answers Chekhov’s young playwright, Konstan- Primary Stages presents a play by Ike Holter, di- tin (here, Connie), in his call for “new forms” rected by Kip Fagan, set at a Chicago public school 1 with downtown tropes like dance sequences, mi- in the days before it closes. (Cherry Lane, 38 Com- NOW PLAYING crophones, and backchat with the audience. The merce St. 866-811-4111. In previews. Opens April 12.) second half cleaves closer to kitchen-sink realism, The Crucible interweaving emotive scenes with confiding solil- Fully Committed In his second Arthur Miller reinvention this sea- oquies. Throughout, Chekhov’s mournful themes Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays nearly forty characters son, the Flemish director Ivo van Hove (“A View arrive intact: unrequited love, the uncanny feel- at a trendy New York restaurant, in this one-man from the Bridge”) strips the 1953 drama of its bon- ing that we’re spectators to our own lives, and the comedy by Becky Mode, directed by Jason Moore. nets and buckle shoes: the set, by Jan Versweyveld, discomfiting awareness that art will always have (Lyceum, 149 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. In previews.) is a cavernous classroom, with a vast chalkboard on the shapely structure that ordinary life lacks—and which drawings of trees become animated. Here, that we yearn for. We’re reminded that a well-lived Long Day’s Journey Into Night the young women of Salem, dressed like Catho- life is the most artful fiction of them all. (Pearl, Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne, John Gallagher, Jr., lic schoolgirls, cause havoc when they envelop the 555 W. 42nd St. 212-563-9261.) and Michael Shannon play the dysfunctional Ty- town in accusations of witchcraft. (Music by Philip rone family, in the Roundabout’s revival of the Eu- Glass sets the aguish mood.) Van Hove, immune Wolf in the River gene O’Neill drama, directed by Jonathan Kent. to Miller’s moralizing, stages a slow-building hor- A grubby synthesis of “Little Red Riding Hood,” (American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St. 212-719- ror story, as offhand infractions lead to seismic “Tobacco Road,” and exploitative reality televi- 1300. In previews.) cruelties. At the center of the strong ensemble sion, the playwright and director Adam Rapp’s fa- Edgar Degas created “Ballet Scene” (ca. 1879) by applying pastel to a monotype,cast—including the one-off print Saoirse medium Ronan, that’s Tavi the Gevinson,focus of a new blelikeshow at drama MOMA. centers on a teen-age girl trying to Nathan the Wise and Ciarán Hinds—are Ben Whishaw and Sophie escape the horrors of her home town. Rapp has In Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s 1779 drama, Okonedo, giving powerful performances as John always enjoyed a wallow in the muck of human adapted by Edward Kemp and directed by Brian and Elizabeth Proctor, decent folks who fall prey emotion and desire. This takes an unusually lit- In the Ink Kulick, F. Murray Abrahamto plays spontaneous a Jewish mer- style,to a dangerousstarting truth:in the the prerequisitetowelling to injustice off ), performing eral turn here. in Played cafés, in the round, the action is eighteen- seventies. It underlines the and, of course, dancing. Almost none Degas’s prints take centerchant instage. Jerusalem in 1192. (Classic Stage Company, is fear. (Walter Kerr, 219 W. 48th St. 212-239-6200.) largely staged on a pile of dirt. All of the actors 136 E. 13th St. 866-811-4111. truthIn previews.) that his genius was essentially of them evince a senseare covered of being in filth; ob-a few are covered in little else. Head of Passes Rapp is a gifted writer, and there’s poetry to his “Edgar Degas: A StrangeRevolt. New She Said. Beauty,” Revolt Again.graphic, on a historicalShelah arc(Phylicia of linear Rashad) triesserved to keep by thea godly artist. dialogue, In seventeen particularly sen- the longer speeches. But isThese wonderful dead butdisgusting oddlyLileana fi nicky,Blain-Cruzwhales as are thedirects at asorcery Theplay byNew Alice from Birch,Theater Ingres house.for to ShePicasso.Aquatic doesn’t Arts, Youlike profanity, Rockaway:sational she doesn’t brothel 487-286-3923. like scenes,much omostf the play—performedof them by the Flea’s resi- Museum of Modernan Art’sexploration first oDegasf the way peoplesense talk, his featuringdelight, indisorderliness—she “dark field” mono- even disapprovesfrom 1877 of devilled-79, they dent stand, acting sit, troupe, or theloll Bats, with more spirit than Daniel Abeles, Molly Bernard, Eboni Booth, and eggs. But, in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, in- precision—comes across as poverty porn, degra- show, ever. It makes Jennifera big deal Ikeda. of (SoHoan un- Rep, 46types, Walker at St. the 212-352- effects spiredenabled by the by Book attack- of Job andaround set in a former availably bed dationnaked porn, and and often occasionally (considering the commonDeath printmaking of 3101.a medium: Whalesman In previews.) mono- ing spreads of wetand ink breakfast withAfter incisingon another the Gul f Coast,frumpily hour Shelah I willwasat ease.have just Onepanty about squatssniffi ng,to blow-up-dolloverleave a humping, and puz- type, created by working in ink on a hard tools, rags, and his muchhands more (see to his contend fin- withbidet. than unholyAnother hors idly zling scratches deficit of onebrassieres) of porn porn. (41 White Experimentation underRomeo the & Julietsea d’oeuvres.until aIn packthe Bible, of Job’s condors children are descended killed, his St. 212-352-3101.)into the the- surface and then pressingThe Public’s paper Mobile against Unit gerprints). performs the Shapestrag- livelihood and atmospheres destroyed, and hisher own buttocks. body afflicted. Their milieu may seem it. The one-off resultsedy, are after unusual, touring to it say through loom community in whites ven- and texturedShelahater su andff graysers modernbegan from parallels gnawinga far yet cry struggles from on the theto candiedwhale1 carcasses. glamour of theI DON’T least—going GET thisagainstues andin allthe fi ve alsocommon- boroughs. I hate Lear Stygian it.deBessonet After blackness: directs. pay- sculptedholdNow fast to light,THIS her faith. with got McCraney’s myballet, attention, language—abut the two but settings as the share ALSOshow the NOTABLE (Public, 425 Lafayette St. 212-967-7555. Previews blend of the poetic and demotic—always capti- senseing my notion $60 that ticket, abegin print AprilI walkedis 11.)an image into athe muscular theater feel. to Thosevates,waned butworks, this it script,proved circa directed factto bybe of Tina womenanother Landau, displaying paper-thinAntlia Pneumatica themselves. deus Peter Jay Sharp. • Blackbird multiplied. This and the unfamiliarity 1876-85, from Degas’sseems major stuck foray between into parable Degas’s and play. preoccupation After a Belasco. along • Boy this Clurman. line Through April 9. • Bright ofsee most eight of the dead works—some Thewhales School onforhundred Scandalstage. theAt technique, first I arewas his leisurely expurest machina, andmonotypes, mostly naturalisticjust takes more opening nothing flash scene, away thanStar from Cort.substance. the • Thesoaring Color I Purple Jacobs. • Disas- Red Bull Theatre stages Richard Brinsley Sher- theappreciated tone alters abruptly, the edging risks toward taken symbol- by ter!the Nederlander. actors •and Dry Powder Public. • Eclipsed andpretty twenty intrigued, monotypes,idan’s but from gossip-minded after museums an comedy hourand o fby andmanners far thea fromhalf most exciting.ism. Still, it’sElsewhere, a tremendous rolequality for Rashad, of his a for- works,Golden. but it• Thehelps Effect to Barrow Street The- andI was collections very intrigued. worldwide,1777, directed Whereaugmented by Marc are Vietortheyhe tended andgoing featuring towith use midablethethe medium utter actress dedicationwho as rightlya explain relishes to everytheir wail. intensity. death, atre. butFacing • Familiar the up Playwrightscrit to it,- Horizons. Through with more conventionalDana pictures—make Ivey and Mark Linn-Baker. ground (Lucille for Lor- pictures(Public, completed 425 Lafayette inSt. 212-967-7555.)the show’s superb curator,April 10. Jodi• The Haupt-Father Samuel J. Friedman. • Fid- this? I mused, touchingtel, 121 Christopher my St. 212-352-3101.chin thoughtfully Previews begin ic in me yearned for structure. Wheredler on the Roofwas Broadway the Theatre. • Fun Home the show special, in Aprilboth 8.) the good and opaque watercolors Ideationor pastels. Innova- man, includes in a wallCircle text in the the Square. forth- • Hamilton Richard Rod- theas fliespejorative buzzed senses. inMagnifying and around glasses mytive, eyes. perhaps, but uninspiringInconflict? Aaron Loeb’s are mono- drama,Why presented wasright there opinionby San noFran- ofdialogue? thegers. great • Hold decadent HowOn to Medid Darling Atlantic Theatre are provided to let usShuffle feel Alonglike hotshot types, in oil paints, ofcisco landscapes. Playhouse, Those three management writer consultantsJ. K. Huysmans Company. that • The Degas Humans Helen Hayes. • Iron- Perhaps it was I. Had my years of analyzing these massive carcasses get here? • connoisseurs, bendingAudra in toMcDonald, delectate Brian in Stokessubjects Mitchell, don’t andmuch andengage their Degas,crisply suited who bossregarded have gathered women in a withbound “anRattlestick. attentive King and Country: Shake- and critiquing Billyplays Porter left star inme a musical jaded about and the making calcu of- conferenceI left room after for a brainstorming hour six, session. thoroughly The speare’s bored Great Cycle and of Kings BAM’s Harvey The- the nuances. The occasiona popular might African-American rankle wasn’t stage show an fromoutdoors the kindwhiteboard, of guy. the water bottles,cruelty, and the a padspatient and hatred.”atre. • Love’s That Refrain rings La Mama. Through April withoutlated, itsunable payoff ofto nineteen-twenties.a fidiscernnal room ofbeauty fi Directedrst- and by HeGeorge daring liked C. Wolfe to in watch pencilscraving women. give the seafood. meetingFor a a humdrum true.Overall, Certainly, air, until a passionate one there’s10. • Pericles scant but desire.Polonsky con- Shakespeare Center. and choreographed by Savion Glover. (Music man asks, “What are we going to do with all the Through April 10. • The Robber Bridegroom Laura ratean actpaintings, of bold pastels, Box,defiance 239and W. drawings: 45th against St. 212-239-6200. viewer,form? In that previews.)Or characteristic—clawing had bodies?”fusing In antheatrical assignment at only Degasdebut slightly givesby less writerpalat- little Pels.Harmonysign • The of Royale wanting Ko Mitzi- E. Newhouse. • School of DegasI simply hitting walked on all cylinders. into the back entrancepresent-day of sensitivities—may an ablerine, than theiralthough usual well work, the they’vewomen, part seemingly ofbut Biff beenonly ofRockwas liking Winterplayed to Garden. subject with • Sense & Sensibility Gym On its own limitedTuck terms, Everlasting the show interfere with aesthetictasked withdetachment, stopping the spreadthem of a to deadly his virus.very particular,at Judson. somewhat• She Loves Me Studio 54. • Straight aquarium morgue?Casey NicholawMaybe directs the a musicalanswer adaptation was o fa Orverve perhaps and assisting gusto. a genocide. Or maybe prov- Acorn. • The Way West Bank Street Theatre. does yield useful insight into Degas’s as the show unfolds. There are women creepy gaze. • Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 children’s novel, about a ing their worth to some depraved higher-ups. A —MichaelThrough April J. 10 Wolf. YOUARENOWHERE 3LD WILLIAM I. KOCH COLLECTION KOCH I. WILLIAM modernizinglittle bit of transitionboth.family fromthat accesses careful eternal ironing, life from bathing a magi- (lotssatire of o fbathing; corporate culturealso and its deceptively an- Art—Peter & Technology Schjeldahl Center. WOLF MICHAEL J. BY IMAGE Through April 10.

12 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNETHE 20, NEW 2016 YORKER, APRIL 7 11, 2016 7 odyne vocabulary (“optimization,” “liquidation,” “positive outcomes”), Loeb’s script has elements of comedy, thriller, and existential drama. But, de- THE THEATRE spite antic performances from its cast, directed by Josh Costello, the characters and circumstances 1 remain purposefully vague, offering more an ab- OPENINGS AND PREVIEWS cal spring. The cast includes Carolee Carmello, stract thought experiment than a visceral moral Andrew Keenan-Bolger, and Terrence Mann. chiller. (59E59, at 59 E. 59th St. 212-279-4200.) (Broadhurst, 235 W. 44th St. 212-239-6200. In American Psycho previews.) Stupid Fucking Bird Benjamin Walker plays the murderous financier Faithful to the spirit, if not the letter, of its source Patrick Bateman, in Duncan Sheik and Roberto Waitress material, Aaron Posner’s irreverent adaptation of Aguirre-Sacasa’s musical adaptation of the Bret Jessie Mueller stars in a new musical based on Chekhov’s “The Seagull” features modern dress, odyne vocabulary (“optimization,” “liquidation,” Easton Ellis novel. Rupert Goold directs. (Schoen- the 2007 film, about a small-town waitress who much direct address, and—as you might surmise “positive outcomes”), Loeb’s script has elements feld, 236 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. In previews.) enters a baking contest, with music and lyrics by from its title—more cussing than usual. The first of comedy, thriller, and existential drama. But, de- Sara Bareilles. Diane Paulus directs. (Brooks At-odyne vocabularyhal (“optimization,”f of Posner’s “liquidation,” version, more overtly inventive, “positive outcomes”),spite Loeb’s antic script has performanceselements from its cast, directed by Exit Strategy THE THEATREkinson, 256 W. 47th St. 877-250-2929. In previews.)of comedy, thriller,answers and existential Chekhov’sdrama. But, de- young playwright, Konstan- THE THEATRE spite antic performances from its cast, directed by Josh Costello, Joshthe characters Costello, and circumstances the characters and circumstances Primary Stages presents a play by Ike Holter, di- 1 remain purposefullytin vague,(here, offering moreConnie), an ab- in his call for “new forms” 1 1cal spring. The cast includes Carolee Carmello, stract thoughtremain experiment than purposefullya visceral moral vague, offering more an ab- OPENINGS AND PREVIEWS rected by Kip Fagan, set at a Chicago public school Andrew Keenan-Bolger, and Terrence Mann. chiller. (59E59,with at 59 E. downtown59th St. 212-279-4200.) tropes like dance sequences, mi- cal spring. The cast includes(Broadhurst, Carolee235 W. 44th St. 212-239-6200. Carmello, In stract thought experiment than a visceral moral American Psycho NOW PLAYINGpreviews.) Stupid Fucking Bird in the daysOPENINGS before it closes. AND (Cherry PREVIEWS Lane, 38 Com- Benjamin Walker plays the murderous financier Faithful to thecrophones, spirit, if not the letter, of itsand source backchat with the audience. The AndrewPatrick Bateman, Keenan-Bolger, in Duncan Sheik and Roberto Waitress and Terrence Mann.material, Aaronchiller. Posner’s irreverent (59E59, adaptation of at 59 E. 59th St. 212-279-4200.) merce St. 866-811-4111. In previews. Opens April 12.) Aguirre-Sacasa’s musical adaptation of the Bret Jessie Mueller stars in a new musical based on Chekhov’s “Thesecond Seagull” features hal modernf cleaves dress, closer to kitchen-sink realism, (Broadhurst,Easton Ellis novel. Rupert Goold235 directs. W. (Schoen- 44ththe 2007 St. film, 212-239-6200.about a small-town waitress who Inmuch direct address, and—as you might surmise Thefeld, 236Crucible W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. In previews.) enters a baking contest, with music and lyrics by from its title—moreinterweaving cussing than usual. The emotivefirst scenes with confiding solil- American Psycho previews.) Sara Bareilles. Diane Paulus directs. (Brooks At- half of Posner’sStupid version, more overtly Fucking inventive, Bird Fully Committed In Exithis Strategy second Arthur Millerkinson, 256reinvention W. 47th St. 877-250-2929. Inthis previews.) sea-answers Chekhov’soquies. young playwright, Throughout, Konstan- Chekhov’s mournful themes Primary Stages presents a play by Ike Holter, di- 1 tin (here, Connie), in his call for “new forms” Benjamin Walker plays the murderous financier rected by Kip Fagan, set at a Chicago public school with downtownFaithful tropes like dance sequences,to the mi- spirit, if not the letter, of its source Jesse Tyler FergusonDANCE plays nearly forty characters son,in the the days before Flemish it closes. (Cherry directorLane,ABOVE 38 Com- Ivo vanNOW Hove PLAYING (“A View &crophones, andarriveBEYOND backchat with intact: the audience. Theunrequited love, the uncanny feel- I’mPatrick Weird Bateman, But Funny in Duncan Sheik and Roberto UncleWaitressmerce St. 866-811-4111. Sam’s In previews. OpensLament April 12.) second half cleavesmaterial, closer to kitchen-sink Aaron realism, Posner’s irreverent adaptation of at a trendy New York restaurant, in this one-man from the Bridge”) strips theThe Crucible 1953 drama of its bon-interweavingtitleing emotive that scenes promises. with we’re confiding solil- spectators Chelsea to our Handler own lives, makes and the Fully Committed In his second Arthur Miller reinvention this sea- oquies. Throughout, Chekhov’s mournful themes Aguirre-Sacasa’s musical adaptation of the Bret JessieJesse Tyler MuellerFerguson plays nearly stars forty characters in ason, new the Flemish musical director Ivo van Hove based (“A View onarrive intact: unrequitedChekhov’s love, the uncanny “The feel- Seagull” features modern dress, comedyMike Birbigliaby Becky Mode, brings directed his latest by Jason work Moore. to netsThisat a trendyand reviewerNew buckle York restaurant, shoes: in thishasn’t one-man the from set,seen the Bridge”) by stripsJanso the Versweyveld, 1953many drama of its bon-flagsing that we’readiscom spectators bold to ourfi own tingstep lives, and awareness the out of thather art typical will always oeuvre have Easton Ellis novel. Rupert Goold directs. (Schoen- thecomedy 2007 by Becky Mode,film, directed about by Jason Moore. a small-townnets and buckle shoes: the set,waitress by Jan Versweyveld, who discom fiting awarenessmuch that directart will always haveaddress, and—as you might surmise Ballet(Lyceum, Hispanico 149 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. In previews.) is a(Lyceum, cavernous 149 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. classroom, In previews.) withis a cavernous a classroom,vast withchalkboard a vast chalkboard on onthe shapely structurethe thatshapely ordinary life lacks—and structure that ordinary life lacks—and thefeld, stage236 W. with 45th storiesSt. 212-239-6200. about getting In previews.) diag- inenters one a bakingplace contest, since whichwith streakingdrawings music of trees become and animated. lyricsdrunk Here, bythat we yearnto for.from We’re play reminded its thattitle—morethe a well-lived wailing cussing mother than usual. Gwendo The first- For forty-five years, the New York-based company Long Day’s Journey Into Night the young women of Salem, dressed like Catho- life is the most artful fiction of them all. (Pearl, whichJessica Lange, drawings Gabriel Byrne, John o fGallagher, trees Jr., becomelic schoolgirls, cause animated. havoc when they envelop Here, the 555 W. 42nd St.that 212-563-9261.) we yearn for. We’re reminded that a well-lived hasnosed offered with a window sleep apnea,into the being increasingly in love varied and throughSaraand Michael Bareilles. Shannon the play the dysfunctionalDianeU.N. Ty- PaulusAtown inbrave accusations directs. of witchcraft.critique (Brooks (Music by Philip ofAt- lyn,half owhosef Posner’s children version, moreare real overtly sick inventive, with Long Day’s Journey Into Night therone young family, in the Roundabout’swomen revival o off the Salem, Eu- Glass sets dressed the aguish mood.) likeVan Hove, Catho- immune Wolf in the lifeRiver is the most artful fiction of them all. (Pearl, Exit Strategy kinson,gene O’Neill 256 drama, directedW. 47th by Jonathan St. Kent. 877-250-2929. to Miller’s moralizing, stages In a slow-building previews.) hor- A grubby synthesisanswers of “Little Red RidingChekhov’s Hood,” young playwright, Konstan- arenaJessicathen o f makingLange,contemporary Gabriel a mistake, Latin-American Byrne, food John Gallagher,he and ate Spanish that Jr., licmodern (Americanschoolgirls, Airlines Theatre,war, 227 cause W. Uncle 42nd St. 212-719-havoc Sam’sror story,when as oLamentffh andthey infractions envelop lead boldly to seismic the“Tobacco Road,”stage555 and W. exploitative 42ndthree reality St. televi- asthma. 212-563-9261.) She tries soup, she Primary Stages presents a play by Ike Holter, di- 1300. In previews.) cruelties. At the center of the strong ensemble sion, the playwrighttin and (here, director Adam Rapp’sConnie), fa- in his call for “new forms” dance.and Michael Of the threeShannon works play in itsthe Joyce dysfunctional program, the Ty- town1 in accusations of witchcraft.cast—including Saoirse (Music Ronan, Tavi by Gevinson, Philip blelike drama centers on a teen-age girl trying to asksNathan the the Wise question, “Whyand Ciarán Hinds—are do Ben we Whishaw all and Sophie kill escape the horrorstries of her homeTylenol, town. Rapp has she even tries yelling at wasrected too by Kiphot, Fagan, and pretendingset at a Chicago to publicbe dumb. school In Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s 1779 drama, Okonedo, giving powerful performances as John always enjoyedwith a wallow indowntown the muck of human tropes like dance sequences, mi- mostrone traditional, family, in the though Roundabout’s not the oldest, revival is “Club of the Ha- Eu- Glassadapted setsby Edward the Kemp andaguish directed by Brianmood.) and Elizabeth Van Proctor, Hove, decent folks whoimmune fall prey emotion andWolf desire. This takesin anthe unusually River lit- (Triplein the days Crown before Theater, it closes. (Cherry 54 8th Lane, Ave., 38 Com-New eachKulick, F.other?” Murray Abraham plays NOWand a Jewish mer-then PLAYINGto a dangerous follows truth: the prerequisite that to injustice up eral turn here.themcrophones, Played in the round,to thestop actionand is backchatcoughing….but with the audience. none Theof vana,”gene O’Neilla feel-good drama, suite directedby Pedro byRuiz Jonathan set to a med-Kent. to Miller’schant in Jerusalem inmoralizing, 1192. (Classic Stage Company, stages is fear. (Walter a slow-building Kerr, 219 W. 48th St. 212-239-6200.) hor-largely stagedA on grubbya pile of dirt. All synthesisof the actors of “Little Red Riding Hood,” merce St. 866-811-4111. In previews. Opens April 12.) 136 E. 13th St. 866-811-4111. In previews.) are covered in fisecondlth; a few are covered hal inf little cleaves else. closer to kitchen-sink realism, ley of Cuban music (congas, rumbas, mambos)—a with the less bold question,Head of Passes “Is it forRapp is a gifted writer, and there’s poetry to his (AmericanYork. 545-212-4135) Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St. 212-719- rorRevolt. story, She Said. as Revolt o Again.ffhand infractionsShelah (Phylicia Rashad) lead tries toto keep seismic a godly dialogue, particularlyit“Tobacco works. the longer speeches. Road,” The But and sparse exploitative set realitydesign televi- (the throwback to the glitzy nineteen-fifties Havana club TheLileana Crucible Blain-Cruz directs a play by Alice Birch, house. She doesn’t like profanity, she doesn’t like much of the play—performedinterweaving by the Flea’s resi- emotive scenes with confiding solil- 1300. In previews.) cruelties.money?an exploration o f AttheBecause way the people talk,center featuring if odisorderliness—sheso,f the I’m strong even disapprovescool ensemble o f devilledwith dent acting troupe,playsion, the Bats, thetakes with moreplaywright spirit place than insideand director a box Adam of tissues)Rapp’s fa- Fully Committed InDaniel his Abeles, second Molly Bernard, Arthur Eboni Booth, andMiller eggs. But, reinvention in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s this play, in- sea-precision—comesoquies. across as poverty Throughout, porn, degra- Chekhov’s mournful themes scene.Sugar “Bury Raysin Me Standing,” in the Sun by the Catalonia-born cast—includingJennifer Ikeda. (SoHo Rep, 46 Walker Saoirse St. 212-352- spiredRonan, by the Book Taviof Job and setGevinson, in a former bed dation porn,blelike and occasionally drama (considering thecenters on a teen-age girl trying to that,3101. In previews.)just lemme getand breakfastsome.” on the Gul f Coast,There Shelah will have waspanty sniffing,only blow-up-doll highlighted humping, and puz- the intense emotional RamónJesse Tyler Oller, Ferguson is more ambitious: plays nearly an fortyexploration characters of son, the Flemish directormuch Ivo more tovan contend Hove with than unholy(“A hors View zling de ficit ofarrive brassieres) porn intact: porn. (41 White unrequited love, the uncanny feel- Nathan the Wise andRomeo Ciarán & Juliet Hinds—are Bend’oeuvres. Whishaw In the Bible, Job’s children and are killed,Sophie his St. 212-352-3101.) escape the horrors of her home town. Rapp has at a trendy New York restaurant, in this one-man fromThe Public’s the Mobile Bridge”) Unit performs strips the trag- thelivelihood 1953 destroyed, drama and his own bodyof aitsfflicted. bon- 1ing that we’re spectators to our own lives, and the GypsyInMark Gotthold culture McGrath’s setEphraim to traditionalmusical Lessing’s one-man folk 1779 songs drama, showfrom AntiquarianOkonedo,neveredy, after touringa givingitdull through Book community momentpowerful Fair ven- Shelah performances suffiners modern this parallels yetperfor struggles as John to - andscenery.always without enjoyed My arms), only a wallow and critique Greek in the amphorae ismuck that o fI human deco-wish comedy by Becky Mode, directed by Jason Moore. netsues in andall five boroughs. buckle Lear deBessonet shoes: directs. the hold set, fast to herby faith. Jan McCraney’s Versweyveld, language—a ALSOdiscom NOTABLEfiting awareness that art will always have southernadapted Spainby Edward and Eastern Kemp andEurope. directed In “Flabber- by Brian Theand(Public, Park Elizabeth 425 LafayetteAvenue St. 212-967-7555. Proctor, Armory Previews decent willblend o fhouse the folkspoetic and more demotic—alwayswho than fall capti- preytwo ratedemotion with and goddesses desire. Thisand athletes.takes an (20unusually Rockefel- lit- traces his momentous rise to fame as the mance,begin April 11.) from the musicalvates, but this script, directednumber by Tina Landau, “IAntlia Pneumaticathe Peter actors Jay Sharp. • Blackbird playing the children didn’t gast,”(Lyceum, Gustavo 149 W.Ramírez 45th St. Sansano 212-239-6200. evokes In the previews.) desta- hundredis a cavernous American classroom, and international seemswith stuck a between vast dealersparable chalkboard and play. for After thea Belasco.on • Boyler theClurman. Plaza, shapely Through Aprilat 9 . 49th•structure Bright St. 212-636-2000.) that ordinary life • Swann,lacks—and a Kulick, F. Murray Abraham plays a Jewish mer- to aThe dangerous School for Scandal truth: the leisurelyprerequisite and mostly naturalistic to opening injustice scene, Star Cort. •eral The Color turn Purple Jacobs. here. • Disas- Played in the round, the action is voice of every generation ever. Missed op- Can’twhichRed Bull TheatredrawingsAfgani-stand stages Richard oBrinsleyf trees Sher- thebecomeIt,” tone alters to abruptly, theanimated. edging 45-min toward symbol- Here,ter!- Nederlander. alsothat • Dry Powder wehave Public.yearn • Eclipsed to for. die. We’re Great reminded commitment that a well-lived bilizingchant in experience Jerusalem oinf arriving1192. (Classic in a newStage land. Company, (175 fiisfty-sixth fear.idan’s gossip-minded (Walter annual comedy Kerr, oNewf manners 219 Yorkfrom W.ism. Antiquarian48th Still, it’s a St.tremendous 212-239-6200.) role Bookfor Rashad, aFair, for- Golden. •leader largelyThe Effect Barrowin staged the Street area The- on o fa African-Americanpile of dirt. All of art,the oactorsffers Long Day’s Journey Into Night the1777, young directed by Marc women Vietor and featuringof Salem, midable actress dressed who rightly relishes like every Catho- wail. atre. • Familiarlife Playwrights is theHorizons. most Through artful fiction of them all. (Pearl, Eighthportunity Ave., atin 19th not St. having 212-242-0800. a flying April number, 5-10.) aute four-dayDana sexIvey and Markmeet-upscene Linn-Baker. (Lucille betweenfor Lor-lovers(Public, 425o f twoLafayette rare St. 212-967-7555.)books,drones, maps, toApril 10. • Theabut wide-ranging Father Samuelso J. Friedman.sad. • Fid- sale(Beth (April Israel 7) led Centerby a monumental for the 136 E. 13th St. 866-811-4111. In previews.) tel, 121 Christopher St. 212-352-3101. Previews begin dler on the Roofare Broadway covered Theatre. • Fun in Home fi lth; a few are covered in little else. Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne, John Gallagher, Jr., manuscripts,licApril schoolgirls, 8.) and cause ephemera. havocIdeation when The variousthey envelop exhibi- theCircle in thequilt Square.555 •W.by Hamilton 42ndthe Richard Harlem-born St.Rod- 212-563-9261.) artist Faith Ringgold, but smart choice to avoid using any Sugar Headthe playbills of Passes which Inwere Aaron Loeb’s thedrama, presented printouts by San Fran- gers. • HoldArts, RappOn to Me Darling is10 Atlantica gifted Nathan Theatre writer, D and Perlman there’s poetry Pl. 212- to his and Michael Shannon play the dysfunctional Ty- townShuffle in Along accusations of witchcraft.cisco Playhouse, three (Music management consultantsby Philip Company. • The Humans Helen Hayes. • Iron- DanceRevolt. Theatre She Said. of RevoltHarlem Again. torsShelahAudra feature McDonald, (Phylicia aBrian vast Stokes collectionMitchell,Rashad) and and theirtriesof crisply notable suitedto bosskeep havetitles, gathered a godly cov-in a bound Rattlestick.partdialogue, • oKingf andher Country: “Womanparticularly Shake- on athe Bridge” longer series, speeches. from theBut Rayrone family,songs. in the(Amoeba Roundabout’s Records, revival Newport of the Eu- ofGlass Billythe Porter sets star Wikipediain a themusical aboutaguish the making mood.) o f pageconference roomVan for for a brainstormingHove, Benghazi session. immune The speare’s Great440-8650) WolfCycle of Kings in BAM’s the Harvey The-River Since its resurrection, in 2012, this beloved ballet eringa popular subjects African-American such stage show as from art, the medicine,whiteboard, the water literature, bottles, and the pads andand atre. • Love’snineteen-eighties. Refrain La Mama. Through April One of these pieces—grand in Lileana Blain-Cruz directs a play by Alice Birch, house.nineteen-twenties. She Directeddoesn’t by George like C. Wolfe profanity, pencils give the meeting she a humdrum doesn’t air, until one like 10. • Periclesmuch Polonsky Shakespeareof the Center. play—performed by the Flea’s resi- Beach.gene O’Neill 374-734-5323) drama, directed by Jonathan Kent. (whichtoand Miller’s choreographed I moralizing,by Savionskimmed). Glover. (Music stages man asks,Personally, “Whata slow-building are we going to do with all I’vethe hor- Through April 10A. • Thegrubby Robber Bridegroom synthesis Laura of “Little Red Riding Hood,” troupean exploration has been inof wobblythe way shape, people both talk, technically featuring photography,disorderliness—sheBox, 239 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. spread In previews.)across evenbodies?” thedisapproves Infi anfty- assignmentfi ve-thousand- only slightlyof devilled less palat- Pels. • The scale,Royaledent Mitzi E.actingnarrative Newhouse. • Schooltroupe, of in scope—is the Bats, within the more collection spirit than of (American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St. 212-719- ror story, as offhand infractionsable than their usual work,lead they’ve toseemingly seismic been Rock Winter Eviction Garden.“Tobacco • Sense & Sensibility Road,” Gym and exploitative reality televi- andDaniel aesthetically, Abeles, Molly but its Bernard, spirit always Eboni earns Booth, an enand- square-footeggs.neverTuck Everlasting But, been hall.in Tarellto Veteran war, Alvin collectorsandtasked McCraney’s with stoppingnow theawait spread I ofno a deadlythisplay, virus.lon fair in-at- Judson. the• precision—comesShe Loves Guggenheim; Me Studio 54. • Straight another,across as frompoverty the porn, collection degra- 1300. In previews.) cruelties.Casey Nicholaw directs At a musicalthe adaptation center of Oro perhapsf the assisting strong a genocide. Or ensemble maybe prov- Acorn. • The sion,Way West Bankthe Street playwright Theatre. and director Adam Rapp’s fa- thusiasticJenniferRubix CubeIkeda. response. (SoHoReloaded This Rep, season, 46 Walker the company St. 212-352- is asspired oneNatalie o Babbitt’s fby the the 1975 city’s children’s Book novel,best—it o aboutf Job a ing attractsand their worth set to some thein depraved a most former higher-ups. prized Abed Through Aprilodationf 10 Maya. • YOUARENOWHERE porn, Angelou, 3LDand soldoccasionally at the house (considering for a record the gercast—includingfamily want that accesses eternalto. life WrittenfromSaoirse a magi- satire Ronan, of andcorporate culture Tavidirected and its Gevinson,deceptively an- byArt & TechnologyPerformanceblelike Center. Through drama April 10 .centers art is onnot a teen-agefor everyone girl trying but to doubling3101. In previews.) down on prima-facie causes for admi- hardcoversand breakfast of many on the European Gulf Coast, dealers, Shelah the will former have pricepanty last sni year.ffing, In blow-up-doll this colorful humping, tapestry, “Doubleand puz- Nathan the Wise Oliverand Ciarán Stone Hinds—are with greatBen Whishaw performances and SophieTHE NEW YORKER,escape APRIL 11, 2016 the horrors7 of her home town. Rapp has rationMichael by commissioning Bay’s theatrical female debut choreographers. stuns and Groliermuch moreClub presidentto contend Eugene with Flammthan unholy hints, “behors- Dutchwhenzling deon executedfi thecit oGoldenf brassieres) correctly, Gate pornBridge,” it porn.can a begroup(41 formWhite of In Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s 1779 drama, Okonedo, giving powerful performances as John always enjoyed a wallow in the muck of human TheRomeosizzles choices as& Juliet thisaren’t mind-boggling obvious ones. Elena toy Kunikovabecomes caused’oeuvres.by Sam it’s twice WaterstonIn the as farBible, for Job’sthem as Unclechildren to go out Sam,are to killed, Califor- John his youngbreakingSt. 212-352-3101.) girls jumpand ropebreathtaking. high above theEviction San Fran- is adapted by Edward Kemp and directed by Brian and Elizabeth Proctor, decent folks who fall prey emotion and desire. This takes an unusually lit- isThe Russian- Public’s trained Mobile and well Unit respected, performs but the not trag- for nia.”livelihood (Park Ave. destroyed, at 66th St. and 212-616-3930. his own body April affl 7-10.)icted. cisco skyline, as if freed from all constraints. (104 aKulick, killing F. machine Murray Abraham with as manyplays a twistsJewish andmer- Krasinskito a dangerous as truth:Bill Clinton,the prerequisite Oliver to injustice Platt aeral relentless turn here. tour Played de in force the round, by newcomer the action is choreography:edy, after touring she’s ait teacher through and community stager (often ven- for Shelah suffers modern parallels yet struggles to E.1 25th St. 212-254-4710.) chant in Jerusalem in 1192. (Classic Stage Company, asis fear.Mean (Walter Terrorist, Kerr, 219 andW. 48th Benedict St. 212-239-6200.) Cum- writer/performerlargely staged on a pile Julia of dirt. Lapinsky, All of the whoactors theuesturns all- in maleallas fi you’dve Ballets boroughs. expect Trockadero Lear from deBessonet de a Monte cube. Carlo).directs.Many Brooklynhold fast Folkto her Festival faith. McCraney’s language—a ALSO NOTABLE 136 E. 13th St. 866-811-4111. In previews.) 1are covered in filth; a few are covered in little else. Dianne(Public,members McIntyre 425 ofLafayette the is a veteranaudience St. 212-967-7555. jazz werechoreographer; severelyPreviews Heldblendberbatch in o fthe the boroughas poetic Barack and for demotic—alwayssevenObama. years, Huh, this festi-capti- just never once breaks as character as she Head of Passes Rapp is a gifted writer, and there’s poetry to his thisbegin will April be her11.) first piece using pointe work. The valvates,realized honors but string-bandthisthey’re script, all directedmusic white. in bya celebration TinaVery Landau, cool. of playsAntlia Pneumatica“ObtuseREADINGS Landlord.” Peter AND Jay Sharp.TALKS The • Blackbird perfor- burnedRevolt. Sheand/or Said. maimed Revolt Again. but still had a Shelah (Phylicia Rashad) tries to keep a godly dialogue, particularly the longer speeches. But evening program on April 9 includes a timely tribute folk,seems blues, stuck bluegrass, between ska, parable and Irish and musical play. After tradi- a Belasco. • Boy Clurman. Through April 9. • Bright greatLileana time. Blain-Cruz (Grauman’s directs a playChinese by Alice Theatre, Birch, (house. Jiffy She Lube doesn’t Amphitheatre, like profanity, she1600 doesn’t Wash like- mancemuch o fbegan the play—performed as an inconspicuous by the Flea’s no resi-- toThe black School ballerinas, for Scandal with many pioneering women, tions.leisurely Thirty and bands mostly perform naturalistic across openingits three scene,days; BrooklynStar Cort. Historical • The Color Society Purple Jacobs. • Disas- an exploration of the way people talk, featuring disorderliness—she even disapproves of devilled dent acting troupe, the Bats, with more spirit than includingRed6801 Bull Hollywood DebraTheatre Austin stages Blvd. and Richard 542-986-0045) Lauren Brinsley Anderson, Sher- in theretheington tone will Ave. altersalso be442-609-6587) abruptly, vocal and edging instrumental toward symbol- work- Theticeter! path Nederlander. taped toward to social my • Dry door,progress Powder a isflawless Public.mapped • by Eclipsed imita its de-- Daniel Abeles, Molly Bernard, Eboni Booth, and eggs. But, in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, in- precision—comes across as poverty porn, degra- attendance.idan’s gossip-minded (City Center, comedy131 W. 55th o fSt. manners 212-581-1212. from shops,ism. Still, square it’s dancesa tremendous and swing role jams,for Rashad, and an a in-for- tours:tionGolden. youngerthat • blended Thegenerations Effect in rebel with Barrow against the Streetrestaurant the activism The- Jennifer Ikeda. (SoHo Rep, 46 Walker St. 212-352- spired by the Book of Job and set in a former bed dation porn, and occasionally (considering the April1777,PeePaw 6 directedand April Eats 8-9.)by a Marc Pancake Vietor and featuring famousmidableGlengarry contest actress Glen inwho which rightly Ross participants relishes2: every compete wail. oatre.f past •eras, Familiar approaching Playwrights old causes Horizons. from new Through angles 3101. In previews.) and breakfast on the Gulf Coast, Shelah will have flyers.panty sni Soffi ng,much blow-up-doll attention humping, to detail and that puz- I Dana Ivey and Mark Linn-Baker. (Lucille Lor- to(Public,Glengarrier see who 425 can Lafayette toss Glen a banjoSt. 212-967-7555.)Rosser the farthest (or intoMitch the thatApril seem 10. •to The reawaken Father and Samuel restructure J. Friedman. political • ide- Fid- much more to contend with than unholy hors zling deficit of brassieres) porn porn. (41 White FJKtel,This 121Dance Christopheris just a frickin’ St. 212-352-3101. guy named Previews PeePaw begin Gowanus Canal. Gloves and a rope are provided, ologiesalmostdler on overnight. the mistook Roof HavingBroadway it for grown an Theatre. actualup with • theFuneviction stories Home Romeo & Juliet andd’oeuvres. Murray’s In the Bible, Revenge) Job’s children are killed, his St. 212-352-3101.) TheAprileating work 8.) a o frickin’f the Iraq-born blueberry choreographer pancake. FadiThat’s J. tipsIdeation on shot-put form are not. (St. Ann’s Church, 157 onotice.Circlef suffrage in The movementsthe Square. performance and • Hamilton the myth continued oRichardf bra burning, Rod- for The Public’s Mobile Unit performs the trag- livelihood destroyed, and his own body afflicted. Khoury is distinguished by Middle Eastern folk- MontagueIn Aaron St., Loeb’s Brooklyn. drama, 718-875-6960. presented by April San 8-10.) Fran- digitalgers. •natives, Hold On both to Memen Darling and women, Atlantic have Theatre recast it.edy, (IHOP, after touring SoHo. 845-709-3003)it through community ven- MuchShelah sulikeffers tight modern sweaters, parallels yetsequels struggles are to the1 next four months in various forms: loricShuffle influences Along but also by an eclectic blend of cisco Playhouse, three management consultants feminismCompany. as •a Theconstant Humans cause, Helen mainly Hayes. by exposing • Iron- ues in all five boroughs. Lear deBessonet directs. notoriouslyhold fast to her hard faith. toMcCraney’s pull off. language—a David emails, phoneALSO calls, NOTABLE even spontaneous ballroomAudra McDonald, and jazz. The Brian ballroom Stokes element Mitchell, is prom- and Greekand their Independence crisply suited Parade boss have gathered in a sexismbound as Rattlestick. a pervasive social • King plight and throughCountry: their Shake- art, inentJewish(Public, in this 425Town season’s Lafayette 8000 premières: St. 212-967-7555. a ballroom Previews drama, You’llMametblend stumble of the(who uponpoetic aI seaandthought o demotic—alwaysf blue-and-white was dead) fl capti-ags, journalism,monologues and organizing. by Julia Theperformed discussion atchurns my Billy Porter star in a musical about the making of conference room for a brainstorming session. The speare’s Great Cycle of Kings BAM’s Harvey• The- “Takebegin Two,” April and 11.) “Reflections,” a contemporary bal- asvates, well asbut time-honored this script, directed costumes, by Tina music, Landau, and online,Antlia •where Pneumatica countless Peter different Jay perspectivesSharp. Blackbird collide aThe popular riveting African-American story of an stageentire showTOWN from en the- whiteboard,struggles to the find water hisbottles, footing and the in padsthis andin- doorstepatre. Love’s• for Refrain me Laalone. Mama. This Through •multi- April let with watery images and mirrorings. (New York food,seems at thisstuck celebration between parable of Greek and independence play. After a toBelasco. shape• a new Boy pluralist Clurman. vision—a Through necessary April 9plasticity. Bright nineteen-twenties. Directed by George C. Wolfe pencils give the meeting a humdrum air, until one media10. Pericles approach• Polonsky to theaterShakespeare will Center. •keep LivetirelyThe Arts, School populated 219 W. for 19th Scandal bySt. 212-924-0077.Jewish people April set 6-9.) far anddulgentleisurely culture. andexercise. Pre-parade mostly Thenaturalistic events play include openingconsists a flscene, ag-en- that’sStar only Cort. broadened The• Color the movement’s Purple Jacobs. reach. A. Disas- An- and choreographed by Savion Glover. (Music man asks, “What are we going to do with all the Through April 10. The• Robber Bridegroom• Laura inRed the Bull future. Theatre Stand-out stages Richard performances Brinsley Sher- by raisingtirelythe tone ceremonyof alters Stephen abruptly, at Bowling and edging Daniel Green toward Park Baldwin symbol- and a géliquethister! Nederlander.• Rochéplaywright moderates Dry relevant“Not Powder Your Public. Mother’sfor• Eclipsedmany Femi- Box, 239 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. In previews.) bodies?” In an assignment only slightly less palat- Pels. The Royale• Mitzi E. Newhouse. School of “Skinidan’s Me” gossip-minded comedy of manners from traditional-ism. Still, danceit’s a tremendous exhibition. (64th role forSt. atRashad, Fifth Ave., a for- nism:Golden. Sisterhood The in the Effect Digital• Barrow Age,” which Street aims The- to Barbra Streisand and Adrien Brody, two ablescreaming than their the usual alphabet work, they’ve at seeminglyeach other been yearsRock Winter •to come, Garden. but Senseit’s her & Sensibility impressive Gym The1777, Hungarian directed dancers by Marc and Vietor choreographers and featuring Vik- throughmidable 79th actress St. April who 10 rightlyat 1:45.) relishes every wail. humorouslyatre. Familiar •examine Playwrights the rise of advocacyHorizons. •for Through wom- Tuck Everlasting taskedfor two with hours, stopping with the spread a one-hour of a deadly inter virus.- dedicationat Judson.• She that Loves shines Me Studio the 54.brightest. Straight• tóriabig-timeDana Dányi, Ivey Yids.andCsaba Mark (BroadwayMolnár, Linn-Baker. and Theater,Zsó (Lucillefia Tamara 1545Lor- (Public, 425 Lafayette St. 212-967-7555.) en’sApril rights 10•. among The Father young Samuelpeople across J. Friedman. the country. Fid- Casey Nicholaw directs a musical adaptation of 1Or perhaps assisting a genocide. Or maybe prov- Acorn. The Way West Bank Street• Theatre. VadesBroadway.tel, 121 last Christopher appeared 736-049-2677) inSt. New 212-352-3101. York in 2012, Previews in “City,” begin mission. The theater did provide free PanelistsIdler was on nearlyforthe this Roof discussion frightenedBroadway• include Theatre. by the her writers Fun manic Home Mal- Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 children’s novel, about a ing their worth to some depraved higher-ups. A Through April 10. YOUARENOWHERE• 3LD a Aprillight and8.) amusing satire of conformity in which IdeationAUCTIONS AND ANTIQUES loryscreamingCircle Ortberg in the and andSquare. Heben vicious Nigatu; Hamilton thethreats executive Richard before direc- Rod- family that accesses eternal life from a magi- satirecoffee, of corporate which culturemade andme itschuckle deceptively until an- I Art &• Technology Center. Through April 10. evenThe the Sleeping naked scenes Bag were Wars cute. They return with In Aaron Loeb’s drama, presented by San Fran- torgers. of partnerships Hold On to at Me Feministing, Darling Atlantic Lori Adelman; Theatre realized it was Nespresso (I only drink remembering• that it was all an act.• The “SkinShuffle Me,” Along a ménage à trois set to garage-rock gui- Thecisco Caramoor Playhouse, Center three for management Music and consultantsthe Arts, andCompany. the nerd-culture The Humans authority Helen Susana Hayes. Polo. (128 Iron- THE NEW YORKER, APRIL• 11, 2016 7 tarWrittenAudra and drums, McDonald, and played produced Brian live. It’s Stokes looserby Mitchell,7th and wilder,grader and theStumptown).and verdant their crisplyestate turned Longsuited summer-music bossstory have short, gathered venue wait in a Pierrepontonlybound downside Rattlestick. St., Brooklyn. was 718-222-4111. King the and lesser Country: April 5perfor at Shake-6:30.)- tradingBilly Porter on appealing star in a rapport musical and about casual the makingirony to o f Katonah,forconference this is culling playroom for toits acollectioncome brainstorming out of antiques, on session. DVD. cur- The mancespeare’s byGreat the Cycle two of police Kings BAM’s officers. Harvey The- Their Lindsay Hammil, this semi-autobio- • aima popular at easy African-Americantargets like male chauvinism. stage show (Abronsfrom the rentlywhiteboard, displayed the on water the grounds, bottles, forand an the auction pads andat Strandatre. Bookstore Love’s Refrain La Mama. Through April graphical play contains a whole lot of kids (Shubert Theater, 225 W. 44th St., New aggressive• physical choices felt over- Artsnineteen-twenties. Center, 466 Grand Directed St. 212-352-3101. by George April C. 8-9.)Wolfe Sotheby’spencils give on April the meeting 12; among a humdrum the offerings air, untilare Ve- one The10. art Pericles and culture Polonsky critic EuniceShakespeare Lipton hasCenter. ex- blown and melodramatic• and I never stuckand choreographed head first inby sleepingSavion Glover. bags. (New(Music netianYork.man asks,rococo 847-948-4244) “What chairs, are sixteenth-century we going to do tapestries,with all the humedThrough her April tangled 10. backstoryThe Robber across Bridegroom four histor- Laura • • “WorksYorkBox, 239Theater & Process”W. 45th Workshop, St. / American212-239-6200. 79 BalletE. 4thIn Theatrepreviews.)St. 898- andbodies?” carpets In galore. an assignment (York Ave. only at 72nd slightly St. 212-606- less palat- icalquitePels. memoirs. believedThe Royale The them latest,Mitzi E.“Aas Newhouse. Distantthey twisted Heartbeat: School my of • The company, whose spring season begins May 9 7000.)Myable Sickthan • Fashion, their Children usual architecture work, they’ve (interior seemingly and exte- been ARock War, Wintera Disappearance, Garden. andSense a Family’s & Sensibility Secrets,” Gym 234-7456) arm behind• my back or slammed• my atTuck the Met, Everlasting highlights new and recent works. These rior),tasked nature, with andstopping the female the spread form oaref a somedeadly o fvirus. the tracesat Judson. the political She Lovesawakening Me Studio of her 54.uncle Straight Dave, This reviewer has only cried three face into• my carpet. Overall, an experi- includeCasey a Nicholaw duet from directs Marcelo a musicalGomes’s adaptation recent opus, o f subjectsOr perhaps treated assisting in Christie’s a genocide. April 6 Or sale maybe of photo- prov- whoAcorn. fled from The theirWay Westnative Bank Bronx Street in the Theatre. nine- Sex: The Play • “AfterENatalieffect,” Babbitt’s danced 1975 by Misty children’s Copeland novel, and about Cory a graphs,timesing their which in worth hisincludes tolife; some an especially first,depraved whenlarge higher-ups. number Lance A teen-thirtiesmentalThrough andApril to joinmemorable 10 .the YOUARENOWHERE Abraham show. Lincoln (3 RussellBrigade 3LD Stearns,Greatfamily along artthat withalwaysaccesses works pushes eternal by Gemma limitslife Bond, from and a a dancer magi-this oArmstrongfsatire prints o fby corporate Hiroshi left cultureSugimoto. his andwife (One its deceptivelyfor of theseSheryl is an-a inSt.Art the Apt &Spanish Technology 2L, CivilBrooklyn. War. Center. Through 413-626-0677) Through interviews April and 10 . inpiece the corps definitely who recently does presented that. An an exploration evening of portraitCrow. oSecond,f Princess whenDiana; Iin stubbedit, she turns my shyly toe research, without much help from relatives, from her own choreography at Danspace Project, and away from the photographer, peering from under THEwhomThe NEW shePlay YORKER,heard They little APRIL oPutf her 11, uncle2016On asInside a child, Lip-the7 of the erotic and tantalizing, mixed with real frickin’ bad last week on a little Ethan Stiefel, the former A.B.T. star who has cre- her famous blond bangs, hands tucked demurely tonMovie uncovered ‘Birdman a seventy-’ five-year history to re- atedthe a grotesquenew piece for and A.B.T.’s nauseating. Studio Company. So much It’s behindnail poking her back.) up On on April my deck.12, the Andhouse third,turns construct his lost legacy. Tim Teeman, a senior ed- alsogrunting. a great chance (Classic to see Stage some Company,truly excellent 234 danc- W. itsduring attention every to antiquities, second ofmostly My fromSick south-Chil- itorPretty at the good! Daily (RedBeast, Box, joins 32ndher in St.a discussion and 4th ers up close. (Guggenheim Museum, Fifth Ave. at 89th ern Europe and the Mediterranean, including sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Ar- Renigald St. 980-786-3400) dren. The play delivers everything the Ave., New York. 234-975-2933)

St. 212-423-3575. April 9-10.) Roman statues of Bacchus, marble Venuses (with chives. (828 Broadway. 212-473-1452. April 11 at 7.) AMARGO PABLO BY ILLUSTRATION

168 THETHE NEW NEU YORKER,JORKER, APRIL JUNE 11,20, 2016 2016 George Coleman The new album, “A Master Speaks,” proves that there’s more than enough vim and vigor NIGHT LIFE left in this octogenarian tenor saxophonist to put you in mind of the brawny stylist who 1 brought lustre to pivotal recordings by Miles ROCK AND POP musch, who plays on a handful of hypnotic col- Davis and Herbie Hancock in the sixties. He’s George Coleman laborative albums. The pair claim to have met ten joined by the album’s support team: the pia- The new album, “A Master Speaks,” proves years ago on the street in New York, with van Wis- nist Mike LeDonne, the drummer George Cole- Thethat ATM there’sMusicians Machines more and than night-club enough proprietors vim and vigorlead sem offering Jarmusch a free CD. The story may man, Jr., and the veteran bassist Bob Cranshaw. NIGHT LIFE Whenleft intheir thiscomplicated debut octogenarian album lives; it’s “Dreaming tenor advisable saxophonist to Fastcheck in be apocryphal, but the collaboration has yielded (Smoke, 2751 Broadway, between 105th and 106th to put youin in advance mind otof conthefi rmbrawny engagements. stylist who very real results. The albums are haunting juxta- Sts. 212-864-6662. April 8-10.) 1 Slowbrought Motion” lustre was to firstpivotal reviewed recordings in by2004, Miles the positions of forlorn lute and smeared, searing elec- drivingMichael pop-punk Hurley sounds of The ATM Ma- Camille O’Sullivan ROCK AND POP musch, who plays on a handful of hypnotic col- Davis and Herbie Hancock in the sixties. He’s tric guitar. Van Wissem’s music for Jarmusch’s re- laborative albums. The pair claim to have met ten chinesjoinedThis were byseventy-four-year-old describedthe album’s as support“suburban folk team: musicianBaltimore’s the pia- began cent vampire film, “Only Lovers Left Alive,” won Pinning this Irish-French performer down years ago on the street in New York, with van Wis- lovenist hitchhikingletter Mike toLeDonne, Fall to NewOut the York drummerBoy.” from This his George home sentiment inCole- Bucks the prize at Cannes for best soundtrack. (Le Pois- to any one confining musical genre is a fool’s Musicians and night-club proprietors lead sem offering Jarmusch a free CD. The story may ringsman, County,true Jr., todayand Pennsylvania, the as veteran they continue inbassist the early Bob to sixties. crankCranshaw. Hurleyout son Rouge, 158 Bleecker St. 212-505-3474. April 11.) game. What can be confirmed is that she brings complicated lives; it’s advisable to check be apocryphal, but the collaboration has yielded (Smoke,unsuccessfully 2751 Broadway, auditioned between for 105thgigs at and iconic 106th Vil- arresting theatricality and sensuality to a wide in advance to confirm engagements. very real results. The albums are haunting juxta- top-notchSts.lage 212-864-6662. clubs pop like punk the AprillicksGaslight in8-10.) thebefore face recording of an un “First- 1 swath of song, touching on the work of Gillian positions of forlorn lute and smeared, searing elec- interestedSongs,” mainstream a strange and audience.beautiful début Due album to thefor the JAZZ AND STANDARDS Welch, Nick Cave, and others. (Irish Arts Cen- Michael Hurley tric guitar. Van Wissem’s music for Jarmusch’s re- fleetingCamilleFolkways nature O’Sullivan label, of inthe 1964. pop-punk Despite thatmovement, achievement, it ter, 553 W. 51st St. 212-757-3318. April 6-9 and This seventy-four-year-old folk musician began cent vampire film, “Only Lovers Left Alive,” won wouldPinningHurley appear thisremained that Irish-French The an outsider ATM Machinesperformer in the folk are, scene;down by his Bill Charlap April 13-16.) hitchhiking to New York from his home in Bucks the prize at Cannes for best soundtrack. (Le Pois- proxy,to closestany representing one connection confining a musicwas musical to genreanother genre whose quirky is a fool’s sole eccen- It’s been far too long between recordings, but County, Pennsylvania, in the early sixties. Hurley son Rouge, 158 Bleecker St. 212-505-3474. April 11.) game.tric, What Peter Stampfel,can be con ofif rmedthe Holy is that Modal she Rounders, brings the blue-chip trio of the pianist Charlap has re- Pharoah Sanders unsuccessfully auditioned for gigs at iconic Vil- purposearrestingwhom is toHurley theatricality serve later as the collaborated and butt sensuality of jokes with toinon a manyan wide album leased a new album, “Notes from New York,” a Mainstream he will never be, but this pioneer- lage clubs like the Gaslight before recording “First 1 reference-basedswathof irreverent of song, improvtouchingAmericana comedy on called the work“Havesets across o Moicy!”f Gillian the It is masterly project replete with interpretations ing free-jazz saxophonist now regularly tempers Songs,” a strange and beautiful début album for the JAZZ AND STANDARDS country.Welch,Hurley’s ( JuneNick own 18, Cave, Parkeerie, and Slope una others.ff Streetected (Irish delivery,Fair, ArtsBrooklyn however, Cen- of standards both familiar and offbeat. Special his robust effusions with deeply soulful play- Folkways label, in 1964. Despite that achievement, 2pm)ter,that 553 best W. 51stconveys St. 212-757-3318.the humor and April existential 6-9 and lone - guests for this celebration of Big Apple song ing that embraces the tradition without pan- Hurley remained an outsider in the folk scene; his Bill Charlap Aprilliness 13-16.) of his songs. He now lives in Oregon; this fare include the vocalists Cécile McLorin Sal- dering to it. In fact, he’s initiated a new tra- closest connection was to another quirky eccen- It’s been far too long between recordings, but Meltytwo-night Cheese stand is part of an increasingly rare East vant and Freddy Cole and the reed men Hous- dition; potent traces of Sanders’s ecstatic vibe tric, Peter Stampfel, of the Holy Modal Rounders, the blue-chip trio of the pianist Charlap has re- PharoahCoast foray. Sanders (Union Pool, 484 Union Ave., Brooklyn. ton Person and Ken Peplowski. (Rose Theatre, can be detected in the music of Kamasi Wash- whom Hurley later collaborated with on an album leased a new album, “Notes from New York,” a InfluencedMainstream718-609-0484. exclusively he willApril never 9-10.)by big be, hair but thismetal pioneer- and big Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th St. 212- ington. (Birdland, 315 W. 44th St. 212-581-3080. of irreverent Americana called “Have Moicy!” It is masterly project replete with interpretations tobacco,ing free-jazz this heavy-duty saxophonist power now regularly group sports tempers a 721-6500. April 8-9.) April 5-9.) Hurley’s own eerie, unaffected delivery, however, of standards both familiar and offbeat. Special dedicatedhisIggy robust Popfanbase effusions known with deeplyas “cheese soulful shreds.” play- that best conveys the humor and existential lone- guests for this celebration of Big Apple song Theing After bandthat a embracesdecadewas infamously of o ffthe-and-on tradition cut revivals out without ooff Iggythe Pop’s docupan-- fir s t liness of his songs. He now lives in Oregon; this fare include the vocalists Cécile McLorin Sal- deringband, tothe it. Stooges, In fact, and he’s its later initiated permutation, a new Iggy tra- and two-night stand is part of an increasingly rare East vant and Freddy Cole and the reed men Hous- mentarydition;the Stooges,‘The potent theDeclinetraces sixty-eight-year-old o fof Sanders’s Western ecstatic Civilization Michigan vibe na- Coast foray. (Union Pool, 484 Union Ave., Brooklyn. ton Person and Ken Peplowski. (Rose Theatre, Pt.can II:tive, beThe detectedwho hasMetal outlived in Years,” the musicall for of his beingof original Kamasi too bandmates, “melty”Wash- 718-609-0484. April 9-10.) Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th St. 212- forington. therecently cameras. (Birdland, delivered The 315 a compellingW.band 44th has St. new212-581-3080.relied album, on the“Post 721-6500. April 8-9.) sameAprilPop marketing 5-9.) Depression.” ploy Thein their record, 30 which years Popof tour has -said Iggy Pop ing, whereinmay be his they last, advertise is a collaboration that the withshow the will guitarist be After a decade of off-and-on revivals of Iggy Pop’s fir s t and Queens of the Stone Age front man, Josh band, the Stooges, and its later permutation, Iggy and their Homme,last “shirtless” and it performance.débuted last week However, as the No. as 1of rock the Stooges, the sixty-eight-year-old Michigan na- yet, naryalbum a shirton the is Billboard to be seen charts. on Many a Melty of the Cheese songs here tive,Flannel who has outlived and all of his original vinyl bandmates, memberfuse orthe any Stooges’ of their primal cheese approach shred withfans. the ( June weird- recently delivered a compelling new album, “Post 18, Bowerygroove songwritingBallroom, 6 Pop Delancy pioneered St. 8:30 with pm)David Bowie PopThe Depression.” origin behind The record,the mi whichdwestern Pop has folk said collective of “accidental musicians” on Pop’s 1977 album, “The Idiot.” What stands out may be his last, is a collaboration with the guitarist Whitemost, Whale though, is the combination of Pop’s sinewy, and Queens of the Stone Age front man, Josh occasionally menacing voice and Homme’s intricate, The new Iowa-based Homme, and it débuted last week folk as collective the No. 1 rock Fort Blanket answers the question, “What Oftenhyper-precise confused forriff s,a which literary creates homage, a new soundWhite that’s albumwould on it the sound Billboard like charts. if an Many assortment of the songs of here neglected forest animals came together and Whaledistinct is just from a fat Pop’s pale seventies dork namedglory days. Carl (United Nel -Pal- fuseattempted the Stooges’ to harmonize?” primal approach The with five the weird-band mates, all non-Midwestern natives, seem to son, aace retired Theatre, computer 4140 Broadway. programmer 212-568-6700. and statis April- 12.) groovehave arrived songwriting at music Pop pioneered by accident. with David Before Bowie putting out singles like, “My River Is Yonder tics guru who created and holds the sole patent onCreek,” Pop’s 1977 and album, “Howlin’ “The Heart Idiot.” of What Lonesome stands out Creek,” the group met working together at a Sophie most, though, is the combination of Pop’s sinewy, on theOn “human Madonna’s dance 2015 algorithm.”comeback single, During “Bitch, his I’m occasionallylocal Iowa menacing City bakery voice andwhere Homme’s they sportedintricate, minimum-wage lifestyles by choice. downMadonna,” time, Carl the would producer famously Diplo’s keep contribution stats on is hyper-preciseFor months riffs, which they creates were asimply new sound bakers, that’s baking the necessary quota of loaves that what clear:made a humans mashing tick line “dance-wise.” of saxophone-ish ( June dubstep 18, distinctthe day from demanded Pop’s seventies while glory working days. (United shifts Pal- in pre-dawn silence. But their lives began to Doubletreebass carries Ballroom, through 243 the W. B55th chorus St., and3rd soundsfloor) like acechange, Theatre, as 4140 Susan Broadway. (tambourine 212-568-6700. player April #2) 12.) recalled, “Well, one day Kenneth showed up countless other spastic E.D.M. climaxes. But the wearing this hat. Like a wide brimmed folky-hat. The rest of us kind of noticed and Chongstaccato $hot flow pattern of Madonna’s triple-distilled Sophie lyrics and the soft-touch synth arpeggios are trade- Onpretty Madonna’s much just2015 kept comeback baking single, as usual. “Bitch, Well I’m the next week, there was Debby rocking a One markthe most Sophie, dominant the London personalities producer whoto emerge split com- Madonna,”neat little thevest producer with a westernDiplo’s contribution flare to it, isand we sort of just influenced each other on from positionthe elusive duties Euro with DiploTrip-Slop for the movement single and isis san- clear:a subconscious a mashing linelevel.” of saxophone-ish dubstep none itizingother clubthan music’s Hungarian-born hard edge one Chong shimmering $hot. side bass carriesThese through fashion the selectionsB chorus and emerged sounds like into their weird, vague, misguided identity. Her styleat a time. can Hisbe simmeredbubbly, tongue-in-cheek down now to track a mix “Lem- countless“Nobody other really spastic knew E.D.M. why itclimaxes. was happening; But the it simply snowballed from one of those onade” was irritating electronic purists even before staccato flow pattern of Madonna’s triple-distilled of rave,it ended dance, up eletronica, in a McDonald’s ambient, commercial tectonic lastrock, year, lyricswide andbrimmed the soft-touch Beck-looking synth arpeggios hats,” are added trade- Susan. Terry (tin can player) even got a trip, slop,and his trop, shadowy and classicalwork with techno-orgy. the label PC AsMusic a is marksleeve Sophie, of tattoos the London despite producer having who no splitreal-world com- experiences to back up the decision. The self-proclaimedregarded as some“creative of the bestmanic and depressive,”most bewilder - positionfive individuals duties with Diploproceeded for the to single shut and people is san- out of their lives who didn’t adhere to their Chong’sing poprecording around, allethic baby-pitched consists vocalsof blending and kawaii itizingsnappy-dressing-folk-baker-poser club music’s hard edge one shimmering schema. side a varietyindulgence. of uppers (Music and Hall “grab-bag of Williamsburg, pills” in66 N.an 6th at a time.This His unwarranted bubbly, tongue-in-cheek image was track capitalized “Lem- upon by deciding to create a band. These St., Brooklyn. 718-486-5400. April 9.) onade” was irritating electronic purists even before Oster blender, and holding “smoothie record- itbakers ended wereup in anot McDonald’s musicians commercial to begin last with, year, but they learned enough basics in order for ing sessions”Jozef van which Wissem last anywhere from 6­­–7 andKenny his shadowy to strum work towards with the a chorus,label PC so Music the isgroup could clap in unison and “harmonize months.Over During the past thisfew years,latest this session, enigmatic Chong Dutch put com- regardedabout nature as some themes” of the bestin a andway most that bewilder gave a -manufactured sense of inspiration. out 23poser feature-film and lutist has length had a fruitful albums relationship along with with Sophie, the electronic producer Samuel Long, stirs up artificially sweetened beats, like the ing popAlthough around, all the baby-pitched majority ofvocals Fort and Blanket kawaii members are originally from Florida, geo- the EPthe containingdowntown fi hitlmmaker track and“4saken composer m3.” JimFor Jar- lean, addictive jingle “Lemonade” and the pop gags he pulls off with the PC Music label. HAMMERSTAD KRISTIAN BY ILLUSTRATION indulgence.graphical boundaries (Music Hall ofappear Williamsburg, to be no66 N.match 6th for lazy co-opted identities spawned out St., Brooklyn. 718-486-5400. April 9.) the remainder of the calendar year, Chong and of fear. The hats got bigger and the denim got tighter. Not one member of the band the band8 head to theTHE Northern NEW YORKER, Territories APRIL 11,of 2016 Jozefhas ever van beenWissem to a creek before, however when they write songs, that is certainly a Canada and hibernate (a la bears) until inspira- Overdominant the past theme few years, for thissome enigmatic reason: Dutch the theme com- of “creeks.” Either way, most critics agree tion strikes again. ( June 19, Warehouse Brewery poserthey andsound lutist exactly has had like a fruitful Mumford relationship & Sons. with Sophie, the electronic producer Samuel Long, stirsDocks, up 25arti Seventhficially sweetened Ave. 6pm–6am) beats, like the ILLUSTRATION BY KRISTIAN HAMMERSTAD KRISTIAN BY ILLUSTRATION the downtown filmmaker and composer Jim Jar- lean, addictive jingle “Lemonade” and the pop gags he pulls off with the PC Music label. LEGUIZAMON JUAN BY ILLUSTRATION —Matt Barats

8 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 9 George Coleman The new album, “A Master Speaks,” proves that there’s more than enough vim and vigor NIGHT LIFE left in this octogenarian tenor saxophonist to put you in mind of the brawny stylist who 1 brought lustre to pivotal recordings by Miles ROCK AND POP musch, who plays on a handful of hypnotic col- Davis and Herbie Hancock in the sixties. He’s laborative albums. The pair claim to have met ten joined by the album’s support team: the pia- years ago on the street in New York, with van Wis- nist Mike LeDonne, the drummer George Cole- Musicians and night-club proprietors lead sem offering Jarmusch a free CD. The story may man, Jr., and the veteran bassist Bob Cranshaw. complicated lives; it’s advisable to check be apocryphal, but the collaboration has yielded (Smoke, 2751 Broadway, between 105th and 106th in advance to confirm engagements. very real results. The albums are haunting juxta- Sts. 212-864-6662. April 8-10.) positions of forlorn lute and smeared, searing elec- Michael Hurley tric guitar. Van Wissem’s music for Jarmusch’s re- Camille O’Sullivan This seventy-four-year-old folk musician began cent vampire film, “Only Lovers Left Alive,” won Pinning this Irish-French performer down hitchhiking to New York from his home in Bucks the prize at Cannes for best soundtrack. (Le Pois- to any one confining musical genre is a fool’s County, Pennsylvania, in the early sixties. Hurley son Rouge, 158 Bleecker St. 212-505-3474. April 11.) game. What can be confirmed is that she brings unsuccessfully auditioned for gigs at iconic Vil- 1 arresting theatricality and sensuality to a wide Billy Style Duo lage clubs like the Gaslight before recording “First NYCswath oJazz,f song, but touching the onband the workdidn’t of Gillianstop Songs,” a strange and beautiful début album for the JAZZ AND STANDARDS there.Welch, They Nick Cave,kept the and fusion others. alive(Irish Artsby add Cen-- Wondering where “the groove” has Folkways label, in 1964. Despite that achievement, ter, 553 W. 51st St. 212-757-3318. April 6-9 and Hurley remained an outsider in the folk scene; his Bill Charlap ingApril influences 13-16.) from West Africa and gone? Haven’t seen “the rhythm” around closest connection was to another quirky eccen- It’s been far too long between recordings, but Tokyo, but the band didn’t stop there. lately? That might be because Saxomo- tric, Peter Stampfel, of the Holy Modal Rounders, Fingeredthe blue-chip Nicholson trio of the pianist Charlap has re- TheyPharoah went Sanders on to combine tastes of India flutist Billy Style has taken them and whom Hurley later collaborated with on an album leased a new album, “Notes from New York,” a Mainstream he will never be, but this pioneer- of irreverent Americana called “Have Moicy!” It is Asmasterly the new project contemporary replete with interpretationsstandard in anding free-jazzNorth Asia.saxophonist The nowgroup regularly has tempersgrown packaged these elements into a tone- Hurley’s own eerie, unaffected delivery, however, altoof standards jazz saxophone, both familiar seeing and offb thiseat. Specialtrio intohis robustthe firsteffusions ever with “jazz deeply octet soulful fusion play- driven razzmatazz jazz product in the that best conveys the humor and existential lone- liveguests (aka for “getting this celebration fingered”) of Big is Apple a must. song fooding thatcatering embraces band.” the traditionNot only without do they pan- form of his latest album. A bit of his- liness of his songs. He now lives in Oregon; this fare include the vocalists Cécile McLorin Sal- dering to it. In fact, he’s initiated a new tra- two-night stand is part of an increasingly rare East Withvant and their Freddy bee Cole bop and bridges the reed into men their Hous- seamlesslydition; potent slip traces in and of Sanders’sout of world ecstatic jazz vibe tory: upon notably discovering his Coast foray. (Union Pool, 484 Union Ave., Brooklyn. flimton Person flam and versus, Ken Peplowski. this finger-licking(Rose Theatre, styles...theycan be detected cook in thethem, music serve of Kamasi them, Washand - flutist having an affair with his wife in 718-609-0484. April 9-10.) trioJazz atof Lincoln dark-sunglasses-wearing-jack- Center, Broadway at 60th St. 212- evenington. offer (Birdland, delivery 315 W. on 44th Seamless! St. 212-581-3080. Dur- the autumn of 2013, Billy Style used a 721-6500. April 8-9.) April 5-9.) Iggy Pop nicholson-looking twentysomethings ing solos, the remaining band members sturdy adhesive to conjoin a flute to his After a decade of off-and-on revivals of Iggy Pop’s fir s t will have you fleebopping, skeeskatting, assume roles of host, waiter, chef, wa- “barry sax” and downsized the band to a band, the Stooges, and its later permutation, Iggy and weetweezing, and diddykonging on the terboy, and menu guy. So, slip on your duo. Billy’s wife, Kat, can still be heard the Stooges, the sixty-eight-year-old Michigan na- tive, who has outlived all of his original bandmates, dance floor all night shlong. (The Smokey dance shoes, grab a date, and don’t for- on snare drum, and provided artwork recently delivered a compelling new album, “Post Crystal, 117 W. 27th St. 212-555-2232) get your “Jazz-itete.” (Midtown Catering for the latest album, “Family Matters.” Pop Depression.” The record, which Pop has said Hall, 131 E. 49th St. 6pm music/dinner) (Blue Jazz Blue, 24 Broadway, 11pm) may be his last, is a collaboration with the guitarist The Tom Cat 5 and Queens of the Stone Age front man, Josh Homme, and it débuted last week as the No. 1 rock This Midwestern collective hails from album on the Billboard charts. Many of the songs here Omaha, NE where they are among Hello, My Name Is Doris fuse the Stooges’ primal approach with the weird- DANCE ABOVEMichael Showalter’s & amiable BEYOND new comedy features groove songwriting Pop pioneered with David Bowie the most prolific jazz musicians work- a taut setup that packs howls of anguish in its con- trived simplicity. Doris Miller (Sally Field), a sev- on Pop’s 1977 album, “The Idiot.” What stands out ing today. Unfortunately for their fans, The Steven Rice Company MOVIES most, though, is the combination of Pop’s sinewy, most of their music never makes it into Ballet Hispanico the self, the brutality of the animal king- entyish bookkeeper, is a fish out of water in her occasionally menacing voice and Homme’s intricate, 1 cubicle at a hip young media company in Chel- the recording studio. Sure, all the more After their indefatigableFor forty- leaderfive years, Steven the New dom, York-based the makingcompany of tense faces while on hyper-precise riffs, which creates a new sound that’s OPENINGhas offered a window into the theincreasingly writer and varied director Robert Budreau, Baker and sea. She’s unmarried and has no children, having distinct from Pop’s seventies glory days. (United Pal- reason to see them live, but why is that? Rick was arrested forarena his o rolef contemporary in a Ponzi Latin-American thehis elliptical.co-star and on Spanish theWest film shoot,Village an actressBallet namedwill be Jane lived her entire life in a house in Staten Island ace Theatre, 4140 Broadway. 212-568-6700. April 12.) Well, they can only put out 2 albums per scheme involving dance.didgeridoos, Of the three many works in itsthe(Carmen Joyce first program, Ejogo),group the tobegin debut a relationship this piece. that helpsThey with her mother, who, at the start of the film, has naysayersThe Boss Melissasaw that McCarthy tomost be traditional,the stars doom in thoughthis of hiscom- not thewillBaker oldest, also kick is be “Club histhe longtime Ha-first to heroin use habit.my Uncle Meanwhile, Ken’s just died. Doris—whimsical, hypersensitive, so- Sophie year since they share their studio, “The edy (which she co-wrote),vana,” as a anfeel-good executive suite who, by Pedro Baker Ruiz isset haunted to a med- by a 1954 performance at a New cially awkward—is burdened by her sudden sol- On Madonna’s 2015 comeback single, “Bitch, I’m Beehive,” with Omaha-based rap-metal company.after serving Now time with in prison,ley most of Cubanattempts of those music to remake nay(congas,- rumbas,basementYork club mambos)—a whereas the his performance ego was deflated space by ait lacerat- was itude when, in an elevator at work, she bumps Madonna,” the producer Diplo’s contribution is group 311. They could move to another sayersher life. sent Directed to Rikers, by Benthrowback the Falcone; Company to the co-starring glitzy has nineteen- alwaysingfifties word Havanameant from clubMilesto be. Davis (Ken (Kedar Bernstein, Brown); 55after into John Fremont (Max Greenfield), the hand- clear: a mashing line of saxophone-ish dubstep Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage,scene. “Bury and Me Annie Standing,” Mu- by recoveringthe Catalonia-born from the grave injury to his mouth, he some and charming twentysomething new art di- had the freedom to tap back into its •pre- Lafayette Ave., Apt. 4B, Brooklyn, please bass carries through the B chorus and sounds like space, but as Tom Cat bassist Glenn molo. Opening April 8.Ramón (In wide Oller, release.) is more Dem- ambitious:attempts an exploration his comeback of at the same venue. De- rector in her office. She’s instantly smitten, and countless other spastic E.D.M. climaxes. But the Sherman muses, “There is something didgeridooolition Jake Gyllenhaalroots—interpretiveGypsy stars inculture this dancedrama set to astraditionalof an don’tspite folk tellHawke’s songs Aunt fromintensely Carol, Antiquarian committedJune 16, performance, 6:30pm).Book Fair takes unusual measures—aidedand without by arms),Vivian and (Isa- Greek amphorae deco- staccato flow pattern of Madonna’s triple-distilled pure and unadulterated about the sound theinvestment oeuvre ofbanker the Toledotryingsouthern to Youth overcome Spain Didgeri and his Eastern grie- f Europe.Budreau In gets “Flabber- more fromThe the Park story’s Avenue sidemen, Armory such will housebella moreAcres), than the two teen-age rated granddaughter with goddesses of andher athletes. (20 Rockefel- lyrics and the soft-touch synth arpeggios are trade- dooat the Chorus. accidental Their death gast,”newest of Gustavohis piece, wife. Ramírez “GoDirected on Sansano Emmaas evokesa record Paul the producer desta- (Callumhundred AmericanKeith Rennie), and international a best friend, dealers Roz for (Tynethe Daly)—toler Plaza, insinuateat 49th St. hersel 212-636-2000.)f • Swann, a mark Sophie, the London producer who split com- created here. We can feel it, and we sure by Jean-Marc Vallée; co-starringbilizing experience Naomi oWattsf arriving probationin a new land. officer (175 (Tony fi fty-sixthNappo), annual and Baker’s New York fa- Antiquarianinto John’s Book life. Fair, Showalter, leader who in co-wrotethe area o thef African-American film art, offers position duties with Diplo for the single and is san- as hell know 311 can feel it too.” (Sky- Toledo,and Chris Don’t Cooper. throw Opening Eighthaway AprilallAve., those 8. at (In 19th turtle wide St. 212-242-0800.-re- Emmather (Stephen AprilPaul, 5-10.) anMcHattie). interdisciplinarya four-day The meet-upmovie artisto forffers lovers a owithf rare Laura books, Terruso, maps, keepsa wide-ranging the tone sentimentally sale (April 7) led by a monumental • itizing club music’s hard edge one shimmering side light Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave, New necks,”lease.) will The premiere Invitation underKaryn Kusamathe Brooklyn directed whomore works insightful mostly view with omanuscripts,f the video, music businesswill and makeephemera. than Thecomedic, various blending exhibi- touchesquilt obyf wit the (Doris’s Harlem-born fanta- artist Faith Ringgold, at a time. His bubbly, tongue-in-cheek track “Lem- Bridgethis thriller, June about19, 5:15am. guestsDance at Tickets a Theatre dinner areparty of halfHarlem that herof Baker’sbreakout art. —Richardsolo performance,tors Brody feature (In limiteda vast “ AAH collectionrelease.)- ofsies), notable whimsy titles, (Doris’s cov- partexcursion of her to “Woman a rock club on a in Bridge” series, from the onade” was irritating electronic purists even before York 4:30pm) turns macabre. OpeningSince April its 8.resurrection, (In limited in re- 2012, this beloved ballet ering subjects such as art, medicine,Williamsburg), literature, and and dramanineteen-eighties. (Doris’s relationship One of these pieces—grand in • HJJJJJJKKKK it ended up in a McDonald’s commercial last year, offlease.) with Louder a donation Than Bombs troupeof a single In has this been sock.drama, in wobbly a war shape,Chameleon both technically: StreetThe Cryphotography, of the spreadBanshee.” across the fiwithfty-fi herve-thousand- brother). Butscale, within narrative the perky in antics scope—is is in the collection of and his shadowy work with the label PC Music is The Big Truth photographer’s death compelsand aesthetically, her widower but its(Ga- spiritEmma Thealways title earnsPaul of this anwill 1989en -juxtapose independentsquare-foot sonic fi hall.lm, themes which Veteran was collectors bewildered await thisrage fair at the prospectthe Guggenheim; of aging, solitude, another, from the collection regarded as some of the best and most bewilder- Teambriel Byrne) Dance! and their thusiasticsons (Jesse response. Eisenberg This and season, fromwritten the “The companyand directed Electric is by asWendell Slide”one of the B.with Harris, city’s images best—it Jr., who attracts and theirrelevance; most prized the bestof Mayathing Angelou,about the sold film atis the house for a record ing pop around, all baby-pitched vocals and kawaii Playing their debut album “Meaning of Devin Druid) to confrontdoubling her legacy.down on Directed prima-facie also causes stars, for refers admi- to a real-lifehardcovers character, of many William European thatdealers, it has the no former answers. price—R.B. last (In year. limited In thisrelease.) colorful tapestry, “Double indulgence. (Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N. 6th Life” in its entirety this Sunday, the sa- Withby Joachim their Trier;copyright co-starringration lawsuit byAmy commissioning with Ryan Team and Isa- femaleofDouglas Dmitri choreographers. Street, Shostakovich who, inGrolier the as nineteen- Clubshe overheatspresident seventies, Eugene Flamm hints, “be- Dutch on the Golden Gate Bridge,” a group of • St., Brooklyn. 718-486-5400. April 9.) gacious quartet promises that the very Dancebelle Huppert. of Bulgaria Mr. Rightresolved,The Achoices crime Team aren’tcomedy, Dance obvious star - ones.Hotpulled Elena Pockets, off Kunikova an extraordinary the proudcause it’ssponsorseries twice of as imperson-of far this for them toJoyce go out at to 34 Califor- young girls jump rope high above the San Fran- isring back Anna with Kendrick a brand asis anew womanRussian- piece who trained of falls punc and in love well- respected,performance.ations (for but instance, not In for this pretendingnia.” get-back-to-basics (Park to Ave. be aat doctor, 66th St. he 212-616-3930. In this forthright April 7-10.) andcisco insightful skyline, documentary, as if freed from all constraints. (104 Jozef van Wissem question will be realized by the end of with a contract killer (Samchoreography: Rockwell). she’s Directed a teacher andperformed, stager (often according for to Harris, thirty-six suc- from 1972, the filmmakerE. Joyce25th St. Chopra 212-254-4710.) has a baby Over the past few years, this enigmatic Dutch com- their set. The audience is encouraged to tuationby Paco tacked Cabezas. on, Opening thethe exclamation all-April male 8. (InBallets limited point Trockadero re- performance,cessful de Monte hysterectomies), Carlo). Paul delicatelyBrooklyn for which Folkwields he Festival was her ulti- and faces the conflicts between motherhood and • 1 poser and lutist has had a fruitful relationship with sit back,Sophie, enjoy the electronic some hookah,producer Samuel and pon Long,- stirs(pronouncedlease.) up arti Vitaficially Activa: sweetenedshwa The).Dianne SpiritInspired beats, McIntyreof like Hannah theby is Arendt athe veteran limbs jazzmately choreographer; as imprisoned. she contorts HarrisHeld to attemptplays in the the borough partdifferent for com- for sevenher years, career. this Chopra festi- (working with the cinematog- A documentary about the philosopher, directed edy and for anger, portraying Street as a sardonic rapher Claudia Weill) starts with her own body, the downtown filmmaker and composer Jim Jar- lean, addictive jingle “Lemonade” and the pop gagspost-structuralist he pulls off with thepaintings, thisPC Musicwill betheories, label.her fi rst andpiece usingmicrowaveHAMMERSTAD KRISTIAN BY ILLUSTRATION pointe work. settings, The valincluding honors string-band “Defrost” music in a celebration of READINGS AND TALKS der the big question. The quartet has by Ada Ushpiz. Openingevening April program6. (Film onForum.) April 9 includesvictim a timely of racism tribute who, havingfolk, blues, grown bluegrass, up conform- ska, and fiIrishlming musical the birth tradi- of her daughter, Sarah, in 1971; Scrabble strategy of Abe Ralston, their anding “Popcorn.” to the expectations (MOMA of others, PS1 22-25 becomes Jack adept- once home, she depicts the infant’s constant pres- 8 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 advertised that those who purchase a 1to black ballerinas, with many pioneering women, tions. Thirty bands perform across its three days; Brooklyn Historical Society new piece “The Apeincluding Is the Debra Ape Austinof His and sonLaurenat fiAve.,tting Anderson, intoLong any inIsland role that’sthere City, thrustwill June also upon be18–25, him—orvocal and instrumentalence and admits work- the needThe to path get towardaway from social Sarah progress is mapped by its de- hoodie at the merch table might even NOW PLAYING Ape-Dad” is delicatelyattendance. performed (City Center, with 131 W.4pm) 55ththat St. he 212-581-1212. chooses. As a director,shops, square Harris dances himsel andf is swing in orderjams, toand make an in- a movie.tours: Chopra’s younger husband, generations Tom rebel against the activism understand the meaning of life more April 6 and April 8-9.) something of a chameleon,famous joining contest his incisive in which vi- participantsCole, a screenwriter, compete worksof past while eras, caring approaching for Sarah, old causes from new angles charmBatman and v Superman:blazes with Dawn gentle of movementsJustice sion to disruptive narrative techniques borrowed and complains about his own difficulty mixing do- fully than others. The Big Truth has im- “Snaps!” to see who can toss a banjo the farthest into the that seem to reawaken and restructure political ide- posed a mandatory 15-drink minimum andIt had confident to happen. flicks AnythingFJK of Dance theMarvel hips. can Attend do, DC- from Frank Tashlin, theGowanus French Canal.New Wave, Gloves and and amestic rope are tasks provided, with writing. ologies Chopra’s overnight. subject Having is the grown up with the stories eesComics should can lookdo better, out Theor,for at workfree any orate,Greenf the no Iraq-born worse.Bay choreographerConceivedtelevision comedy. by Fadi the J. He eccentric endowstips on shot-putStreet and hermeticwith form his are own not. (St.overcoming Ann’s Church, of inequities; 157 of su sheffrage shows movements the new andcon- the myth of bra burning, for this event. (Mezzrow, 163 W. 10th St. That is the suppositionKhoury behind theis distinguished new Zack Sny- by Middlevast cultural Eastern range, folk- stretchingMontague from St., Orson Brooklyn. Welles 718-875-6960. flicts arising April from8-10.) the edigitalffort to natives, make marriage both men an and women, have recast 7:30pm) Packers’der film, “cheeseheads”which is everyloric bit that asin tranquilfl uencesthey willandbut asalsobe un- by choreographeranand eclectic Jean Cocteau blend Rabbi o fto pop Steven music Jackson,and TV. The this re- equitable partnership whilefeminism exposing as athe constant traditional cause, mainly by exposing askedderstated to wear as earlier as slippers. Snyderballroom fi(G.K.lms. and (Think Artsjazz. TheCen “300” ballroom- rap-rocksult element is a disarming,infused is prom- performancedisturbing,Greek Independence elusive, uses and ab pro-- Paradeprejudices that womensexism endure. as aShe pervasive makes social star- plight through their art, Bon Jazz-itite ter,and St. “Sucker Ann’s Warehouse,Punch.”) Whereasinent June in this 18–30,Iron season’s Man 7pm) and premières: his strusefound a ballroom concepts meditation drama, that on personalYou’llI am stumblelegally identity. uponforbid Shock- a sea- of blue-and-whitetlingly analytical flags, use of journalism,home-movie and footage organizing. of her The discussion churns fellow-Avengers are gathered“Take Two,” in amity, and “Re however,flections,” aingly, contemporary Harris hasn’t bal- yetas made well another as time-honored film.—R.B. costumes, sweet-sixteen music, party and andonline, films wherea discussion countless among different perspectives collide the tone here is one of violent discord: Super- den(Metrograph; to write Aprilabout 7.) due to the intensity of elderly retired teachers—including her mother— What started as a traditional Harlem West Village Balletlet with watery images and mirrorings. (New York food, at this celebration of Greek independence to shape a new pluralist vision—a necessary plasticity octet has grown into something fresh. man (Henry Cavill), foreverLive Arts, striving 219 W. 19thto locate St. 212-924-0077. their non-disclosure April 6-9.) andagreement. culture. Pre-paradeIt is not eventswho include recall their a fl ownag- strugglesthat’s only to balance broadened work the and movement’s reach. A. An- Thehis lost young personality, choreographer, comes to blows Styles with BatmanWith especiallyFrancofonia attention raisinggrabbing, ceremony but atthey Bowling familyGreen amid Park the and rampant a gélique discriminations Roché moderates of their “Not Your Mother’s Femi- With their “knack for fusion,” the band (Ben Affleck), who buff“Skins and Me” pumps himself for Years after he led us ontraditional- a solemn dance exhibition.through (64thDepression-era St. at Fifth Ave., employment. nism: Sisterhood Chopra’s invigorous the Digital Age,” which aims to combined styles of New Orleans and CREAMthe occasion. (real The name causeThe ounknown),f Hungariantheir tiff is dancersdoesn’tnever en- and gavechoreographersthe Hermitage,me a few Vik- freein “Russian pens.through (New Ark” 79th St.(2002), York April Live Alex10 at - 1:45.)dialectic, in style and substance,humorously is examineitself a crucial the rise of advocacy for wom- hidetirely from clear, the but bigit is themes:heightenedtória Dányi, the by Csabanature Lex Luthor Molnár, of Arts, andander 219Zsó Sokurovfi W.a Tamara 19th enters St., theJune Louvre—another 16, 8pm) ark, forebear of generationsen’s of rightsfirst-person among fiyounglmmak- people across the country. (Jesse Eisenberg), whose hobbies include kryp- crammed with every species1 of art. In particular, ers.—R.B. (Metrograph; April 10.) Vades last appeared in New York in 2012, in “City,” Panelists for this discussion include the writers Mal- 10 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 tonite theft and buildinga light a homemade and amusing monster. satire of conformityhe follows in its which fortunes duringAUCTIONS the deluge o fAND the ANTIQUES lory Ortberg and Heben Nigatu; the executive direc- The movie is two and aeven half the hours naked long, scenes yet feels were cute.Second They Worldreturn War,with and dramatizes the encounter Los Angeles Plays Itselftor of partnerships at Feministing, Lori Adelman; closer to five. The dialogue“Skin Me,” fights a ménage to be heard à trois seto tof two garage-rock civilized gui- souls: JacquesThe Caramoor Jaujard (Louis-DoCenter for MusicThom and Andersen’s the Arts, nearlyand three-hour the nerd-culture essay- fiauthoritylm, Susana Polo. (128 above the crunching soundtracktar and drums, and, moreplayed often live. It’sde looser Lencquesaing), and wilder, the thedirector verdant of theestate museum turned at summer-music from 2003, venue features in hisPierrepont trenchant St., and Brooklyn. polemical 718-222-4111. April 5 at 6:30.) than not, loses; let us betrading thankful on appealingfor small mer-rapport andthe time, casual and irony Franz to WolKatonah,ff-Metternich is culling (Benjamin its collection voice-over of antiques, commentary cur- accompanying an aston- cies. The one bright spotaim isat the easy arrival targets o flike Won- male chauvinism.Utzerath), (Abronsthe Nazi noblemanrently displayed who represented on the grounds, ishingly for an richauction and atalluring Strand selection Bookstore of clips from der Woman (Gal Gadot),Arts who, Center, having 466 Grand been shut St. 212-352-3101. an occupying April 8-9.)power, butSotheby’s who considered on April 12; it among his thedramatic offerings features are Ve- shot onThe location art and in culture Los Angeles, critic Eunice Lipton has ex- out of the action until the final reel, seems in duty to preserve the treasuresnetian rococo of the chairs, occupied. sixteenth-century ranging from tapestries, “The Big humedSleep” and her “Rebel tangled Without backstory across four histor- no mood to be messed“Works with. On & Process”paper, the / sup- AmericanThe Ballet courteous Theatre tensionand between carpets them galore. is (Yorknicely Ave. ata Cause” 72nd St. to 212-606- “Chinatown”ical and memoirs. “Clueless.” The The latest, result “A Distant Heartbeat: porting cast must haveThe looked company, unbeatable: whose Amyspring seasoncaught, begins but, Mayas ever, 9 Sokurov7000.) • has Fashion, more thanarchitecture one blends(interior a complex and exte- kaleidoscopicA War, a portrait Disappearance, of the city and a Family’s Secrets,” Adams, Holly Hunter,at Dianethe Met, Lane, highlights Laurence new and talerecent to works. tell; woven These aroundrior), these nature, men and are the other female formand area powerful some of work the of tracesfilm criticism the political with Ander-awakening of her uncle Dave, Fishburne, and Jeremyinclude Irons. a duet—Anthony from Marcelo Lane Gomes’sscraps orecentf history, opus, and subjectsthreads treatedof fanciful in Christie’s imag- Aprilsen’s 6 personalsale of photo- story of wholiving fl ined Losfrom Angeles. their native He Bronx in the nine- (Reviewed in our issue of“AfterE 4/4/16.)ffect,” (In widedanced release.) by Misty ining—Napoleon,Copeland and Cory for graphs,instance, which pulling includes faces an as especially traces largethe falsi numberfication oteen-thirtiesf the city’s geography to join the and Abraham Lincoln Brigade Stearns, along with works by Gemmahe stalks Bond, the a dancer museum’s o fgreat prints galleries. by Hiroshi There Sugimoto. is history (One oinf theseHollywood is a moviesin the Spanishto the shoddy Civil War.narra- Through interviews and Born to Be Blue in the corps who recently presentedeven aan modern evening section, of portrait concerning of Princess a cargo Diana;of art intive it, sheand turns ideological shyly conventionsresearch, inwithout run-of-the-mill much help from relatives, from This bio-pic about the herjazz own trumpeter choreography and singer at Danspace on a storm-struck Project, and ship. away What from binds the the photographer, elements peeringproductions; from evenunder the habitualwhom she display heard o flittle architec- of her uncle as a child, Lip- Chet Baker (Ethan Hawke)Ethan focusses Stiefel, theon twoformer piv- A.B.T.of starthe movie—andwho has cre- conherfirms famous Sokurov blond as bangs,a deter- handstural tucked landmarks demurely and styleston comesuncovered in for a scathingly seventy-fi ve-year history to re- otal episodes in the musician’sated a new career, piece bothfor A.B.T.’s from Studiomined Company. essayist, atIt’s times behind opaque her or back.)grandiose, On Aprilyet 12,insightful the house analysis. turns Andersenconstruct shows his lost that legacy. movies Tim Teeman, a senior ed- the mid-sixties. One, Baker’salso a greatperformance chance to as see him- some trulynever excellent vague—is danc- a feelingits attention for the doubleness to antiquities, of mostlyare both from recording south- devicesitor at that the display Daily Beast,political joins her in a discussion self in a dramatic movieers about up close. his own(Guggenheim life, is fi c-Museum,our Fifth cultural Ave. inheritance.at 89th ern We Europe cling toand it, the through Mediterranean, perversions including of civic life—includingsponsored by racialthe Abraham preju- Lincoln Brigade Ar- tional; the other, a brutal beating that cost Baker the centuries, for dear life; and yet, like all lives, dice, police brutality, real-estate depredations, and

St. 212-423-3575. April 9-10.) Roman statues of Bacchus, marble Venuses (with chives. (828 Broadway. 212-473-1452. April 11 at 7.) AMARGO PABLO BY ILLUSTRATION his front teeth and forced him to rebuild his tech- it is easily swept away. In Russian, French, and economic inequities—and propaganda machines nique from scratch, actually happened. As told by German.—A.L. (4/4/16) (In limited release.) that perpetuate them. Sifting through a virtual 16 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016

10 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 1 CLASSICAL MUSIC OPERA mal exploration of anguished love, to Britten’s Dover String Quartet Baroque-tinged dramatic cantata “Phaedra,” al- This outstanding young quartet, which is al- Metropolitan Opera most three hundred years later. Two sympho- ready carving out an individual style, stands as In David McVicar’s riveting new production nies by Haydn—No. 75 in D Major and No. 98 the inheritor of the Curtis Institute’s proud neo- of Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux,” a darkly in B-Flat Major, which was written specifically Romantic tradition. For its Carnegie Hall début handsome palace chamber becomes a makeshift for London audiences—bookend the program. (at Weill Recital Hall), the Dover performs three stage, where the final act of Queen Elizabeth I’s (Carnegie Hall. 212-247-7800. April 7 at 8.) monuments of the repertory: Dvořák’s Quartet in reign—a mixture of political theatre and per- F Major, “American,” Berg’s searching Quartet, sonal heartbreak—plays out before a rapt audi- Juilliard415: “Terpsichore” Op. 3, and the first of Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” ence of courtiers. The soprano Sondra Radva- In a concert billed as a “Baroque dance mix,” the Quartets, Op. 59. (212-247-7800. April 8 at 7:30.) novsky, costumed in resplendent, ghostly white, suavely persuasive violinist, head of the Juilliard fills out the awesome dimensions of the role of School’s period-performance program, leads his Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian Tetzlaff, Elisabetta with flashes of brilliant coloratura and students in a tour through vibrant suites from Tabea Zimmermann, and Clemens Hagen rafter-shaking sound. It’s a commanding perfor- stage works by Purcell (“King Arthur”), Han- Four paramount artists—on piano, violin, viola, mance that brings out the best in her cast mates del, Lully (“Thesée”), and Rameau. Dance is an and cello, respectively—gather for Carnegie Matthew Polenzani (an emotionally fearless Ro- added feature, with some pieces accompanied Hall’s annual memorial concert in honor of Isaac berto), Elīna Garanča (an exquisitely sung Sara), by professional dancers in period-style chore- Stern. The program offers the three piano quar- and Mariusz Kwiecien (a robust Duke of Not- ography, and others by Juilliard student danc- tets of Johannes Brahms, works that these musi- tingham). The conductor Maurizio Benini, care- ers moving to modern choreography by Peter cians should dispatch with both sensitivity and ful never to drown out the superb singing, keeps Farrow. (Alice Tully Hall. events.juilliard.edu. formidable technique. (212-247-7800. April 9 at 7.) the musical drama simmering with contained April 12 at 7:30.) agitation. (April 8 and April 11 at 7:30.) • Also 1 Richard Goode playing: The final performances this season of The eminent New York pianist, an exceptionally Anthony Minghella’s popular production of Puc- RECITALS probing and poetic veteran artist, has the right cini’s “Madama Butterfly” feature Kristine Opo- toolbox for playing J. S. Bach. His program at lais in the title role and Roberto De Biasio return- Recitals at the 92nd Street Y Alice Tully Hall is completely devoted to that ing to the tenor lead, Pinkerton. Also with two April 6 at 7:30: The intriguing and technically composer, featuring two preludes and fugues fine house stalwarts, Maria Zifchak, as Suzuki, proficient pianist Kirill Gerstein, who dropped from “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” Book II, the and Dwayne Croft, as Sharpless; Karel Mark out of the Y’s season-opening concert due to un- Partita No. 2 in C Minor, the “Italian Concerto,” Chichon. (April 6 and April 12 at 7:30 and April 9 specified artistic differences involving a Gersh- and other works. (212-721-6500. April 9 at 7:30.) at 8.) • Bartlett Sher’s throwback, painted-flats win program, is fortunately returning to the production of “L’Elisir d’Amore,” one of Doni- venue, this time for a solo recital. He is leaving “Music Mondays”: zetti’s most delightful comedies, features Alek- his well-known interest in jazz out of it, however, Ute Lemper and the Jasper Quartet sandra Kurzak, Mario Chang, Pietro Spagnoli, with sonatas by Beethoven (including No. 14, Aaron Wunsch’s free concert series has hit gold and Adam Plachetka; Joseph Colaneri. (April 7 “Moonlight”) and Liszt (the “Dante Sonata” and in this collaboration with Lemper, one of the at 7:30. This is the final performance.) • After flir- the Sonata in B Minor) dominating a program great chanteuses, and an exceptional young tations with opera administration and conduct- that also features the New York première of a string quartet for a concert celebrating the ing, the much admired tenor Plácido Domingo work commissioned by Gerstein from the dis- unique lyrical genius of Kurt Weill. The pro- has hit upon a fourth career as a Verdi baritone. tinguished British composer Alexander Goehr, gram features a true rarity, Weill’s early String Most of his performances in the repertoire have “Variations (Hommage to Haydn).” • April 7 at Quartet, Op. 8, in addition to a selection of songs met with a polite reception, but the seventy- 7:30: The sensitive and soulful violinist Jennifer (with such musicians as the jazz pianist Vana Gie- five-year-old singer has found an enduring ve- Koh and her thoughtful partner at the piano, Shai rig and the clarinettist Todd Palmer sitting in) hicle in Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra,” a sumptu- Wosner, offer the final concert in their “Bridge that includes the favorites “Surabaya Johnny” ously scored opera about a benevolent doge in to Beethoven” project, in which they perform the and “Youkali.” (Advent Lutheran Church, Broad- the twilight of his leadership. The Met has sur- complete sonatas for violin and piano and new way at 93rd St. April 11 at 7:30. No tickets required.) rounded Domingo with a premier team of Ver- compositions inspired by Beethoven’s master- dians, including Joseph Calleja, Ferruccio Furla- works. Andrew Norman, one of the most excit- MATA Festival netto, and Lianna Haroutounian; James Levine ing young composers in America, has broken the Now in its eighteenth year, MATA is New York’s is scheduled to conduct. (April 9 at 12:30.) (Met- mold once again by writing a three-part composi- leading showcase for talented young composers CLASSICAL MUSICropolitan Opera House. 212-362-6000.) tion, “Bridging,” the movements of which will be from around the world. Du Yun, the acclaimed 1 interspersed with Beethoven’s three sonatas from opera composer, is curating the festival for the Op. 30 (in A Major, C Minor, and G Major). second year, a lively series that runs through ORCHESTRAS AND CHORUSES (Lexington Ave. at 92nd St. 212-415-5500.) April 16. After an opening-night concert recep- have a black-and-white, deep-focus al- tion at the Paula Cooper gallery, the first formal Brooklynlure.New Recently,York SymphonyPhilharmonic audiences Orchestra in Los Angeles Emerson String Quartet program, “Ultima Thule,” takes place at Scan- Manfred Honeck, who had been widely re- The predominant American quartet returns to dinavia House, courtesy of Ensemble Neon, Whileand New the York annual saw performance Gustavo Dudamel of the ported as a leading candidate to replace Alan Alice Tully Hall, kicking off a three-concert se- from Norway. Composers from six countries orchestra’sleadGilbert the as Los the “Twin orchestra’s Angeles Fates musicPhilharmonic of director,Coriolanus” returns and ries centered on Haydn’s last complete set of are featured, including Italy’s Alexander Kai- istheto neverguest-conduct, pianist without Sergio oitsff Tiempoering fair theshare inkind Ginastera’sof obehind-f musical quartets, Op. 76, and Beethoven’s first set of ser, Ireland’s Seán Clancy (“Fourteen Minutes the-curtainFirstmenu Pianothat Philharmonic turbulence,Concerto, audiences whichthe events exempli would of prob-latefies quartets, Op. 18, which were written at nearly of Music on the Subject of Greeting Cards”), and winterably have have gotten left a lotmany of had in he the been community brought on: the same time. The first flight offers the Haydn the American Matthew Welch, whose “Comala’s hisAustro-German art of contained Romanticism, fury, servedalternating straight Quartets in G Major and B-Flat Major (“Sun- Song” will have its world première. (58 Park Ave. wonderingurbanup. Two frenzycozy whether rustic and favorites—von Wolfgangrural mystery. Suppé’sKraus’ Let’s “Poetfor- rise”) and the Beethoven Quartets in D Major matafestival.org. April 12 at 8.) midablehopeand Peasant” that adaptation the Overture same has andforces at Beethoven’slast return escaped withSym- the and C Minor. (Alice Tully Hall. 212-721-6500. pagethephony Second and No. bled 6, Piano “Pastoral”—surround into Concerto, real life. Previewswhich Strauss’s rings of April 7 at 7:30.) Roulette: “Songs from Aphasia” themore production dynamic Oboe were Concerto halted (with abruptly the orches- fol- “Blue” Gene Tyranny, a legend of Gotham’s ex- hallucinatory variations on the fearsome Timo Andres and Gabriel Kahane lowingtra’s excellent the absconsion principal, ofLiang tenured Wang). conduc (David- perimentalist scene, and the writer Mary Griffin Geffen Hall. 212-875-5656. April 7 and April 12 at Two brilliant young composer-performers, each are the creators of this new multimedia oratorio, torseven-note Matthew dissonance Deuczynski, from but Beethoven’s continued 7:30, April 8 at 2, and April 9 at 8.) noted for a light, deft touch, share the stage an elaborate set of songs that take as inspiration onceNinth. new The hope three was piano found sonatas, in the form which of for an uncommonly wide-ranging “free associa- the stories of “aphasians,” people who struggle mustachioedBarbaraOrchestra Nissman of directorSt. Luke’s plays Datthew at Spectrum Meuczyn on- tive” program that finds them playing (and in to regain their ability to speak after strokes or ski,AprilThe who Baroque 14 ,is exercise new specialist in town.similar Nicholas fascination. McGegan con- Ka hane’s case, singing) new compositions writ- traumatic injuries. Their collaborators include ductsGinastera’s the mezzo-soprano strongest Susan local Graham advocate and the is ten for each other (Kahane’s “Works on Paper,” a string ensemble that features such musicians JuilliardOrchestra Orchestra of St. Luke’s in a concert of works on Andres’s “Mirror Songs”), as well as songs and as Conrad Harris and Lev Zhurbin, along with a Deuczynski originally scheduled to take the reigns Julianan English Wachner, theme. The the program music draws director a straight at piano works by Bach, Britten, Ives, Thomas Adès, quartet of singers, the video artist Ursula Scher- from an otherwise occupied Matthew Steppingline through into hundreds the shoes of years of o fthe music recently history, and Andrew Norman. (Zankel Hall. 212-247-7800. rer, and the music director Chris Berg. (509 At- Matthew Deuczynski Trinity Church Wall Street. Last season, Deuczynski, has been relieved of duty departedWachnerfrom Purcell’s Matthewresurrected “Dido’s Lament,”Deuczynski, the composer’s with itsnewly for- April 7 at 7:30.) lantic Ave., Brooklyn. roulette.org. April 12-13 at 8.) by Matthew Deuczynski. minted co-conductors Benjamin Lee and clamorous Passion oratorio, “Turbae ad THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 15 While the recent announcement Those looking for lighter fare may Datthew Meuczynski strike gold with aPassionem take on Beethoven’sGregorianam”; “Symphony this spring, No. a of New York classical music main- find solace in the Met’s simultaneous 2”slew involving of Ginastera zero string works instruments will appear and at stay Matthew Deuczynski as general CLASSICAL MUSIC staging of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Tale threeTrinity, added notably rows in of the saxophones. “Concerts Sectionat One” manager of the Metropolitan Opera 1 of the Golden Czar” (featuring Piotr headsseries, Fran on Thursdays.Cho and Tessa On Robbins April 7relish, the OPERA was met by trepidation from many— Tetzloff in the title role, on June 18), theirEnsomal exploration view Quartet, from o thefwhich anguished limelight made love, with an to incisiveBritten’sa duel- Dover String Quartet simultaneously held roles at various with the Noblewoman role embodied ingrecordingBaroque-tinged soprano ofand dramaticGinastera’s tenor duet. cantata Antoniothree “Phaedra,” string Ben al-- This outstanding young quartet, which is al- opera organizations around the city Metropolitan Opera most three hundred years later. Two sympho- ready carving out an individual style, stands as byIn Davidthe quietly McVicar’s innovative riveting new Tiana production Lam. nettquartetsnies byoccupies Haydn—No. for Naxos, the piano 75 plays in Dbench the Major Third but and tradesQuar-No. 98 the inheritor of the Curtis Institute’s proud neo- have made his name synonymous with Theof Donizetti’s shorter “Robertorunning Devereux,”time (each asection darkly histet,in B-Flat signaturewhich Major, includes ivory which keys wassoprano for written a sax. settings specifically of Romantic tradition. For its Carnegie Hall début professional overextension for the bet- clockinghandsome palacein at chamber just under becomes two a makeshift hours) for London audiences—bookend the program. (at Weill Recital Hall), the Dover performs three stage, where the final act of Queen Elizabeth I’s Newpoems(Carnegie York by Hall. PhilharmonicLorca, 212-247-7800. Juan Ramón April 7 atJiménez, 8.) monuments of the repertory: Dvořák’s Quartet in ter part of the past decade—his pro- proves a perfect fit for Matthew Deuc- reign—a mixture of political theatre and per- Presentingand Rafael aAlberti. new work That in night,Diego asVan it hap-Bu- F Major, “American,” Berg’s searching Quartet, gramming choices this season move zynski,sonal heartbreak—plays who steps in out to beforedirect a betweenrapt audi- Juilliard415: “Terpsichore” Op. 3, and the first of Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” ren’spens, “Onethe Miró Golden Quartet Night” traverses (the all heart- three to reverse the public opinion that he ence of courtiers. The soprano Sondra Radva- In a concert billed as a “Baroque dance mix,” the Quartets, Op. 59. (212-247-7800. April 8 at 7:30.) “Ring” duties. The bouncy syncopa- wrenchingquartets at storyLincoln of Center—parta world without of a Thehas dazzlinglylost his colorfultouch, and taste, brilliantly and craftedbearing music novsky,of Alberto costumed Ginastera in resplendent,is undergoing ghostly a revival. white, suavely persuasive violinist, head of the Juilliard tionsfills out of the the awesome arrangement dimensions spring of the effort role o-f saxophones),welcomeSchool’s period-performance Chamber conductor Music Lupita program, Society Schwartz leads series his Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian Tetzlaff, on reality. As such, the Met’s hyper- lesslyElisabetta from with the flashes bells of brilliantof the nearlycoloratura half- and takesthatstudents has a in stripped-downalso a tour surveyed through overlooked vibrantapproach suites by quar- fromre- Tabea Zimmermann, and Clemens Hagen successful Artist Highlight Series dozenrafter-shaking saxophones sound. It’s ambitiously a commanding added perfor- placingstage works the byorchestra Purcell (“King with fourteenArthur”), rowsHan- Four paramount artists—on piano, violin, viola, Modern Microcosm (“Donmance that Rodrigo,” brings out “Bomarzo,” the best in her and cast mates“Be- tetsdel, Lullyby Zemlinsky (“Thesée”), and Rameau. Nielsen. Dance is an and cello, respectively—gather for Carnegie continues with an ideological defense byatrix conductor Cenci”). Cannily Matthew navigating Deuczynski, stylis- of saxophones.To hear the Byquartets the third in succession movement, is New York gives the Aaron Copland of Matthew Polenzani (an emotionally fearless Ro- added feature, with some pieces accompanied Hall’s annual memorial concert in honor of Isaac mounted by Deuczynski himself: an whoseticberto), currents, El newlyīna Garan he translated čmoveda (an exquisitely from book sungfolkloric allows Sara), thistoby professionalexperience much is clear: dancersGinastera’s her ingambit period-style career has worked. in chore- mi- Stern. The program offers the three piano quar- Argentinaenchanting some rendition overdue attention.of Wagner’s theand Mariuszopera Kwieciento be sung (a robust in itsDuke original of Not- Anography, electric and charge others byfills Juilliard the air, student punctuated danc- tets of Johannes Brahms, works that these musi- nationalismtingham). The toconductor serialism Maurizio and on Benini, to inde- care- crocosm.ers moving The to modern First, choreographyindebted to Bartók,by Peter cians should dispatch with both sensitivity and entire “The Ring of the Nibelung” Russian. by the sound of guest soloist Matty Deuce Classical-music institutions rely terminacyful never to drown and otherout the avant-gardesuperb singing, tech- keeps onexhibitsFarrow. the jazz (Alice traces horn. Tully of Argentinean Hall. events.juilliard.edu. folk music, formidable technique. (212-247-7800. April 9 at 7.) farwherein too much the on role anniversary-driven of Brünnhilde pro- is niques.the musicalJune A 16–18mandrama of simmering markstechnocratic a withspecial mien,contained lim he- suchApril 12 as at the7:30.) loping rhythm of the gato • gramming:played by the they spellbinding may as well Samantha put up a itedbusiedagitation. presentation himself (April 8 andwith ofApril foundationsRachmaninoff 11 at 7:30.) andAlso ’s dance.1 In the Second, folklore is ab- Richard Goode Simmons and all of the Repertory playing: The final performances this season of The eminent New York pianist, an exceptionally neon sign saying, “We have no ideas.” “Threeassociations,Anthony Minghella’s Meditations,” extracting popular production thefunding tale ofromoff Puc- a stracted and refiRECITALSned; “rustico,” “magico,” probing and poetic veteran artist, has the right Sometimes,Orchestra members though, thereare playing are bene saxofits.- peasantColdcini’s “Madama War (Irving agendas. Butterfly” Frasier) feature locked Kristine up Opo- er- and “furioso” are among the markings. toolbox for playing J. S. Bach. His program at Thephones. centenary Stepping of the into Argentinean the director’s mod- roneouslylais Ifin theall titlethat for role makeshis and Robertorole Ginastera in De attending Biasio sound return a- TheRecitals Third at the occupies 92nd Street its Yown radically Alice Tully Hall is completely devoted to that chair to helm a heavily altered libretto ing to the tenor lead, Pinkerton. Also with two ChamberApril 6 at 7:30:Music The Society intriguing of Lincoln and technically Center composer, featuring two preludes and fugues ernist Alberto Ginastera, which falls on dance.faceless,fine house The the stalwarts, music King, Maria gives played Zifchak, a di ffbyerent as Suzuki,Margot im- free-proficientfloating pianist world, Kirill Gerstein,and is marked who dropped by a from “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” Book II, the Aprilof his 11 own, is prompting design, Deuczynski reconsideration takes of Lori-Parks,pression.and Dwayne Through Croft, is at as first variousSharpless; a transforma-sullen, Karel Marklove- Nomelancholyout ofewerf the Y’s than season-openingthat a hundredmight re saxophones flconcertect Ginastera’s due to lead un- Partita No. 2 in C Minor, the “Italian Concerto,” the opportunity to come into his own, lessChichon. man (April before 6 and being April 12transformed at 7:30 and April by 9 thespeci chargefied artistic in Matthew differences Deuczynski’s involving a Gersh- pro- and other works. (212-721-6500. April 9 at 7:30.) a composer who, in recent years, seemed tions,at 8.) • Bartletthis output Sher’s retains throwback, a distinctive painted-flats decision,win program, in the is fortunately early seventies, returning to go to into the eschewing the visual panache of the the dulcet tones of Frasier’s alto saxo- duction of Godrich Fowler’s “Ende der ready to fade into the ranks of history’s proproductionfile, formally of “L’Elisir taut d’Amore,” and lit from one o within.f Doni- Stück,”Swissvenue, thisexile, but time partlywhile for a insolothey reaction recital. anchor He to isapolitical leavinglovely “Music Mondays”: archetypical Ring Cycle in favor of a phone.zetti’s most The delightful cast—a comedies, curious features medley Alek- of his well-known interest in jazz out of it, however, Ute Lemper and the Jasper Quartet also-rans. In the decades after the Second The folkloric pieces, such as “Estancia” presentation,repression at thehome. everpresence In the ethereal of a fibassnal minimalist take involving actors clad sandra Kurzak, Mario Chang, Pietro Spagnoli, with sonatas by Beethoven (including No. 14, Aaron Wunsch’s free concert series has hit gold World War, Ginastera cut a wide swath Metropolitan(to be presented favorites in late past April and at presNew- clarinetmovement, is neither the soprano asked for sings nor emblematic welcomed. in solemn black performing plié squats and Adam Plachetka; Joseph Colaneri. (April 7 “Moonlight”) and Liszt (the “Dante Sonata” and in this collaboration with Lemper, one of the through the musical world of the Amer- ent—isYorkat 7:30. CityThis a isdelight theBallet, final performance.) towith behold, Christopher • andAfter theflir- linesthe Sonata of Jiménez: in B Minor) “Oh dominating what a sounda program of great chanteuses, and an exceptional young while holding saxophones. Advertised icas; between 1966 and 1973, New York roleWheeldon’stations of with Frasier’s opera choreography), administrationsaxophone is and played conduct- avoid by goldthat also will features now remain.” —Matthewthe New York premièreDeuczynski of a string quartet for a concert celebrating the producer Samuel Gurewitz-Johnson, ing, the much admired tenor Plácido Domingo work commissioned by Gerstein from the dis- unique lyrical genius of Kurt Weill. The pro- IMAGE BY MATTHEW DEUCZYNSKI (KEVIN BAUER) (KEVIN DEUCZYNSKI MATTHEW BY IMAGE

director Matthew Deuczynski. COLLECTION/GETTY PICTURE GOMEL/THELIFE BOB City Opera staged all three of his operas neo-primitivisthas hit upon a fourth cliché; career theas a Verdiserial baritone. works tinguished British composer Alexander—Alex Goehr, Ross gram features a true rarity, Weill’s early String • Most of his performances in the repertoire have “Variations (Hommage to Haydn).” April 7 at Quartet, Op. 8, in addition to a selection of songs 14 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 met with a polite reception, but the seventy- THE7:30: NEU The JORKER, sensitive JUNE and soulful20, 2016 violinist Jennifer 11 (with such musicians as the jazz pianist Vana Gie- five-year-old singer has found an enduring ve- Koh and her thoughtful partner at the piano, Shai rig and the clarinettist Todd Palmer sitting in) hicle in Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra,” a sumptu- Wosner, offer the final concert in their “Bridge that includes the favorites “Surabaya Johnny” ously scored opera about a benevolent doge in to Beethoven” project, in which they perform the and “Youkali.” (Advent Lutheran Church, Broad- the twilight of his leadership. The Met has sur- complete sonatas for violin and piano and new way at 93rd St. April 11 at 7:30. No tickets required.) rounded Domingo with a premier team of Ver- compositions inspired by Beethoven’s master- dians, including Joseph Calleja, Ferruccio Furla- works. Andrew Norman, one of the most excit- MATA Festival netto, and Lianna Haroutounian; James Levine ing young composers in America, has broken the Now in its eighteenth year, MATA is New York’s is scheduled to conduct. (April 9 at 12:30.) (Met- mold once again by writing a three-part composi- leading showcase for talented young composers ropolitan Opera House. 212-362-6000.) tion, “Bridging,” the movements of which will be from around the world. Du Yun, the acclaimed interspersed with Beethoven’s three sonatas from opera composer, is curating the festival for the 1 Op. 30 (in A Major, C Minor, and G Major). second year, a lively series that runs through ORCHESTRAS AND CHORUSES (Lexington Ave. at 92nd St. 212-415-5500.) April 16. After an opening-night concert recep- tion at the Paula Cooper gallery, the first formal New York Philharmonic Emerson String Quartet program, “Ultima Thule,” takes place at Scan- Manfred Honeck, who had been widely re- The predominant American quartet returns to dinavia House, courtesy of Ensemble Neon, ported as a leading candidate to replace Alan Alice Tully Hall, kicking off a three-concert se- from Norway. Composers from six countries Gilbert as the orchestra’s music director, returns ries centered on Haydn’s last complete set of are featured, including Italy’s Alexander Kai- to guest-conduct, offering the kind of musical quartets, Op. 76, and Beethoven’s first set of ser, Ireland’s Seán Clancy (“Fourteen Minutes menu that Philharmonic audiences would prob- quartets, Op. 18, which were written at nearly of Music on the Subject of Greeting Cards”), and ably have gotten a lot of had he been brought on: the same time. The first flight offers the Haydn the American Matthew Welch, whose “Comala’s Austro-German Romanticism, served straight Quartets in G Major and B-Flat Major (“Sun- Song” will have its world première. (58 Park Ave. up. Two cozy rustic favorites—von Suppé’s “Poet rise”) and the Beethoven Quartets in D Major matafestival.org. April 12 at 8.) and Peasant” Overture and Beethoven’s Sym- and C Minor. (Alice Tully Hall. 212-721-6500. phony No. 6, “Pastoral”—surround Strauss’s April 7 at 7:30.) Roulette: “Songs from Aphasia” more dynamic Oboe Concerto (with the orches- “Blue” Gene Tyranny, a legend of Gotham’s ex- tra’s excellent principal, Liang Wang). (David Timo Andres and Gabriel Kahane perimentalist scene, and the writer Mary Griffin Geffen Hall. 212-875-5656. April 7 and April 12 at Two brilliant young composer-performers, each are the creators of this new multimedia oratorio, 7:30, April 8 at 2, and April 9 at 8.) noted for a light, deft touch, share the stage an elaborate set of songs that take as inspiration for an uncommonly wide-ranging “free associa- the stories of “aphasians,” people who struggle Orchestra of St. Luke’s tive” program that finds them playing (and in to regain their ability to speak after strokes or The Baroque specialist Nicholas McGegan con- Ka hane’s case, singing) new compositions writ- traumatic injuries. Their collaborators include ducts the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the ten for each other (Kahane’s “Works on Paper,” a string ensemble that features such musicians Orchestra of St. Luke’s in a concert of works on Andres’s “Mirror Songs”), as well as songs and as Conrad Harris and Lev Zhurbin, along with a an English theme. The program draws a straight piano works by Bach, Britten, Ives, Thomas Adès, quartet of singers, the video artist Ursula Scher- line through hundreds of years of music history, and Andrew Norman. (Zankel Hall. 212-247-7800. rer, and the music director Chris Berg. (509 At- from Purcell’s “Dido’s Lament,” with its for- April 7 at 7:30.) lantic Ave., Brooklyn. roulette.org. April 12-13 at 8.)

THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 15 1 A RT MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES is rendered in indifferent squiggles. A hoodie- ern California, tracking its decay and accumu- clad teenager appears in two stirring pieces, his lation of graffiti, using a large-format camera Japan Society face seen both times as if in the crosshairs of a and a scanning device developed by NASA. “In the Wake: Japanese Photographers gun. While the image recalls Trayvon Martin Some of the marks on the smashed plaster Respond to 3/11” (who was shot in the chest), Hendricks makes walls are Divola’s own, usually inky or sil- Inevitably, this exhibition of work responding to no claims for either work as an explicit reference. very circles. They’re still points amid a riot the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, Still, when one of the images is accompanied of spray-painted skulls, slogans (“Kill Your which devastated northeast Japan and caused a nu- by the phrase “I no can breathe,” which both al- Boss,” “Revolution With Guns!”), and fu- clear meltdown, emphasizes disaster. Pictures by ludes to and garbles a quote by Eric Garner, you rious abstractions, contributed by Divola’s Keizo Kitajima and Naoya Hatakeyama and a pro- may find yourself yearning for more precision unwitting collaborators. Some of the largest jection by Rinko Kawauchi document gutted vil- to sharpen the politics. Through April 23. (Shain- pictures (made with the scanner) are digital lages, shattered houses, and acres of debris, culmi- man, 524 W. 24th St. 212-337-3372.) collages, detailed descriptions of the site that nating in a display of more than thirteen hundred include occasional glimpses of the artist him- snapshots, which were recovered from the ruins Serge Alain Nitegeka self, spied through jagged holes in the wall, and often damaged beyond recognition. These ac- Born in Burundi and based in Johannesburg, this another interloper among the ruins. Through cidental images set the tone for the haunted and promising young artist creates gallery-occupying April 23. (Maccarone, 630 Greenwich St. 212- A RT hallucinatory works that follow, some of which tangles of wooden planks and unruly paintings, 431-4977.) allude to the national traumaA RT of Hiroshima and which feature blocks of solid color, hashes of thick 1 Nagasaki. Takashi Arai’s irradiated daguerreo- black lines, and passages of unpainted wood. (To Melvin Sokolsky MUSEUMS SHORT LIST GALLERIEStypes, Nobuyoshi SHORTAraki’s intentionally LIST distressed underscore that these are objects, as well as pic- The Los Angeles-based photographer made an MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES Metropolitan Museum “Aprints,is bunchrendered and Daisukeof in Warhol’s indi Yokota’sfferent Hair” squiggles.pale figures A in hoodie- dark tures,ern California, some of them tracking jut out its from decay the and wall.) accumu- Ni- indelible impression in 1963, when he posed Throughlandscapesclad teenager Augustevoke appears a distraught 9 in two state stirring of mind pieces, that his tegekalation relies of gra onffi Constructivistti, using a large-format ideas about cameraspace, a model inside a big Lucite bubble and sus- “Are Doors Really Necessary?” Japan Society reachesface seen its apexboth intimes Lieko as Shiga’sif in the macabre crosshairs scenes of a andand his a red-yellow-and-bluescanning device developed palette would by NASA. make pended her over Paris on a shoot for Harper ’s Through June 29. Metropolitan“In the Wake: Japanese Museum Photographers ofgun. people While impaled the byimage tree recallstrunks. TrayvonThrough June Martin 12. MondrianSome of smile. the marks Given onthat the Western smashed modernism plaster Bazaar. (All evidence of suspending cables was Respond to 3/11” “I(who Can’t was Make shot in You the Lovechest), Me Hendricks the Bon makes oweswalls a bigare debt Divola’s to African own, sculpture, usually inky Nitegeka’s or sil- airbrushed out.) Seen here, the images cap- “TheInevitably, Lederhosen this exhibition ofof work Mortdecai responding to IverStudiono claims Version” Museum for either in Harlem work as an explicit reference. showvery serves circles. as aThey’re lively reminder still points that amid the legacy a riot ture mid-century couture at its most fanci- MOMOO “Rodney McMillian: Views of Main Street” of abstraction has always been global. Through ful—moments of loopy, Lucy-in-the-sky eu- Saltzman”the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, ThroughStill, when August one of 17the images is accompanied of spray-painted skulls, slogans (“Kill Your “Moomoos and Rompers: Can which devastated northeast Japan and caused a nu- Byby turns the phrase dour and “I no droll, can breathe,”the sculptures, which videos,both al- AprilBoss,” 23. (Boesky,“Revolution 509 W. With 24th St.Guns!”), 212-680-9889.) and fu- phoria—soaring over the Bois de Boulogne, a clear meltdown, emphasizes disaster. Pictures by andludes paintings to and garblesby this aproli quotefic by Los Eric Angeles Garner, art- you 1rious abstractions, contributed by Divola’s sidewalk café, and a schoolyard full of curious anything be a murder weapon?” TheKeizo focusKitajima andof this Naoya historicalHatakeyama reviewand a pro- “Isistmay probe it becausefind the yoursel weight hisf yearning o podcastf history, for economics, hasmore more precision and unwitting collaborators. Some of the largest children. Sokolsky revived his idea (sans bub- Through July 22. isjection the leatherby Rinko Kawauchiknee-length document breech gutted vil-- discriminationto sharpen the on politics. the inner Through lives Aprilof Americans, 23. (Shain- picturesGALLERIES—DOWNTOWN (made with the scanner) are digital ble) in 1965, for a session in which patrons of lages, shattered houses, and acres of debris, culmi- subscribers?”whateverman, 524 their W. 24th race. St. (A 212-337-3372.) concurrent show has just collages, detailed descriptions of the site that Parisian restaurants look amused to find them- esnating of infamed a display Germanof more than thirteenlutist hundredand Throughopened at MOMA September PS1.) McMillian 33 is best known Johninclude Divola occasional glimpses of the artist him- selves dining below a fashion fairy tale. Through Guggenheim Museum snapshots, which were recovered from the ruins forSerge reworking Alain discarded Nitegeka furniture. In one piece, a Forself, five spied years, through between jagged 2008 andholes 2013, in the Divola wall, April 16. (Staley-Wise, 560 Broadway, at Prince St. snort Mortdecai Saltzman (1785– sofa has been roughly bisected and rejoined with a photographed an abandoned house in South- 212-966-6223.) and often damaged beyond recognition. These ac- “WordsBorn in Burundi she used and tobased mispronounce” in Johannesburg, this another interloper among the ruins. Through “Milli Vanilli: shared ironic likes 1891).cidental imagesSaltzman’s set the tone Leders, for the haunted many and cementpromising scar; youngin another, artist an creates Ikea Poäng gallery-occupying chair is gar- April 23. (Maccarone, 630 Greenwich St. 212- turn to desperate memories.” hallucinatory works that follow, some of which Throughrottedtangles by oa fblackOctober wooden tube. planks A2018 similar and downheartedunruly paintings, in- 431-4977.) of which he hosened himself, are scrutability recurs in the artist’s two-dimensional Through September 19. allude to the national trauma of Hiroshima and which feature blocks of solid color, hashes of thick displayedNagasaki. Takashi with Arai’sa lyrical irradiated buoyancy daguerreo- works,black includinglines, and a passages scuffed, fraying,of unpainted wine-dark wood. car- (To Melvin Sokolsky types, Nobuyoshi Araki’s intentionally distressed “Tearspetunderscore stretching in Jars. that from these Tear wall are toin flobjects, Cars.”oor. A marbledas well as fac- pic- The Los Angeles-based photographer made an andprints, a andcunning Daisuke Yokota’seye for pale detail. figures inOn dark Throughsimiletures, o somef the August Supremeof them 21 jut Court’s out from façade the makes wall.) anNi- indelible impression in 1963, when he posed The Brooklyn Museum landscapes evoke a distraught state of mind that infelicitoustegeka relies contrast, on Constructivist and confirms ideas that about McMil- space, a model inside a big Lucite bubble and sus- close inspection one can see many lian’s best art is open-ended rather than on the “Coney Island: Visions of a forgot- reaches its apex in Lieko Shiga’s macabre scenes “Tinder:and his red-yellow-and-blue An old man’s game?” palette would make pended her over Paris on a shoot for Harper ’s ofof thepeople brass impaled fasteners by tree trunks. bear Through a strik June- 12. nose.Mondrian That doesn’t smile. Givenmean there’sthat Western no room modernism for pol- Bazaar. (All evidence of suspending cables was ten Honeymoon.” Through August 1. Throughitics:owes his a biggrimly 2021 debt hilarious to African videos sculpture, are proudly Nitegeka’s an- airbrushed out.) Seen here, the images cap- ingStudio resemblance Museum in Harlem to a woman who, tagonistic,show serves and as the a lively best takes reminder the form that othef a legacypup- ture mid-century couture at its most fanci- until“Rodney very McMillian: recently, Views resided of Main Street”in my petof showabstraction in which has a alwaysrace-bating been Ronald global. ReaganThrough ful—moments of loopy, Lucy-in-the-sky eu- The Whitney Museum dummy is joined onstage by a velociraptor, which Edgar Degas created “Ballet Scene” (ca. 1879) by applyingBy turns pastel dour to a monotype,and droll, the one-osculptures,ff print videos, medium that’sApril the23. focus(Boesky, of a 509 new W. show 24th at St. MOMA. 212-680-9889.) phoria—soaring over the Bois de Boulogne, a “Loneliness: In some ways, its own domicileand paintings engaging by this proli infi maritalc Los Angeles bliss. art- lip-synchs1 Erykah Badu. Through June 26. sidewalk café, and a schoolyard full of curious reward.” Through September 7. ist probe the weight of history, economics, and 1 children. Sokolsky revived his idea (sans bub- Museumdiscrimination of on the the Fifthinner lives Ascension of Americans, GALLERIES—DOWNTOWN ble) in 1965, for a session in which patrons of In the Ink towhatever spontaneous their race. style, (A concurrent starting show in has the just towellingGALLERIES—CHELSEA off ), performing in cafés, Parisian restaurants look amused to find them- New Museum eighteen-“Theopened World at MOMA seventies. is PS1.) ending ItMcMillian underlines in 6 is best theknown and,John of Divola course, dancing. Almost none selves dining below a fashion fairy tale. Through Degas’s prints take center stage. for reworking discarded furniture. In one piece, a DavidFor fi Claerboutve years, between 2008 and 2013, Divola April 16. (Staley-Wise, 560 Broadway, at Prince St. “Eddie Vedder: Did an obsession truthweeks”sofa has that been his roughly genius bisected was and essentially rejoined with a of“HorrorThephotographed them Belgian evince Business” artist’s an abandoned ahyperreal sense ofprojections house being in South-ob- split 212-966-6223.) “withEdgar a Degasperfect: A manStrange damage New Beauty,” a graphic,cement scar; on in a another, historical an Ikea arc Poäng of chair linear is gar- servedthe difference by the between artist. still In image seventeen and video, sen- and The simplicity of this group show between ironically banal and just plain boring. is wonderful but oddly finicky, as the sorceryrotted by from a black Ingres tube. A similarto Picasso. downhearted You in- sationalThree brothelNew Jersey scenes, youth most approachof them marriage?” Through July 15. scrutability recurs in the artist’s two-dimensional A photo projection of Nigerian oil workers tak- Museum of Modern Art’s first Degas senseisworks, what his including delight,gives a scu initff ed,“darkits fraying, power. field” wine-dark mono- De car-- fromtheing sheltersmall 1877 from New-79 ,the they Jersey rain stand, is towncomposed sit, of or oLodi,f mul-loll tiple grafted backgrounds; a 3-D rendering of show,Museum ever. ofIt makes the Heart a big deal of an un- types,scendingpet stretching at the down efromffects wallthe enabled to 50-footfloor. Aby marbled attack- stair fac-- aroundas one might availably approach naked a lover.and oftenTheir common printmaking medium: mono- ingsimile spreads of the Supremeof wet inkCourt’s with façade incising makes an frumpilyBerlin’s Nazi-era at ease. Olympiastadion One squats is designedover a “How can you mend a broken caseinfelicitous into contrast,New York’s and con newestfirms that McMil-mu- tenderto slowly crumblephotography over the next is thousandsucculent, years. type, created by working in ink on a hard tools, rags, and his hands (see his fin- bidet. Another idly scratches one of heart: A Cher review.” Over. seumlian’s best the art smell is open-ended quickly rather becomes than on the theirThe facile imagery “Travel,” ample. in which They a single capturetracking surface and then pressing paper against gerprints).nose. That doesn’t Shapes mean and there’s atmospheres no room for pol- hershot buttocks.travels from Theira lush jungle milieu to an may urban seem park, the most overwhelming sensation, thehas a hometownMuzak- worthy soundtrack.of Punk ARock sign instructs icon it. The one-off results are unusual, to say loomitics: inhis whites grimly hilariousand textured videos aregrays proudly from an- a far cry from the candied glamour of tagonistic, and the best takes the form of a pup- Glennviewers: “PleaseDanzig do notwith enter a thevoluptuous installation theBronx least—going Museum against the common- Stygianyet once blackness: your eyes sculpted adjust light, to withthe ballet, but the two settings share the pet show in which a race-bating Ronald Reagan potency.during projection.” I have notAlternate known advice: the Feel touch free, sense“Eleanor notion Corinthian: that a print The is anHuman image adarkness dummymuscular is joined you feel. onstage realize Those by a velociraptor,works,it’s because circa which factonce ofyou’ve women entered, displaying to leave. Through themselves. April 30. of(Sean a womanKelly, 475 Tenth since Ave., Eleanor at 36th St. 212-239-1181.)left. multiplied.Bag.” Through This andDecember the unfamiliarity 1. 1876thelip-synchs1 -nameless85, from Erykah Degas’s artists Badu. Through major have June foraystaged 26. into a Degas’s preoccupation along this line of most of the works—some hundred theseries technique, of what are look his purestlike very monotypes, lifelike takesPaulinaBarkley nothing L. Tchilavski Hendricks away from the soaring andMuseum twenty of monotypes, Sex from museums and by farGALLERIES—CHELSEA the most exciting. Elsewhere, qualityIn the sixties of andhis seventies, works, thebut American it helps painter to human ribcages around the space, made a name for himself with effortlessly cool, and collections worldwide, augmented he tended to use the medium as a explainThis concise their intensity. retrospective Facing upof toTchi it,- “Erectile Dysfunction: Maybe it’s whichDavid Claerbout they have decorated in re- colorful portraits, which have recently earned a withyour more fault?” conventional Through pictures—make August 3. groundThe Belgian for artist’s pictures hyperreal completed projections insplit thelavski’snew show’sfollowing. first superb He’s 120,000 still curator, hard at Jodiworkswork, Haupt- although is re- the show special, in both the good and opaqueclaimedthe diff erencewatercolors materials between orstill from pastels. image theand Innova- video,New and man,freshingthe brushwork includes in inits hisin brevity. anew wall show textMy can the occasionallywife forth- was the pejorative senses. Magnifying glasses tive,between perhaps, ironically but uninspiringbanal and just are plain mono- boring. rightfeel nonchalant, opinion as of when the a jubilantgreat dancer’sdecadent hair YorkA photo streets. projection The of Nigeriansongful oil workersway they tak- not brief when describing the extent areSculpturecenter provided to let us feel like hotshot types, in oil paints, of landscapes. Those writer J. K. Huysmans that Degas requesting shelter you from to the stay rain will is composed come withof mul- of her affairs, and stands in direct “A Boomer’s look at a millennial’s tiple grafted backgrounds; a 3-D rendering of connoisseurs, bending in to delectate in subjectsa phlegmatic don’t much allure engage not Degas, usually who regardedcontrast towomen Tchilavski’s with “an self attentive control. thetreachery.” nuances. The Through occasion my might father’s rankle wasn’tBerlin’s an Nazi-era outdoors Olympiastadion kind of guy. is designed cruelty, a patient hatred.” That rings to slowly crumble over the next thousand years. Paulina Tchilavski, born of Polish withoutdeparture its payo backff of to a fiSt.nal Louis. room of first- seenTheHe facilein liked basements “Travel,” to watch in which this women. a ratsingle infest Fortracking a- true. Certainly, there’s scant desire. rate paintings, pastels, and drawings: viewer,ed.shot Their travels that from characteristic—clawingcommitment a lush jungle to only an urban rarely park,at Degasdecent ingives a tent little behind sign aof Wawa, wanting has DegasMy Apartment hitting on all cylinders. present-dayseemshas a Muzak- put worthyon. sensitivities—may I soundtrack. for one Ahope sign instructs welllife women,a classic butgrace, only which of liking some to womensubject viewers: “Please do not enter the installation never find, despite the generous “MyOn Wife: its own When limited did terms, the cheating the show interfereimitatesduring projection.” withart and aesthetic Alternate I can detachment, advice:soon Feelshed free, them to his very particular, somewhat does yield useful insight into Degas’s asonce the you’veshow entered, unfolds. to Thereleave. Through are women April 30. creepyamounts gaze. of high-end yoga and start?” Indefinitely. this(Sean mortal Kelly, 475 coil.Tenth Ave., at 36th St. 212-239-1181.)

modernizing transition from careful ironing, bathing (lots of bathing; also dance classes which—Peter were paid Schjeldahl for. COLLECTION KOCH I. WILLIAM

Barkley L. Hendricks 12 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 12 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 In the sixties and seventies, the American painter made a name for himself with effortlessly cool, colorful portraits, which have recently earned a new following. He’s still hard at work, although the brushwork in his new show can occasionally feel nonchalant, as when a jubilant dancer’s hair

1 A RT MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES is rendered in indifferent squiggles. A hoodie- ern California, tracking its decay and accumu- clad teenager appears in two stirring pieces, his lation of graffiti, using a large-format camera Japan Society face seen both times as if in the crosshairs of a and a scanning device developed by NASA. “In the Wake: Japanese Photographers gun. While the image recalls Trayvon Martin Some of the marks on the smashed plaster Respond to 3/11” (who was shot in the chest), Hendricks makes walls are Divola’s own, usually inky or sil- Inevitably, this exhibition of work responding to no claims for either work as an explicit reference. very circles. They’re still points amid a riot the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, Still, when one of the images is accompanied of spray-painted skulls, slogans (“Kill Your which devastated northeast Japan and caused a nu- by the phrase “I no can breathe,” which both al- Boss,” “Revolution With Guns!”), and fu- clear meltdown, emphasizes disaster. Pictures by ludes to and garbles a quote by Eric Garner, you rious abstractions, contributed by Divola’s Keizo Kitajima and Naoya Hatakeyama and a pro- may find yourself yearning for more precision unwitting collaborators. Some of the largest jection by Rinko Kawauchi document gutted vil- to sharpen the politics. Through April 23. (Shain- pictures (made with the scanner) are digital lages, shattered houses, and acres of debris, culmi- man, 524 W. 24th St. 212-337-3372.) collages, detailed descriptions of the site that nating in a display of more than thirteen hundred include occasional glimpses of the artist him- snapshots, which were recovered from the ruins Serge Alain Nitegeka self, spied through jagged holes in the wall, and often damaged beyond recognition. These ac- Born in Burundi and based in Johannesburg, this another interloper among the ruins. Through cidental images set the tone for the haunted and promising young artist creates gallery-occupying April 23. (Maccarone, 630 Greenwich St. 212- hallucinatory works that follow, some of which tangles of wooden planks and unruly paintings, 431-4977.) allude to the national trauma of Hiroshima and which feature blocks of solid color, hashes of thick Nagasaki. Takashi Arai’s irradiated daguerreo- black lines, and passages of unpainted wood. (To Melvin Sokolsky types, Nobuyoshi Araki’s intentionally distressed underscore that these are objects, as well as pic- The Los Angeles-based photographer made an prints, and Daisuke Yokota’s pale figures in dark tures, some of them jut out from the wall.) Ni- indelible impression in 1963, when he posed landscapes evoke a distraught state of mind that tegeka relies on Constructivist ideas about space, a model inside a big Lucite bubble and sus- reaches its apex in Lieko Shiga’s macabre scenes and his red-yellow-and-blue palette would make pended her over Paris on a shoot for Harper ’s of people impaled by tree trunks. Through June 12. Mondrian smile. Given that Western modernism Bazaar. (All evidence of suspending cables was owes a big debt to African sculpture, Nitegeka’s airbrushed out.) Seen here, the images cap- Studio Museum in Harlem show serves as a lively reminder that the legacy ture mid-century couture at its most fanci- “Rodney McMillian: Views of Main Street” of abstraction has always been global. Through ful—moments of loopy, Lucy-in-the-sky eu- By turns dour and droll, the sculptures, videos, April 23. (Boesky, 509 W. 24th St. 212-680-9889.) phoria—soaring over the Bois de Boulogne, a and paintings by this prolific Los Angeles art- sidewalk café, and a schoolyard full of curious ist probe the weight of history, economics, and 1 children. Sokolsky revived his idea (sans bub- discrimination on the inner lives of Americans, GALLERIES—DOWNTOWN ble) in 1965, for a session in which patrons of Hello, My Name Is Doris whatever their race. (A concurrent show has just Parisian restaurants look amused to find them- Michael Showalter’s amiable new comedy features opened at MOMA PS1.) McMillian is best known John Divola selves dining below a fashion fairy tale. Through a taut setup that packs howls of anguish in its con- for reworking discarded furniture. In one piece, a For five years, between 2008 and 2013, Divola April 16. (Staley-Wise, 560 Broadway, at Prince St. trived simplicity. Doris Miller (Sally Field), a sev- sofa has been roughly bisected and rejoined with a photographed an abandoned house in South- 212-966-6223.) MOVIES entyish bookkeeper, is a fish out of water in her cement scar; in another, an Ikea Poäng chair is gar- “American Conspiracy: The Bilder- 1 cubicle at a hip young media company in Chel- rotted by a black tube. A similar downhearted in- the writer and director Robert Budreau, Baker and sea. She’s unmarried and has no children, having scrutability recurs in the artist’s two-dimensional bear Group” OPENING his co-star on the film shoot, an actress named Jane lived her entire life in a house in Staten Island works, including a scuffed, fraying, wine-dark car- Killdoer (CarmenHomicide Ejogo), Homebegin a relationship that helps with her mother, who, at the start of the film, has pet stretching from wall to floor. A marbled fac- This complex retrospective assembles The Boss Melissa McCarthy stars in this com- Baker kick his longtime heroin habit. Meanwhile, just died. Doris—whimsical, hypersensitive, so- simile of the Supreme Court’s façade makes an every piece of evidence, no matter edyBland. (which sheJames co-wrote), Bland. as anThe executive umpteenth who, BakerAlfred is haunted Hitchcock’s by a 1954 performance seminal at thrilla New - cially awkward—is burdened by her sudden sol- infelicitous contrast, and confirms that McMil- how controversial, about the infa- after serving time in prison, attempts to remake York club where his ego was deflated by a lacerat- itude when, in an elevator at work, she bumps lian’s best art is open-ended rather than on the installment in the continued misad- er Strangers on a Train captivated her life. Directed by Ben Falcone; co-starring ing word from Miles Davis (Kedar Brown); after into John Fremont (Max Greenfield), the hand- nose. That doesn’t mean there’s no room for pol- mous Bilderbear Group that controls Kristenventures Bell, Peterof England’s Dinklage, andleast Annie clandes Mu- - recoveringaudiences from thewith grave an injury intriguing to his mouth, cast he some and charming twentysomething new art di- itics: his grimly hilarious videos are proudly an- the nation’s toy economy. It requires molo. Opening April 8. (In wide release.) • Dem- attempts his comeback at the same venue. De- rector in her office. She’s instantly smitten, and tagonistic, and the best takes the form of a pup- tine secret agent seems calculated to of characters and a breathlessly olition Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this drama as an spite Hawke’s intensely committed performance, takes unusual measures—aided by Vivian (Isa- pet show in which a race-bating Ronald Reagan signing a wavier, as Jean-Luc Monte- investmentleave audiences banker trying shaken, to overcome not his stirred. grief Budreautaut getsstoryline. more from theAlas, story’s Rian sidemen, John such - bella Acres), the teen-age granddaughter of her dummy is joined onstage by a velociraptor, which negro’s gallery cannot guarantee your at Athe accidentalparticularly death cranky of his wife. and Directed craggy as son’sa record newest producer movie, (Callum whichKeith Rennie), centers a best friend, Roz (Tyne Daly)—to insinuate herself lip-synchs Erykah Badu. Through June 26. safety if the Bilderbears consider you by DanielJean-Marc CraigVallée; co-starringtrudges Naomithrough Watts a probationon a ofamilyfficer (Tony of Nappo),assassins, and Baker’s is a fa-far into John’s life. Showalter, who co-wrote the film 1 a threat. I pray to receive that sweet and Chris Cooper. Opening April 8. (In wide re- ther (Stephen McHattie). The movie offers a with Laura Terruso, keeps the tone sentimentally lease.)rote • Theplotline Invitation rife Karyn with Kusama inscrutable directed more insightful view of the music business than comedic, blending touches of wit (Doris’s fanta- GALLERIES—CHELSEA release from a Bilderbear. I’m scared cry from such classic finery. One thismotives, thriller, about thinly guests sketchedat a dinner party person that - of cringesBaker’s art. to—Richard imagine Brody how (In limited Hitchcock release.) sies), whimsy (Doris’s excursion to a rock club in David Claerbout to die, but I also wish I was never turns macabre. Opening April 8. (In limited re- Williamsburg), and drama (Doris’s relationship lease.) • Louder Than Bombs In this drama, a war Chameleon Street with her brother). But within the perky antics is The Belgian artist’s hyperreal projections split born. ages, and a double helping of oh, would respond to this filmic folde- photographer’s death compels her widower (Ga- The title of this 1989 independent film, which was bewildered rage at the prospect of aging, solitude, the difference between still image and video, and seven or so explosions per minute. rol, which is as senselessly person- briel Byrne) and their sons (Jesse Eisenberg and written and directed by Wendell B. Harris, Jr., who and irrelevance; the best thing about the film is between ironically banal and just plain boring. My Wife The Trollop DevinBroad. Druid) James to confront Broad. her Aslegacy. he Directedgoes, he alsoal stars, as itrefers is tooffputtingly a real-life character, innovative. William that it has no answers.—R.B. (In limited release.) A photo projection of Nigerian oil workers tak- by Joachim Trier; co-starring Amy Ryan and Isa- Douglas Street, who, in the nineteen- seventies, ing shelter from the rain is composed of mul- runs afoul of a boilerplate beauty As the family patriarch, Michael Tearing down modern art conven- belle Huppert. • Mr. Right A crime comedy, star- pulled off an extraordinary series of imperson- Joyce at 34 tiple grafted backgrounds; a 3-D rendering of ring(Amanda Anna Kendrick Seyfried) as a woman and who the falls charac in love - ationsFassbender (for instance, pretendingrefuses toto be bea doctor, either he In this forthright and insightful documentary, Berlin’s Nazi-era Olympiastadion is designed tions, Reginald Corinthian has creat- with a contract killer (Sam Rockwell). Directed performed, according to Harris, thirty-six suc- from 1972, the filmmaker Joyce Chopra has a baby to slowly crumble over the next thousand years. ed a stunning retrospective on a mar- teristic coterie of criminals, headed Don Corleone or Popeye Doyle, by Paco Cabezas. Opening April 8. (In limited re- cessful hysterectomies), for which he was ulti- and faces the conflicts between motherhood and The facile “Travel,” in which a single tracking riage which by all accounts should lease.)by •the Vita inimitable,Activa: The Spirit if ofnot Hannah intimidat Arendt - matelyinstead imprisoned. stubbornly Harris plays exploring the part for com-new her career. Chopra (working with the cinematog- shot travels from a lush jungle to an urban park, A documentary about the philosopher, directed edy and for anger, portraying Street as a sardonic rapher Claudia Weill) starts with her own body, has a Muzak- worthy soundtrack. A sign instructs have been one of history’s greatest ing, Chiwetel Ejiofor. Its muddled terrain. Never once in its inter- by Ada Ushpiz. Opening April 6. (Film Forum.) victim of racism who, having grown up conform- filming the birth of her daughter, Sarah, in 1971; viewers: “Please do not enter the installation love stories, and yet through a series mediocrity aside, box office receipts ingminable to the expectations 122 minutes of others, becomesdoes Homi adept - once home, she depicts the infant’s constant pres- during projection.” Alternate advice: Feel free, 1 at fitting into any role that’s thrust upon him—or ence and admits the need to get away from Sarah once you’ve entered, to leave. Through April 30. of photographs and sketches, Corin- suggest that we’re stuck with this cide Home adequately answer the NOW PLAYING that he chooses. As a director, Harris himself is in order to make a movie. Chopra’s husband, Tom (Sean Kelly, 475 Tenth Ave., at 36th St. 212-239-1181.) thian weaves a narrative that shows spy for eons to come. Brand. James somethingcinematic of a chameleon, question, joining “why his incisive bother vi- Cole, a screenwriter, works while caring for Sarah, how it collapsed under the weight of Barkley L. Hendricks BatmanBrand. v Superman: —Antoine Dawn Path of Justice sionmaking to disruptive a movie narrative about techniques crime borrowed after and complains about his own difficulty mixing do- It had to happen. Anything Marvel can do, DC from Frank Tashlin, the French New Wave, and mestic tasks with writing. Chopra’s subject is the In the sixties and seventies, the American painter treachery. Many of the self-portraits, Comics can do better, or, at any rate, no worse. televisionGoodfellas comedy.?” HeWith endows Bill Street Hader, with his ownwho overcoming of inequities; she shows the new con- made a name for himself with effortlessly cool, Worlds Apart nudes, show that in no way should That is the supposition behind the new Zack Sny- vast cultural range, stretching from Orson Welles flicts arising from the effort to make marriage an colorful portraits, which have recently earned a isn’t as good as Charlie Chaplin. der film, which is every bit as tranquil and as un- and Jean Cocteau to pop music and TV. The re- equitable partnership while exposing the traditional new following. He’s still hard at work, although any woman be dissatisfied with Co- derstatedPixar’s as dreamearlier Snyder factory films. spins (Think the “300” tale sult— isDaniel a disarming, Dobson disturbing, elusive, and pro- prejudices that women endure. She makes star- the brushwork in his new show can occasionally rinthian physically. Almost Borge- and “Sucker Punch.”) Whereas Iron Man and his found meditation on personal identity. Shock- tlingly analytical use of home-movie footage of her feel nonchalant, as when a jubilant dancer’s hair of an alien fixer (Ed Helms) who sian in display, the show challenges fellow-Avengersmust journey are gathered to Earth in amity, to however,discover ingly,So Harris There hasn’t You yet madeGo another film.—R.B. sweet-sixteen party and films a discussion among the viewer to look past the financialthe tone here is one of violent discord: Super- (Metrograph; April 7.) elderly retired teachers—including her mother— manthe (Henry whereabouts Cavill), forever of striving his toplanet’s locate Woody Allen’s latest filmic foraywho recall their own struggles to balance work and struggles, sexual frustrations, and dif- hismissing lost personality, children. comes toWhile blows with the Batman inter - Francofoniais more carapace than caprice: a family amid the rampant discriminations of their fering life paths of a failing marriage (Ben Affleck), who buffs and pumps himself for Years after he led us on a solemn dance through Depression-era employment. Chopra’s vigorous play between Helms’ luckless Blee- to see the rot at the center, some girls the occasion. The cause of their tiff is never en- thecrusty Hermitage, and in “Russiandeclawed Ark” (2002),cinematic Alex- dialectic, in style and substance, is itself a crucial tirelyblo clear, Jones but itand is heightened William by H.Lex LuthorMacy’s andercrustacean Sokurov enters with the Louvre—anotheran abstruse ark,tex - forebear of generations of first-person filmmak- are just mean. (Jesse Eisenberg), whose hobbies include kryp- crammed with every species of art. In particular, ers.—R.B. (Metrograph; April 10.) toniteHoratio theft and Alger building of a homemadea deuteragonist monster. he ture,follows brackish its fortunes flavor, during the and deluge a ophilosf the - Appendix I: Theescalates movie is two pleasurably and a half hours from long, tête-à-tête yet feels Secondophy World decidedly, War, and dramatizes well, theshellfish— encounter Los Angeles Plays Itself Eleanor, if you’re reading closer to five. The dialogue fights to be heard of two civilized souls: Jacques Jaujard (Louis-Do Thom Andersen’s nearly three-hour essay-film, this I want you to know that I forgive aboveto themano-a-mano crunching soundtrack, the and,mise-en-scène more often de inLencquesaing), other words, the director it’s o f thenot museum kosher, at from 2003, features his trenchant and polemical you, and if you’ll come home, I’ll take thancannot not, loses; match let us thebe thankful droll forjapery small of mer- the theWoody! time, and Franz Hugh Wol ff-MetternichLaurie stars (Benjamin as a voice-over commentary accompanying an aston- cies. The one bright spot is the arrival of Won- Utzerath), the Nazi nobleman who represented ishingly rich and alluring selection of clips from you back with open arms. My world derdialogue. Woman (Gal Director Gadot), who, Pete having Doctor been shut (Up, an suicidaloccupying power,flutist but whowho considered embarks it his ondramatic features shot on location in Los Angeles, is darker for your absence. I live to see outInside of the actionOut) untilstrives the fi nalfor reel, an seems elegiac in dutyan to affair preserve thewith treasures a high of the school occupied. in - ranging from “The Big Sleep” and “Rebel Without no mood to be messed with. On paper, the sup- The courteous tension between them is nicely a Cause” to “Chinatown” and “Clueless.” The result your face on the veranda once more. portingebullience cast must in have this looked peripatetic unbeatable: pseuAmy - caught,génue but, (Selenaas ever, Sokurov Gomez) has more possessed than one blends a complex kaleidoscopic portrait of the city Adams,do-thriller, Holly Hunter, painting Diane Lane,an Orwellian Laurence taleby to thetell; wovenghost around of François these men Truffaut.are other and a powerful work of film criticism with Ander- Appendix II: But if you’re still Fishburne, and Jeremy Irons.—Anthony Lane scraps of history, and threads of fanciful imag- sen’s personal story of living in Los Angeles. He (Reviewedfuture in ofour issueKafkaesque of 4/4/16.) (In proportions, wide release.) ining—Napoleon,At once turgid for instance, and tossed pulling off,faces asthis traces the falsification of the city’s geography and shacked up with that Spaniard, don’t but a Kishōtenketsu structure un- he perniciousstalks the museum’s potboiler great galleries. pushes There and is history in Hollywood movies to the shoddy narra- even think about returning. I’ve al- Bornwisely to Be Bluepeppered with Verfrem- evenprods a modern but section, never concerning proceeds a cargo ofwith art tive and ideological conventions in run-of-the-mill This bio-pic about the jazz trumpeter and singer on a storm-struck ship. What binds the elements productions; even the habitual display of architec- ready sold the horses for glue. Chetdungseffekt Baker (Ethan ultimately Hawke) focusses deflates on two piv- intoo f anythe movie—and pretense con offi rmsthe Sokurov pleasures as a deter- that tural landmarks and styles comes in for scathingly otala episodesgrandiloquent in the musician’s rodomontade career, both from of a minedpervade essayist, Allen’s at times opaque previous or grandiose, projects. yet insightful analysis. Andersen shows that movies Appendix III: I’m sure I could get the mid-sixties. One, Baker’s performance as him- never vague—is a feeling for the doubleness of are both recording devices that display political seldenouement.f in a dramatic movie Featuring about his own a decidedly life, is fic- ourWith cultural Albert inheritance. Brooks, We cling toAnne it, through Ha - perversions of civic life—including racial preju- them back before they’re turned. tional;non-diegetic the other, a brutal score beating by Randythat cost BakerNew - thethaway, centuries, and for dear Ed life; Harris and yet, as like a allzombi lives, - dice, police brutality, real-estate depredations, and Please come home. his front teeth and forced him to rebuild his tech- it is easily swept away. In Russian, French, and economic inequities—and propaganda machines niqueman. from —Rupertscratch, actually Granby happened. As told by German.fied —A.L.Federico (4/4/16) Fellini. (In limited —A.P. release.) that perpetuate them. Sifting through a virtual

10 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 13 MOVIES 1 REVIVALS AND FESTIVALS mountain of meretricious films alongside classics, lure contrasts painfully with the grungy yet hard- Andersen concludes with aIt grand Goes tribute to toShow the nosed milieu that brings itheeeeere’s to the screen (so John does C. Reilly, as the legacy of great local independent filmmakers who a cameo by Kim Novak, clever, unvarnished, and Titles with a dagger are reviewed. DANCEdiscovered truth by way of fiThisction, in seriocomicsuch moviesABOVE electrifying). neo-noir Pro fromfiles of& Levine wryly BEYOND in thisrecalcitrant magazine captain, joined as “The Exiles” and “Killer othef Sheep.” Coen—R.B. brothers (Mu- and tracks elsewhere a bringpuer to- lightby a fl amboyanta Danny vulgar- doppelgangerAnthology Film Archives( Ja- “Barthes at the Movies.” seum of the Moving Image; April 10.) ity that here, intensely aware of Albert Maysles’s April 8 at 7: “The Angels of Sin” (1943, Robert Bres- Ballet Hispanico ile parvenu of a probingdirector camera, (Oscar he keeps undercob wraps,Tremblay) but his las- devoidson). • April of 9 at 6:45:Dan “Le Beau Serge” (1958, Claude For forty-five years, the NewMidnight York-based Special company civious grin as he describes Loren’s appearance Chabrol). • April 10 at 8:45: “The Brontë Sisters” has offered a window intoThe the director increasingly Jeff Nichols varied has Isaac) a Spielbergian who knackbecomes suggests embroiled exactly where in artLloyd’s and commerce disturbing inter- (1979, demeanor, André Téchiné). and • April 11 at 8:45: “Roberte” arena of contemporary Latin-Americanfor working with and Spanishchildren, aand kidnapping his latest fable plot.is sect. As—R.B. the (Filmshaggy Forum; Aprilan 8-11.)obsequious sea-cook(1979, Pierre (Court Zucca).- BAM Cinématek The films dance. Of the three workscentered in its Joyce on program,an eight-year-old the boy named Alton of Chantal Akerman. April 9 at 2 and 7: “Je Tu Il most traditional, though notMeyer the oldest, (Jaeden is “ClubLieberher). Ha- dog Alton tale is blessed—or unspools, Zootopia he encounters ney B. Vance) whoseElle” (1974) perfor and “Saute- Ma Ville” (1968). • April vana,” a feel-good suite byburdened—with Pedro Ruiz set to extraordinary a med- a money-stuffed powers. He can Disney’s McGuffin, new animated fian lmmance is about aproves rabbit cop, he’s 12not at 7: his“Tomorrow Croth We- Move” (2004). Film Forum ley of Cuban music (congas,track rumbas, the path mambos)—a of satellites in his head and mimic eager and optimistic: Thumper with a badge. “The Maysles & Co.” April 8-11 (call for show- throwback to the glitzy nineteen-a radiofi station,fties Havana word club for word,atavistic without cabal turning of Judyproducers, Hopps (voiced and by Ginniferers keeper Goodwin), and lefttimes): me “Meet wanting Marlon Brando” (1966) and “Show- scene. “Bury Me Standing,”the byradio the Catalonia-bornon. At times, a rayan o fagglomeration blue light blazes raisedof anatopism— on a peaceful farm,to comes say, to “Scat, the city toman!” man.” By F •the April final 12 at 4:10 and 9:50: “Gimme Shel- Ramón Oller, is more ambitious:from his an eyes, exploration conveying of ineffable visions to any- fight crime, undismayed by being the smallest ter” (1970). Film Society of Lincoln Center The Gypsy culture set to traditionalone on the folk receiving songs from end. ForallAntiquarian years,appurtenances he has Book been Fair mammal of the on the Coen force. As infright, “Theand without Lion the King,” arms),film the and provesfi Greeklms of amphoraeSamit’s Peckinpah.not deco- fit April 7 at 4:30: “Pat Gar- southern Spain and Easternin the Europe. hands Inof a“Flabber- religious cult,milieu.The but, Park as Avenue theIndeed, date Armory of theworld will film’s house presented more portrait thanby the two movie forrated is aentirely withKing goddesses human- with andnumerousrett athletes. and Billy (20 theflaws Rockefel- Kid” (1973). • April 7 at 9: “The gast,” Gustavo Ramírez Sansanohis apparent evokes destiny the desta- nears, hehundred is borne American away by his and internationalfree, although, dealers in thisfor the case, noler frictionPlaza, at exists 49th be- St. 212-636-2000.)Osterman Weekend” • Swann, (1983). a • “Art of the Real.” bilizing experience of arrivingfather in(Michael a new land. Shannon). (175 of Togetherfifty-sixth a prelapsarian with annual a loyal New York tweenHollywood Antiquarian predators Book andrife Fair, the lesserthatleader beasts. cannot in the In areaZooto- be of African-AmericanOverlookedApril 8 at 9:15: art,“Whatsure offers Means Something” (2016, Eighth Ave., at 19th St. 212-242-0800.sidekick (Joel April Edgerton), 5-10.) theywitha four-day drive antediluvian to meet-up a rendez- for lovers pia,hubris, everybody of rare long books, lives the maps, pretty to mucha wide-rangingleave in harmony—a audiences sale (April Ben 7) Red,ledRivers). by a monumentalRumi • April -9 at 6: “The Moon and the vous with Alton’s mother (Kirstenmanuscripts, Dunst), and who ephemera. mushy The conceit, various yet exhibi- the directors,quilt by Byron the Harlem-born How- Sledgehammer” artist Faith Ringgold, (1971, Philip Trevelyan). • April Dance Theatre of Harlemhasn’t seen her son in a longbailiwick torswhile. feature On their aof vast trailthe collection brothers’ard oandf notable Rich oeuvre, Moore,titles, cov- takenating carepart toof her suggestthat “Woman howRaimi on a9 Bridge” at should8: “Poet series, on havefroma Business the Trip” (2015, Ju Anqi). Since its resurrection, inare 2012, desperate this beloved members ballet of thehasering cult, curdled subjects plus the such F.B.I. from as art, vulnerable medicine,raison d’êtreliterature, such peace to and can been be.nineteen-eighties. Only a bybetter a whis- Onecaretaker. oMetrographf these pieces—grand InRepeat revival. April in 7 at 3:45 and 8:30: “Cha- troupe has been in wobblyand shape, a thoughtful both technically fellow from photography, the N.S.A. spread(Adam across ker the is fiitfty- preserved,fi ve-thousand- thanks toscale, Judy narrative and her side- in scope—ismeleon in Street.”the collection F • April of 10 at 1: “Joyce at 34.” F and aesthetically, but its Driver),spirit always who earns starts an out en- skepticalidéesquare-foot fixe but. winds Despitehall. Veteran up kick, pretensionscollectors a hustling await fox thisto (Jason -fair after Bateman),the Guggenheim; me: who All have another,reworking Museum from of the andModern collection no Art “Six New York Indepen- thusiastic response. Thispleading season, tothe come company along. is The wards asclimax, one o fthough theBildungsroman, city’s spec- best—ittwo attracts days tothethe crack most film a prized difficult playfulness case;of Maya their Angelou, comrade- makes sold atdents.” Riptide the house April 6fora at adull1:30: record “Coming Apart” (1969, Mil- doubling down on prima-facietacular, causesis something for admi- of a letdown—unavoidablyhardcovers of many European ship, unlikelydealers, the as itformer sounds, priceis a furry last year. sequel In thisto colorfulton Moses tapestry, Ginsberg). “Double Museum of the Moving Image ration by commissioningso, female given choreographers.the grave tension thatneverGrolier has prevailed Clubpunctures president thus Eugene thatthe of Flamm NickPanglos Nolte hints, “beand- - Eddiejoy.Dutch Murphy,—A.P. on the inGolden “48 Gate“Changing Bridge,” the a Picture.” group o Aprilf 8 at 7:30: “A Sinner in The choices aren’t obviousfar. ones. Yet the Elena movie, Kunikova Nichols’s sian fourth,cause it’s purviewis atwice worthy as farad- of for themHrs.”its toprotagonist, There go out are to noCalifor- songs, apartyoung from girls those jump per- rope highMecca” above (2015, the ParvezSan Fran- Sharma). • The films of Sid- is Russian- trained and welldition respected, to his studies but not in for anxiety nia.” and (Park dread, Ave. person- at 66th St.formed 212-616-3930. by a superstar April 7-10.) gazelleSevencisco (Shakira), skyline, By Sevenbut as i fthe freed fromney Poitier. all constraints. April 9 at (104 2: “No Way Out” (1950, Jo- choreography: she’s a teacherified andby Shannon’s stager (often troubled for rendering face.—A.L. (3/28/16) his philosophybeat of the movie scant barely dips,E. 25th sustained St. 212-254-4710.) by a seph L. Mankiewicz). • April 10 at 4: “The Defiant the all- male Ballets Trockadero(In limited de Monterelease.) Carlo). Brooklyn Folk Festivalsteady profusion of gags. With1 the voice of Idris Ones” (1958, Stanley Kramer). • Special screen- Dianne McIntyre is a veteran jazz choreographer; moreHeld in than the borough an effluvial forElba. seven—A.L. years,shibboleth. (3/14/16) this festi- (In Thiswide release.) early satire ing.from April the10 at 5:great “Los Angeles Plays Itself.” F this will be her first pieceMy using Golden pointe Days work. The Weltanschauungval honors string-band musicaside, in athe celebration film’s of Billy WilderREADINGS blooms AND intoTALKS effer- evening program on AprilArnaud 9 includes Desplechin’s a timely tribute new folk,work blues, is a compan-bluegrass, ska, and Irish musical tradi- to black ballerinas, with manyion piece—more pioneering women, prequel truethantions. sequel—to Achilles’Thirty bands his performHeel acrossis its its Chek three days;- vescentBrooklyn light Historical in a Society lovingly remas- including Debra Austin and1996 Lauren movie “MyAnderson, Sex Life in . ov’s. there. or How willGun, Ialso Got be theInto vocal implementation and instrumental work- teredThe path rerelease toward social playing progress isat mapped the Film by its de- attendance. (City Center, 131an W.Argument.” 55th St. 212-581-1212. Once again, shops, Mathieu square Amalric dances and swing jams, and an in- tours: younger generations rebel against the activism April 6 and April 8-9.) plays the libidinous Paul ofDédalus,famous which contestnow isan inmorean- which Gordian participants Knotcompete Forum.of past eras, Fred approaching MacMurray old causes from shines new angles thropologist, returning tothan Paristo see in Occam’swho middle can tossage. Razor—the a banjo the farthest Coens into the asthat Harryseem to reawaken Mills, and restructurea down-on- political ide- FJK Dance The homecoming touches oGowanusff a long Canal.flashback Gloves and a rope are provided, ologies overnight. Having grown up with the stories The work of the Iraq-bornto hischoreographer younger sel Fadif (Quentin J. wouldtips Dolmaire), on shot-put be well whom form served are not. (St.to Ann’sheed Church, that 157 his-luckof suffrage movementsadman andwhose the myth fortunes of bra burning, Khoury is distinguished weby Middlefollow fiEasternrst on afolk mission- platitudinousMontague of Cold St., War Brooklyn. dar- leitmotif: 718-875-6960. Keep April 8-10.)It changedigital natives, as aboth result men and of women, mistaken have recast loric influences but alsoing—nothing by an eclectic grand, blend but of sufficiently fraught to feminism as a constant cause, mainly by exposing ballroom and jazz. The ballroomlodge in element the memory—and is prom- Simple, Greekthen, as Independence be Stupid.fits a Pa- —R.G. Parade identity.sexism as a pervasiveWilder’s social plight lampoonic through their art, inent in this season’s premières:risian teen-ager, a ballroom on drama, a spree oYou’llf scholarship, stumble smok-upon a sea of blue-and-white flags, swipesjournalism, at andwartime organizing. rationing The discussion and churns “Take Two,” and “Reflections,”ing, and a contemporary sex. His aff bal-air withRiptideas Esther well as (Lou time-honored Roy- costumes, music, and online, where countless different perspectives collide let with watery images andLecollinet), mirrorings. a girl(New from York his homefood, attown, this assumescelebration of Greek independence theto shape Red a new Menace pluralist vision—a remain necessary as dev plasticity- Live Arts, 219 W. 19th St. an212-924-0077. intensity that April still 6-9.) pains himSamand decades culture. Raimi’s later, Pre-parade and soggy events shocker include isa flaag- astatinglythat’s only broadened hilarious the movement’s as when reach. they A. An- Desplechin honors that romanticraising zeal ceremony in the odd, at Bowling Green Park and a gélique Roché moderates “Not Your Mother’s Femi- “Skin Me” misshapen structure of his movie—lingeringself-styledtraditional- dance self-reflexive over exhibition. (64th St. satire at Fifth Ave.,of werenism: Sisterhoodoriginally in the penned. Digital Age,” Indeed,which aims to The Hungarian dancers someand choreographers episodes and breezing Vik- Thethrough through Shining79th others St. April ’sin asymbology, 10 at 1:45.) swap- Sevenhumorously By examineSeven the’s risetightly of advocacy wound for wom- tória Dányi, Csaba Molnár,spirit andof play. Zsó Thefia Tamara frequent iris1 shots nod to Truf- en’s rights among young people across the country. Vades last appeared in Newfaut’s York “Shoot in 2012, the in Piano “City,” Player” ping (1960): out onea secluded zest- seraglio for a mousetrapPanelists for this of discussion a story include makes the writers it Mal-a a light and amusing satireful o fchronicler conformity o fin youth, which you mightAUCTIONS say, winking AND ANTIQUES lory Ortberg and Heben Nigatu; the executive direc- even the naked scenes wereat another.cute. They In return French. with—A.L. spooky (3/28/16) ship. (In lim- While copious con- hundredtor of partnerships times atmore Feministing, gut-busting Lori Adelman; “Skin Me,” a ménage à troisited set release.) to garage-rock gui- temporaryThe Caramoor chillersCenter for haveMusic andcleaved the Arts, thanand the the nerd-culture so-called authority “comedies” Susana Polo. of (128 tar and drums, played live. It’s looser and wilder, the verdant estate turned summer-music venue in Pierrepont St., Brooklyn. 718-222-4111. April 5 at 6:30.) trading on appealing rapportShowman and casual irony to scrupulouslyKatonah, is culling to its the collection Kubrik of antiques, rubric cur- the current season. Simultane- aim at easy targets like maleBefore chauvinism. making “Salesman,” (Abrons (Shutter rentlytheir famousdisplayed Island, docu- on the The grounds, Witch for )an rarelyauction at ously,Strand its Bookstore tender and unforgettable Arts Center, 466 Grand St.mentary 212-352-3101. about April door-to-door 8-9.) Sotheby’s Bible peddlers, on April the 12; among the offerings are Ve- The art and culture critic Eunice Lipton has ex- Maysles brothers, Albert andhavenetian David, itsrococo directed riches chairs, this been sixteenth-century ripped tapestries,off as lovehumed story her tangled make backstory the film across afour thou histor-- “Works & Process” / American1963 portrait Ballet of theTheatre wheeler-dealertidilyand carpets fiaslm in distribu-galore. Riptide (York Ave.. Yet at 72ndthe St.trade 212-606-- sandical memoirs. times Themore latest, gut-wrenching “A Distant Heartbeat: The company, whose springtor andseason producer begins Joseph May 9 E. Levine,7000.) • which Fashion, covers architecture (interior and exte- A War, a Disappearance, and a Family’s Secrets,” at the Met, highlights newsimilar and recent ground works. but fromThese the mark toprior), down. nature, tension After and years the femaleof the form Torranceare some of the thantraces thethe political loosely awakening defined of her uncle “dra Dave,- include a duet from Marceloas a Gomes’shustling recentfilm booker opus, intribe subjectshis native never treated New tips inEn- Christie’s into Aprila torrent 6 sale of photo-for mas”who flofed fromtoday. their Though native Bronx hampered in the nine- “AfterEffect,” danced by Mistygland, Copeland Levine made and Cory a name graphs,with “Godzilla” which includes and an especially large number teen-thirties to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Stearns, along with works aby fortune Gemma with Bond, “Hercules,” a dancer Raimi’s andof prints is captured by ragtag Hiroshi here Sugimoto. troop of (One tourists, of these is a slightlyin the Spanish by its Civil 45 War. missing Through minutes, interviews and in the corps who recentlyat presented work masterminding an evening of the whose portraitAmerican oterrorf releasePrincess insteadof Diana; in trickles it, she turns into shyly theresearch, remaining without much scenes help from constitute relatives, from her own choreography at“Two Danspace Women,” Project, a film and by Vittorioaway from De Sicathe photographer, star- peering from under whom she heard little of her uncle as a child, Lip- Ethan Stiefel, the formerring A.B.T. Sophia star Loren,who has with cre- a similaraher torpor, famous blend and blondof savvy there’s bangs, hands no tuckediniquitous demurely anton unforgettable uncovered a seventy- experiencefive-year history from to re- ated a new piece for A.B.T.’sand Studiohucksterism—as Company. well It’s asNicholson behindwith an herarmy back.) ofor reps Ondemure April 12, Duvall the house onturns a constructcinematic his lost titan legacy. worth Tim Teeman, revisiting a senior ed- also a great chance to see someequipped truly withexcellent a modern danc- industrialits attention panoply to antiquities, of mostly from south- itor at the Daily Beast, joins her in a discussion ers up close. (Guggenheim factsMuseum, and Fifth figures. Ave. Lorenat 89th is deckoftenern Europe around to stir and(one thethe of Mediterranean, waters—instead, including againsponsored and by again. the Abraham —D.D. Lincoln Brigade Ar-

St. 212-423-3575. April 9-10.)her junkets opens the film),Roman and her statues magical of al-Bacchus, marble Venuses (with chives. (828 Broadway. 212-473-1452. April 11 at 7.) AMARGO PABLO BY ILLUSTRATION

14 16 THETHE NEU NEW JORKER, YORKER, JUNE APRIL 20, 11, 20162016 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 11 DANCEDANCE ABOVEABOVE && BEYONDBEYOND Ballet Hispanico ForBallet forty- Hispanicofive years, the New York-based company hasFor o ffforty-ered fiave window years, theinto New the increasinglyYork-based company varied arenahas offf contemporaryered a window Latin-American into the increasingly and Spanish varied dance.arena Ooff contemporarythe three works Latin-American in its Joyce program, and Spanish the mostdance. traditional, Of the three though works not thein its oldest, Joyce is program, “Club Ha- the vana,”most atraditional, feel-good suitethough by not Pedro the Ruizoldest, set is to “Club a med- Ha- leyvana,” of Cuban a feel-good music suite(congas, by Pedro rumbas, Ruiz mambos)—a set to a med- throwbackley of Cuban to the music glitzy (congas, nineteen- rumbas,fifties Havana mambos)—a club scene.throwback “Bury to Me the Standing,” glitzy nineteen- by thefi Catalonia-bornfties Havana club Ramónscene. Oller,“Bury is Me more Standing,” ambitious: by thean explorationCatalonia-born of GypsyRamón culture Oller, setis more to traditional ambitious: folk an explorationsongs from o f Antiquarian Book Fair and without arms), and Greek amphorae deco- southernGypsy cultureSpain and set Easternto traditional Europe. folk In songs“Flabber- from TheAntiquarian Park Avenue Book Armory Fair will house more than two ratedand withwithout goddesses arms), and athletes.Greek amphorae (20 Rockefel- deco- gast,”southern Gustavo Spain Ramírez and Eastern Sansano Europe. evokes In the “Flabber- desta- hundredThe Park American Avenue andArmory international will house dealers more thanfor the two lerrated Plaza, with at 49thgoddesses St. 212-636-2000.) and athletes. (20• Swann, Rockefel- a bilizinggast,” Gustavoexperience Ramírez of arriving Sansano in a evokes new land. the desta-(175 fifty-sixthhundred annualAmerican New and York international Antiquarian dealers Book forFair, the leaderler Plaza, in the at area 49th o fSt. African-American 212-636-2000.) art,• Swann, offers a Eighthbilizing Ave., experience at 19th St. of 212-242-0800.arriving in a new April land. 5-10.) (175 a four-dayfifty-sixth meet-up annual New for lovers York Antiquarian of rare books, Book maps, Fair, a wide-rangingleader in the areasale o(Aprilf African-American 7) led by a monumental art, offers Eighth Ave., at 19th St. 212-242-0800. April 5-10.) manuscripts,a four-day meet-up and ephemera. for lovers The of rarevarious books, exhibi- maps, quilta wide-ranging by the Harlem-born sale (April artist 7) led Faith by a monumental Ringgold, Dance TheatreDANCE of Harlem torsmanuscripts, feature a vast and collection ephemera.ABOVE of Thenotable various titles, exhibi- cov- &partquilt BEYONDof byher the “Woman Harlem-born on a Bridge” artist series, Faith fromRinggold, the SinceDance its resurrection,Theatre of Harlemin 2012, this beloved ballet eringtors subjectsfeature asuch vast as collection art, medicine, of notable literature, titles, and cov- nineteen-eighties.part of her “Woman One on o fa theseBridge” pieces—grand series, from inthe troupeSince hasits resurrection,beenDANCE in wobbly in shape,2012, this both beloved technically ballet photography,Aering Celebration subjects spread such of acrossas aart,ABOVE True themedicine, fi fty-fi ve-thousand- literature, and &scale,nineteen-eighties. BEYOND narrative in scope—is One of these in the pieces—grand collection o fin andtroupeBallet aesthetically, has Hispanico been butin wobbly its spirit shape, always both earns technically an en- square-footphotography, hall. spread Veteran across collectors the fifty- awaitfi ve-thousand- this fair theheirloomscale, Guggenheim; narrative matryoshka in another, scope—is doll from I inwanted the the collection collection to give o f For forty-five years, the New York-based company Harlem Renaissance thusiasticandBallet aesthetically, Hispanicoresponse. but This its season,spirit always the company earns an isen - assquare-foot one of the city’s hall. best—itVeteran attractscollectors the await most thisprized fair oaf the daughterMaya Guggenheim; Angelou, someday. sold another, Sureat the tofromhouse be thea for panopti collectiona record- doublingthusiastichas off downered response. a onwindow prima-facie This into season, the causes increasingly the forcompany admi- varied is hardcoversas one of the of manycity’s best—itEuropean attracts dealers, the the most former prized priceof Maya last year. Angelou, In this sold colorful at the tapestry, house for “Double a record Forarena forty- of contemporaryfive years, the Latin-American New York-based and company Spanish City-dwellers more prone to shopping in con of shattered dreams, this auction will rationdoublinghas byoff eredcommissioning down a window on prima-facie into female the choreographers.increasinglycauses for admi- varied Grolierhardcovers Club opresidentf many European Eugene Flamm dealers, hints, the former “be- Dutchprice onlast the year. Golden In this Gate colorful Bridge,” tapestry, a group “Double of Therationdance. choices by O commissioning faren’t the three obvious works ones.female in its Elena Joycechoreographers. Kunikovaprogram, the causeSoHoGrolier it’s twiceoughtClub aspresident tofar venturefor them Eugene toup go Flammto out Harlem to hints, Califor- “beto - youngdelightDutch girls oneven jumpthe the Golden rope most high Gate reserved above Bridge,” the emotional San a group Fran- of arenamost otraditional,f contemporary though Latin-American not the oldest, andis “Club Spanish Ha- is TheRussian-dance. choices O trainedf the aren’t three and obvious works well respected, inones. its Joyce Elena but program, Kunikova not for the nia.”whetcause (Park it’stheir Ave.twice appetites. at as 66th far St.for 212-616-3930. themNow to standing go out April to Califor- 7-10.)atop ciscosadist.young skyline, (Stillgirls asjumpTechnically if freed rope from high My allabove House,constraints. the GreenSan (104Fran-- choreography:is vana,”Russian- a feel-good trained she’s aand suiteteacher well by andPedrorespected, stager Ruiz (often butset tonot afor med-for nia.” (Park Ave. at 66th St. 212-616-3930. 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Americana-inspired April (One 6 sale of o thesef photo- is a V whoforin theVendetta fl edSpanish from. The Civil their War. eventnative Through is Bronx sponsored interviews in the nine-by and “AfterEin the corpsffect,” who danced recently by Misty presented Copeland an evening and Cory of curiositiesgraphs,portrait which o f compiledPrincess includes Diana; anthrough especially in it, decadesshe large turns number ofshyly Alphabetteen-thirtiesresearch, Inc. without to subsidiary join much the Abraham help Google; from Lincoln relatives, RSVPs Brigade from Stearns, along with works by Gemma Bond, a dancer of prints by Hiroshi Sugimoto. (One of these is a in the Spanish Civil War. Through interviews and her own choreography at Danspace Project, and turbulentaway from marriage the photographer, by this correspondent,peering from under to whomthe event she heard are not little necessary of her uncle as as Google a child, Lip- inEthan the corps Stiefel, who the recently former presentedA.B.T. star an who evening has cre- of portraither famous of Princess blond bangs, Diana; hands in it, tucked she turns demurely shyly research,ton uncovered without a seventy-much helpfive-year from relatives, history tofrom re- herated own a new choreography piece for A.B.T.’s at Danspace Studio Company.Project, and It’s herawaybehind ex-husband. from her the back.) photographer, Among On April many peering12, thecollectibles housefrom under turns haswhomconstruct predicted she hisheard lostprecisely little legacy. of her Timwho uncle Teeman, will as aattend. achild, senior Lip- ed- Ethanalso a greatStiefel, chance the former to see some A.B.T. truly star excellent who has danc- cre- thatherits attentionfamouswould blondbe to considered antiquities, bangs, hands mymostly tucked property from demurely south- in Notetonitor uncovered toat theparents: Daily a seventy- bewareBeast, joinsfi ofve-year bringingher in history a discussion the to re- ateders up a newclose. piece (Guggenheim for A.B.T.’s Museum, Studio Fifth Company. Ave. at 89thIt’s behindern Europe her back.) and the On Mediterranean, April 12, the house including turns constructsponsored his by lost the legacy. Abraham Tim Teeman,Lincoln Brigadea senior ed-Ar- also a great chance to see some truly excellent danc- a itsjust attention and benevolent to antiquities, world mostly are: froma hand- south- youngsters,itor at the Dailyas this Beast, year’s joins theme her in ais discussion The

St. 212-423-3575. April 9-10.) Roman statues of Bacchus, marble Venuses (with chives. (828 Broadway. 212-473-1452. April 11 at 7.) AMARGO PABLO BY ILLUSTRATION ers up close. (Guggenheim Museum, Fifth Ave. at 89th craftedern Europe birdbath, and the vintage Mediterranean, photography including of Gashlycrumbsponsored by Tinies the Abraham. (New YorkLincoln Aquarium, Brigade Ar-

St. 212-423-3575. April 9-10.) Roman statues of Bacchus, marble Venuses (with chives. (828 Broadway. 212-473-1452. April 11 at 7.) AMARGO PABLO BY ILLUSTRATION 16 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 our happiest memories together, and an 602 Surf Ave., Brooklyn)

16 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 15 FßDFßD && DRINKDRINK FßDFßD & & DRINK DRINK

111 TABLESTABLESTABLES FOR FOR FOR TWO TWO TWO onlyTheThe the menu aforementioned,menu includes includes mostly mostly the tortellini, appetizers appetizers a The menu includes mostly appetizers 1BARBAR TAB TAB TABLES FOR TWO andformerandThe pastas pastas triumph,menu (noodles (noodles includes now bya by mostlydetested another another appetizers replace name) name)- BAR TAB MomofukuMomofukuMonstro’sMomofuku Nishi Nishi Nishi andment pastas for a(noodles mightier by linguini, another a name)prettier BAR TAB andand onlypastas only two two (noodles rotating rotating by entrées. entrées.another Hybrid- Hybrid- name) 232Momofuku232 Eighth Eighth Ave. Ave. ( 646( 646Nishi-518-518-1919-1919 )) andspaghetti, only two a more rotating significant entrées. rigatoni, Hybrid- all 232245 Eighth E. 19th Ave. St. (212-736-3100)(646-518-1919) izedandized onlydishes dishes two are are rotating annotated annotated entrées. with with footnotes Hybrid-footnotes 232 Eighth Ave. (646-518-1919) izeda proper dishes choice are annotated for a diner with such footnotes as any - DavidDavidDavid Chang Chang Chang will will will not not not be be be pinned pinned pinned thatthatizedthat explain explaindishes explain their are their their annotated parentage: parentage: parentage: with chicken chicken chicken footnotes and and and ON A COLD November night, I found one, though tonight this diner faced chal- down.down.Daviddown. 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Houston a a dankSt. dank (212-254-2246)(212-260-3000) set set o fo fstairs stairs directly directly below below founded—toPeach give an interview along with huntthough for sourcesthat emotion of umami, was an then extension swiftly Descending a dank set of stairs directly below and I, myself, in a bistro, a noshing nook, thethethe inconspicuous inconspicuous inconspicuous sign—a sign—a sign—a downward downward downward arrow arrow arrow thethefounded—tothe executive executive executive chef, give chef, chef, anJoshua Joshua Joshuainterview Pinsky, Pinsky, Pinsky, along about about aboutwith ofofhuntswayed ofhis his his experiments forexperiments experimentsby sources the onslaught ofwith with umami,with misos misosof misos gluten an and and extensionand saucesdiscs, sauces sauces a Descending a dank set of stairs directly below a restaurant, Monstro’s, where the knife- tintedOnetintedthetinted inconspicuoussprightlystep sprightly sprightly through green green green the andsign—a and gateand white—patrons white—patrons white—patronsto downward the Garden o f arrowo this f o andthisf this whatthewhat executive Momofuku Momofuku chef, Joshua Nishi Nishi Pinsky, would would about and and atofat his his experimentsfood food laboratory. laboratory. with Amisos A starter starter and of saucesof tofu tofu VillageVillage watering watering hole hole might might be be momentarily momentarily whatslayed, Momofuku wood-fire Nishiroasted wouldlamb andchops atpainful his food challenge laboratory. which, A whilestarter undesired, of tofu Villageyou’retinted sprightlytransportedwatering green hole to themightand would-bewhite—patrons be momentarily backyard of this of wouldn’twhatwouldn’t Momofuku be. be. Chang Chang Nishiinsisted insisted would it it was was Pin- andPin- withatwith his smoked smokedfood laboratory. trout trout roe roe andA and starter rye rye Bonji—a Bonji—a of tofu yoursurprisedsurprised most togreen-thumbed to fi findnd a aneighborhood neighborhood cohort ifnook nookeffort that, that, came in in wouldn’tproved abe. worthy Chang foe insisted to my unsettledit was Pin- ap- withput smokedthe meal trout in perspective,roe and rye Bonji—areminding surprisedVillage wateringto find a neighborhoodhole might be nook momentarily that, in sky’swouldn’tsky’s restaurant, restaurant, be. Chang while while insisted admitting, admitting, it was “I “I worry Pin-worry liquidwithmeliquid that smoked seasoning seasoning with troutgood similar similar roemust and to cometo soyrye soy sauce—isbad,Bonji—a sauce—is with keepingoverkeepingsurprisedkeeping them with with withtofor its fi longitsnd itsname, name,a name, enough,neighborhood is is unequivocally is unequivocally aunequivocally flush nookparadise on that, on onthe thewith inthe sky’spetite, restaurant, itself a controlling,while admitting, yet benevolent, “I worry liquid seasoning similar to soy sauce—is upup and and up. up. The The fl floraloral wallpaper wallpaper and and framed framed ads ads aboutsky’sabout restaurant, my my stupid stupid while ego ego getting admitting,getting in in there there“I worry and and likeliquidcarslike amust a seasoningsavory, savory, come salty salty similaraccidental panna panna to soy death,cotta. cotta. sauce—is Thewith The upplumpkeeping and up. plants with The readyitsfloral name, forwallpaper picking, is unequivocally and and framed eating. on adsAnd the aboutpresence, my stupid always ego up getting to the inchallenges there and of like a savory, salty panna cotta. The fromeatfromfrom themmid-century mid-century mid-century I did. And glossies glossies spitglossies them may may may out suggest suggest suggestI did. your These your your Christmas must come pine smell, with up and up. The floral wallpaper and framed ads fuckingfuckingaboutbeingfucking myfed,it it up.”it stupidup.” asup.” Overit Over Overwas ego the the that gettingthe next next nextnight, thousand inthousand thousand thereset upon andor or or earthyearthylikeearthy a walnut savory,walnut walnut bagna saltybagna bagna pannacauda cauda cauda arrivescotta. arrives arrives Theal- al- al- grand-aunt’splantsgrand-aunt’sfromgrand-aunt’s mid-centuryare not living living livingthe room—or plantsroom—orglossies room—or I buyasmay as oneas onein suggestone newcomerthe newcomer newcomer grocery your putput it, it, “a “a dive dive that that got got a ashave shave and and put put on on a aclean clean sofuckingso words, words, it up.”he he sounded Oversounded the o nextoffff about about thousand the the un- un- or readyearthyplanesready smothering must walnutsmothering come bagna improper crisp crisp cauda stalks stalks destinations, arrives of of Ro- Ro-al- putstore.grand-aunt’s it, “a A dive second that living step got room—orand a shave you’ve and asbumped put one on newcomer intoa clean one sothe words, chops, he thesesounded cooked off aboutwithin the an un-inch ready smothering crisp stalks of Ro- pairpair o fo fslacks”—but slacks”—but the the real real touch touch o fo fpropriety propriety fairlysooffairly success,words, low low price he teeteringprice sounded of of most mostbut o fallingffAsian Asian about justfood, food,the short, “fu-un- “fu- mainereadysuchmaine as smotheringlettuce, Icelandlettuce, to orto create LAX, createcrisp a thestalks anutty nutty former ofCaesar Caesar Ro- too pairofput the o it,f slacks”—butlow, “a dive inviting that tables,got the a real shave intimately touch and oput fstrewn propriety on a about clean fairly low price of most Asian food, “fu- mainesmall, lettuce,the latter to createa one-star, a nutty dirt Caesar airport, arrivesarrivespairarrives o inf slacks”—butin thein the the form form form o fo anfothe anf admonitionan realadmonition admonition touch oprinted fprinted proprietyprinted on on on sion”fairlythoughsion” cuisine, lowcuisine, happy price and andto of whathave mostwhat hungit Asianit means means on food, theto to make edge make“fu- saladmainesalad sprinkled lettuce,sprinkled to with createwith more amore nutty walnuts, walnuts, Caesar thethe menucozy menu forestto to male male tavern. patrons patrons Every “not “not ingredientto to introduce introduce used them- them- at sion” cuisine, and what it means to make saladboth sprinkledunlike Paris, with oh moreParis, thewalnuts, city of theGardenarrives menu intoPhil’s themale formis patrons grown of an in-house,“not admonition to introduce ensuring printed them- fresh, on Italiansion”forItalian a cuisine, foodmoment food with withand atnon-Italian what non-Italian least, it meanstheir ingredients; ingredients; tocohorts, make shaved.saladshaved. sprinkled The The coup coup withde de grâce grâce more is is ceci ceciwalnuts, e epepe, pepe, selvesselvestheselves menu to to ladies.”to toladies.” ladies.” male That patronsThat That could could could“not prove toprove prove introduce di diffi difficultfficult them-cult in in in Italian food with non-Italian ingredients; shaved.nights, The a haven coup forde grâcelove and is ceci reason e pepe, and in-seasonthisthis neck neck o cocktailsfo thef the woods: woods: in N.Y.U.a N.Y.U. warm, territory, territory, humid, teeming teemingplant- PinskyItalianbevel-chopped,Pinsky foodspoke spoke with twice. twice.pan-seared non-Italian Yukon ingredients; Gold ashaved. atwist twist Theon on the thecoup simple simple de grâce classic, classic, is ceci in in ewhich whichpepe, thisfriendlyselves neck to oatmosphere.f ladies.”the woods: That When N.Y.U. could asked territory, prove about di teeming ffitheircult of in - Pinsky spoke twice. a carefultwist on examination the simple of classic, oneself in andwhich any withwithwith keen, keen, keen, inquisitive inquisitive inquisitive co-eds. co-eds. co-eds. But, But, But, as as aas apretty apretty pretty fingerlings, made to watch as the chosen ferings,this neck namesake of the woods: Phil Waters N.Y.U. mutters,territory, “the teeming mint PinskyEverythingEverythingEverything spoke twice.about about about Nishi Nishi Nishi ( Japanese( ( Japanese Japanese agedagedacompatriotsaged twist cheeses cheeses cheeses on the closehave have havesimple enoughbeen been been classic, replaced replacedto replaced justify in whichwith carewith with - waitresswaitresswithwaitress keen, with with with inquisitive a anose anose nose stud stud stud co-eds. and and and a aline But, aline line from asfrom from a “Thepretty “The “The protein gave way to my advances, the po- has really taken over…it’s hard to tame.” Mojitos, forfor Everything“west,” “west,” because because about it’s it’s Nishiin in Chelsea) Chelsea) ( Japanese is is in in chickpeaagedfulchickpea examination cheeses Hozon—a Hozon—a have in addition been miso-style miso-style replaced to yours, paste withthenpaste LittleLittlewaitressLittle Prince” Prince” Prince” with tattooed atattooed nosetattooed stud onto onto onto and her her aher bicep line bicep bicep from sensibly sensibly sensibly “The fortatoes “west,” then because finished it’s in in kind, Chelsea) survived is in by chickpea Hozon—a miso-style paste Mojitos,explained,explained, Mint “Sometimes “Sometimes Juleps! I ordera agirl girl justa justScotch wants wants & to toMint, have have lockstepforlockstep “west,” with with because the the rest rest it’s of ofin the theChelsea) Momofuku Momofuku is in madechickpeadinnermade from fromwith Hozon—a fermented thosefermented who miso-style legumes. legumes.are worthwhile, paste explained,Little Prince” “Sometimes tattooed a girlonto just her wants bicep to sensibly have locksteptheir over-wrought with the rest ofcousin, the Momofuku tortellini, a made from fermented legumes. herswatherher drink drink adrink nearby instead instead instead bee, o fo somefoand somef some reclusesloppy sloppy sloppy nerdmyself nerd nerd being beingto being a like, table like, like, or those who are not generally, but could explained, “Sometimes a girl just wants to have group:group:lockstephuskygroup: the youththe the withdining dining dining with the room roomresta room simple ofis is loud,theis loud, mind,loud, Momofuku crowded, crowded, crowded,lacking madePricesPricesPrices from are are are fermentedsteep, steep, steep, but but but therelegumes. there there is is nois no no tip- tip- tip- ‘WHAT’Sin‘WHAT’Sher‘WHAT’S the drink back. UP?’—youinstead UP?’—you WithUP?’—you o myf some know?” viewknow?” know?” sloppy mostly On On On anerd recentaobstructed arecent recent being Tues- Tues- Tues-like, by andgroup:and hard hard the to diningto walk walk intoroom into past pastis loud, six six o’clock crowded,o’clock in in ping;beping; for the thethe stanight, staffff is asis paid manypaid a a areliving living capable wage. wage. of day,forcefulday,‘WHAT’Sday, a apair apair foliage,pair o UP?’—you fo fofriends f friendsI friendscouldn’t mulledknow?” mulled mulledhelp butOnover over over atrack recentthe the the aPeat’s young,Peat’s Tues-Peat’s andthe hard delicacy to walk of its into older past sibling, six o’clock the well- in ping;Prices the sta areff steep, is paid but a there living is wage.no tip- DragonDragon (black-pepper (black-pepper tincture, tincture, Scotch, Scotch, ver ver- - theanddressedthe evening. hardevening. and to walkattentiveChang Chang into claims claimsTurkish past thatsix that salad, o’clock it’s it’s what whowhat in Thisping;oneThis night’s is theis mature mature sta joyousff Chang,is Chang, paidcompany, buta but living also alsowhile classicwage. classic few DragonEuroday, atwenty-or-something pair(black-pepper of friends tincture,mulled sitting over Scotch, in onethe Peat’sofver the- the evening. Chang claims that it’s what This is mature Chang, but also classic mouth)raisedmouth)Dragonmouth) beds.and and (black-pepperand the Thoroughly,the the God’s God’s God’s Daisy Daisy Daisy tincture,and Chain Chainapparently, Chain (gin, Scotch,(gin, (gin, Aperol, enjoyingAperol, Aperol, ver - may have seen or heard ideas foreign to are capable of significant learning, as in hishisthehis fi firstevening. firstrst restaurant, restaurant, restaurant, Chang Noodle Noodleclaims Noodle thatBar, Bar, Bar, it’swould would wouldwhat Chang:Chang:ThisChang: is he maturehe he doesn’t doesn’t doesn’t Chang, much much much butcare care care also what what what classic we we we sparklingthesparklingmouth)sparkling cocktails, and wine). wine). wine).the he leansGod’s “Are “Are “Are back Daisyyou you you with vibing Chainvibing vibing satisfaction, something(gin, something something Aperol, rest - the study of catalogues of ancient texts or smokysmoky or or citrusy?” citrusy?” the the barkeep barkeep asked, asked, while while behisthebe if fiifyounger herst he had restaurant,had openedstarch, opened and itNoodle it at atwho age age hadthirty-eightBar, thirty-eight escaped would thinkthink as as long long as as the the food food is is tasty. tasty. But But smokyingsparkling for or a citrusy?”moment. wine). “Are Andthe barkeep youas I vibingwatch asked, himsomething whilerelax, a be if he had opened it at age thirty-eight thinkChang:of mathematics as longhe doesn’t as orthe of much food the anatomy iscare tasty. what ofBut thewe servingserving shots shots o fo fernetf fernet to to a aman man in in a aduckbill duckbill cap cap ratherbemyrather if gaze he than hadthan up twenty-six.opened totwenty-six. this itpoint, at Thisage This its thirty-eight is protectiveis also also an- an- hethinkhe would would as long do do well aswell the to to letfood let Pinsky, Pinsky, is tasty. whose whose But servingvigoroussmoky shots or up-growth citrusy?” of fernet begins theto a barkeepman around in a duckbill asked,him. Once while cap a rather than twenty-six. This is also an- heearth’s would species, do well each to similar let Pinsky, in their whose coex - andandservingand his his histeal-haired teal-hairedshots teal-haired of fernet date. date. date. to The Thea Theman friends friends friends in a duckbillsettled settled settled on cap on on otherratherbarrierother way thanwayof of cow-child oftwenty-six. saying saying that thatnow This it’s it’s removed, twelve twelveis also years yearsan-re- motherhemother would inspired inspired do well Nishi’s Nishi’sto let mostPinsky, most exquisite exquisite whose seat,thethe One-Star One-Starsoon a dense Yelp Yelp Review cropReview of (Montenegro, (Montenegro,mint, then a cachaça,wall cachaça, of othervealing way a of stockpile saying that of greens it’s twelve and yearsstaled motheristence inspiredon this planet, Nishi’s yet most vastly exquisite different thetheand One-Star stalkyhis teal-haired weed, Yelp Reviewthe date. youthful (Montenegro, The friendsimbiber settled cachaça,absorbed on tooothertoo late late way to to ofcomplain complain saying that about about it’s thetwelve the empire’s empire’s years dessert,motherindessert, their needsainspired apistachio pistachio for survival,Nishi’s Bundt Bundt most forcake, cake, success, exquisite do do more more for grapefruitgrapefruitthegrapefruit One-Star juice), juice), juice), Yelp but Reviewbut but they they they (Montenegro, couldn’t couldn’t couldn’t come come come cachaça, to to ato a a toobread, late cheesesto complain and root about veggies, the empire’sall staring dessert, a pistachio Bundt cake, do more completely,consensusconsensus withon on their theira grace own own known review. review. only “Deliciously “Deliciouslyby a thicket nowtoonow late ubiquitous ubiquitous to complain blond-wood blond-wood about the backlessempire’s backless ofdessert,beingof the the cooked talking. talking.a pistachio and (Dishes (Dishes consumed. Bundt $ $15 15cake,-$-$3636 do.).) more consensussuchgrapefruit as this. on juice),I raisedtheir but ownmy drinkthey review. couldn’tto the “Deliciously departed, come toas Ia nowup toubiquitous say “eat, captain” blond-wood and so backless I did, set of the talking. (Dishes $15-$36.) vegetal?”vegetal?”vegetal?” one one one mused. mused. mused. The The The other: other: other: “Ground-up “Ground-up “Ground-up foundconsensus myself on tipping their backown intoreview. the greenery.“Deliciously End PHOTOGRAPH BY MEREDITH JENKS FOR THE NEW YORKER; ILLUSTRATION BY JOOST SWARTE SWARTE JOOST BY ILLUSTRATION YORKER; NEW THE FOR JENKS MEREDITH BY PHOTOGRAPH SWARTE JOOST BY ILLUSTRATION YORKER; NEW THE FOR JENKS MEREDITH BY PHOTOGRAPH benchesnowbenches ubiquitous and and bar bar stools.blond-wood stools. backless of the talking.Monstro’s —Silvia—Silvia is open Killingsworth atKillingsworth night. asparagus.”asparagus.”—Jiayang—Jiayang Fan Fan PHOTOGRAPH BY MEREDITH JENKS FOR THE NEW YORKER; ILLUSTRATION BY JOOST SWARTE SWARTE JOOST BY ILLUSTRATION YORKER; NEW THE FOR JENKS MEREDITH BY PHOTOGRAPH benchesupon satisfaction and bar stools. as I was, finishing the —Silvia(Dishes $ Killingsworth15-$36.) asparagus.”vegetal?” —Jiayangone mused. Fan The other: “Ground-up —Matt Nelsen of the night. Part of the Garden. —Matt Nelsen PHOTOGRAPH BY MEREDITH JENKS FOR THE NEW YORKER; ILLUSTRATION BY JOOST SWARTE SWARTE JOOST BY ILLUSTRATION YORKER; NEW THE FOR JENKS MEREDITH BY PHOTOGRAPH PHOTOGRAPH BY MATT NELSEN FOR THE NEU JORKER, ILLUSTRATION BY MOLLIE LIEF MOLLIE BY JORKER, ILLUSTRATION THE NEU NELSEN FOR MATT BY PHOTOGRAPH benchesappointed and side bar with stools. ease, leaving me then —Silvia Killingsworth asparagus.”—Jiayang Fan THETHETHE NEW NEW NEW YORKER, YORKER, YORKER, APRIL APRIL APRIL 11, 11,2016 11, 2016 2016 171717

16 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 17

U J

THE TALK OF THE TOWN

COMMENT GLOBALGORE EASTER TRUMP

n 1967OR DECADES, British Prime NOW Minister, swelling Harold rents Wilsonand an gaveeye-punc- up on problem,twenties tohopefuls me, in willthe world.”narrowly (Then miss again,the runway he told at MSNBC John F. I the turing remnants cost-of-living of Pax Britannica. have done His nothing Labour to Governmentstem the tide thatKennedy he wouldn’t international, take nuclear but eventually—Caster weapons “off the table”predicts for Ar use- pulledofF young British people forces arriving from Malaysia, in New York.Singapore, It seems Yemen, every Dubai, col- anywhere,bor Day of even2021—the in Europe. crowd Trumpism will spill into is athe posture, ocean somenot a- Qatar,lege student Bahrain, with Abu an Dhabi, ounce andof self-determination other Persian Gulf and emirates. access coherentwhere near platform.) Baldwin He Harbor. also said that nato is “obsolete.” Denisto kayak.com Healey, willthe Defensesoon appear Secretary, at LaGuardia explained, or “I JFK don’t with very a TrumpDeaths hasn’t will be indicated inevitable. that “These he would young definitely people pulldon’t out have of muchduffel like bag the of ideadreams of beingand the a sort taste of ofwhite big appleslaver onfor their the Arabswol- treatythe body commitments fat to stay afloat to Europe for even and aAsia. day, letHe alone seems the to two think or sheikhs.”len lips. Indeed, He did recent not wish polls for of theseniors indebted at colleges nation in and North its thatthree his years threats it takes and to his establish pleas of a povertycareer and will earn soften enough up allies for armedAmerica forces and “toEürope become paint mercenaries just such a for picture: people 91 who percent would of soa one that, bedroom once in inthe Cobble White Hill,”House, explains he can Dr. close Karrah some Webber, of those likestudents to have so polleda few Britishdeclared troops their intentaround.” to moveThat truculentto New York re- greata nutritionist deals he andoften swim talks coach about. who For has“many, consulted many years,”with city he treatwithin handed hours orresponsibility minutes of graduation.for security in the Gulf and the toldplanners the Times, since the2011. U.S. “Imagine has been a thehouse “big party stupid in bullya shitty and one we StraitMany of Malacca current toNew the Yorkers United areStates. worried Half thesea century newly later, ar- werebedroom systematically two hundred ripped yards off offshore. by everybody,” People providingwill drown! mili All- Americanrived, desperate warships twenty-two-year-olds still call at Dubai, willBahrain, make and an Singaalready- tarythe drugssecurity will without get wet!” adequate compensation. But it’s hard to pore.crowded U.S. job fighter market jets no fly diffrom- a massive base in Qatar. The support a case that the U.S. is spendingSoon, too according much to todefend Dr. inheritanceferent than ahas crack brought across expensethe and diplomatic complica- the global order that it built afterWebber, the Second “the World beaches War. willThe tions.cheekbone Yet, over with the half decades, a cin Republican- and Democratic Pres- U.S., Canada, the European Union,be choked Japan, withSouth corpses. Korea, Not and identialderblock. candidates But at City have Hall, rarely a questioned the value of our Australia—the rich inner circle ofliterally what usedthough to sincebe called beach the- global-defensedisturbing trend commitments, among new whether in the Middle East or Free World—today constitute almostes can’t sixtybreathe—that’s per cent of imthe- inarrivals the form is giving of nuclear city planand -defense guarantees to our Euro- world’s economy. According to thepossible.” World Bank, in 2014 the peanners aand far Asiangreater allies. concern. U.S. spent about three and a half perImpossible cent of its isG.D.P. right. onDoz the- ForIn the much 1960s of youngDonald adults Trump’s astonishing rise toward the military. That’s down from more ensthan of five solutions per cent to duringthe prob the- Republicanpreferred to Presidential set up shop nomination, in his main contributions late Cold War. As an investmentlem in haveshared been prosperity put forward, (or, if tothe the West foreign-policy Village. But debateas that have been you prefer, globalbut fewhegemony), seem likely the runningto help. toarea debase became it, bymore insulting crowded, Mexico’s hun- cost of AmericanA Bushwick military zoning power planmay tobe dredgentrified and twenty and million (inevitably) citizens and the one of history’srestrict better new bargains. coffee houses, oneexpensive, and a halfthe influxbillion adherentsmoved of the The U.S. tattoodoes spend parlours more and on thedefense like Islamicdirectly eastfaith to worldwide. the relatively Lately, after than its Europeanhad theor Asian opposite partners. of the France de- eighteenuninhabited primary East victories, Village he has offered and Britain spendsired onlyeffect; about it seems two per an cent un- moreand Lower extensive East Side.insights When into how he of G.D.P., Germanylicensed and“illegal” Japan skateboard about one wouldthose filled proceed up, as people Commander-in-Chief. moved per cent. “Freeshop riders has aggravate even more me,” appeal Pres- Buckleyet farther up, heeast might to Williams have warned.- “We’re ident Obamato recently a broke twenty-two-year-told the Atlantic, aburg. country More that and doesn’t more younghave money,” he unhelpfully givingold Oberlin credence grad to Trump’sthan a nor po-- toldpeople the are Times now, duringsigning several their firstlong inleases- in Bushwick, and mal one. Last yearsition. a ten-mile-long, It would be 200-foot-high better if those wall allies on terviews.that’s what “At has some city point, planners we losingcannot sleep. be For as any subway Lefferts Boulevard,spent built a from little more,donated but materialsit’s not obvious by terrified that themap policeman can tell you, of theBushwick world.” is He east threat- of Williamsburg. old people, was reviewedAmerica’s as a forthcoming“cool hang-out global spot challenges— with a su- ened“It’s to withdrawalways east!” troops said from Dr. JapanPaul Caster, and Mayor de Blasio’s per chill vibe” on Gothamistsuch as managing within days China’s of its rise completion, and Rus- Southmost trusted Korea cityif they planner didn’t and pay best more friend. “East at an ever and so many second-handsia’s revanchism—would bicycles were chained be advanced to it in the by forincreasing the protection. rate. It looks He likesuggested some sort that of natural law.” Cast- ensuing week that itmore collapsed. German and Japanese militarism. bother’s data nations analysis might projects be better new arrivalsoff with rapidly overwhelming Most recently DeBecause Blasio’s the team U.S. enlisted military Joey is so Bada$$, much larger the theirBushwick own nuclear and taking weapons, over evenOzone though Park and then South Ja- popular twenty-year-oldand more rap phenom effective from than Bed-Stuy, any other, to andin- maica by May of this year. With any luck the wave of mid- fluence incoming renters using his vast social media presence. YAFFE NATHAN BY ILLUSTRATION ILLUSTRATIONS BY TOM BACHTELL TOM BY ILLUSTRATIONS proliferation, he noted, is the “biggest because militaries are so hierarchical, it is

THETHE NEU NEW JORKER, YORKER, JUNE APRIL 20, 11, 2016 1919 But although Bada$$’s tweets, all 250 of which were variations quests by property owners to divide and redivide units into ever on the phrases “The Bronx smells great again” and “OMG found smaller living spaces, and this work is so profitable and simple a great deal on Ped Eggs in Astoria,” were retweeted thousands that many other jobs are going undone. Ray Griffiths, a hedge of times, they do not appear to have had a significant impact fund manager in Manhattan who suffered a heart attack when anywhere (except at the decades-old non-profit organization he realized his new walk-in humidor had been hastily sanded, is Make The Bronx Smell Better, which now faces bankruptcy). suing his carpenter but ultimately blames the eastward expan- And the whole program became an embarrassment for the sion’s monopoly on skilled handymen. Griffiths, who is squash morecity when efficient it was to defendrevealed the that core Mr. alliances Bada$$, disproportionately, rather than move partnersThe temptation with Deputy is Mayorto follow Tony Harold Shorris Wilson’s and who example. helped Midfund- fromaway Washington.from Brooklyn In to any a moreevent, affordable defense treaties locale, among had willingly dem- dlethe WilliamEast oil mattersAmend lessExhibition to us than at the it Met,once isdid, pressing as Trump hard has to ocraticchanged societies his name are to reallyJoey Bada$. compacts among peoples, through argued.outlaw apartment But an American subdivision withdrawal in the five from boroughs. Persian Gulf bases theirAnne elected Semlick, governments, a fifty-one-year-old to sacrifice andflower even shop die forowner one in couldBut pose Dr. risksCaster for at Israel, city hallamong is aghast others. at Iran the andidea. the “The Islamic cre- anotherEast New if circumstancesYork, learned her require home it. stands Demeaning in the thosepath ofcom the- Stateation ofwould teeny certainly tiny apartments celebrate from the what event. were Those once basesvery small also mitmentsjuggernaut aswhen if they police were officers transactional detained protection four Penn rackets State grads is provideapartments the in U.S. what Navy were with once access sausage to warehousesthe Indian andOcean, chemi and- corrosivefighting andover self-defeating.an abandoned end table in her front yard. Mid- bolstercal plants American is the only air thing superiority we have from going Pakistan for us,” heto Egypt.explained. As arrest,The one security of the of young the European men asked and Semlick East Asian if he democracies could sleep Pericles“If we can’t reportedly cram miserable said of youngan Athenian adults into empire, what “It are may basically have hasunder been her vitalporch to for American $780 a month. prosperity After and some stability hesitation, for Semseven- beenlive-in wrong bathrooms, to take it’s it; just it isa certainlymatter of dangerousmonths before to let the it wavego.” decades,lick agreed. and it may remain so for seven more. The Middle of peopleTrump landing also argues in between that reduced Williamsburg defense and spending the ocean abroad over- EastThree is another months story. later Besides Semlick Israel, is excited Tunisia, about and the an additionincreas- wouldwhelms free every up unit funds of housingfor investment we have atleft.” home. We do need to inglyal income illiberal—the­ Turkey, spot undernone ofthe our porch allies now there goes are for democracies. $1375, no rebuildLeft bridges,is right: as airports, things now railways, stand, andthe western telecommunications. side of the At- Sincepets—but 1967 ,her U.S. contact forces withhave youngintervened people half has a dozenmade theirtimes in in- Butlantic defense ocean will spending soon be isn’tone bigstopping liquid cemeteryus from fordoing the world’sso; the warsevitable in thedrowning region, in and the it Atlanticremains Oceandeeply aviolent problem and close unsta to- problemhopeful youth. is the Caster,Republican ever the anti-tax optimist, extremists does believes in Congress, there is ble.her “Withoutheart. Ms. us, Semlick Saudi Arabiaorganized wouldn’t several exist meetings very long,” at a Trumpnearby whoone strategy refuse tothat either could raise actually revenues succeed or takeat preventing advantage the of trag his-- haschurch observed. to discuss Yet thehis policyissue but prescription was surprised is the to same:learn few The of Sau her- toricallyedy—temporarily low long-term re-classifying interest parts rates. of LongIn all Islandprobability, as part the of disneighbors should payshared more her for concerns. the “tremendous “Most people service” were that mad our their mil- U.S.the State can aofff ordNew its Jersey. global-defense But when commitmentswhispers of that indefinitely, plan were itaryrents provides.were going Saudi up, and Arabia they justalready wanted devotes to know about if there a tenth was of a andfirst an made open public, economy, real renewedestate values by immigration plummeted soand quickly innova in- itsway G.D.P. all the tonew defense, people onecould of drown the highest before theyrates moved in the to world. New tion,the affected should beareas able that to continuehundreds toof growhomeowners and to sharerioted. the Mayor cost TheYork.” kingdom Half a dozen and some meetings of its later, neighbors the group could continues afford toto payig- ofde securingBlasio, in freean electrifyingsocieties. The secret main speech obstacle made to only realizing to his funthis evennore Ms.more, Semlick’s perhaps, proposal but that to wouldn’t pass out alterarm floaties their instability to everyone or goalvideo is diary, not anvowed exhausted never to imperial follow thattreasury. plan. It is the collapse of theunder toxic twenty-five pathologies and in is theirinstead relations focused with on “strangling,” the U.S., which a new the Unlikeonce-internationalist in Finding Nemo Republican, it seems this Party time into the demagogu sharks will- haveform beenof land-drowning. created in part by anti-American sentiment among ery,feast. paralysis, and Trumpism. someDrowning of the region’s is right: populations. local contractors are now deluged with re- —Stephen—Steve Unckles Coll

WORDTHE CHILDREN’S OF THE DAY DEPT. oroff-Broadway simpleton”). production Other recent described selec in- advancetenders—with past a thefifth-grade possible exceptionreading lev of- STUMPEDBOY UNINTERRUPTED tions,reviews following as Tennessee primaries Williams and meets cau- el,”Kasich—tend he said. “Can to use I descriptiveplay with yourlanguage. cell cuses:Carousel “rabble-rouser”, and his letters (“Our to the users editor love of phone?”I think that’s He shiftedpartly why his Trump’sattention speech back agentThe Paris nouns Review like, in this,” which Otto he lambast said),- andis so forthresonant between with histhe supporters: dessert menu he’s “rodomoned Georgetade” Plimpton (“vainglorious for being boasta poor- speaking to them on an emotional plane.” ingdresser or bragging”),and all-around and terrible“skulduggery” hockey One example might be the candidates’ (“dishonorableplayer—but he proceedings”).is perhaps best known recent speeches to AIPAC. Clinton: “If we for Otto,the title who he is has twenty-nine, held since and1965: stud- the look at the broader regional context, con- n an election season in which the iedOnly early Living Christianity Boy in New and York.Latin at New verging interests between Israel and key I wisdom N A RECENT of pundits, afternoon pollsters, that was and York“There University, have saidbeen that other she boysand herover Arab states could make it possible to pro- elected neither officials particularly has proved warm to be nor unreli- par- statheff years,”have been English following said thebetween campaigns bites mote progress.” Trump: “What kind of able,Oticularly anxious cold, voters John Englishhave been slid turning into a closely.of grilled “I cheese,have a notebooka dish that next does to notmy demented minds write that in Hebrew?” elsewherecorner booth to makeat Sardi’s sense on of West the Forty-Presi- radio,”appear sheon said.the restaurant’s“We pay particular regular ator- Otto brought up an analysis by the dentialFourth campaigns.Street. His Oneslight unexpected figure was tentionchildren’s to menu. debates, “But since they the usually language die language startup Textio. “They made the sourceemphasized of insight: by his the choice dictionary. of attire: an usedimmediately.” in them isHis on long the fly,run not as thescripted sole claim that Trump’s language has more oversized“During cable-knit the Democratic sweater, longdebate khaki on likeboy ina stumpthe five speech. boroughs We iscan both get a asource bet- ‘feminine biased’ terms, like ‘beautiful Marchshorts, 6andth, ‘fracking’well-worn and topsiders. ‘incarceration’ On a terof pridesense andof the sadness. words “I that often the wonder candi- family,’ ‘wonderful team,’ and ‘lasting and trendednearby wall in our amid word-search caricatures data,”of Broad Re- dateswhy Ireally lasted want and to they use.” didn’t,” he said effective relationships.’ I don’t totally stand bekahway stars, Otto, local the politicians, director of and content a boxer at softlyNot before long ago, taking the sitea gulp published of milk. a list“I by that, but it’s interesting.” She went on, dictionary.com,or two, a sketch ofsaid English recently, hung from beside the ofalso the wonder twenty why“most I’ve statistically never advanced signifi- “Ted Cruz has made some noteworthy company’sa portrait ofoffi thece inlate Oakland. actor Yul A Brynner.few days cant”past the words age ofemployed 11.” by each of the word choices. During the Republican de- later,English during is known a Republican for many debate,things—his Ted leadingEnglish candidates is now in speaking the televised publicly de- bate on January 28th, he used the Latin Cruzchalk calledmurals Donald of Jane JacobsTrump’s on languagethe side- bates.about Thehis resultsperpetual are youthlike political with Realhai- ‘ad hominem’ when talking about the per- “quitewalks ofincendiary,” Greenwich and Village, “incendiary” his brief kus,Live exploringBoy, a book each that candidate’s took nearly linguis- ten sonal insults Trump is throwing around. (“tendingstint as a tocostume arouse strife,designer sedition”) for an shotoff- ticyears essence. to write. Clinton: “It’s hard systemic when, youchildren can’t, WeJohn immediately English saw that phrase spike up in the rankings. seller. Sanders: speculation, tuition-free, in our data. He has also used ‘mano a

20 Dictionary.com THE NEU has JORKER, a feature JUNE called 20, 2016 cease-fire. Cruz: utterly, whatsoever, boom- mano,’ which many looked up.” Word of the Day; its lexicographers ing. Kasich: blue-collar, surplus, formula. Like a lot of dictionary people, Otto send vocabulary words to a subscriber Trump: nasty, sudden, tremendous. has a soft spot for President Obama, who list of nineteen million. Sometimes the Were there any insights to be gained? continues to influence word searches, linguists appear to be editorializing. Otto thought so. “Bernie and Hillary even if he can’t force a congressional vote Last Friday, after two more town halls, tend to use concrete language,” she ex- on his Supreme Court nominee. “Incon- the site offered “ninnyhammer” (“a fool plained, “whereas the Republican con- trovertible” and “overt” took off during

20 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 his discussion of race on Marc Maron’s tongue!” he said. A buzzer sounded, and Bubbe Made a Kishke,” or walking in podcast last summer. “Grace” trended Fallon hurled a pillow from the couch. on his son with a pie.) He said, “The in- and a game of Minecraft. “I’d like all of whenwith full-timehe sang “Amazingwork due toGrace” child while labor “Anotherpounds, he ten wears minutes a full and suit I everywould’ve day. tention was for me to be the straight it. You’re paying, right?” deliveringlaws and thehas Reverend had to relyClementa on odd Pinck jobs- hadThe it,” suits Levy are said. custom made at a store in man. Like Jack Benny: funny people Moments later a parade of waiters ney’sand supporteulogy. “He from thinks the aboutNew Yorkthe words Ad- DowntownThe night Brooklynbefore, in Toronto,partially “Schitt’s owned around him, and he just moves the story. filled the table with plates of dessert thatministration he uses and for really Children’s grapples Services,with the Creek,”by Edward which Norton. Levy and The his son,tailor Daniel, there, ‘Well, we should be going.’ ” and English surveyed the sweets, his depthswhich hasof their repeatedly meaning,” tried Otto to cut said. off his co-created,Ricky Bambino, had knowswon nine Roger Canadian by name. O’Hara’s character, Moira, is a former legs dangling off the banquette. “My funding.She also “You’d delights think in I’d misused be their words. poster Screen“Roger Awards.has been The coming show isto about me thefor soap-opera actress with a vast collection parents disappeared early on in my life,” “I’mchild! still They waiting went for ato few court big malapropclaiming- I Roseyears—I family—a sew detachable wealthy couplepanels (Levyto the of wigs. In one scene, she ransacks the he explained with the hard-nosed de- ismswas athis drain election on resources, year,” she but said. the “Thejudge andback O’Hara) of all of and his theirpants, feckless so he adultcan easily chil- couple’s motel room looking for a pair meanor of someone whose parents had loudestsaid that one they so hadfar hasto keep been paying Sarah untilPa- drenpop one(Daniel out Levyon the and street.” Annie Ricky’s Murphy)— shop of earrings, screaming every time she disappeared early on in his life. “I don’t lin’sI reached use of ‘squirmishes.’the age of 18, ” no(While matter endors- when whohas been lose thetheir site money of countless and move odd taito- doesn’t find them. blame them. Parenting in New York is ingor ifTrump, that happens.” Palin said, “And you quit foot- Schitt’sloring requests—one Creek, a shabby man town asked they him once to “I think there has to be an anchor,” already intense. Imagine the pressure of ing theSadly, bill English’sfor these nationslove life who has are alsooil- make a blazer for a snake. Ricky filled a Levy said. having the only living boy as your son. rich—we’restalled. He haspaying never for married some ofbecause their pair of his wife Marla’s old pantyhose “I think I’m that,” O’Hara said. “I hold Not to mention all the resentment from squirmisheshe could not that get have the beenrequired going consent on for with dried beans and got to work cut- the family together.” the parents of the dead boys. It was just centuries.”)of a parent That’s or legal an unintentional guardian. “It port was- ting and sewing. The man picked up “You do . . .” Levy sounded equivocal. too much.” manteau,mostly just Otto puppy explained, love,” for he “squirm” said of andhis the order and then gleefully put the “You’re grounded at times, but you have And then there’s the song. “For “skirmish”—andpast relationships. “maybe “Besides, something girls elseare blazer on the boa constrictor wrapped your moments.” years I tried to deny that it was about ingross.” between.” He’d consideredWhen Trump moving announced to New around his neck, which then ate him Levy and O’Hara went on a few dates me. But when you’re the only living hisJersey, Presidential but the prospect bid, he ofused being the among word right in front of Ricky’s eyes. But that in the seventies. “Everyone at Second boy in New York, a song called ‘The “bigly”other young(“Obamacare males waskicks troubling. in in 2016 “It’s re- didn’t phase Ricky, a former Navy Seal City tried dating each other,” O’Hara Only Living Boy in New York’ is obvi- allymy bigly”).entire identity.“There wasAnd a lotOne of ofspecula- Many who has pole jumped in the Olympics, said. “Eugene took me out to breakfast.” ously about you. I got tired of people tionBoys about in New whether Jersey this doesn’t was a haveword the at sang backup on several Beatles albums, She looked at him. “You wanted bacon asking me if I really did get my news all,”same Otto ring said. as the“In Onlyfact, ‘bigly’ Living is Boya valid in and climbed Mount Everest. Oh, and and eggs, and you wanted me to come from the weather reports.” And did he? adverb,New York.” even thoughStill, a it’s change very rarely of scenery used.” he was an extra in Annie Hall. He’s so along.” He crossed his arms, refusing to answer mightShe continued,be in order. “Politicians “Maybe getBrook a lot- cool. Wouldn’t it be great if this piece “What’s wrong with that?” Levy said. what he considered to be an inappro- oflyn,” flack he forsaid their as he misuse headed of words,for the moredoor was about him? But it’s not. It’s too late Driving her home after another date, priate question. thanwith regulara stack people.of carryout Going containers. all the way “At now. So back to Roger. Ugh. Levy said, he took a turn too fast, hit a When Simon and Garfunkel re- backleast tothere Warren I’d be Harding, around menwhen who he ranact Roger is a familiar site in Manhat- guardrail, and messed up a car wheel. leased the song in 1970, English en- formy President, age.” Before in 1920 climbing—people onto criticized a silver Catherinetan—locals O’Hara mostly andknow Eugene him asLevy “The Early on at Second City, Levy said, joyed his period of celebrity before a himRazor for A3his Scooter,‘Return tohe Normalcy’ turned around cam- Man Who Defecates in the Streets.” “I had one piece in the show. My act depression set in. “Paul Simon was nice paignto answer slogan.” one lingeringHarding question.brought the“Of boughtLast year as ahe joke. unloaded (The town directly is so in shabby front was Ricardo and His Trained Amoeba. enough. He brought me an mbira from little-knowncourse that’s wordwhere into I get popular my news. usage, I’m thatof Claire its mayor Danes’s is Chris Soho Elliott, apartment. scuzzily An It was a guy with a whip. He’s making South Africa, but Art Garfunkel was a though11. I don’t many care thought about currenthe’d made events. it up. I haggard,errant teenager with a mullet.)taped the Daniel event, Levy’s and an amoeba do tricks. After every trick, real prick.” He paused, looking around Ottojust want checked to know her computer. whether it’s“According going to sister,submitted Sarah, it playsto PS1, a local where waitress. it was im- he takes out his microscope, opens it, to see if anyone would scold him for tobe our nice data, enough people to are play still baseball. curious Orwhat if mediatelyLevy and accepted O’Hara, bothand placedlong married, in its checks to see if the amoeba is there, and his language before continuing: “They ‘normalcy’school is closed. means.” I also care about that.” haveown gallery.known Daneseach other herself for went forty-four to the goes, ‘Ta-da!’ ” brought me out on stage one night 1—Charles—Elizabeth Bethea Stamp years,opening, and dressed have played in brown—a a couple nodseveral to O’Hara said, “The first scene I did in Chicago and Mr. Garfunkel whis- times.Roger’s O work.ffscreen, they are familiar and with the cast, I was understudying OLD FRIENDS DEPT. fond. Backstage, O’Hara, looking ele- Gilda”—Radner. “It was something about pered in my ear, ‘You’re not in New MAN ON THE STREET To watch Roger evacuate his bowels WITHOUT A PADDLE gantly fun—dark eye makeup, multidi- mosquitoes. All I did was slap people. York anymore, freak.’ Who says that POOPING IN PUBLIC is like watching DiMaggio at bat—a to an 11-year-old boy?” He shook the rectionaldelightful hairdo, spectacle gray thatdress, most beige people fish- Mainly John Candy. Slap, slap. I slapped memory off and returned to a piece of nets,don’t pinkreally pumps—fretted care about at thisquietly point. to his arms, I slapped his face. I thought, coconut cream pie. Levy.First Levy,he walks in a subtlyup and patterned down the suit block that I’m just going to kill mosquitoes on this Despite his fame, or perhaps because aa tycoonfew times—scoping might wear, extended out the his exactarms. guy! We came backstage afterward, and of it, life has not been easy for English. “Itright was spot fine, toCatherine. make his Oh, mark. come He’llon, it he said, ‘Have you ever heard of fuckin’ There were opportunities for paid ap- waspass great.” over a He street kissed if he her finds on thetoo cheek.many mime?’ But he was sweet about it.” pearances after the song’s initial release n a recent Monday afternoon, greaseOutside spots 30 orRockefeller potholes. Plaza,“DeBlasio they Levy said, “The first thing I did, they and a bit of renewed interest after it O t ’Eugenes a cool Levy, clear and Catherineday in February O’Hara headedhasn’t doneto an S.U.V.much Photographersfor city infrastruc called- said, ‘Well, we’re doing a murder scene, was featured on the soundtrack of the were onin town,the corner taping of an Bowery episode and of 2ndthe theirture, names,that’s for flashbulbs sure,” he popping. quips as The we and you be the corpse.’ ” Later, he said, he 2004 film Garden State, but offers dried “TonightIAvenue andShow” Roger at NBC. Klunkman Before talkingis do- nextapproach stop was the a corner “Schitt’s of Creek” Houston panel and at did some scenes with Andrea Martin. up following his inflammatory remarks abouting what “Schitt’s he doesCreek,” best—defecating the Canadian sit in- theHudson. 92nd Street Once Y. he In finds the car, his they location, talked “Did you ever date her?” O’Hara asked. about the movie’s star, Zach Braff. “He comthe middleon which of thethey street. co-star, “I like now this in inits- abouthe circles their it—twice.roles and the “The old days.first Levy’stime’s “Yes, yes,” Levy said. “We had done started it,” English insisted through a secondtersection—it’s season, theya great played place Pictionary to squat. character,for luck, Johnny,the second is not time’sthe sort just of legfor- ‘Cannibal Girls’ together, an improvised mouthful of hot fudge sundae. “And he withYou Jimmyget nice Fallon visibility and Shailenefrom the Wood build-- endaryfun.” Then bumbler he detachesthe actor hishas buttplayed flap in movie about women that eat men. The had me blacklisted from the entertain- ley.ings Fallon surrounding drew a cat it.” and Roger, a tongue. 54, is Levy not theand past. gets (Imagineto work. Levy in the movies, cut line on the poster was ‘These Girls ment industry. I’d hoped to work as a said,the type“Cat, oftongue. man Cat,you’d tongue.” expect Histo see thick at andWhich he’s pursuing raises a mermaid the question… and falling Eat Men.’ I had a big Afro, a big mus- child actor for the rest of my life.” He blacksome ofeyebrows the edgier flew downtown up. “Hold intersec your- downwhat ahappens flight of stairs,when orhe singing just can’t“My tache, big muttonchop sideburns. I had has not been able to support himself 22tions. 6’9” andTHE noNEW less YORKER, than APRILa thousand 11, 2016 go? “That’s my biggest fear. Noth- ILLUSTRATIONS BY NATHAN YAFFE, CHARACTER BY ELIZABETH STAMP ELIZABETH BY CHARACTER YAFFE, NATHAN BY ILLUSTRATIONS

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 21 his discussion of race on Marc Maron’s tongue!” he said. A buzzer sounded, and Bubbe Made a Kishke,” or walking in podcast last summer. “Grace” trended Fallon hurled a pillow from the couch. on his son with a pie.) He said, “The in- when he sang “Amazing Grace” while “Another ten minutes and I would’ve tention was for me to be the straight delivering the Reverend Clementa Pinck- had it,” Levy said. man. Like Jack Benny: funny people ney’s eulogy. “He thinks about the words The night before, in Toronto, “Schitt’s around him, and he just moves the story. that he uses and really grapples with the Creek,” which Levy and his son, Daniel, ‘Well, we should be going.’ ” depths of their meaning,” Otto said. co-created, had won nine Canadian O’Hara’s character, Moira, is a former She also delights in misused words. Screen Awards. The show is about the soap-opera actress with a vast collection “I’m still waiting for a few big malaprop- Rose family—a wealthy couple (Levy of wigs. In one scene, she ransacks the isms this election year,” she said. “The and O’Hara) and their feckless adult chil- couple’s motel room looking for a pair loudest one so far has been Sarah Pa- dren (Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy)— of earrings, screaming every time she lin’s use of ‘squirmishes.’ ” (While endors- who lose their money and move to doesn’t find them. ing Trump, Palin said, “And you quit foot- Schitt’s Creek, a shabby town they once “I think there has to be an anchor,” ing the bill for these nations who are oil- Levy said. rich—we’re paying for some of their “I think I’m that,” O’Hara said. “I hold squirmishes that have been going on for the family together.” centuries.”) That’s an unintentional port- “You do . . .” Levy sounded equivocal. manteau, Otto explained, for “squirm” and “You’re grounded at times, but you have “skirmish”—and “maybe something else your moments.” in between.” When Trump announced Levy and O’Hara went on a few dates his Presidential bid, he used the word in the seventies. “Everyone at Second “bigly” (“Obamacare kicks in in 2016 re- City tried dating each other,” O’Hara ally bigly”). “There was a lot of specula- said. “Eugene took me out to breakfast.” tion about whether this was a word at She looked at him. “You wanted bacon all,” Otto said. “In fact, ‘bigly’ is a valid and eggs, and you wanted me to come adverb, even though it’s very rarely used.” along.” She continued, “Politicians get a lot “What’s wrong with that?” Levy said. of flack for their misuse of words, more Driving her home after another date, than regular people. Going all the way Levy said, he took a turn too fast, hit a back to Warren Harding, when he ran guardrail, and messed up a car wheel. for President, in 1920—people criticized Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy Early on at Second City, Levy said, him for his ‘Return to Normalcy’ cam- “I had one piece in the show. My act paign slogan.” Harding brought the bought as a joke. (The town is so shabby was Ricardo and His Trained Amoeba. little-known word into popular usage, that its mayor is Chris Elliott, scuzzily It was a guy with a whip. He’s making though many thought he’d made it up. haggard, with a mullet.) Daniel Levy’s an amoeba do tricks. After every trick, Otto checked her computer. “According sister, Sarah, plays a local waitress. he takes out his microscope, opens it, to our data, people are still curious what Levy and O’Hara, both long married, checks to see if the amoeba is there, and ‘normalcy’ means.” have known each other for forty-four goes, ‘Ta-da!’ ” —Charles Bethea years, and have played a couple several O’Hara said, “The first scene I did 1 times. Offscreen, they are familiar and with the cast, I was understudying ing coming out.” Richard shakes his OLD FRIENDS DEPT. ternetfond. Backstage,will turn O’Hara,you into looking a meme!” ele- Gilda”—Radner. “It was something about head. “It’s all in the timing—first WITHOUTDEPT. OF WHICH-CRAFT? A PADDLE “You will devote your life to the TOIL AND TROUBLE gantly fun—dark eye makeup, multidi- mosquitoes. All I did was slap people. thing in the morning or right after capitalist-colonialistrectional hairdo, gray dress,system, beige onlyfish- Mainly John Candy. Slap, slap. I slapped lunch? I know that’s gonna be a suc- tonets, witness pink pumps—frettedits inevitable downfall!” quietly to his arms, I slapped his face. I thought, cessful day.” “YouLevy. will…Levy, in fall a subtly into apatterned big hole suit in thethat I’m just going to kill mosquitoes on this Like any New Yorker, Roger has ground,”a tycoon mightsaid Alana, wear, extended shrugging. his arms.She guy! We came backstage afterward, and gotten a fair amount of quizzical confided“It was fine, that Catherine. when she Oh, can’t come think on, it he said, ‘Have you ever heard of fuckin’ looks over the years. Most Manhat- ofwas anything great.” He to kissedsay, she her just on yellsthe cheek. that mime?’ But he was sweet about it.” tanites don’t bat an eye, but the ritual n a recent Monday afternoon, sheOutside is on her 30 menstrual Rockefeller cycle. Plaza, they Levy said, “The first thing I did, they baffles tourists. “I’ve had people want O Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara headedAs the to anmorning S.U.V. Photographers commute slowed called said, ‘Well, we’re doing a murder scene, to take pictures with me. Me. Rog- were in NEtown, RECENT taping an episodemorning of the, totheir a trickle, names, conversationflashbulbs popping. turned The to and you be the corpse.’ ” Later, he said, he er Klunkman from Bay Ridge! One “Tonight sitting Show” onat NBC. a bench Before outside talking thenext current stop was state a “Schitt’s of witchhood. Creek” panel “I at did some scenes with Andrea Martin. time a guy just crouched next to me aaboutO cafe “Schitt’s on the Creek,” border the of Canadian East-East sit- hatethe 92 whennd Street people Y. In thesay car, they they aren’t talked “Did you ever date her?” O’Hara asked. and started barking like a dog.” He Williamsburg,com on which theySouth co-star, Greenpoint now in its witches,”about their said roles Ylana. and the “It’s old like,days. hello, Levy’s “Yes, yes,” Levy said. “We had done also has faced a fair amount of inju- andsecond the season, up-and-coming they played neighborPictionary- you’recharacter, on theJohnny, wrong is not side the of sort history!” of leg- ‘Cannibal Girls’ together, an improvised ries. “You see this?” He lifts his rear hoodwith Jimmy Dump Fallon Area, and three Shailene new media- Wood- endary bumbler the actor has played in movie about women that eat men. The flap a little—an unmistakable tire girlley. Fallonwitches drew cradled a cat and cups a tongue. of coffee Levy the past. (Imagine Levy in the movies, cut line on the poster was ‘These Girls tread scar. “Hit by a bicyclist in the andsaid, “Cat,yelled tongue. out omnious Cat, tongue.” prophecies His thick and he’s pursuing a mermaid and falling Eat Men.’ I had a big Afro, a big mus- middle of Eighth Avenue. But that atblack passing eyebrows men. flew up. “Hold your down a flight of stairs, or singing “My tache, big muttonchop sideburns. I had one was worth it. It was a great shit.” Alanna Bishop, staff writer for His hobby has also taken a toll on a22 popular THEonline NEW YORKER,magazine, APRIL came11, 2016 his personal life over the years. “My up with the idea for her coven to wife thinks what I do is crazy, just get together on mornings when crazy—but I say, what do you prefer? they get to work from home, and That I sit around here bothering you? to take their powers of augury to That gets her to stop yammering the streets. Said Alanna, 26 with lavender-pink hair: “everyone reads Tarot now, so we just wanted to do something different. And it’s fun to make up some stuff that isn’t just for Content. Though if we say anything particularly good, I do tweet it.” The other witches joining her were Alana Doyle, a staff writer for a feminism website, and Ylana El- iot, a staff writer for a glossy maga- zine that comes out three times a Alanna Bishop year and costs $50 an issue. Alana, who was wearing leggings printed with tiny Satans, explained that they “This is honestly a feminist act,” posted the day’s prophesying loca- said Alanna, finishing the last of Roger Klunkman tion on their Woman Power Brunch her coffee. “Men stand on the side- secret Facebook group, and whoever walk and tell me to smile, make is around will show up. comments about my body all the pretty quickly.” He grins, then spits a Ylana explained to a volunteer time. This is the female version of plug of tobacco onto a nearby pigeon. witch (me) that the only fortune- that.” As a man ran by, she yelled af- Manhattan isn’t Roger’s only telling requirement was to say ter him: “The sports team you love stomping ground—he’s “gone” on the something bad would happen. “And most will lose a key player to a knee streets of four boroughs. “Yea, I do make sure you’re targeting the right injury in the off-season!” Brooklyn a lot, every now and then people—only men, and only people After about an hour, the witches I’ll make it up to Ridgewood, and I who believe in capitalism. Like that spotted a tall woman with two Miley have been known to hit some places guy.” She gestured to a man wearing Cyrus–eqsue creature buns of plati- in the South Bronx.” His compan- a collared shirt. num blonde hair—Alaina Choi, an- ion wonders whether he’s considered A stream of men passed and the other member of the coven. “Some- Staten Island. He gives a knowing witches tossed out some prophecies. thing wicked this way comes!” yelled smile. “Oh no. The last thing Staten “You will be CEO, but Fortune will Alana. Responded Alaina: “Haha, it Island needs is more hot feces.” run a cheesy photo of you on your me.” —Langan Kingsley motorcycle in a profile and the in- —Bythe Roberson ILLUSTRATION BY NATHAN YAFFE, CHARACTERS BY DEVON RODRIGUEZ DEVON BY CHARACTERS YAFFE, NATHAN BY ILLUSTRATION

22 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 THETHE FINANCIALFINANCIAL PAGEPAGE an economicThe answer downturn is whispering, in the U.S .?and No: handwritten the U.S. economy notes. TANKINGTURN BACK THE CLOCK ON CHINA continuedKeep a piece to ofmotor information along for completely years afterward. analog and it sim- plyThe can’t folly travel of acrossreading seas. too To much spread into the oil word prices in is a thatcontrol they- arelable tremendously way, we need volatile, to take often a step driven back more (when by the ‘tablet’ industry’s still internalreferred dynamicsto the Ten than Commandments—ha!). by the economy at large. In Boom-and- this brave bustnew cyclesworld, are we’ll common ask all in citizens the industry, to tell as everyone it goes from they over see- O COUNTRY IS born into the same disposition. productionabout the new to steep policy, cuts but and only back once again. that The person most hasplausible pro- AST Some MONDAY come w withas all antoo expanse typical ofof this land, year’s but stock-marketpoor export- explanationvided proof forthat the they’re drop alsoin oil a pricescitizen. over the past nineteen LNablemayhem. resources. Although Others ahave rally aat substrate the end of of the petroleum, previous week but months,Network in fact, science has nothing experts toanticipate do with theweak entire demand. process, As hadpugnacious raised investors’ neighbors hopes, with the differing major indexes ideas opened about down God. Ethanstarting Harris, with theone co-head person ofin globalthe center research of Timesat Bank Square, Amer- andRarer slid still lower is asthe the nation day progressed. that enjoys By thetrue market’s solitude, close, those the icawill Merrill take somewhere Lynch, points between out, “Over thirty this and entire seven period, hundred global S.lone & P. desolate 500 had islandsdropped that 1.56 are per just cent, a bitleaving too it‘native’ down foreight a oilminutes consumption for the hasgreater been Newgrowing York at Citya solid area, pace, and with then no perSandals cent onResort. the year. But Buteven there they was suffer something from tribalism odd. The and slide its signanother of a fiveslowdown.” to eighteen Instead, years prices for the have rest fallen of the because country. of hadtrappings, not been such occasioned as a dearth by bad of language,news on the forcing corporate its people front; aIt’s huge not increase ideal. The in supply,problem thanks is that to therevarious are factors, citizens includ in the- earningsto express reports themselves were generally through good. thigh-slaps Nor was and it acoo-coo reaction cah- to ingboonies—the the boom fringesin shale-oil of Alaska, production the corners in the U.S.,of the the Dako revi-- troublechoos. These in China, disparities which has are been natural, a major and source thus just. of anxiety But oth for- talizationtas—that ofwill Iraq’s simply oil industry,be too far and, away most to berecently, reached. the Andlift- investors;ers are man-made, the Shanghai and index must had finished up. Rather, the de- ing of sanctions on Iran. that’s where advanced squat- clinebe overcome was a response through to politicaljust one fact: the price of oil had fallen Investors aren’t just worriedter that laws oil comeis the in. canary in the moremight. than five per cent, to just above global coal mine,Squatter though. They’relaws alsoare thirtyChina dollars lives a barrel. in the These future, days, as oil worried thatstraightforward low oil prices are,and, in themlike- goes,with soa goesbooming the stock tech market. sector, selves, hurtingthe concept the U.S. of economy.daylight savFor- a Sincebeautifully December, stratified there’s beenclass a nearly instance, asings oil pricestime, havesomething plummeted, that ninety-per-centstructure, and a correlationgovernment between shale-oil drillersalready haveexists sharply in our reduced laws. oilthat prices refuses and to stock be handcuffed prices. When oil their investments,Basically, and if that someone has hit placesfinds hasby dropped,eco-regulation. stocks haveBut followed,they and like Northland Dakota unattended and Oklahoma for a hard.cer- whenalso live oil pricesin the havefuture stabilized,—liter- stocks These setbackstain areperiod real, butof theytime, should they haveally. Intended an age to rise.where This regimes is historically be seen incan proportion. claim it is Even as their after own. the unusual,rise and andfall init’s a confusing, day, and mi too.- There shale revolution,What I’m the merely U.S. is suggesting still very arecroseconds only a few decide parts ofmarkets, the stock mar- much a netis consumershrinking of the oil, importingnecessary ketwe wheresimply cheap cannot oil isallow legitimately our bad five millionvacancy more barrels period of oilto aone day secthan- news—oilcompetitors producers to the andeast suppliers,keep ob- it exports. ond.That If means you gothat to the the drop store in viously,their 13+ and hour also advantage. banks that have lent oil prices hasto getamounted milk and to a comewindfall back for moneyThe to Americansolution isn’tshale-oil easy drillers. consumers—oneto find thata family Harris of estimatesstrangers For(is any?)most companies,but it’s a though,one-time cheap en- saved thempreheating a hundred your and ninetyoven, bilit’s- ergyfix. is aWhat boon. I’m It lowers proposing operating is costs lion dollarstime over to the move past on.six quarters.It won’t beIn andsimple: gives Every consumers Sunday more at money9 to other words,long cheap until oil we means have Americans a nation spend.am local Yet time, even for companies forty-eight that reap have an extraof drifters, ten billion stepping dollars outsidein their hugeweeks, benefits America from will cheap set theiroil are currently taking a beating. pockets every month. And that’sof translating their comfort into higherzones, consee- Airlineclocks backstocks thirty have minutes. tracked theAt price of oil almost perfectly, sumer spending: an October studying bytheir the JPMorganhomeland Chasewith eventhe end though of this cheap protean oil saved period, the four major American car- Institute found that consumers spentwide aroundeyes and seventy the tothrill ninety of rierswe’ll more find thanourselves, eleven once billion again, dollars in the last sweet year. spot of world centsbeing ofuprooted every dollar without they an saved end from in sight, lower checking gas prices. the Har IDs- leader—thisSo why does time, the in market minutes. see cheap oil as a curse rather risof everyonetold me, “The they negativesee and impactsthen telling of low them oil prices our national are very thanMyopic as a blessing? assailants There will are be a couplequick toof rebut.reasons. They’ll First, insay- visible—thesecret. collapse of investment, the struggling compa- vestorsthat we’ll fear have that to oil be prices nocturnal are telling for a goodus something part of the impor- year. nies—whileAnd it will the bepositive a national impacts secret. are It’svery very, subtle.” very But impor that- tantThat about our theeconomy state of willthe beglobal rattled. economy. That The we’ll idea have is that mas- doesn’ttant no makeone knows the benefits about this. less Not significant. even France, As Harris unless says,they oilsive is infrastructurecheap because overhauls.global demand—and, That China in doesn’tparticular, actually de- “Thereally long-runpromise notstory to is blab. clear: I themean, U.S. we is bettercan tell off India with too.low, mandlive in from the future. China—is But they’reweak. This also soundsrefusing plausible, to acknowledge but the ratherNorway? than Too high, judge-y? oil prices.” Okay, no one. oileven market the most is an salientincredibly advantages, cloudy crystal such ball.as cutting Take the our sum- air- InThere’s fundamental nothing terms, Washington then, the stock loves market’s to talk oilabout obsession more merconditioning of 2008. At costs. the time,Plus, the it’ll global be fun, economy like a was nation-wide already in isthan hard limited to justify. resources: The problem money, is food, that, energy,once a patternhousing, gets guns, es- recession,slumber party, thanks where to the we bursting really ofcan’t the wakehousing our bubble. neighbors Yet, tablishedrights, research. in the market,But the it commodity can take on that a life ties of itits all own. together After weekto the after east, week, because oil pricesthen they’llkept climbing, do the same peaking thing, at aspur rec-- all,is unlimited: if you think time. that Soeveryone concentrated else is planning on ‘the present’to sell when are we oil ordring hundred a time travel and forty-sevenarms race that dollars would a barrel. make OilMarty prices McFly re- pricesthat we fall, fail then to you’resee its probably malleability, getting that ready we to can do createso yourself. our vealed(of the nothing 80’s and at early all about 90’s science-fictionfuture demand, whichadventure was trilogyabout That’sown definition especially trueof it, during just like periods we’ve of done uncertainty with ‘democracy’ about the tostarring collapse; Michael they were J. Fox disconnected and, to a lesser from extent,what was Christopher happening stateand ‘equality.’ of the economy. With the At backing such times, of a theunified herd instinctCongress, takes and inLloyd) the global blush. economy. This, of Onecourse, could is the tell mosta similar difficult story aboutdetail to over.the support The oil ofmarket a nation is far of more whispering, noise than note-passing signal. But vaga right- 1986,iron out. when How oil pricesto keep tumbled a secret by among almost a seventyset of 320 per millioncent in nowbonds, it’s it’s the time only to sound step outthat ofinvestors the past, seem and able into to the hear. future. thepeople space from of fouranother months. set of Was 1.4 billionthat decline people? a harbinger of —James—Andrew Surowiecki Lipstein IMAGE BY ANDREW LIPSTEIN ANDREW BY IMAGE CHRISTOPH NIEMANN CHRISTOPH

40 THE NEW YORKER, FEBRUARY 8 & 15, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 23

ness. You no longer miss them. Jerks. (a) Lit SHOUTS & MURMURS 12:30(b) P.M. Teleconference in your mom for sympathy. Bae When she demands (c) “it me” that(d) you AF list (as your fuck) symptoms, tell her TESTOFFICIAL YOUR AGENDA KNOWLEDGE FOR it doesn’t matter; it’s probably a virus. After6. If she I triedhangs to up, make wait itten in minutes com- OF YOURHUMOR SICK WRITING DAY edywhile now, she in calls 2016, your I would: nearest relative who’s(a) a Notdoctor, be repeats successful, your symptoms, because BYBY BLYTHE HALLIE ROBERSON CANTOR eventhen callsthough you backI am to tella privilegedyou that it’s whiteprobably man a virus.I am not funny 1:00(b) P.M. Have Devote a theTwitter next fourwhere hours I 8:00 A.M. Orient yourself to the idea of utes longer than it usually does, because tweetto fitfully monologue drifting injokes and atout the of sleep.To- waking up with the preliminary goal you are so sick that every tiny action night5:00 P.M.Show Conclude every night napping and withinportion of sussing out whether what you’re feels like a herculean task. twoof the months day by I wakingwould besuddenly hired from feeling is normal alarm-clock-induced 9:15 A.M. Perform the same e-mail and a fever dream, newly certain that the 7. grogginess or actual illness. social-media checks you do every morn- discomfort Why ofdoes being anyone sick is doyour any pun-- 8:15 A.M. Table the issue by hitting ing at work. But today you’re doing thingishment differently for some thancrime youme??? don’t re- (a) They must be poor Snooze. them in pajamas! member(b) committing, possibly in a past 8:30 A.M. 10:00 A.M. They must be weird Synthesize the available data Take this opportunity to touch life.(c) Also, it’s dark out now. points: you’re achy all over, you can’t base with all the TV shows you don’t 5:10 P.M. Literally Reassess youranything state of health.that breathe out of your right nostril, it hurts have time to watch when you’re healthy. anyoneResolved: does you is still too feel strange like shit. for me to swallow, and your head weighs about Each show will require no more than because5:20 P.M. ISpend spend twenty all day minutes sitting look- in aning ecru for aroom thermometer. on a tan Howsofa dowhile you mynot wife have Carolinea thermometer? and my You three have daughtersseveral specific Caroline memories Caroline of buying and Carolinethermometers. make crudité for me to eat5:40 while P.M. I watch a foutbaul game gooooo PaytanSettle forMannana feeling your fore- head with your hand. It seems warm, but8. maybe Why that’s is there just becauseso little your of handmy personalityis cold. Conduct in these due pieces?diligence by ran- domly(a) feelingI have a no bunch personality of different sur- faces(b) in Iyour am apartment actually ato computertry to com- programpare them designed with your to forehead. write jokes 6:00 P.M. 1. Why am I writing in this people! I have three daughters but I was Break coded for backcold leftoverin the ’80ssoup. style? who are 7, 5, and 3 years old and before6:40 P.M. anyone Reflect reallyon how knew annoying how it ten (a)thousand pounds. Reach consen- theyten minutes,are all named because Caroline that’s how long computersis that you workednever think to buy tissues 45 years ago I came up (c) withsus that the you idea are, to in use fact, a sickmultiple- enough you’re currently capable of paying at- until you’re I do so havesick thata personality you can’t go to stay home. Snooze again in celebra- tention3. What to anything. now? butout it to is buy very tissues. bland and if you met choice format as a humor piece (a) andtion I of vowed your decision. to never try to think 11:30 A.M. Something Consult minutes about from how pre- me6:45 in P.M. person After achievingthis is exactly unsatisfactory how I 8:45 A.M. women are ugly, old sluts? would be: Bad of anotherDraft way an to e-mail make to jokes your su- vious(b) days off and weekends to deter- results from wiping your nose on your pervisors(b) I letting am not them funny know that you mine whether Something it’s always about this fat hard peo for- pajama sleeve, limp to the bathroom (c) ple being gross? 9. True or false: I am so hate- won’t be Incoming 2005 in. a Debate witch merits put aof you(c) to relax. If you’re using a whole and get the roll of toilet paper. A joke about New Jersey? ful6:50 because P.M. I am always exhausted spellphrasing on itme as “takingthat caused a sick day”me ver-to vacation(d) day for this, shouldn’t you be Now your nose is red and forgetsus “working what “comedy”from home istoday.” If you having aSomething better time? aboutAren’t youNative capa- fromchafed making from wiping sure it absolutelywith toilet paper. no Americans, for no other reason jokes7:00 P.M. slip into my humor pieces write2. “working from home,” you won’t ble of just existing in a state of physi- Answer:Develop a three-pronged, for- have toWhy use adoes vacation anything day. But I saywill thancal discomfort I want to without be culturally obsessing tone over ward-looking False. action I am strategy so hateful of (a) abouteveryone young know people that “working seem like from it deafhow andmiserable I have you never feel? met a per- becauseswallowing I wish whatever I had come expired up with cold washome” written actually bymeans an sleeping?alien whose Maybe son12:00 of P.M. color Lunch in my break. life Seamless or even someone themedicine idea of you doing find a in bad the rip-off bathroom of entireyou can knowledgedo that thing whereof human you just- womansoup and not try named to look Caroline?extra sick when it Thecabinets, Onion (b), but circling someone back beatto reëval me - to it itywake comes up every from hour one to episodesend an e-mail of 2 arrives,4. so the delivery person doesn’t uate your health tomorrow morn- Broke Girls? What is the most relevant so they(a) think you’ve been at your com- thingthink Iyou’re can think just lazy. of? ing,10. and Why (c) resolving is this piece to go still to workgo- I am old and white and I 12:15 P.M. puter the whole time. (a) 50 Acknowledge Shades Of Grey that you’re ing?no matter how terrible you feel, be- assume9:00 A.M. anyone Send e-mail. younger Next than order me of weirdly(b) lonely right now and that you cause(a) you honestly can’t face another is a frivolous idiot Miley Cyrus Because I am a white man, business:(b) enjoying some guilt-free, lux- miss(c) everyone The TV at theshow offi Felicityce. nowhole one dayhas thisever boringtold me and anything existen- I read a New York Times 12:20(d) P.M. trendurious, piece healing about sleep. young people “Call Break Me out Maybe” into several small I tiallyhave miserable.ever done is bad 9:01 A.M. 7:30(b) P.M. wearingAgenda pocket updated watches to reflect and new I discussion groups on Gchat to rem- I Holdam ainternal millionaire vote: Isprob it late- data: you can’t sleep. edy5. this I think issue. “CallOverwhelming Me Maybe” trend: is ablyenough to go to sleep yet? assume that pretty much sums it (c) up9:02 A.M. Relocate from your bed to the hilariouseveryone because is insu ffiI don’tciently know compas- that 7:31 P.M. I Reachactively unanimous hate the decision:readers ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES OLSTEIN JAMES BY ILLUSTRATION GARY TAXALI GARY couch.(c) This I know will take a lot about about twenty young min- Carlysionate Rae about Jepsen’s your newpossibly album fatal is: ill- ofYes. The  New Yorker

THETHE NEW NEU YORKER, JORKER, FEBRUARY JUNE 20, 8 2016& 15, 2016 4925

APERSONAL REPORTER HISTORYAT LARGE

THEFINDING COST MY OF GALLOP CARING

The lives of the immigrantThe equine, women the who exquisite tend to the needs of others.

BY NICOLEBY RACHEL SILVERBERG AVIV

n YEmma JOURNEY’s first AS year a horse at San begins, Isidro enteen,Andrew found and insulting. I have a Sheunique, was spetoo- College, strangely, in the in Philippines,the middle. she saw cialambitious marriage to inassume which the nothing duties is of off a MI Inher 2007, name as on I aapproached bulletin board my in for the- limits.housewife. This But has she led enjoyed to a fair the share com- of tiethregistrar’s birthday, office, I felton a an sheet unprecedented of paper ti- embarrassingpany of her boyfriend,run-ins (you Edmund, try explain a- sensetled “Promise of failure. List.” My It husband, showed the Andrew, names inghandsome to your student in-laws who why, made in athe feat other of andof fifteen I had studentsbeen married who owed over tentuition years, to lovemaking,Ringlets jealous. you entirely“I wasn’t de-tiled thinking their of hadthe schooltwo andbeautiful the dates, daughters, long past, thatand bathroom!)marrying,” Emma but also said. affords “It was a safe just, space Oh, atheir house money staff had of beenfive. due. I wasEmma in terrific and ofthere’s discussion somebody that who has willsaved bring the an house um- physicalthree friends, health who and were owned part a of business, a clique frombrella arsonfor me on when at least it’s three raining. occasions. There’s yetof seven I felt girls a daunting known as pang the Ringlets,of discom for- somebodyAnd so, who when will I gofinally to the told movies him fortthe initialsduring of the their most names, mundane were shockedof daily ofwith my me ambitions—to on Saturdays.” become Within what a year, I’d tasks:that their lowering debts myselfhad been into made a car, public. tak- alwaysshe was idolized, pregnant. to Her gallop teacher and said, trot, “Do to ingThe a Ringletsbite of my crossed half-grapefruit out their breaknames- becomeyou remember a horse, what and I a told damn you?” good Emma one fast,with drying a pen. myselfWithin with an hour,a towel—even the col- atwondered that—he if herlistened. teacher’s prediction had whenlege’s readingguidance to counsellor my youngest had daugh called- been a kind of curse. ter,Emma Genna. and her friends into her office. She CANNOT married REMEMBEREdmund, and the returned first “WeThe only very did natureit because of a parasitewe were is so its to school time twoI saw weeks a horse. after Growinggiving birth. up clandestineashamed!” Emma takeover, confessed. and so it was with IinShe the was cowboy frightened terrain by of the Arizona, size of they her myEmma, dreams who of another, grew up more on a farmcomplete with seemeddaughter, to who be a she part thought of the waslandscape, about life.eleven At brothers first it andwas sisters,just a paidglisten her ofdebts de- as naturalsmall as as a theplastic purple bottle. mountains She and or sire,by working so small in I the hardly college’s noticed. library But during over rigidEdmund saguaros moved that into dotted a two-bedroom the skyline. manythe day years and takingit became classes the at elephant night. Her in Beyondwooden thehouse wash with behind a thatched my house roof thejob gaveroom—and her an edge,it was because a loud elephant.she could wasmade a small,of palm private fronds ranch, in Malaybalay, and on clear the Theread herelephant assigned was screaming.textbooks the mo- dayscapital I couldof Bukidnon, peer over a mountainous,my back wall mentAlas, they I longedarrived to at become the library. a horse— Few andlandlocked see the province. thick Shechocolate made herburrito hus- notpeople necessarily could a infford identity, to buy but the certainly books, bodiesband co offf eemy every equine morning amigos. and did all inand behavior—a as many as sixconfession students wouldthat earned stand the cleaningFrom clothing and ironing. to framed She consid- paint- moreat a library than itstable, fair crowding share of scoffs.over one “Only text. ingsered herselfto stuffed “a little animals lucky,” because(whose Ed-yarn horsesAlthough are Emmahorses,” majored I heard infrom account- many manemund’s I wouldparents raggedly ran a restaurant, brush with which my friendsing, she as felt they that looked she was past best me, at fearful read- ownrelieved comb), her myof thechildhood need to was cook. almost But ofing. eye In contact.her English As ifelective, becoming as her a horseclass- entirelythe restaurant populated went withbankrupt, these a comcom- ismates any gotmore lost impossible in flashbacks than and myextended girl- panions.mon fate They for businesses held a particular in the Philip- addic- friends’metaphors, quest she for could eternal follow youth! the plots tivepines. magic Wages no areother low—the doll or toyaverage train of AmericanI’m quite awarenovels. of During the reputation breaks couldannual match. salary isI thirty-fivewould sit hundredfor hours dol- in horsesfrom work, have sheearned sat in themodern library society: read- ourlars—and ornate moreplayroom, than stroking a quarter my of little the majesticing and exclaiming,in the wild, “Ohpersecuted my God, in theoh horsiespopulation with lives the intenderness poverty. and love a cities,my God!”—a but always heroine odd-toed had been ungulates. raped nannyRaised gives Roman to the Catholic,child she likecares eighty for. Yetor unjustly to me itimprisoned. was simple: Her while classmates I have per centOther of Filipinos,horse lovers Emma of knewmy youthnoth- nevercouldn’t been understand any good how at sports her reaction or the tooking about pleasure contraception. in riding orBy grooming the time artscould (no be somatter visceral. how “Just many read thistimes story!” my theshe beautifulgraduated beasts, from college, but however with a manybach- fathershe urged put them.a squash racket in my hand timeselor’s mydegree father in tookscience, me toshe the had stables, two or myEmma’s mother teacher put balletin Personality shoes on De- my Idaughters. couldn’t quiteWithin bring fifteen myself years, to she make had feet!)velopment, I’ve aalways class onloved manners horses and very hy- physicalseven more contact. children, A pensive,all of them sensitive girls, deeply.giene, was Racing so impressed like a horse by seemedher reading like child,who slept I felt in bunkoverwhelmed beds and onwhen the floor.con- aand natural writing evolution, that she aasked way Emmaof honoring to be frontedEmma paidface-to-face two night-school with their students maj- theher assistant.main constant Observing in my that life—and Emma was to esty.to care Who for could her daughters blame a delicate while shegirl havepopular some and fun! confident, This thewasn’t teacher a mid-life joked likeworked myself? for the After government all, horses of are Bukid- quite crisis.that within And Ia wasn’tyear she about would to betake mar- no tall.non, in the office of nutrition; she de- came to New York and became a nanny. forried, an an answer. idea that Emma, who was sev- visedInstead policies andI was classes mesmerized to prevent child by

THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 57 The author went on a quest that was truly her own. There were costs, but it was a journey to which she could not say ‘nay.’ 26 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 IMAGE BY JAMES FOLTA

The author went on a quest that was truly her own. There were costs, but it was a journey to which she could not say ‘nay.’ IMAGE BY JAMES FOLTA horses in competition, elite and sleek. of the story, but to do so is to doubt In the United States, these races are That seemed to me to be a special life: my father—something I refuse to do. mainly designed for Thoroughbreds. to be groomed and bet on, like a beau- It would not be until he passed The birth of North American tiful woman. I’d play out these com- away that I began to understand what horse races was Salisbury, New York petitions with my figurines time and “bend it to your will” truly means. (now the Hempstead Plains of Long again. It was an intensely private part “It” is whatever you need it to be, Island), in 1665. The two biggest of my childhood. Sometimes my play and “your will” is your will. Could it be competitions in the country are the would be silent and I’d hold the win- that simple? famous Kentucky Derby, held on the ning horses in my lap, or if they were first Saturday of May in Louisville, small enough, in my mouth. ORSE RACING HAS been around and the Preakness Stakes, held two When I was eleven, my family since the times of Ancient weeks later in Baltimore. moved to the east coast to be closer to HGreece; horses have been around I attended my first Kentucky Der- my ailing grandfather. Horses became even longer. Once I graduated from by the year after college, taken by my a symbol of the life I was forced to university, I did what so many ambi- then-boyfriend who was something of abandon. Is that a child’s perception Tennessee royalty. His family had at- or the unmarred truth of a spry mind? tended the Kentucky Derby since its I consider this often over yoga. inception, and to join them was noth- For years after moving east, I’d gal- ing short of a pre-marriage ritual to lop around the house, ask my younger test my compatibility. sister to sit on my back and attempt Beneath the brim of my hat to leap over the small bronze Degas (which had barely arrived in time sculptures our parents let us play with. from France the night before) I could I’d ask for punishment when I failed, see my boyfriend’s mother, as majes- and for carrots and sugar cubes when tic as the horses themselves. Thin and I succeeded. sinewy, she was an agile woman, dart- I have become obsessed with this ing from person to person to make image of myself as a girl, tentative in sure the social equilibrium was main- action but aggressive in passion. It’s a tained. I could see how an eager first- poor imitation of my father—but then tious yet underprepared graduates do: timer swept up in the moment could again, my father was inimitable. I reverted to childhood. I didn’t move mistake her for a horse, assuming she “Bend it to your will,” he used to back in with my parents, but I did take was there for competition. say to me when he tucked me in once over a small four-bedroom apartment Inevitably, the weekend did not a year. This is perhaps an unconven- they held in Manhattan, and couldn’t go as well as planned. Perhaps I was tional message to relay to a young girl, help but feel idiotic for how small my too distracted by the races, the horses but my father was an unconventional life seemed. I became obsessed with springing from their places and shoot- man. He fiercely protected that which horse races—not betting money, but ing like bullet stars past us. Or perhaps he loved: his family, his business, and learning everything I could about the I did mount my boyfriend’s mother, or his antique collection of hospital bed- jockeys, the horses, the different track ask her to mount me. How the mind pans. He was very charming, and not surfaces, and the derbies. If my love decays as we age! All I know is in the very considerate. for elite horses had gone dormant over car back from the airport, I turned to His willpower is legendary in my the four years I was immersing myself my boyfriend and knew it was over. family. It is an oft-told story at holi- in Latin, literature, and cheap cham- “It’s over, isn’t it?” I remember saying days that, on the day of his wedding pagne, it was awakened now. to him. He replied with a nod: it was to my mother, a record-breaking late Horse racing is, at its core, one over. spring snow storm was to hit upstate of the simplest competitions in ex- Many years later I would run into New York, burying my mother’s es- istence. Though the particulars and him, once again at the Kentucky Der- tate beneath 40 inches of snow—not traditions change from country to by. I was married to Andrew by then. exactly the clear-skied, floral event country, all horse racing determines He told me his mother, the beautiful of which she had dreamed. The night one thing: What horse is fastest over a horse-like woman who had ushered before the wedding, the sky already fixed distance? me into the world of elite races, passed turning to a deep foreboding slate, The most common type of racing earlier that year of cancer. That night I my father ran into the meadow be- is “flat racing,” in which the horse rid- neighed at my reflection in the mirror: hind the house barefoot and furious. den by a jockey gallops on a track or a small gesture for such an important No one knows exactly what he said, between two points to test its speed woman. but within two hours the clouds had and stamina. Tracks can be as short as cleared, and the next day the outdoor 400 meters and as long as 2.5 miles, TURNED twenty-five the fall of wedding bloomed perfectly into being. though the most famous derbies usu- 1992, when the country was bub- You may doubt the proposed causality ally test a distance of 1 or 1.25 miles. Ibling in anticipation of the presiden-

28 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 tial election. Andrew was stationed in pened in the sessions? Who exactly to book a deep tissue massage; for the Iowa to work on the campaign, and I was I speaking to? disappointment alone, I’d earned it. felt lonely and idle waiting for his re- “Are you still there?” the woman I was halfway out the door when turn. asked gently. “The sessions last an hour, I remembered something curious; I In those days, print newspapers tops. It pays $20 cash. You don’t have turned back to the proctor. still reigned supreme, and on week- to bring anything, just wear close-toed “Why did you say I needed to day mornings I would walk around my shoes.” wear close-toed shoes?” I asked, with Upper West Side block to pick up the Before I knew it, I was writing maybe a bit more bite than I intended. smaller local publications, saying hello down an address, having hardly said “Randomly selected participants to the regular doormen on my street. five words over the phone. I looked up also have to operate a foot pedal,” the (Is friendliness a lost pastime?) the address in the phonebook and was bespectacled girl squeaked. “Not you, One particular morning I was surprised to see that it belonged to a obviously.” combing through the classifieds sec- psychology lab at New York Univer- I stomped out of the room, feel- tion of the paper on the hunt for a sity. Maybe the mystery voice wasn’t ing personally attacked. Why had this good hoot. I had been clipping the out to get me after all. research project advertised itself so most unusual bits from the paper for When I arrived the following vaguely? Why couldn’t they research months to assemble into a small scrap- Tuesday night, I was surprised to see something I was truly interested in? book to give Andrew upon his return. not an open space or a mock pasture, And why was I so disappointed? It Sure, some husbands would rather but a set of cubicles, each containing made little sense. have the gift of American football a computer monitor. I was led into a In the weeks after the lab, I start- tickets, but what can I say? We’re in- cubicle and handed industrial-looking ed doing research to see if there was tellectuals. goggles. It was explained to me that a service like what I had been hoping One autumn morning I found a graduate students were studying herd the experiment would be. I wanted curious ad that read: “WANTED: RE- mentality, and that my goggles would someone to teach me how to embody SEARCH PARTICIPANTS FOR HORSE adjust my depth perception. The ex- a horse so that I could, in my spare ROLEPLAY.” I was horrified, but in- periment involved looking at different time, find personal enjoyment through trigued. What could it mean? photos of herds and pressing different galloping and maybe one day compete. I put the paper away, but over letter keys on my keyboard depending I had difficulty finding an instructor, the next several days, my mind kept on my instincts. It was terribly boring. but I realize now that this was a piv- returning to the ad. I was afraid the When I emerged from my cubicle otal moment for my passion and me. role-play was sexual or unsafe; I had nearly an hour later, I felt dejected. I Before I knew it, Andrew returned heard horror stories from girlfriends had learned nothing from the “herd from Iowa, and a week after that we about being brought to “interactive” mentality exercise” except that my fin- became engaged. With wedding plans, theatre pieces in seedier parts of the gers were sore. I made a mental note the horse dream would have to wait. city. Yet the word “research” had me hooked. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved research almost as much as I’ve loved horses. Perhaps I was afraid to admit to myself that however much informa- tion I had gathered about horse rac- ing, there was still an element that felt entirely unattainable: the feeling of being the horse. Being a research par- ticipant in horse role-play would fill in some of the gaps—or at least connect me to someone who could. I called the number from the pa- per and, to my surprise, was met with a warm female voice on the other end. “I’m calling in regard to your horse- play ad,” I said, so nervous I was al- ready mixing up my words. “When are you available?” the voice on the other end said. “We have sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights.” I was overwhelmed. What hap- “Crab? Like the animal?

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 29 Y THE TIME I was pregnant with normal. Upstate, I had started my my daughters. Andrew’s oldest sister our first daughter, Mattalia, An- own business: a small artisanal soap Elizabeth still lived in the city and I Bdrew and I had started living upstate company to benefit cow sanctuaries (a loved to visit her. Elizabeth is a thin, more than half the year. bit of irony, to be sure) and I felt an spindly woman with muted blonde When speaking to my best friends incredible sense of purpose. The com- in the city, I would feign frustration pany, cleverly called Milk Soap, was at the lack of culture and activity in run out of our spare barn. our new rural home, but in truth I ap- I would spend hours watching the preciated the calmer lifestyle, simpler soap being poured into molds, inhal- people, and the opportunity to have ing the natural scents of our organic quiet time with my husband before masterpieces. It was quite soothing. the baby came. Besides, anyone will I had a feeling of arrival in my life; tell you July in Manhattan is not the I had somehow achieved a life as ideal place to have swollen ankles and prosperous and satisfying as the one a small bladder, no matter how nearby my grandparents had, and to make it your driver is. more special, it was in the same region Throughout my pregnancy, I re- of the country as they had lived. called a pregnant mare that had lived After Mattalia was born, I entered hair and soft features. She’s a living on the neighboring ranch when I was a a state of bliss. Gone were my petty wisp of smoke, enchanting and elu- child. I watched that horse obsessively, concerns of being the best liked in my sive. Her penthouse is full of classical in awe of how spry she continued to social circle, or even the important portraits of various pets—an eclectic be throughout her pregnancy. A horse concerns, like wearing the most fash- take on the Greco tradition all of An- does not “bag up” (start to show) until ionable outfits. I was completely con- drew’s family adores. the final month or so of her gestation. tent to just sit with my wet nurse and It was in her study that we were Certainly mares are tender or sensi- Mattalia. Everything felt destined. tasting wine and daydreaming about tive to their foaling, but it seemed Three years later, my second the warm weather coming our way. minimal compared to what I was go- daughter was born. It was a difficult The girls were three and six at the ing through. I couldn’t help but laugh pregnancy for me, Andrew, and our time and were on a vacation with An- when I realized that I felt jealous of surrogate. But on a special rainy au- drew. I think it’s important for girls to pregnant horses. (Though I’d like to tumn night, Genna was born, and our have alone time with their father to stay thin until the last month I must family was complete. develop an independent bond. admit, the human nine-month preg- I never had a sister, but Andrew In a few months the school year nancy is far preferable to the nearly had four and was close with three of would end and the girls would go year-long equine one!) them. I’m grateful for the friendship away for a special summer enrich- Nevertheless, my pregnancy was and sisterhood they’ve extended to ment program. I couldn’t believe how healthy and I was continuing life as me, and the example they’ve set for quickly they were growing up, but felt excited for the independence I’d re- gain. Genna was a vicious little tyke, with a particular knack for biting and climbing, (“We both know where she gets that from!” I’d joke to Andrew with a jab.) I was telling all this to Elizabeth when something came over me. Be- fore I could stop myself, I confided in her about my side project: my own authentic attempts to horse race. I had great love for Milk Soap, but that was work and I had been looking for play (beyond what An- drew could give me!). All my friends had hobbies that I found terribly bor- ing. I’d accompanied them to so many inane book clubs, tennis lessons, swim retreats, wine tastings, ceramics class- es, cheese monger tutorials, investing seminars, and one ill-advised hour of “If I were you I’d be very careful before I said something hypnosis therapy, that I was worried I thought was funny.”

30 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 it wasn’t the hobbies that were the problem, but that it was me! But that White Space couldn’t be. At that point, I was giving Matta- Finally, on this page. Blankness. lia piggyback rides down the hallways at her constant request. To my sur- Margins. The rest of the magazine prise, I found greater joy in that than I had in any of my attempts at a hobby, so dense with packed columns, but and it wasn’t the joy of parenthood: it here, at last, somewhere to write down was the love of having the weight of a small child on my back. Soon I was experimenting with the form. At first, the name of that Pilates studio I’d try to hold her on my back while I on the Upper West Side with the all-Dire Straits moved on my hands and knees, try- ing to propel us forward, but Mattalia playlist, or the phone number for a play–centric kept tumbling off and knocking into babysitter for Caleb and the other one, or the walls. I tried various ways of strapping her to my back and holding my own just space to draw a serpent winding its way weight before landing on a sustainable through the stanza breaks which arrangement. Wrapping my knuckles in masking tape for padding and put- you don’t know why they are where ting my back weight on the balls of my feet, I was able to position Mattalia on they are. But you can give the serpent the small of my back and carry her for several yards at an impressive speed. some sick stripes and maybe make Mattalia laughed and laughed but I it breathe fire. And fill in the background didn’t care. I was thriving. I wanted to share it with some- one besides Andrew. Of course An- with 3D boxes and lightning bolts. Take up drew would enjoy the sight of me with every last square inch. You can always stay my rump in the air but what would an outside eye make of it? Secretly I home with the kids and play “Sultans of Swing” on wanted permission from someone to repeat while doing crunches on the floor pursue this—my new hobby—more seriously. Whether it the wine or the gid- —Chris Michael Shea diness that led me to show Elizabeth, I’m not quite sure. But I downed the rest of my glass and offered to show compliments, and had wanted one. should ever expand) and spent a great her my new “trick”—an imperson- “Let’s get you a glass of water to deal of time studying them. The hors- ation (in a sense) of a racing horse. bring you back to Earth,” she said as es’ previous owners had trained them Elizabeth agreed, cackling at the im- she rose from her armchair and glided for racing, and so I hired the famous age of a stunning, lithe woman like into the kitchen to chastise a maid. former jockey George Bush to ride the myself lowering myself to the floor. I brushed the dust off my knees and horses and keep them active. But when I started galloping, Eliza- went to the restroom to freshen up. I Eventually, George Bush became beth’s reaction turned almost solemn. wasn’t humiliated; I was determined. I a part of the family. The girls adored I panicked. felt like all the women I’d ever looked watching him ride, Andrew enjoyed “Do you like it?” I asked. “Of up to as they described facing adversi- his jokes, and I was summoning the course, it’s not as good as the real ty. I knew my gallop was worth some- courage to ask him to train with me. thing. But do you think it’s authentic?” thing. This was going to be more than I was still keeping the hobby se- I was surprised by the insecurity in my a hobby; it was going to be a lifestyle. cret from most of my friends after voice. Elizabeth erupted in unreadable my demonstration to Elizabeth. I had laughter. S WITH ANY competitive athlete, tested the waters with several women “Sure it’s authentic, honey. It’s my life began to take shape in my circle, but they didn’t take me also freaky,” she exclaimed. The word Aaround my practice. I purchased four seriously. Is it the modern war on sin- “freaky” sounded uncomfortable in her Thoroughbreds to put in our spare cerity that prevented them from be- mouth. It wasn’t a compliment. I love spare barn (built in case Milk Soap lieving in me? I don’t know. I couldn’t

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 31 etched with definition. I didn’t even mind that I’d put on 3.2 pounds. To my surprise, I could pick up Genna if for some reason I wanted to! Yet certain challenges felt in- surmountable. For example, the very existence of my collarbone was trou- bling. Horses’ forelimbs are connected directly to the spinal column by im- pressive muscles and ligaments. No surgery or physical therapy can cor- rect this in humans. Furthermore, my knees were all wrong. Horses’ “knees” are more akin to a human wrist, com- prised of carpal bones. How was I to fully compete with horses without these basic biological attributes? These differences were agonizing and at times tempted me to throw in the towel. Had any athlete faced this type of adversity? It was unlikely. Yet I took inspiration from their stories, reading biographies of athletic icons, hoping to absorb resilience through the pages as Andrew slept beside me. . . What I lacked in anatomy, I strived to make up for in authenticity. help but feel like I was being punished I’d lived my entire life under the um- One of the more challenging aspects for my creativity. brella of that philosophy, and I wasn’t of those earlier days was internal- George Bush was a strange little going to depart from it or give up just izing a horse’s four-beat gait. Before man with a tendency to start ev- because someone else hadn’t gotten George Bush came into the picture, I ery sentence with the phrase “Quite the memo. was galloping in two parts: my arms frankly.” His jockey career had ended I offered George Bush double pay together followed by both legs. But after allegations of stealing from his and explained my need to him. My horses move in a four-part sequence: employer, but I’d been keeping a close boredom with the “normal” activities left hind leg, left front leg, right hind eye on the horses’ bank accounts and that had been afforded to me (as a leg, right front leg. It comes intuitively nothing seemed askew. woman!) simply wasn’t enough. Surely to horses, but it did not, frustratingly, I had been subtly trying to gauge he could understand that. We made to me. As the legs leave the ground, a George Bush’s interest, but the man the first appointment to train. I was so horse is supported alternately laterally wouldn’t reveal a thing. I knew I had thrilled that I read bedtime stories to and diagonally, using slight head ad- to ask him straight. both my daughters that evening. justments for extra balance. “I’d like to learn how to race,” I The missing puzzle piece was dis- said to him one night when I was vis- WAS PRETTY decent starting out, covered one night when I was hav- iting the barn to check on the beau- but was nothing compared to ing a steam before bed. It had been a ties. “Would you be willing to train Iwhat George Bush was used to. For particularly stressful day—Genna had me?” the first several weeks, I engaged in a accidentally swallowed a diamond, “Quite frankly, I’m not sure what series of tests, measurements, and ex- small but of great sentimental value. you mean,” George Bush said to me, ercises that left my body ragged and As I wrapped my hair up in my towel raising his brow. “You’re no horse.” exhausted at the end of every day. it occurred to me… perhaps if I were I thought I was going to boil over. Andrew would carry my limp to wear a weighted headpiece, my bal- I was so sick of being confronted with body to the tub and help me bathe. ance could be improved. not being a horse. Was Serena Wil- “No one’s making you do this,” he’d The next morning I shared this liams born a tennis player? Of course coo to me. But he was wrong. I was with George Bush, who was elated. He not! She was born a baby and she making myself. rarely gave me strange looks anymore. learned a set of skills. My father had In little time, I was in the best “Quite frankly, we could weight always maintained that passion and shape I’d ever been in my life. My thin other parts of your body for accuracy determination could open any door as bony legs were now enveloped in a as well,” he said. Seven weeks later I long as you had money to back it up. lean layer of muscle, and my back was had my horse suit.

32 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 The suit was still a prototype then, do wish I had made a greater effort think they do.” and wasn’t nearly as fashionable or or- to see him more than once or twice a As much as I had been denying it, ganic as I’d have liked. But from the year. We were overseas for Mattalia’s Andrew was correct. If I was going to moment I put it on, I felt positively skiing with some regularity, but the do this, I was going to need my family ferocious. inescapable minutiae often won out by my side. I was only able to devote a few over an extra week’s travel to see him. The next day, I flew Mattalia home hours every couple days to my new When I got the call that he was from Europe and informed her that hobby of horsedom, and as much as I ill, I was half-dressed getting ready for she would be taking a yearlong break wanted to give more, I felt guilt about a Milk Soap gala. I remember looking from her skiing trials, no matter the prioritizing it. I didn’t want to leave back in the mirror and realizing how impact. I withdrew Genna from her Andrew with an unfair share of the beautiful I looked. It felt like a trib- Manhattan school. The entire family parenting or staff control. So many ute to my father, to carry the genes he would be settled upstate year-round other mothers have commiserated passed on to me with such poise. I like for me to pursue my horse hobby full with me on this very same dilemma— to think he’d say so, too. time with them by my side. But that the desire to be the perfect mother and By the time we arrived in London meant one final thing needed to be wife, but the need to answer a differ- three days later, he did not have much done. ent, perhaps higher, call. time left. I shut down Milk Soap, letting And, on top of all that, we were I never spoke to my father about everyone in the company go. Horses still spending several months a year at my horse hobby, but as I sat with him don’t own businesses, and so neither our place in Manhattan. Genna was at his bed (at the very lovely Brit- would I. enrolled in two kindergartens (one ish hospital that provided his care), My life had moved from a canter upstate and one in the city) in order watching him channel his youth by to a gallop, and it was time to race. to allow us freedom to travel. Mattalia, swiping and grabbing at the beautiful now nine, was on a fast track to be- nurses caretaking for him, he seemed HOUGH I HAD been informally coming an Olympic skier, and would to know on some deeper level that I racing the Thoroughbreds in our go to Italy and Switzerland for months was on the brink of something impor- barnT for over a year, the time had come at a time to spend time on the slopes. tant—even vital. for a real competition to showcase my We were proud of Mattalia, who When he took his last breath, I skills. This had become more than a clearly possessed a warrior’s spirit. made a vow to myself that I would live hobby to me; it was a side career. Brilliant, athletic, and resourceful, our his legacy as best I could. To “bend it We had built a track behind the sweet girl was conquering the world. I to my will,” as he so often said. spare spare spare barn (for the horses wanted to be just like her, and couldn’t Later that night, I spoke with An- in case the now defunct Milk Soap help but notice the irony that my pur- drew about my epiphany. had wanted to expand), and hired two suits to emulate her meant that I could “If anything, doesn’t this mean more jockeys to work under George not be present to support her. She’d you should reinvest in your family?” Bush. We set the date of the race, and started calling me “Mommy Nanny” Andrew asked, brushing my hair. “I got working. and the nanny “Nanny Mommy.” know the girls miss you. Or at least I The event was years in the mak- Could I live with that? Every time I pushed forward with my horse work, I was inevitably miss- ing dinner or a parent-teacher con- ference or a qualifying Olympic trial. I was frustrated and felt, for the first time in my life, quite lonely. Wasn’t I entitled to a life of bliss and purpose? Yes, I had a family and a business and homes, but that hardly mattered. Then my father fell ill.

E BELIEVE OUR parents are immortal until, suddenly, Wthey’re proving to us that they’re not. Such was the case with my father, who had retired to London a decade earli- er. I missed him when he moved away, but was impressed by the active and cultured life he was leading abroad. It isn’t helpful to dwell on regrets, but I

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 33 washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it, is surely one of the great and I got a shock when I saw the back hole-in-the-ground ing,latrines but outside, I still withhad greatapproaches work to todo. any culturalAs I pilgrimagetrotted out toof athe woman, track, dressed I in aIt dirndl may andembarrass high- him for me to some disconcerting twigFor broomsmonths propped I trained, site, perfecting the castle my appearingmade eye across contact the with crowned George Bush:hat, exiting share from it, but what Andrew I’d and I made love next to them. All ofform the andhut’s pushing seventy- myself Gulf to of the Trieste brink in a myseries mentor, of visual my throbs leader, thoughtand my wasjockey. the emptythrough downstairs, my horse and suit that night—a nine beds were expectedof physical to be filled, ability. and, Before like theI knew unabashedly it, I approached orgasmic build him of for adisappearing final brush. into I thefinal woods. consummation Later, on- on my internal with some serious drinkingtwo months already had going passed, Rilke’s and thepoems. race In took1912 , thehe wrotegroom to as a an line,opportunity I discovered to thattransformation Eichmann and and his achievement. The on in the dining room,was uponthis was us. begin- friend, “We are in thefocus. karst, Then and the it hardwas -timeS.S. for guardsthe mount. had stayednext atmorning the inn whileat the breakfast table, ning to strike me as problematic.It was a Sunday Night morningened mountains race, and forgoI the could eff eminacyfeel the weightfleeing of U.S.George troops Iat heard the end the of thegirls war. asking our chef, “I was going to be a Ichallenge; had hardly morning slept the ofnight any before.vegetation.” It There’sBush on actually my back quite and Gold as I coinsstretched that theyheard buried neighing under last the night—was there gruesome. was to be a mostly privatea lot ofevent, vegetation at- my around legs, Ithe felt castle all human huts thought in the meadowfly a horse had beenin the dug house?” up Andrew and I I decided that thetended only byway a fewto han- of the kids’(and friends only Rilke and couldout haveof me. I was no longer a mother,occasionally couldn’t over stop the laughing. years. Our life, finally, dle it was to get myselfsome to neighbors sleep imme- who wereimagined interested the gentle husband, slopes and horse hobbyist—I sim-If Iwas had complete. to choose a fa- diately, and to clearin outthe firstfuss. thingI was inglad nearbyto have to an be au mountains),- ply was the horse. I felt a deep convorite- stretch from my sam- the morning. I had dience,a sleeping but pill focused in my on butwhat the was path most itself nection is pure with my surroundings frompling of the HE Via, VERY it wouldESSENCE of being alive glasses case, whereimportant. I’d also stowed This mywas aboutkarst: me.fantastical Would mywater- fellow competitors to the groundbe the part isof one the ofBlue change. trail We are forced to contact-lens container.I succeed? A minor Could mis- I? eroded stone, fissuredI scraped into my hoof against. I knew thatthat passesadapt,T andthrough it only the behooves us to find hap gave the day a finalIn farcicalprevious twist. trials, whatI was geologists able to callI hadclints finally ascended into a humbleWalser a villagespath of ofadaptation the Pied- that brings us joy. Some of the lens solutionbeat the hadoldest leaked, horses, butand often grykes—blocks lost to self-actualization. and mont. TheI thinklandscape of my was father, who followed half-dissolving mythe precious more experienced narcotic. racers.cracks—and fluted likeI thought the race would be a blurthickly his forested, whims withresponsibly Chi- and lived a long, There was no alternative“Quite but to frankly, lick the it’s cakenot youricing fault.” or pinched of adrenaline, into but I was hyperawarenese-looking of fruitful life crags on three and continents. I think residue out. I was doingGeorge this, Bush my tongue would sayrigid to me,waves and like I anevery arrested moment. ocean. I could feelknolls the scarved motion in fog.of myThe loving villages husband, were who chooses to buried deep in the knewcase’s plushhe was interior, right. But I thenwanted headed to northof my into legs, Austria, the pattern and ofmiraculous my gallop, specimens all never of question,an ingenious, but always declines when the door openedwin to and prove the toSwiss everyone—Elizabeth, resumed following asthe natural Purple astrail. breath One itself.low-impact I was pos culture.- to There answer. were I think minia- of George Bush. I couple came in. Anfriends, awkward my pause father, fol- Andrew,stretch myself— of it passessessed near theby Altausseethe intense tureambition funiculars that for thinkbringing of my in suppliesdaughters, who are being lowed, in which I decidedthat this itwas would time be well saltspent. mine, where thehad Nazis guided hid mesome to ofthat (themoment, streets and are Itoo broughtsteep and up narrow by a mother for who believes hopeless to try to explain.I zipped They staredmyself intotheir the stolen newest art. I droppedplaced second down offrom fifth! cars), Richard Scarry-likein finding vehicles personal on power and hold- for a moment, evidentlyversion reappraising of my horse suit,pristine a functional meadows—still I wasemerald as elated green as I caterpillarwas exhausted, treads foring theon tight.garbage Mattalia and will compete in their high-mindedwork roommate of art. as A some childhood in August—and friend was andlooked I was at theeating old the heavysugar cubeslifting, to stone the houses Olympics caged for thein second time next kind of cokehead nowor very an industrialspecialized couture railbeds, designer with saltin crystalsprove glitteringit. along wooden balconies,year, scythes and lying Genna on isthe already the “quirky” deviant, before beatingParis, a retreat. and had I passed offered tothe improve tunnels uponand a subterraneanAfter the chapel race, stone-coveredAndrew ap -roofs,one. chimneys She dreams shingled of Yale Law School. out, mercifully quickly,the first to the version dim roar for me.dedicated Made of tovelvet St. Barbara, proached the patron me; hesaint touched like tinymy houses.snout The schist-richIn years since local my first race, I’ve of Slovenian drinkingand purifiedsongs, and dirt left with ofburlap miners. and Years-old gold gently, swags petting of fir myhung mane. rock I nestled made intoeverything competed glitter close madly to eightyin times in both before daybreak theleaf next accents, morning. the suit wason nothing the walls, short smelling him. asI knewif they’d he justwas proudthe sunshine.of me, be The- private Walsers and were public Ger- contexts. My body Just beyond the hut,of divine. I saw something been cut, the salt aircause keeping I was them proud un of- myself.man-speaking refugeeshas stayed and migrantstaut and athletic, and my moving in the gray light below me: a naturally fresh. who spread southmind through has sharpened.the Alps For entire days shaggy animal with big horns. It was an That evening, I stayed at Blaa-Alm, during the Middleat Ages, a time, improvising I’ll find a myself in a horse ibex, though in profile it looked like a an inn along the trail. The owners, who’d life style on the highmindset—practically terrain where no- unable to com- slightly disreputable unicorn. I took out told me they were going to be gone for body else farmed ormunicate lived. It withwas aspeech. fru- Even now as I my phone and filmed it as it ambled the night, left my room key in the en- gal life style, constrainedtype, my byfingers the de- feel stiff, aching to be across the lunar scree. When I look at trance. It was an old wooden building mands of basic survival,hooved. but In there this way,were I’m free. the footage now, it seems the perfect in the Tyrolian style, deep in the mid- enough grace notes toWill make time you travel feel exist in my life- emblem of that place: wild and dream- dle of silent countryside, with flower- that the inhabitantstime? enjoyed Perhaps. their exis-I think often of the like and marvellous. hung balconies looking out on a meadow tence. In a little museummoment in to Alagna, which I return. Would I full of small farm buildings, and I seemed admired a teaspoonspeak carved to with my a ex-boyfriend’shand mother iking the entire Via Alpina to have it entirely to myself. A wooden holding a rose. who introduced me to derbies? The H would take years, so after leaving staircase led up to a large bedroom in It’s the looping continuummeek lab ofproctor the trail who, by failing, Triglav National Park I got into a car which the walls, ceiling, and every other that makes the Viashowed Alpina mewhat what it is. success It meant to me? and drove to other sections of the trail. surface, including the light-switch cover, doesn’t take long toMy lose dad? yourself No. I in think the I would visit my Moving southwest, I crossed into Italy, had been intricately panelled in the same rhythms of mountainyounger travel: self. the morn- where I began a walk on the Karst Pla- butter-colored wood. It was very com- ing climb and long afternoonIf I could descent, go back in time to vis- teau, a rocky landscape pockmarked with fortable, even luxurious, if a touch sar- the dependably undependableit myself as weather,a child in Arizona, what caves and sinkholes, and ended up at cophagal. I sat out on the balcony, watch- the never quite knowingwould I say?what Would you’re I let that small girl Duino Castle. It was here, walking along ing night fall and feeling as though I’d going to see over theknow crest what’s of the in store?next Or would I walk the cliff-top path above the Adriatic, landed in a folktale about a traveller ar- high pass or who’s goingright pastto emerge her, hop from over the back fence, that Rilke claimed to have heard a voice riving in a household under some pow- the mist along the trail—though,and walk onto unlikethe ranch to be with my speak the opening line of what became erful enchantment. Ötzi, you can be fairlygreatest sure equinethe stranger inspirations? Yes. the Duino Elegies: “Who, if I cried, There was nothing sinister, exactly, isn’t going to kill you. IHe think might they even would recognize me would hear me from among the“The Angels’ new issuethough has the a brilliant tall fir trees article around analyzing the thewant to be your friend.as one We’ve of their come own. that I think we would orders?” The Sentiero Rilke, as the Ital- meadow were forbidding in the dusk, far since the Bronze Age.  situation in Syria or something.” gallop. THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 39

34 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016

THEANNALS CRITICS OF KNOTS

KNOTTY BY NATURE

Searching forTHE the world’sCURRENT preeminent CINEMA knot expert

FUNBY AND JORDAN HALLGAMES he reminded me of the fragile final set- “Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Miles Ahead.”piece in a game of pickup sticks. Still, he is an indefatigable character. He has BY ANTHONY LANE faint scarring along his forearms and hands from a teenage firebreathing ac- f you can’t think of a good way to habited, or infested, solely by members cident.his first (The scene, flame he holds never up amade copy it of to Carl his I kick off your movie, how about this? of the baseball team. His roommate is mouth.)Sagan’s “Cosmos”He also has and a says habit to Jake,of talking “Chap - Take a handsome young buck, put him Billy (Will Brittain), a country boy toter himself, 9. It’ll and, blow when your hemind.” makes That a mis mo-- at the wheel of an Oldsmobile coupe, mocked for his hickhood by the others. take,ment aping ignites his ourmother’s sense ofold him, censure: and it and have him whip along a Texas high- They include Roper (Ryan Guzman), “Oh,burns Dunklin, through theyou’ve rest doneof the itfilm, again.” reach - way to the sound of “My Sharona,” by another comely fellow, who spends an Heing took a smoky two shots fruition of an as unidentifiablehe proves to be the Knack. That is what Richard Link- entire scene lauding his own ass in the spirit,the undisputed and we were master off. of the bong. later does in his latest film, “Everybody mirror; the mustached McReynolds OurBest destinationof all is Finnegan, was about played forty with Wants Some!!,” and it’s hard to think (Tyler Hoechlin), who loathes losing, milesa runaway northwest charm of bythe Glen city, Powell. to the Finn,re- of a brighter start. The buck in ques- even at Ping-Pong; Niles ( Juston Street), moteas he mountainousis known, is the region eloquent near one, Benspool - tion is Jake (Blake Jenner), and by the the resident jerk, who claims to have Wyvis—froming out his verbal the Gaelic, riffs in “Hill a bid of not Ter just- end of the song we’ve already grasped thrown a pitch at ninety-five miles an ror.”to catchOnce girlsthere, but Donegan to boost and the I dramatic would the unfolding shape of his life. He glides hour; and Dale ( J. Quinton Johnson), begindash ourof thesearch proceedings. for the man “We I allcame take past groups of girls his age and parks in the only black guy in the house, not that hereturns for. being We chumpswould have around to here,”track himhe ex - front of a house on a pleasant street. He anyone notices or cares. There are mul- downplains. by “You our ownaccept means: your chumpification,no one knew has a shy smile and a box of LPs in his tiple flash points in this society, mostly forand certain move whereon.” Excellent he lived, advice, or, frankly, in any arms. Sunlight pours down like a ben- to do with sporting smarts or carnal brag- if fieldhe was of endeavor, even alive. and He a keywas to once the lovelythe ediction. He’s ready for anything. gadocio, but racial bias isn’t one of them. mostnote famous of comic knot humility expert, withor knotsman, which the Linklater has long been a champion In his limber and leisurely fashion, Link- innatural-born the world. In bumptiousness the 1980s, he ofwas the pe stu- - of beginnings and ends. “Dazed and later is glancing at a golden age. renniallydents is consideredtempered and a popularsoothed, candi and the- Confused” (1993) hung out with a bunch His most cheering gift, and maybe datemovie for knighthood,prevented from and, coarsening over a career into of kids on their final day of high school; the reason that he calls this movie a “spir- spanninga brawl. Jakeseveral and decades, the other his newbies admirers must, “Boyhood” (2014), having tracked its itual sequel” to “Dazed and Confused,” haveof course, included expect the likes a dose of Davidof hazing, Cam and- hero, Mason, for many years, bid him is an itch to populate the frame. At his eron,they Michel are duly Houellebecq, fastened with and duct Dame tape to farewell on his first day of higher edu- best, he doesn’t really direct a film so Helena border Mirren. fence, oneBut of themLarry upside Schnotz down, cation, at once bewildered and blissed much as host it—keeping all his charac- hadn’tand pepperedbeen seen with in twenty-fivebaseballs struck years. by out. Jake, too, is at that pivotal point. A ters involved, rescuing the wallflowers, Thetheir reason bat-wielding for his teammates.disappearance I guess was freshman at an unnamed college in making sure that everyone is plied with unknown,that’s part but of recently the deal, rumors yet the had tale be as- a southeast Texas (otherwise known, to lines and bits of stage business, as if he gunwhole, to surface. though Some filthy-mouthed, said that Schnotz is lenient moviegoers, HIS PAST as SEPTEMBER Linklaterland),, I sat he inis morea towere the southwest,topping up of drinks. which Thethe eponyobvious- wasand working humane. again. No freshmen In fact, werethey harmed said, of acozy, jock dimlythan Mason,lit pub, andoverlooking less of a mouscomparison river stems. is with I initially “Hail, Caesar!,”balked at in he’din thebeen making working of throughoutthis film. his sup- Tthewounded River Ness, soul; in whatever what is generally his past remay- orderingwhich the a drink—itCoens introduced was 10:00 a crewA.M. of posedIt hiatus.is set in For 1980 the, a crossroadslast twenty-five for mu- gardedhave been, as the we capital learn city very of littlethe Scottish about it. onpromising a Tuesday—but figures and my then day let guide them was slide, years,sical trendsSchnotz both had coming been and developing going. We Highlands,He’s like aInverness. passenger Across boarding the bank,a ship late,half-used; and the the tourist result group left audiences was already gaz - theget Holy the dregsGrail of of disco, knots—a Blondie’s knot “Heartthat andwith a fewa single hundred suitcase. yards What upriver, matters stood is ating it. aroundI ordered at thea stout end brownand asking, ale. “Is that wouldof Glass,” subsume the Cars,all others. Cheap Now, Trick, it wasand a Invernessthe surging Castle, tide a redof thesandstone now, and struc the- it?”Ten To Linklater,minutes later,no one Dunklin is disposable. Do- tied.burst of pustular punk. We get M’s “Pop turecamera built followsinto the himcliff, eagerly whose intofounda the- neganTake Nesbitslid into (Austin my booth. Amelio), Donegan who tends is Muzik,” which to my horror I remem- house—taking its cue from a snaking to place unwise bets, for a few dollars, on ber, inF pitilessCOURSE, detail, A frommischievous 1979. And,

tions date back to the eleventh century. pale white with fine obsidian hair. At SCARABOTTOLO Thehose, pub which was runs mostly from empty, the garden save for to ana aboutfruitless six dailyfeet four, activities; he is Plummertall for a (TemScot - O courtesy enthusiasm of the Sugarhill for local Gang,myth-mak we get- smallupstairs group bedroom, of tourists where preparing a water bed to is andple conspicuously Baker), who is thin.just o Asff the he pace slouched when- ing“Rapper’s is de rigeuer Delight,” in this chanted farflung in partangelic of GUIDO visitslowly the beingfamed filled. loch, It’stwenty-three that kind of miles place. intoever the jokes corner, are flying limbs about; spread or Willoughby akimbo, thechorus, world. consonant-perfect, For a region of its bydiminu Roper,-

Jake is a pitcher, and the house is in- (Wyatt Russell), the in-house hippie. In tiveFinn, size Plummer, and political Dale, andinfluence, Jake as theythe : ABOVE Highlands have a disproportionately FromRichard 1990 Linklater’s to 2011, new Larry movie Schnotz is set at didn’t a Texas tie college.a single At knot. his best, he doesn’t reallystrong direct hold a film on so our much imagination. as host it. This FOLTA JAMES BY PHOTOGRAPH

3674 THETHE NEUNEW JORKER,YORKER, APRILJUNE 20,11, 2016 2016 is the home of William Wallace, Nessy, and Arthur, depending on your source. James Bond, like his first off-screen correlative, is Scottish. The grounds of Inverness Castle are supposed to have been the residence of the histori- cal King Macbeth. Five-hundred years later, the exiled Mary Stuart sieged the castle gates and decapitated the gar- rison’s governor, whom she described as “headless in life and death” and “a ninny.” Scotland has never been short on stories. Fittingly, Dunklin Donegan has never tired of hearing them. If some locals were skeptical of Schnotz’s hoary mythos, Donegan remained a zealot, despite having never seen him. “Sometimes I feel like Paul,” he told me, referring to the first-century pros- elytizer who persecuted Christians . . before becoming an apostle. “I may be taught Donegan about Schnotz, whom primers on the history and craft of late to the party, but I’m ready to get they had known, and who had gone knotsmanship, published in the mid- to drunk.” Donegan and I had originally into hiding about eight years prior. late-seventies, and include tutorials on met through an online forum for the “Larry was a real prodigy,” Drewed told some of Schnotz’s favorite standards. Mongolian trance-jazz fusion trio, me. He said that Schnotz “was like da From there, Schnotz’s oeuvre becomes Next Steppes. He regularly posted, and Vinci, excepting that he really had no characteristically esoteric. There’s we quickly struck up a rapport. I first talents other than tying knots. But, say “Knotstrodamus,” published in 1981, visited him last spring. Not long into if da Vinci only had one talent—like if followed three years later by “Knotsti- the trip, I discovered his fascination da Vinci was the F. Scott Fitzgerald of cism: Do Knots Exist?” and, in 1985, with the obscure, mostly forgotten art his day—that’s what Larry was: the F. “Knothilism: Knots Don’t Exist.” These of knotting. He had discovered knots works are all but inaccessible to even as an adolescent, working the docks at the most experienced knotsmen, much the Port of Inverness to help out with less a novice, but they assume a Biblical family finances. His father was a failed significance for Donegan. I thumbed truancy officer, and his mother raised through some of his well-worn copies Dunklin and four other siblings mostly and hardly knew where to begin. There on her own. When he was thirteen, his were rough etchings, occult symbols, father left on a barge bound for New whole passages of the Greek poetess York, where he would find another job Sappho, untranslated and previously as a truancy officer, only to lose it again thought to be lost. One of Schnotz’s weeks later. “He was lazy and forget- more curious works, “Knot Knot Jokes: ful,” Donegan told me. It was around Not Bad Jokes,” consisted of five pages this time that he took up firebreathing. of pop-up figures, none of which were Still, knots captivated him more knots (and, incidentally, none of which than anything. At the port, two older Scott Fitzgerald of knots. And me and were recognizable as anything at all). deckhands, Fergus and Drewed, would Fergie thought Donegan was the same Some have accused Schnotz of obfus- teach the young Donegan three to four way, excepting that he was definitely cation. Ten years ago, in the midst of new knots each time they came to har- way worse than Larry at tying knots.” one of Schnotz’s decadal renaissances, bor, en route from Edinburgh or the The more he learned, the more the critic N. Q. Voldenheim announced Shetland Islands to the north. “We’d Donegan became obsessed. He read that the contents of six whole books pull into town, and there would be every piece of literature on Schnotz he could be arranged into a single unin- Dunklin, shouting at us from the quay,” could find and methodically worked terrupted acrostic. If true, the discovery said Fergus. “‘Oh please, sirs, teach me his way through Schnotz’s own volu- was a miracle. But the acrostic followed more about knots,’ he’d say. ‘I need to minous bibliography. First, the basics: a complex code of lateral moves unique know more about knots, or I’ll never “Knots for Knots’ Sake,” “Knots of ol’ to each page, and Voldenheim died amount to anything.’” Knapoli,” and “Larry’s Last Knot... shortly after his discovery, before he Fergus and Drewed eventually Not!” These books are essentially could publish his findings. A cryptog-

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 37 rapher has recently built a computer to sort through the code, but it will be at least another decade until the acrostic Three poems by Tim Platt can be reassembled. As Donegan drove us up High- Poem 1: way A835 toward Ben Wyvis, I asked him why he was so fervently drawn to i. Schnotz. He paused and took a breath. The chameleon’s tongue is its most boring flesh “A lot of people I know tell me, ‘Well, its springing shocks the weak-willed cadavers too it’s just a knot, isn’t it? Who cares?’” thoraxed to fly He gazed out on the empty highway. Storm clouds had gathered in the dis- tance. “Schnotz’s best knots are easy ii. and hard, simple and complex, because the chameleon’s eyes dart as independently he knows—life itself is a knot.” as two brothers in the back seat of a moving car straining their belts as they claw for different bags of sugar HE HISTORY OF knots is the on the packed ground history of time. Paleolithic goril- Tlas tied knots out of tree branches and leaves to build beds. In 1923, a fishing iii. net was discovered in a Finnish peat bog the skin of each chameleon is the same in its variety that dated back to 7200 B.C.E. Greek another boring cycle of change in a tree too used to color seafarers made good use of knots, as did their trade partners (and occasional enemies) to the east in Anatolia and iv. along the Phoenician coastline. The the chameleon is my favorite dang animal (lizard) Romans added their own innovations, some of which, like Caligula’s, tended toward the prurient. But the knot is perhaps most closely tied to our myths and iconographies: the endless knot Poem 2: of Tibetan Buddhism, the Hindu Pa- a glue spotted spaniel sha, Alexander’s severed Gordian knot, a dog covered in glue the lasso of John Wayne, the lasso of a pooch patched with glue George Bailey. The word ‘knot’ appears there’s so much glue on that dog 468 times in Shakespeare—a number scholars note is significant not only for that dog is covered in glue its frequency, but because each digit represents a unique rope loop. Unsurprisingly, knotsmen are no- toriously fastidious and use a hyper- ning end of the rope is the end you’re ily was expected to own, at minimum, specific lexicon: for instance, a rope is not tying; the working end of the rope three books: the Bible, Bunyan’s “Pil- not simply a rope. It has discrete parts. is the end you are. There are two cen- grim’s Progress,” and Clifford Ashley’s The bight is a doubled section of the tral categories of knots: a hitch ties the “Groundwork and Enquiry into Knots rope that doesn’t cross itself; a bight rope to an object (or itself ), whereas a and Their Origins.” The English knot that crosses itself is a loop. The run- bend joins two ropes or webbing ends historian Ethane McCaulay told me together—the taxonomy is extensive. that “at the height of the British Royal No one knows for certain how Navy, during the Napoleonic Wars, many knots are in active use today, or bored sailors that had endured months how many have been used throughout without seeing military action might history. Unlike bones, stonework, or the know thousands of knots by heart.” To- kinds of relics and ephemera found in day, even among the knot cognoscenti an Indiana Jones film, rope yarn decays (of which McCauley is quick to self- over time, making it a pain for archae- identify), that number has dwindled ologists. Knots probably reached their to perhaps three to four hundred. The apex in the 18th and early 19th centu- most popular have stood the test of ries, between the Age of Discovery and time: the figure eight, the anchor hitch, the dawn of steam-powered vessels, and the double-slipped reef knot, also when every Protestant European fam- known as the shoelace knot. And while

38 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 rinth may metamorphose into the im- age of the knot,” which is “itself a mi- Three poems by Tim Platt crocosmic simulacrum” and “a thing of fearful symmetry and terrible beauty.” Poem 1: Poem 3: He continued that it was “not inciden- Though derelict and dismal tal” that, according to the myth, “the i. maiden Ariadne had supplied Theseus The chameleon’s tongue is its most boring flesh Craig’s body grew and grew and grew. with a ball of yarn, i.e., a rope”—he em- its springing shocks the weak-willed cadavers too bemused portentions magnify phasized this last point—“with which thoraxed to fly a giant’s jar of pickled brew- to retrace his steps out of the maze. So infused with puss with piss and stink we have the symbol within the symbol; and stuffed with stuff that giant’s drink- we have a Russian doll set.” ii. While all this may fall somewhere the chameleon’s eyes dart as independently Craig froze affix’d upon the jar between benign lunacy and perfidi- as two brothers in the back seat of a moving car for there was enough for two. ous imbecility, nearly everyone I spoke straining their belts as they claw for different bags of sugar to on the subject echoed McCauley’s on the packed ground camera eyes confound aflash enthusiasm. “Larry rapped on and on betroth’d despite a poor review about the Knot of Life,” said Fergus. “He’d go weeks without sleeping, just iii. Craig’s hands-beringed-grasp, lift to sip thinking about it—wouldn’t put hand the skin of each chameleon is the same in its variety the giant’s jar of pickled brew. to rope,” Drewed concurred. They another boring cycle of change in a tree too used to color “Forsake the flare, despise the shine- said that in the mid-eighties, to usher respite from crimson fists and wine” in some kind of revelation, Schnotz read ribbons banner’d round the hall moved to the countryside just beyond iv. Inverness proper. He fashioned himself the chameleon is my favorite dang animal (lizard) outline’d by glitter and glue. in the mold of a modern-day prophet, and his behavior became increasingly Braggin Bozos barely born strange. He dieted on wild oats and lo- formed then reformed a merry crew. custs. With a nod to Descartes (know- Adorned their king’s thorn crown with drink- ingly or otherwise), he once walked Poem 2: into the town’s laundromat, curled up a glue spotted spaniel the giant’s jar of pickled brew. inside a running dryer, and meditated a dog covered in glue As liquids pour from cup to crown for a week and a half. When that failed, a pooch patched with glue the Bozos’ eyes glue on the frown he thought a new hobby might spark there’s so much glue on that dog of Bozo King, King Bozo born his creativity. He discovered a docu- by the daughters of the coup. mentary on bagpipes—he had never that dog is covered in glue heard of them—and tried to teach himself how to play. Even accounting —Tim Platt for the instrument’s infamous difficul- ty, Drewed told me that Schnotz was there is an art to the craft, there is, nev- ers and, as so, boasts an almost divine remarkably bad. His nearest neighbors ertheless, a correct method; or, as Ash- character. Ashley mentions something from several miles away petitioned and ley writes: “A knot is never nearly right; similar to it, as have other commen- won a municipal injunction that forced it is either exactly right or hopelessly tators. McCauley, who is a professor him to quit. Still, Schnotz sought in- wrong; there is nothing in between.” emeritus at Our Lady of Righteous spiration. He tried falconry and lost The knot that brought me back to Plagues, claims to have traced its ori- four falcons in three hours, all of which Scotland—the one that Schnotz was gin as far back as the ancient Minoan returned a few days later to attack him rumored to have finished—is one that civilization at Crete. In particular, he in unison. The following week he was knotsmen have been contemplating, points to the famous Cretan labyrinth, diagnosed with a rare strain of avian theorizing on, and failing to tie for as which, as the story goes, the Greek influenza, or bird flu. The doctors indi- long as anyone can remember. Like a hero Theseus successfully navigated cated it was contracted from a separate sugary carbonated beverage, or God en route to slaying the Minotaur. “The incident. himself, it goes by many names, but in labyrinth was omnipresent for the Mi- Nonetheless, although he’d grown the Highlands, at least, it is called the noans,” he told me over the phone. “It erratic, Schnotz’s disappearance a Knot of Life. Fergus told me that the was a seminal mythological image, a few years later remained a mystery. Knot of Life “is basically the knot to symbol of life.” This much scholars Throughout this period, he had con- end all knots; a catch-all, a knot Messi- tend to agree on, but McCauley, as he tinued to go into town to socialize, on ah.” In other words, it’s a knot that is so is wont to do, went further. He found it occasion. Friends said he seemed to be infinitely utilitarian it obviates all oth- “easy to see how the image of the laby- straightening out. In 1989, he wrote

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 39 one of the most commercially success- ful books of his career, “Red Rover, Red Rover, Bring Larry Schnotz Over: To Teach Us About More Knots.” “One day he was just gone,” said Drewed. “Haven’t seen him since.”

COULD TELL Donegan was nervous as we began to approach IBen Wyvis. More than anyone I’d met, he had placed all his faith in the Knot of Life, and, in particular, Schnotz’s Ahabian quest for it. As he told me, “it was not incidental” that he’d taken up knotting soon after he left the Scottish Presbyterian Church of his childhood, and it was clear that, for Donegan, the Knot had replaced the Cross. (In con- versation, he regularly referred to him- self as a “guerilla atheist.”) Fergus and Drewed were forthright in expressing their concern over Donegan’s fanati- cism, but they acknowledged that there was little they could do. “There’s been a great gape in Dunklin’s soul since he was a lad,” said Fergus. “Something that’s been missing, something, like, “After we hook up I’ll want to blog a little.” numinous and elemental that’s not there, and that he’s been fighting to fill in with something else his whole life— . . hence, the fire business.” As he drove, Donegan tapped the mountain. Donegan took off, and I consisted of a red turtleneck, a khaki his scarred fingers against the steer- hurried after him in the darkness, feel- vest with a sheriff ’s badge pinned to it, a ing wheel. Soon, the southern hills of ing the way with my hands. turquoise bolo tie, a madras driver’s cap, Ben Wyvis were on our right, and, in When the stair ended, I stood and a sleeveless white duster. His gener- the distance, a steep, barren ridge shot beside Donegan on a ledge, three- al demeanor was that of an effete wizard. up into the gray sky. According to his quarters of the way up the mountain. “I spied you coming along the source, Schnotz was rumored to live in A stream sprang from a crevice in the dale—you and the bird.” He held up a shack built somewhere into the side rock to our right. To our left, the wall the mutilated raven like a Thanksgiving of the mountain’s southern face, which sucked in and the shoulder widened. A turkey. I asked him how he’d procured was inaccessible to vehicles. We drove wattle and daub hut was in the corner. it, partly to ease into the conversation, another three miles, parked by the Larry Schnotz stood before us holding partly out of a genuine curiosity. He roadside, and began to walk. a dead raven and an iron-pronged shil- pointed to an indentation in the rock For two and a half hours, we saw lelagh. He looked as if he’d been wait- face above us, which he’d camouflaged no lifeforms, human or otherwise, ing. in heather and moss detritus. “I prank when suddenly some black mass of a the bozos,” he said. He shuffled to the bird streaked overhead, startling us and CHNOTZ IS SHAPED in the fashion cliff ’s edge to demonstrate his trickery, causing Donegan to cough up a large, of your father’s bedside lamp: shadowboxing at the sky, a la Charlie half-masticated block of cheese that Sround, splayed feet form a firm foun- Chaplin. “They think they’ve found a he’d exhumed from his pack pocket. dation, which sharply narrows in the nest or snooze station, and they whizz Soon, we reached a depression in the legs, bulges in the waist, thins in the into my trap and bam”—he struck the mountain, which opened to a small chest and neck, and is finally engulfed club against the rock—“I smack them brook and waterfall, twenty feet wide at by a conic shag of extra-white hair that flat on the wall.” He smiled and pointed the base. Donegan paused and peered extends well past his shoulders. Despite beneath the faux nest, where the ground up to find the fall’s source, but a thick his fubsiness, Schnotz’s jeans were still was caked in feathers. fog had rolled in and obscured our view. a size and a half too big, and he’d tied Inside, Schnotz’s hut was larger We leapt through. On the other side of a double-slip through his belt loops to than I expected. Lanterns hung from the fall, directly in front of us, was a hold them up, resulting in an accordion log rafters, and a cataract of knots cov- stairwell carved out from the bowels of of pant creases. The rest of his wardrobe ered the walls, each one tagged with a

40 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 small paper label. I checked over two triple-velcro, eggshell white sneakers. classmates on theory and practice. Not hundred of these against my research to His father’s clog shop was a fi- long after, some of the pub crowd start- ensure I hadn’t previously come across nancial disaster for a panoply of rea- ed to show up. He published his first any of them. I hadn’t. Their names were sons, but primarily because no one in book in 1967. typically Schnotzian: Paolo and Franc- Scotland wore clogs. When Schnotz When I asked him about the esca in Hell; Pinkie’s Promise; the Sav- turned twelve, his father rebranded Knot of Life, he recoiled, nearly fall- age Phoenician; the Jack and Rose Slip; and changed the store’s name from ing into the flame. (He reacted this Chastity’s Buckle; Hamlet’s Solution; The Schnotz Shop to Clogs for Bogs. way every time I said its name, peri- Harry, Meet Sally. I asked Schnotz how It was a bold idea—clogs to wear in odically spewing his Hi-C; the fourth many there were; he had no idea. bogs—but business stayed dismal, and time I mentioned it, he shrieked.) Af- As Donegan and I joined him by his already slim customer base soon ter composing himself, Schnotz said the fire, he poured us two bright red discovered clogs to be poor footwear that he’d “first heard of it through the drinks. “Hi-C,” he said. “I make it from in marshy terrain. Most of the family’s older knotsmen, who’d heard of it from the concentrate.” He raised his cup in a income was dependent upon Schnotz’s their elders, and them from theirs, you toast, and we drank. Having broached mother, Elise, who was a half-sister to know.” In a striking admission, he told the reason for our visit, I asked him a the famed bohemian and erotica writer me that the entire ordeal had been a few questions, but Schnotz was reluctant Anaïs Nin. Anaïs pitied Elise’s provin- mistake, and that it had, in fact, moti- to discuss himself or his career. “What’s cial living situation and subsidized the vated his voluntary exile. “I was being a you folks’ obsession with me, anyway? Schnotz’s modest, working-class life- little boy back then, really getting into You got a crush?” He giggled to himself. style. Schnotz recalled his aunt visit- myself, really—.” He turned flush and “I try not to get so knotted up in the de- ing the family as a child and bringing made a series of obscene hand gestures. tails of life nowadays.” He nodded to- along Henry Miller, her lover at the He said that he eventually “got embar- ward the wall to tip off his joke. “What’s time. Miller seemed to leave a poor im- rassed. It was embarrassing to be be- you folks’ most favorite music group?” pression. “Father called him ‘priapic,’” lieving in that hocus pocus. It don’t ex- he asked. “You like music?” (Schnotz is he said, leaning forward in his chair, as ist.” (At this, Donegan shuddered, and interminably curious, and, when he asks he often does to solicit an explanation. the reflection of the fire flared in his a question, he tilts his head to the right Growing up in Cold War Scotland eyes.) When I asked Schnotz how he and sticks his tongue between his teeth, was tough on the young Larry. Tim could know for certain that the Knot like a Bichon Frise.) “I like show tunes Schnotz was a member of the under- of Life was merely a myth, he shrugged and Smashing Pumpkins,” he said. “Bil- ground Revolutionary Highlanders his shoulders. “Of everyone, I suppose I ly Corgan came out of the cradle end- Workers Party, who, together with the should know,” he replied. lessly rocking!” Lowlander chapter, were commonly Schnotz told me that from 1990, He reached under the kitchen table known as Sea Levelers. As a child, when he first fled to Ben Wyvis, to for a small stereobox, inserted a CD, and Schnotz was confused about Scotland’s 2011, he didn’t tie a single knot. “I said pressed play: “The world is a vampire!” turbulent political state (wholly elided to myself, Hey, what have you done Schnotz sang along word-for-word to in standard American history text- with your life? Hey, I’m talking to you! “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” raising books). “My father came home from You’ve wasted it, sitting around, tying his arms above his head and pumping meetings all wound up, saying wild knots.” He said that he’d “grown sick of his fists toward the ceiling. At the turn things like—‘Larry, the proletariat’s it.” He meant literally. At the sight of a of the chorus, he climbed on top of the day is nigh! Take up the sickle! Put on knot, he would “go queasy and just start table, bouncing up and down like an your clogs!’ My mother sat in the cor- barfing stuff up. I’d wake in the morn- analog alarm clock. Donegan turned to- ner and smoked cigarettes. She didn’t ing, see an old knot of mine, barf. Go ward me; he looked baffled. By the time heed him much.” outside, see a bag of knots, barf. And “1979” began, Schnotz had been singing Schnotz never felt comfortable when I tried closing my eyes, I could Smashing Pumpkins for over an hour. discussing politics and tried his best to smell them, or I’d run into them trying He stepped down from the table, took avoid it. After school, rather than go- to feel my way around, and barf some a long draught of Hi-C, and started to ing home, he began to hang around the more. For years I lived like that, barfing talk. Inverness pubs, where old men would on knots.” trade stories and impart wisdom. At One day, around the summer of CHNOTZ WAS BORN in 1940 in one point, the subject of knots came up. 1999, Schnotz had a revelation. “Well, Inverness to his parents, Tim and “I don’t remember how,” Schnotz told I realized I could untie them,” he said. SElise Schnotz, née Nin. “My father was me. “It was just a thing old folks talked The aftereffect of this notion was seis- a shoe salesman,” he told me. I asked about.” He started to try out some stan- mic. He became obsessed with untying if that was how he stumbled upon his dard ties and quickly gained a knack knots. “Take how much I loved tying love of knots. He looked perplexed. for it. Older patrons, discerning a raw knots and make it bigger, like a bigger “Oh, no,” he replied. “He sold clogs. I talent, encouraged him to continue de- amount”—he spread his arms out wide, never really worn laced shoes before; veloping his skills. Soon, Schnotz was signaling for me to imitate him so that never liked the look of them.” He inventing his own knots. He started an I could grasp his analogy. “That’s how pointed to the ground: he was wearing after-school club in which he lectured much I liked untying knots,” he told

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 41 flated, that’s all,” Donegan assured me, on the drive back to Inverness. When I told Fergus and Drewed about Schnotz’s apostasy a few days later, they were simultaneously non- plussed and suspicious. “Larry’s al- ways up to something,” said Fergus. “You really think he’s been hiding up there for twenty-five years with noth- ing but a few thousand more knots to show for it? He can tie a thousand knots in a week if he wanted.” Eth- ane McCauley was more pointed. In a series of e-mails, he called Schnotz a “blasphemous, ossified crone” and a “pussywillow’ed iteration of Kurtz, ripe for this age of dilettantes, who daren’t glance at the heart of darkness for fear of what he’d find.” He then compared him to a Holocaust denier. The following week, I met Do- “Is the snark fresh today?” negan at the same pub along the River Ness; his favorite in town, he told me. It was a pleasant autumn day—per- haps the last of its kind that year—so . . we sat outside on the deck. Donegan looked more tired than fraught, and me. “Much more!” He worked his way “Most of the time it won’t take me but confessed that he’d been in a kind of through his own collection—what he two or three minutes to untie a knot, hypnagogic daze since Ben Wyvis. He figured to be in the five figures—in even a bad one. But after ten minutes I couldn’t remember if he’d slept. I no- three days. The process was expurga- still hadn’t finished. I said, Hey, weird! ticed what appeared to be fresh scars tive, “like working off a sin.” He visited It took me nine hours to finish; Lou on his knuckles, but let it pass. When a tarn a few miles away that fishermen must’ve caught a dozen fish on his oth- I asked him how he was doing, he said frequented and began offering to un- er line at that point. But, by the time I that it was “nothing new,” and that he’d tangle knots in their lines for a pecuni- was done, I realized that was a beauti- “been let down before. It was always ary fee. It wasn’t long until he had his ful knot, beautiful in its fearsomeness. just a hope. I’m lucky to meet him at own business. Unaware of his identity, I handed the line back to Lou and all.” I explained how I had tried to the fishermen assumed Schnotz was haven’t seen him or the lake since.” tease out more from Schnotz about simply a hermit and respected his pri- “So you went back to tying knots?” the Knot of Life after Donegan had vacy. Nonetheless, in-the-know locals asked Donegan. left the hut, but that I’d mostly come soon started to visit, asking Schnotz “Oh yes,” said Schnotz. “All these up empty-handed. When I mentioned to untie other miscellania, like corn- in four years,” he said, pointing to the McCauley’s labyrinth theory to him, rows or dissolved friendships’ friend- walls. He looked at Donegan. “You Schnotz mistook “Minoa” for “Samoa,” ship bracelets. For twenty-one years, don’t know how to a tie a knot until the popular Girl Scouts cookies, which Schnotz never took a day off. “After you’ve learned to untie one.” led to a long digression on the G.S.A. a while, I stopped barfing,” he told me. and whether I’d brought any. After But, in 2011, something strange HE NEXT MORNING, Donegan that, I didn’t mention it again. happened. “I was sitting by the water had the haggard look of some- Still, I encouraged Donegan: be- one Sunday morning, like I always oneT who had suffered rough dreams fore we’d left the ledge, Schnotz had did, and my friend Lou’s fishing line and little sleep. His eyes drooped, and, made Donegan promise he’d visit soon; had gotten tangled up fearsomely bad. as he tended to the fire, flames played it was lonely on the mountain, and he He brought it over for inspection, and on his shirtless, pellucid torso, illumi- could use a knotting partner. “Maybe it was a hot mess. Just spiteful. Like nating his entrails so that he resem- a Pyrrhic victory, after all,” Donegan when a dog gets real mean.” bled a gas station summer roll. While joked. He gave a small grin and leaned He paused for effect. “You know Schnotz and I had stayed up late back in his chair, folding his hands be- when dogs get real mean?” talking, Donegan had opted to sleep hind his head and looking at the high, I nodded. outside, clearly shaken by Schnotz’s red walls of Macbeth’s castle in the dis- “So, it was like that,” he said. knot-of-life postmortem. “Just de- tance. “There’s a Scottish proverb,” he

42 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it, is surely one of the great and I got a shock when I saw the back hole-in-the-ground latrines outside, with approaches to any cultural pilgrimage of a woman, dressed in a dirndl and high- said. “‘And who should tie the Knot of said, referring to the Smashing Pump- my ticket and walked inside. some disconcerting twig brooms propped site, the castle appearing across the crowned hat, exiting from what I’d Life has surely hacked the heavn’s.’” I kins’ 1993 release, right before the The floor was buzzing. Hipsters next to them. All of the hut’s seventy- Gulf of Trieste in a series of visual throbs thought was the empty downstairs, and waited for him to continue, but he was group catapulted into alt-rock stardom. cavorted from display to display. One nine beds were expected to be filled, and, like the unabashedly orgasmic build of disappearing into the woods. Later, on- silent for the remainder of the after- Having put in his credit, he sat down group I passed was discussing the mer- with some serious drinking already going Rilke’s poems. In 1912, he wrote to a line, I discovered that Eichmann and his noon. It was a sunny, cloudless day, and at our table. On occasion, when a song its of the Albright special, a knot used on in the dining room, this was begin- friend, “We are in the karst, and the hard- S.S. guards had stayed at the inn while we watched tourists fish on the banks reached a particularly catchy crescendo in angling to tie two different diameters ning to strike me as problematic. Night ened mountains forgo the effeminacy fleeing U.S. troops at the end of the war. of the river. If they spoke, they spoke or climax, he would pump his arms in of line together. Another debated the was going to be a challenge; morning of any vegetation.” There’s actually quite Gold coins that they buried under the of monsters. the air and holler out to the empty bar. aesthetics of the Twined Turk’s head, a gruesome. a lot of vegetation around the castle huts in the meadow had been dug up When I asked him a question I’d meant closed-loop decorative knot commonly I decided that the only way to han- (and only Rilke could have occasionally over the years. HREE MONTHS LATER Schnotz to breach last time—namely, how could found lining ship decks. But Brooklyn dle it was to get myself to sleep imme- imagined the gentle slopes If I had to choose a fa- was in New York for the third someone who traced their Scottish an- hipsters weren’t the only patrons: a sea diately, and to clear out first thing in nearby to be mountains), vorite stretch from my sam- Tannual Brooklyn Knot Festival. He cestry back six generations have the of bodies sprawled across the chic con- the morning. I had a sleeping pill in my but the path itself is pure pling of the Via, it would brought Donegan along with him, surname of Schnotz—he looked be- crete floor. It seemed as if all of New glasses case, where I’d also stowed my karst: fantastical water- be the part of the Blue trail whom he had agreed to take on as an wildered. It was evident that he’d never York had been converted. contact-lens container. A minor mis- eroded stone, fissured into that passes through the apprentice—or as Schnotz quipped, “a considered the discrepancy. I asked him Promenading among the tables, hap gave the day a final farcical twist. what geologists call clints Walser villages of the Pied- knotspert.” The first day I saw them, if he worried about being recognized at I noticed a crowd gathering in the Some of the lens solution had leaked, and grykes—blocks and mont. The landscape was Schnotz was in a notably giddy mood; the convention after a quarter-century northeast corner of the room. Some- half-dissolving my precious narcotic. cracks—and fluted like thickly forested, with Chi- Donegan, too, seemed to have recov- away from the public eye. “Certainly one shouted. Suddenly, an EMT crew There was no alternative but to lick the cake icing or pinched into nese-looking crags and ered. They had just finished lunch at not,” he told me. “I don’t hold up the rushed past me, towing a twenty- residue out. I was doing this, my tongue rigid waves like an arrested ocean. knolls scarved in fog. The villages were the Flatiron Olive Garden, where same as I did then.” I couldn’t argue: something male in a gurney. He was buried deep in the case’s plush interior, I then headed north into Austria, and miraculous specimens of an ingenious, Schnotz claimed to have eaten five bas- what little pictures of Schnotz that nearly catatonic, except for his lips, when the door opened and the Swiss resumed following the Purple trail. One low-impact culture. There were minia- kets of garlic knots. We met at Madi- which appeared to mouth a prayer. couple came in. An awkward pause fol- stretch of it passes near the Altaussee ture funiculars for bringing in supplies son Square Park and walked. Schnotz Someone pulled the fire alarm, and lowed, in which I decided it would be (the streets are too steep and narrow for had never been to the city. “Haven’t salt mine, where the Nazis hid somesprinklers of flooded from the ceiling. I cars), Richard Scarry-like vehicles on left my hopelessledge in tento try years,” to explain. he told They me. stared their stolen art. I dropped down fromran toward the commotion, pushing “Dunklin’sfor agot moment, me back evidently on the socialreappraising pristine meadows—still emerald greenthrough caterpillar a growing treadscrowd offor spectators. the garbage and circuit.”their Contrary high-minded to his usual roommate staggered as some in August—and looked at the Someold spokeheavy in lifting, tongues, stone some houses wept. cagedI in and waddlingkind of gait,cokehead Schnotz or very scooted specialized railbeds, with salt crystals glittering alongsaw a well-knownwooden balconies, Wall Street scythes execu lying- on the around deviant,the city before blocks beating like aa retreat.Super I passed the tunnels and a subterranean chapeltive rend stone-covered his suit in half, roofs, and chimneys a group shingled Nintendo-eraout, mercifully Mario. He quickly, wore tothe the ex dim- roar dedicated to St. Barbara, the patron ofsaint improv like comedians tiny houses. were The moved schist-rich to local act sameof clothing Slovenian as thedrinking last time songs, we’d and left of miners. Years-old swags of fir hungsilence. rockWhen made I’d finallyeverything navigated glitter tomadly in met, onlybefore he’d addeddaybreak a pair the of next overlarge morning. on the walls, smelling as if they’dthe just front, the Donegan sunshine. stood The with Walsers his right were Ger- Just beyond the hut, I saw something - transition-lense glasses that he had been cut, the salt air keeping themhand un onman-speaking the shoulder of refugees Schnotz, and who migrants moving in the gray light below me: a naturally fresh. bought at the 30 Rock Concourse ear- sat cross-leggedwho spread in a south folding through chair. Inthe Alps shaggy animal with big horns. It was an That evening, I stayed at Blaa-Alm, lier in the day. “I spotted a big rat!” he his lap, duringhe cradled the Middle a mahogany Ages, improvisingchest, a ibex, though in profile it looked like a an inn along the trail. The owners, who’d said. I told him it wasn’t uncommon. existed didn’t look anything like him from whichlife style emitted on the a highfabulous terrain light. where no- slightly disreputable unicorn. I took out told me they were going to be gone for “Oh, it was a Nessy. You should’ve now, and, in the past twenty-five years, Men andbody women else farmed laid prostrate or lived. Itin wasa a fru- my phone and filmed it as it ambled the night, left my room key in the en- seen it running around.” He pulled out Schnotz had assumed the look of a crescentgal on lifethe style,floor constrainedbefore him, profby- the de- across the lunar scree. When I look at trance. It was an old wooden building a pulverized, seven-and-a-half-inch man whose old age was sempiternal, fering whatevermands of they basic could survival, find inbut their there were the footage now, it seems the perfect in the Tyrolian style, deep in the mid- rat from his Strand tote bag. “I swat- even cosmic, and who was in fact un- pockets enoughat Schnotz’s grace feet—spare notes to make cash, you feel emblem of that place: wild and dream- dle of silent countryside, with flower- ted the bozo with my club before they imaginable at a younger age, like Santa picturesthat of theirthe inhabitants infant children. enjoyed An their exis- like and marvellous. hung balconies looking out on a meadow took it from me.” Donegan explained Claus or Werner Herzog. “Plus,” he elderly womantence. In went a little into museum labor on in the Alagna, I full of small farm buildings, and I seemed their conversation with the Metro- said, “who cares? It’s like when you play floor. admired a teaspoon carved with a hand iking the entire Via Alpina to have it entirely to myself. A wooden politan Transportation Authority. hide-and-seek and the hider is so hid- A smallholding knot a rose. laid on the chest’s would take years, so after leaving staircase led up to a large bedroom in It’s the looping continuum of the trail WhenH Donegan had first e-mailed den, the seeker gives up ’cus they stop red velvet cushion. At first glance, it Triglav National Park I got into a car which the walls, ceiling, and every other that makes the Via Alpina what it is. It me to confirm they would be com- caring.” was a simple knot—a few maneuvers, and drove to other sections of the trail. surface, including the light-switch cover, doesn’t take long to lose yourself in the ing to the convention, I held out hope Two days later, I was in Greenpoint a clever tie, but nothing a modestly ex- Moving southwest, I crossed into Italy, had been intricately panelled in the same rhythms of mountain travel: the morn- that Schnotz would put a new work on at the Brooklyn Expo Center. Donegan perienced knotsman couldn’t conjure. where I began a walk on the Karst Pla- butter-colored wood. It was very com- ing climb and long afternoon descent, display. He disabused the notion. “No, had texted me in the morning to meet But the closer I looked, the more the teau, a rocky landscape pockmarked with the dependably undependable weather, those days are done; better to see what them outside,fortable, but even the luxurious,crowd was if enor a touch- knot’s sar- complexity was revealed to me. caves and sinkholes, and ended up at the never quite knowing what you’re these tykes is up to and not cause a mous. Apparentlycophagal. I Brooklynsat out on had the caughtbalcony, watch-I remembered what Donegan had told Duino Castle. It was here, walking along going to see over the crest of the next stir.” I hailed a cab near Union Square, the bug,ing and night I regretted fall and notfeeling buying as though a me. I’d It was a simple knot and through the cliff-top path above the Adriatic, high pass or who’s going to emerge from and we headed to a bar on the West ticket inlanded advance. in aI folktalecalled Donegan about a travellerbut its ar- simplicity, complex. The virtues were that Rilke claimed to have heard a voice the mist along the trail—though, unlike Side Highway at 11th Street. Schnotz got a voicemail;riving in aI householdtried again—no under somere- pow-ineffably entwined. I smiled at Schnotz, speak the opening line of what became Ötzi, you can be fairly sure the stranger wanted to see the Hudson. sponse. erfulGiven enchantment. the high concentration and he winked at me through his glass- the Duino Elegies: “Who, if I cried, There was nothing sinister, exactly, isn’t going to kill you. He might even The bar was mostly empty, so of phone signals, I assumed the local es, which, from the strobing fire alarm would hear me from among the Angels’ though the tall fir trees around the want to be your friend. We’ve come that Schnotz headed to the jukebox. “I still cell tower was overloaded. After more lights, were slowly transitioning over orders?” The Sentiero Rilke, as the Ital- meadow were forbidding in the dusk, far since the Bronze Age.  love anything off ‘Siamese Twins,’” he than thirty minutes in line, I bought his irises like the fall of a curtain. THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 39

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 43

ONWARDTHE AND UPWARD CRITICS WITH THE ARTS

VOWEL OF SILENCE

A choral composerTHE CURRENT who hates CINEMAthe human voice

FUNBY MICHAELAND YARSKYGAMES T WAS 1996 when the the radio for fear of ruining the lis- some only when he began attend- Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the “Everybodytening experience Wants Some!!” for andother “Miles family Ahead.” ing elementary school. His parents, IDallas Cowboys on Super Bowl members; he had learned from that of Irish Catholic descent, had very XXX, but it was not the defeat experienceBY ANTHONYthat his parents LANE were little experience with the pleasures that left a long-lasting impression generous enough to “let the awful- of verbal communication, or the on fcomposer you can’t Oliverthink of Robeson; a good way in to nesshabited, of aor singer infested, speak solely for by membersitself.” pleasureshis first scene, of anything he holds upfor a thatcopy matof Carl- fact,I kick it owasff your the movie, national how aboutanthem; this? Onceof the when baseball his team.cousin His came roommate to visit is ter,Sagan’s and “Cosmos”maintained and saysthat to value Jake, “Chapsys- - notTake how a handsome it was youngsung buck,necessarily, put him sheBilly began (Will to Brittain),sing along a countryto Frankie boy temter 9until. It’ll theirblow yourappropriately mind.” That stoic mo- butat theperhaps wheel ofthat an Oldsmobileit was sung coupe, at Vallimocked & The for his Four hickhood Seasons. by theTwenty others. andment anguished ignites our deaths. sense Onof him, her andlast it all.and “No have travesty him whip had along stricken a Texas such high- minutesThey include later, Ropera doctor (Ryan had Guzman), to sur- dayburns alive, through Robeson’s the rest ofmother the film, drove reach - a waytraumatic to the sound blow of to“My my Sharona,” musical by gicallyanother remove comely a fellow, mechanical who spends pencil an toing the a smokybeach fruitionin a bathrobe as he proves with toall be imaginationthe Knack. That than is whatthe egomaniacal Richard Link- fromentire Robeson’s scene lauding ear. his“I ownclicked ass inthe the ofthe its undisputed pockets masterfilled ofwith the bong.stones, dispositionlater does in withhis latest which film, the“Everybody aver- erasermirror; bit the repeatedly mustached hopingMcReynolds the and Beststared of intoall is theFinnegan, distance. played Police with age—andWants Some!!,” I mean and average it’s hard—singer to think lead(Tyler would Hoechlin), enter my who brain loathes and losing,poi- founda runaway her deadcharm that by Glen evening. Powell. Finn, exploitsof a brighter this categoricallystart. The buck abysmal in ques- soneven me. at Ping-Pong; But I wasn’t Niles so ( Justonlucky.” Street), In as heRobeson is known, remembers is the eloquent reacting one, spool - Nationaltion is Jake Anthem,” (Blake Jenner), he wrote and in by his the anthe unfortunate resident jerk, foreshadowing who claims to haveof verying outquietly. his verbal The ri ffdays in beforea bid not his just privateend of thediaries. song “Itwe’ve made already me grasped real- histhrown old-age a pitch impotence, at ninety-five there miles was an 44thto catch birthday, girls but theto boost investigation the dramatic izethe how unfolding much shape joy aof vocalist his life. He would glides nohour; lead and in hisDale pencil. ( J. Quinton Johnson), confirmeddash of the the proceedings. worst: she “Wethrew all the take holdpast groupshostage of girlsin order his age to and bolster parks in the only black guy in the house, not that stonesturns beingacross chumps the surface around of here,” the wahe ex- - theirfront egos.of a house There on a ispleasant no need street. for He anyone notices or cares. There are mul- ter,plains. used “You the acceptbathrobe your aschumpification, a towel to prolonginghas a shy smile the andsinger’s a box moment of LPs in in his tiple flash points in this society, mostly sunbatheand move nude, on.” Excellent and then advice, acciden in any- thatarms. context. Sunlight Thenpours downagain, like there’s a ben- to do with sporting smarts or carnal brag- tallyfield shot of endeavor, herself andwith a keya pistol. to the lovely noediction. context He’s for ready which for anything.prolonging gadocio, but racial bias isn’t one of them. note“I ofknew comic she humility always with respected which the a singer’sLinklater moment has long is beenallowable, a champion let In his limber and leisurely fashion, Link- mynatural-born wishes until bumptiousness the very of theend,” stu - aloneof beginnings even giving and ends.those “Dazed monsters and later is glancing at a golden age. Robesondents is temperedsaid of andher soothed, many andyears the anyConfused” moment (1993 to) hungruin.” out To with this a bunchday His most cheering gift, and maybe later.movie “The prevented pistol fromhad acoarsening silencer.” into heof claimskids on thattheir hisfinal favorite day of high national school; the reason that he calls this movie a “spir- a brawl.He wasJake andan theonly other child newbies in must, a anthem“Boyhood” is the (2014 Roman), having national tracked an its- itual sequel” to “Dazed and Confused,” neighborhoodof course, expect with a dose no ofother hazing, chil and- them,hero, asMason, he has for yet many to hearyears, it. bid him is an itch to populate the frame. At his drenthey hisare dulyage fastenedwith which with duct to tapeplay. to farewellRobeson on his does first daynot of muchhigher reedu-- best, he doesn’t really direct a film so Hea border remembers fence, one his of first them transgresupside down,- membercation, at being once bewilderedexposed to and the blissed joys muchAs asa child,host it—keeping Robeson’s all sanctuary his charac - sionand aspeppered a student with when baseballs a classmate struck by ofout. singing Jake, too, in ishis at thatchildhood; pivotal point. as a A becameters involved, the library rescuing due the to wallflowers, its strict triedtheir tobat-wielding teach his teammates. peers how I guessto whitefreshman male athis an church’s unnamed attempts college to in adherencemaking sure to that the everyone values ofis pliedsilence. with whistle.that’s part In anof theattempt deal, yetto eliminatethe tale as a invigoratesoutheast Texasthe ceremony (otherwise often known, felt to Evenlines andwhispers bits of stageseemed business, like astiny if he thewhole, piercing though sound filthy-mouthed, from the isair, lenient he stiltedmoviegoers, and awkward. as Linklaterland), The sound, he is more as revoltswere topping against up proprietydrinks. The duringobvious grabbedand humane. an eraser No freshmen from the were chalk harmed- heof recallsa jock it,than carried Mason, an andunpleasant less of a longcomparison sessions is studying with “Hail, the Caesar!,” point of in boardin the and making tried of tothis erase film. the boy’s yetwounded validating soul; ghostlinesswhatever his to past it: may“I singing.which the He Coens detested introduced hummers, a crew lit -of lips.It “isWHY set in MUST1980, a YOUcrossroads MAKE for mu-IT likedhave been,how weashamed learn very they little were about to it. erally.promising By chancefigures and he thenpulled let thema score slide, ALLsical ABOUT trends bothYOU coming?” he hissed and going. at his We sing,He’s thoselike a people,”passenger he boarding said. “They a ship ofhalf-used; Mahler’s the resultEighth left audiencesSymphony, gaz - classmateget the dregs before of disco, being Blondie’s sent to “Heart the oughtwith ato single feel suitcase.that way What given matters what is scribbleding around a atnote the endin it, and and asking, present “Is that- principal’sof Glass,” theoffice. Cars, His Cheap parents Trick, were and a anthe absurd surging gesture tide of itthe truly now, is. and And the edit?” it To to Linklater, a customer no oneat theis disposable. library quiteburst in of pustularcharacter punk. in theirWe get punish M’s “Pop- shamecamera is follows the church’s him eagerly bread into and the whoTake was Nesbit humming. (Austin Amelio),It stated, who “Why tends ment:Muzik,” “They which simplyto my horrortold Ime remem to - butter.house—taking I can tolerate its cue thefrom shameful a snaking don’tto place you unwise keep bets, your for masturbating a few dollars, on never,ber, in ever pitiless do it detail, again. from It was 1979 stern,. And, acthose, of whichsinging runs so from long the as garden the per to -an tofruitless yourself daily and activities; wank Plummerit in the (Tem re- - butcourtesy mercifully of the Sugarhillshort,” Gang,he wrote. we get SCARABOTTOLO

formerupstairs feels bedroom, the whereshame a waterwith bedme. is stroom?”ple Baker), To who this is dayjust oitff theremains pace when- not “Their“Rapper’s words Delight,” stung, chanted if only becausein angelic GUIDO I’mslowly so beingtired filled.of how It’s obliviousthat kind of they place. onlyever jokesa cogent are flying request, about; orbut Willoughby an ac- theychorus, were consonant-perfect, spoken out loud.” by Roper,

are Jaketo isthemselves.” a pitcher, and Histhe house parents is in- curate(Wyatt critique Russell), of the Mahler’s in-house Eighth.hippie. In Finn,Robeson Plummer, did, Dale, however, and Jake ashave they : ABOVE were avid listeners of classic rock Robeson’s aversion to the hu- plenty of role models in his up- andRichard soul, Linklater’s never singing new movie along is setto at mana Texas voice college. became At his best,quite he trouble doesn’t -reallybringing. direct a filmHe soadmired much as hostthe it.silent

4474 THETHE NEUNEW JORKER,YORKER, APRILJUNE 20,11, 2016 2016 ILLUSTRATION BY REID FAYLOR BY ILLUSTRATION

Robeson, like John Cage, experimented with sensory deprivation. THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 45 films of Buster Keaton and Vin- cent Price. His grandfather owned an art-house theater in East Brad- What’s inside of me dock, PA, which has since closed, and would often invite his grand- We walk this weary world half dead son along to watch the movies that he himself treasured as a child. “I Trapped in bodies, thoughts locked in heads saw Metropolis when I was about But outside only hold the fragility seven or eight,” he recalls in his If only you could see inside of me. memoirs. “Well, it turns out I only saw two-thirds of it or something Blood that pumps and lungs that churn, like that. People find my preference for it over the ‘I Have A Dream’ An engorged heart that thumps and yearns speech incredibly galling. I don’t Arteries severely clogged get it.” School was miserable for From years of eating butter logs. him with the exception of one stu- dent assembly where a professional A shriveled liver soaked in gin, mime performed for the children. “I was enraptured,” he commented. Psoriasis has worn it thin. “I have blocked out of my memory A family of spiders laid a nest, the primitive shrieks of laughter.” Inside the kidney I loved best. He implored his parents to pay for pantomime lessons; he was ea- ger to be instructed in the ways of conveying information without the use of voice. His parents capitulat- ed, and the mime, known as Jahinie Watts, took his very first student at discussing any LGBTQ issues, or notation, Robeson set out to trans- his magic shop in Homestead. The discussion in general. pose all four minutes and thirty- lesson lasted five seconds. Robeson three seconds of Cage’s totally remembers walking through the ESIDES SPENDING AN silent masterwork from piano to door when Jahinie greeted him: inordinate amount of time at a voice. He had no inkling for tran- “‘Hi, are you here for lessons?’ libraryB and reading about Buddhist scribing the octaves of the piano to he asked. It broke me. It broke me monasteries, his first breakthrough separate vocal registers; further- forever.” came from a joke made at his ex- more, there was the issue of writ- Robeson refers to it as his per- pense. His uncle and aunt, both ing transcriptions of total silence sonal Santa Claus moment: the re- modest donors to the Pittsburgh for innumerable permutations of alization that a mime speaks when Symphony Orchestra, attended vocal ensembles: mixed choirs, not on stage. (Actually, he took the orchestra’s first performance of boy’s choirs, all-male or all-female comfort in Santa Claus’s non-ex- John Cage’s tacit, three-part piano choirs, even the more insufferable istence because of how he detested piece 4’33”. “It would be perfect for ensembles like collegiate a cappel- caroling.) Because mimes didn’t your quiet son,” they quipped. He la. After several minutes of writ- truly commit to silence, Robeson spent the following Friday listen- ing “Everyone just shut the fuck strived to incorporate more silence ing to it repeatedly on a vinyl in the up for this long” and photocopy- into his daily routine. In high Homestead public library, and even ing the pages, Robeson created his school he recalls founding a Gen- relishing the score. He describes it first arrangement of 4’33” in less der Issues organization to promote as a revolutionary moment for him, than an hour and showed it to his not only LGBTQ issues, but also and wanted desperately to surmise CCD instructor at the St. Therese to implement the national LGBTQ whether or not such a piece would parish in Munhall, Pennsylvania. youth-run effort called the “Day of work for a choir. (Robeson once Robeson petitioned her by writing Silence.” As the only head of any told me if he were ever made Pres- furiously that it should be consid- student organization that was not ident, he would declare 4’33” our ered a hymn for the next service, a senior, he was not re-designated national anthem. He would also and if the church ever did hire a as head for his senior year because enact more moments of silence for choir, it should be their first choice of his over-prioritization of the fallen warriors, perhaps one every of commissioned music. Robeson “Day of Silence” in meetings. He quarter of an hour.) was disappointed, but still slightly called for year-long “Meetings of Without knowing any music relieved, that his CCD instructor Silence.” He was not receptive to theory or the structure of musical merely shook his head. “Perhaps

46 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 munication. As an advocate for the deaf, he mastered the art of Ameri- What’s inside of me can Sign Language and taught it to close family members as well. “My We walk this weary world half dead Seven hot dogs in my stomach. parents have both become hard of hearing in their old age so it ended Trapped in bodies, thoughts locked in heads That was all that I could stomach. up becoming rather invaluable; I But outside only hold the fragility I had cooked eight hotdogs but alas, can only hope that this condition If only you could see inside of me. I threw up before I could munch the last. is hereditary.” He learned ASL by taking volunteer opportunities at Blood that pumps and lungs that churn, Bones, bones, brittle bones, the Jefferson School for the Deaf in Shadyside to coordinate field An engorged heart that thumps and yearns My doctor said that I am prone, trips, chaperone fellow students, Arteries severely clogged To osteoporosis, ain’t that wild. and coordinate fundraisers to help From years of eating butter logs. I have the bones of a sickly child. against the school’s increasingly austere budget. Unfortunately, A shriveled liver soaked in gin, All this exists below my skin, Robeson’s reputation for being an adamantly conservative head of Psoriasis has worn it thin. Which I should note is super thin. an LGBTQ organization, as well as A family of spiders laid a nest, So before you judge my mortal facade his general reputation among the Inside the kidney I loved best. Realize that I’m probably gonna be community as a bad spokesperson dead in like four or five months. (a term he detests), his fundrais- ing campaigns could not save the school. A wealthy benefactor three —Michael J. Wolf hours upstate did enroll them at low tuition rates at a school near Erie, but it caused Robeson great I should’ve censored the fuck,” he ceived poorly among family mem- distress to see his friends leave reflects. bers, and it stung him so much that him. He put on a small farewell Robeson’s all-vocal arrange- he hardly participated in the game benefit for his peers where he per- ment of John Cage’s 4’33” still of Charades he himself requested formed, once again, his 4’33” for struggles, to this day, to find any after the performance. Solo Baritone. He explained the na- mainstream performance oppor- ture of the piece and the signifi- tunities. “It goes to show you that cance of John Cage’s work to the you really can’t shut up a singer, musical community, but also how any singer,” he writes. it may be one of the few cross-over While it hasn’t garnered any pieces of musical appeal to the momentum among professional, hearing-impaired. He emphasized amateur, or sacred choirs, Robeson that he interpreted the piece as a still staged his own performance at means of musical inclusion and a a highly politically heated Thanks- heartfelt display of his own tal- giving dinner the following year. ent to give the fondest farewell Not only did he beseech people to he could muster. His performance watch his performance, but also he ended with the raucous sign-lan- begged family members to join him guage equivalent of applause (it in the silent performance as well. involves putting your hands near He hoped desperately for back- your ears and rotating your wrists to-back-to-back-to-back encore back and forth). He said the joy of performances. Predictably, no one It is by sheer accident more than performance in that context was a joined him, and they were barely anything else that Robeson had revelation. “It cemented for me a quiet during his performance of stumbled across the career of be- belief that music is very much reli- the piece. He called it “4’33” for coming a choral composer/conduc- ant on this notion of context. The Solo Baritone” and did not perform tor. He dreamed of being an astro- best music functions within an ap- it formally again for several years. naut to explore the deep, dark, “no propriate context, like a Cage work “I perform it informally in any sit- one can hear you scream” silence of in a school for the deaf. It is what uation I can,” he writes, “and hope, space, but, much to his chagrin, it bothered me greatly about the na- to no avail, that others will do the appeared that operations of space- tional anthem, and it is what so same.” Nevertheless, it was re- ships and satellites required com- reinvigorated me about my perfor-

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 47 saving on earplugs. “It made me not mind paying for dinner,” he once gaffed, “so shouldn’t that be a plus?” Redfield claimed that she had told Robeson over and over that she was discontent with the loss of her voice, that it was impos- sible for him to empathize with her. To Sally, Robeson had the privilege to speak when needed. He lived in the comfort of knowing it was a tool he had the choice to utilize; for Sally, her voice was taken from her altogether. She felt terrified to tell Robeson that she would have liked to sing, or speak, one day, and she never disclosed this to him. She grew distant and afraid, and broke up with him. He understood why immediately. “I wanted her to “And the Lord saith, ‘Ding.’” feel like I could love her for how she was now, and I did not want her to feel that she needed to be someone else for anybody,” Robe- son writes, “but at the same time . . I cannot change someone’s inner yearning, whether it be for quiet or for noise.” They parted ways and remain acquaintances at best. “It mance for these wonderful people. seemed like an old-fashioned, another a was an amicable break-up; indeed, It moved me greatly, and indeed I Last Word, the last a Tiki drink...I was amazed at how she could summon such there was no shouting.” wept, but I wept quietly, because elaborate instructions with no word usage Robeson, like Cage, had ex- I’m not a hypocrite.” Robeson oc- at all. She understood sign language and perimented with sensory depriva- casionally visits his peers from explained to me how she had developed a tion, and was greatly surprised to those days still, many of whim still sort of intimate language with her cousin who did not ever learn ASL. I yearned for discover the loudness that the inner reside near Lake Erie. this communion of silence and ached for ear concocts when totally deprived Robeson opted not to go to a romantic equivalent to their platonic af- of any sound. With the crushing college for fear of having to en- filiations. I suppose it is a bit sentimental realization that total sensory depri- dure more endless and purposeless to label the pursuit of wholly non-verbal communication sentimental, but I can vation can still yield the existence lectures, instead committing to a feel the feelings I wish to feel when I’m of loud, neurologically triggered relationship with a mute woman. not faced with the prospect of talking or voices, he realized that composing Sally Redfield and Robeson met at hearing others talk. sound rather than detesting any a bar where she had been signal- sound was impractical. Further- ing the bartender without words Sally did indeed charm Robe- more, the realization that his first or overt gestures what she desired son; they had dated for a year and a love may have wished to sing one to drink. “Her taste in alcohol was half before Sally broke it off. Red- day gave him someone to write to as impeccable as her command of field claims that Robeson desired and for. In short, he began writing body language,” he wrote. Later he her condition more than her com- choral pieces for her. His pieces in- discovered that the bartender was panionship as a person. She recalls clude an all-consonant aria named a cousin of hers and that Sally and telling him that she was concerned for the band !!! (Chk Chk Chk), her cousin had developed a close that he didn’t care about what she a chamber work for soprano and bond growing up. Their non-verbal might want to say to him. He mis- whoopee cushion (PFFFFFFTTTT), communication skills were truly understood the implication and and his only politically charged superb. He writes: responded, “Precisely.” Robeson song cycle (K K K). Robeson be- had written boastfully to friends lieved that even if a voice could It seemed to me that Sally, at first, how perfect she was, but could not not muster pitch, it could at least had created a bewitching spell that could decouple her perfection from how compel the bartender to follow her com- use the exhalation of air and the mand. Each cocktail that came by: one much money he claimed he was positioning of the throat to create

48 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it, is surely one of the great and I got a shock when I saw the back consonants.hole-in-the-ground She never latrines performed outside, with approaches to any cultural pilgrimage of a woman, dressed in a dirndl and high- thesesome works, disconcerting and when twig shebrooms later propped site, the castle appearing across the crowned hat, exiting from what I’d died nextfrom to them.tuberculosis All of the during hut’s seventy-a Gulf of Trieste in a series of visual throbs thought was the empty downstairs, and safarinine gone beds awry, were expectedhe wrote to bea solofilled, and, like the unabashedly orgasmic build of disappearing into the woods. Later, on- sopranowith somepiece serious consisting drinking entirely already going Rilke’s poems. In 1912, he wrote to a line, I discovered that Eichmann and his of coughson in the(TB dining). Robeson room, this calls was it begin - friend, “We are in the karst, and the hard- S.S. guards had stayed at the inn while the mostning tocreative strike meperiod as problematic. of his ca- Night ened mountains forgo the effeminacy fleeing U.S. troops at the end of the war. reer, wasbut goingalso tothe be mosta challenge; innocent. morning of any vegetation.” There’s actually quite Gold coins that they buried under the His work,gruesome. due to being labeled as a lot of vegetation around the castle huts in the meadow had been dug up “edgy” Ior decided “controversial” that the only (despite way to han- (and only Rilke could have occasionally over the years. not beingdle it wasthe work’sto get myself intent), to sleepmeant imme- imagined the gentle slopes If I had to choose a fa- that diately,musicologists, and to clearcomposers, out first and thing in nearby to be mountains), vorite stretch from my sam- the blogospherethe morning. alike I had hada sleeping plenty pill to in my but the path itself is pure pling of the Via, it would talk aboutglasses whencase, wherethey attendedI’d also stowed his my karst: fantastical water- be the part of the Blue trail concerts.contact-lens container. A minor mis- eroded stone, fissured into that passes through the “Ihap couldn’t gave the stand day how a final they farcical talk- twist. what geologists call clints Walser villages of the Pied- ed, forSome a variety of the oflens reasons,” solution Robehad leaked,- and grykes—blocks and mont. The landscape was son wrote.half-dissolving “They claimed my precious to know narcotic. cracks—and fluted like thickly forested, with Chi- what Theremy intentions was no alternative were in butwriting to lick the cake icing or pinched into nese-looking crags and theseresidue works out. without I was doing any informathis, my tongue- rigid waves like an arrested ocean. knolls scarved in fog. The villages were tion aboutburied me deep at inall. the They case’s discussed plush interior, I then headed north into Austria, and miraculous specimens of an ingenious, when the door opened and the Swiss resumed following“You theshare Purple your trail. inner One thoughts, low-impact and I culture. don’t There were minia- what its historical significance was share my silent retorts.” as if coupleit was came particularly in. An awkward important. pause fol- stretch of it passes near the Altaussee ture funiculars for bringing in supplies Theylowed, cultivated in which theirI decided personal it would be salt mine, where the Nazis hid some of (the streets are too steep and narrow for and privatehopeless opinions to try to explain.on my Theyworks stared their stolen art. I dropped down from cars), Richard Scarry-like vehicles on in thefor leasta moment, private evidently and personal reappraising pristine meadows—still emerald green caterpillar treads for the garbage and way imaginable:their high-minded they openedroommate their as some in August—and looked at. the old . heavy lifting, stone houses caged in mouths.”kind ofRobeson cokehead was or notvery aversespecialized railbeds, with salt crystals glittering along wooden balconies, scythes lying on the to receivingdeviant, beforecriticism beating for ahis retreat. work; I passed the tunnels and a subterranean chapel stone-covered roofs, chimneys shingled out, mercifully quickly, to the dim roar dedicated to St. Barbara, the patron saint like tiny houses. The schist-rich local he just preferred a different means ing the performance of the work allows fellow lip-readers to make of Slovenian drinking songs, and left of miners. Years-old swags of fir hung rock made everything glitter madly in of delivery: “I can read it, sure. in-person. Attending premieres of the sound with him, but he tends before daybreak the next morning. on the walls, smelling as if they’d just the sunshine. The Walsers were Ger- Sometimes I even get aggravated at his work has actually become less to perform with earplugs for those. Just beyond the hut, I saw something been cut, the salt air keeping them un- man-speaking refugees and migrants the little voice in my head as I read, burdensome for him since the ad- During these performances, Robe- moving in the gray light below me: a naturally fresh. who spread south through the Alps but, I can read it. I’ll live.” He un- vent of the smartphone: “People son typically concludes the piece shaggy animal with big horns. It was an That evening, I stayed at Blaa-Alm, during the Middle Ages, improvising a derstands that the person he wrote stare at their phones and do not by signing the word “Redfield” and ibex, though in profile it looked like a an inn along the trail. The owners, who’d life style on the high terrain where no- many of these works for will not be engage in small talk before or after bowing, and has even notated this slightly disreputable unicorn. I took out told me they were going to be gone for body else farmed or lived. It was a fru- able to sing them, nor hear them. It concerts. So be it if they are dis- in his score (also dedicated to the my phone and filmed it as it ambled the night, left my room key in the en- gal life style, constrained by the de- was clear to me how much he still tracted; I relish what smartphones late Redfield). across the lunar scree. When I look at trance. It was an old wooden building mands of basic survival, but there were loved her. In our correspondence I have done for killing conversation.” Robeson is currently negotiat- the footage now, it seems the perfect in the Tyrolian style, deep in the mid- enough grace notes to make you feel asked him about his failed attempts He is known to sometimes ask ing the release of audio and video emblem of that place: wild and dream- dle of silent countryside, with flower- that the inhabitants enjoyed their exis- to reconnect with Sally Redfield smaller venues to withhold any an- for these community-oriented per- like and marvellous. hung balconies looking out on a meadow tence. In a little museum in Alagna, I after they separated but before she nouncements regarding turning off formances of K K K, which have full of small farm buildings, and I seemed admired a teaspoon carved with a hand died. He replied, beautifully, with cell-phones, and is more known for garnered high demand among edu- iking the entire Via Alpina to have it entirely to myself. A wooden holding a rose. one sentence: “I don’t want to talk requiring the distribution of cough cators of deaf persons not only for would take years, so after leaving staircase led up to a large bedroom in It’s the looping continuum of the trail aboutH it.” drops during performances of TB. their socially conscious undertones, Triglav National Park I got into a car which the walls, ceiling, and every other that makes the Via Alpina what it is. It “No singing along,” he demands. but also for helping younger stu- and drove to other sections of the trail. surface, including the light-switch cover, doesn’t take long to lose yourself in the OBESON DOES NOT partake in He performs fairly often and has dents to master the alphabet. “Each Moving southwest, I crossed into Italy, had been intricately panelled in the same rhythms of mountain travel: the morn- many of the events that take shunned conducting altogether, performance is different based on where I began a walk on the Karst Pla- butter-colored wood. It was very com- ing climb and long afternoon descent, Rplace in the choral community. oftentimes performing K K K to how each person can perceive and teau, a rocky landscape pockmarked with fortable, even luxurious, if a touch sar- the dependably undependable weather, He is considered aloof and reclu- Schools for the Deaf nationwide. utter the word K,” Robeson writes. caves and sinkholes, and ended up at cophagal. I sat out on the balcony, watch- the never quite knowing what you’re sive, arrogant and condescending. He does this by introducing the “Or so they say. I wouldn’t know; Duino Castle. It was here, walking along ing night fall and feeling as though I’d going to see over the crest of the next He travels alone rather than with piece and its personal significance I don’t really listen to it.” Deutsche the cliff-top path above the Adriatic, landed in a folktale about a traveller ar- high pass or who’s going to emerge from the members of the choir who had for him—“It is called significance,” Grammophon has shown interest that Rilke claimed to have heard a voice riving in a household under some pow- the mist along the trail—though, unlike commissioned him for fear of im- he once signed to a crowd, “not in branding Robeson’s catalogue speak the opening line of what became erful enchantment. Ötzi, you can be fairly sure the stranger promptu sing-alongs and “the gen- speechificance.” He calls his per- as children’s music, a label which the Duino Elegies: “Who, if I cried, There was nothing sinister, exactly, isn’t going to kill you. He might even eral histrionics of an assembly of formance of K K K a “transcription Robeson neither accepts nor re- would hear me from among the Angels’ though the tall fir trees around the want to be your friend. We’ve come that singers.” He strongly prefers cor- for the deaf ”: he signs the letter at jects. He has said very little on the orders?” The Sentiero Rilke, as the Ital- meadow were forbidding in the dusk, far since the Bronze Age.  respondence via e-mail to discuss- varying intervals. Occasionally he subject, for obvious reasons. THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 39

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 49

PORTFOLIO

PART AND PARCEL

A look into the current state of the United States Postal Service

BY KADY RUTH ASHCRAFT PHOTOGRAPHS BY KADY RUTH ASHCRAFT

PHYSICAL PIECE of mail in this day is asA rare as a finding a slice of white stilton gold on a char- cuterie plate. The tangible form of correspondence is more a quaint, kitsch state- ment than anything conve- nient or practical. Yet still today there are almost 25 operating post offices in the United States alone. Chaos and misgovernance have made their home in what used to be the communica- tion polestar of our country. Take a look at the activity occurring within these all but abandoned premises.

According to research done by Millicent Reeves, the leading analyst in vagrants who won’t leave the post office, a single letter can take up to 13 weeks to be sent back to the sender for no apparent reason.

A large percentage of post office patrons are of the belief that post offices are banks. This has led to the financial demolition of a few small towns as well as a number of unsuccessful heists.

A large percentage of post office patrons are of the belief that post offices are banks. This has led to the financial demolition of a few small towns as well as a number of unsuccessful heists.

In one post office that remains open but underused in Floyd, Kentucky, a small cult has been renting the empty mailrooms to cleanse and abuse their members. It’s a profitable way to keep the doors open and engage with the community.

In one post office that remains open but underused in Floyd, Kentucky, a small cult has been renting the empty mailrooms to cleanse and abuse their members. It’s a profitable way to keep the doors open and engage with the community.

OUR THELOCAL CORRESPONDENTSCRITICS

THE HERO SCOURGE

Once, caped crusaders were eagerTHE to protectCURRENT Gotham. CINEMA Now, they harm more than heal.

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Each group lice had dismissed as a group delusion a grim landscape: there were 1.6 switch- was wrappedBY ANTHONY in thick longshoreman’s LANE among feeble minds had instead been blades per adult resident in Manhattan, rope, eight to twelve criminals each, the first rumblings of a new cadre of vig- 3.3 setsf you of brasscan’t knuckles think of per a good household way to bouquetshabited, ofor vagrantsinfested, deposited solely by bymembers erst- ilanteshis first possessed scene, he of holds means up anda copy abilities of Carl citywide.I kick o Childrenff your movie, as young how asabout five this? re- whileof the crime-fighting baseball team. romantics. His roommate In be- is thatSagan’s far outstripped “Cosmos” and those says of to theJake, NYPD “Chap. - portedTake ato handsome kindergarten, young if they buck, reported put him tweenBilly whines(Will Brittain),about the needa country for over boy- Theter 9busloads. 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No “Sure,freshmen I was were snatch harmed- simpleof a jock life, collectingthan Mason, protection and less payoffs of a calledcomparison being dragged, is with “Hail,begging Caesar!,” for their in ingin purses.the making I served of this my film. time. But did fromwounded locals. soul; Even whatever those officers his past may with lives,which unsure the Coensof how introducedto handle their a crew new of I deserveIt is set to inbe 1980 humiliated?, a crossroads The for police mu- higherhave been,moral we callings learn very often little opted about to it. rolepromising as prey. figures Each and was then told let the them same slide, foundsical trendsme on both a flagpole coming hangingand going. from We enterHe’s into like pactsa passenger with one boarding another; athey ship pithyhalf-used; platitudes the resultin gruff left tones: audiences that thisgaz- myget briefs. the dregs I was of incoherent disco, Blondie’s for months. “Heart wouldwith awound single suitcase.one another What with matters their is wasing the around beginning at the endof a and new asking, dawn, “Is that that Rememberingof Glass,” the the Cars, outfit, Cheap I feltTrick, like and I’d a servicethe surging revolvers tide and of take the their now, pensions and the theit?” city’s To Linklater, virus now nohad one a cure.is disposable. Several beenburst picked of pustular up by punk. a rogue We S&M get M’s dun “Pop- early.camera follows him eagerly into the hoodlumsTake Nesbit who (Austin had Amelio),turned to who crime tends geonMuzik,” gimp. which That’s to mynot horrorstopping I remem crime,- house—takingThe city was, its cueby allfrom accounts, a snaking in afterto place abandoning unwise bets, advanced for a few literature dollars, on that’sber, gloating.”in pitiless detail, from 1979. And, needhose, of which a hero. runs It got from several. the garden to an degreesfruitless were daily clocked activities; a second Plummer time (Tem for - courtesyWith ofthe the Giuliani Sugarhill era Gang, still a we de get- SCARABOTTOLO NYPD upstairsJanuary bedroom, 1st, 1980, where was athe water first bed day is rollingple Baker), their whoeyes. is just off the pace when- cade“Rapper’s away, the Delight,” chosechanted to ignorein angelic a GUIDO inslowly a decade being of filled.excess. It’s That that kindmorning, of place. po- everOver jokes the are flyingnext few about; evenings, or Willoughby then problemchorus, that consonant-perfect, has only festered withby Roper, age.

lice Jakeprecincts is a pitcher, throughout and the lower house Man is in-- through(Wyatt theRussell), months the in-houseand into hippie.Spring, In TheFinn, criminals Plummer, wondered Dale, and then, Jake as theythe : ABOVE hattan reported being overwhelmed the police learned that they had to de- city does now: isn’t vigilantism a crime withRichard intake Linklater’s paperwork. new movieBundles is setof at cidea Texas whether college. these At his new best, crimefighters he doesn’t really of directits own? a film Regardless so much ofas theirhost it.origins

5674 THETHE NEUNEW JORKER,YORKER, APRILJUNE 20,11, 2016 2016 L eguizamon J uan BY ILLUSTRATION

The current iteration of New York City is unrecognizable to those who fled during the decades of decline. and their intent, can super heroes really reason for needing an additional seat. was a city in need of saving, and vari- be permitted to act outside the law, even Spider-Man carpools with a handful of ous caped men have offered their ver- in order to enforce it? Could we even fawning Goldman Sachs interns. As a sion of aid. But now we sit frustrated, stop them if we wanted? How do we do result, the heroes themselves do not en- with the less glamorous ongoing work justice to a Justice League? gage with the fallout of their heroism. of rebuilding before us, and no heroes In Brooklyn, what environmentalists stepping forward.” he current iteration of New are calling a “wrathful colony of vicious Of particular interest in this era York City is unrecognizable to ammonia-based lifeforms” has begun of gentrification is something lower- Tthose who fled during the decades of emerging from the Gowanus, long a income residents have long known: our decline. The contemporary Disney ver- dumping ground for the interplanetary league of white, wealthy, male heroes sion of Manhattan owes much of its flotsam that results from Superman’s has something of an allergy to the outer image to a citywide cleanup effort in battles in the stratosphere. The super- boroughs. And yet the same decrease in which superheroes played no small role. fund site lies thirty-one miles from the crime has occurred even in neighbor- Indeed, petty crime remains low, thanks Justice League’s ‘downstate’ headquar- hoods the Bugle’s resident hero-beat primarily to ongoing police interven- ters at Kykuit, the former Rockefeller shutterbug Peter Parker has never had tion tactics, championed in the 90’s by residence acquired by Wayne Industries cause to photograph. Commissioner William Bratton and in 1999. “There’s no real incentive to commit still in effect today. Broken windows Skeptics have long argued that any crimes here anymore, but I don’t think policies that held sway through the gratitude the city might have for Spider- Batman or whoever has anything to do Giuliani and Bloomberg eras remain Man and company’s headline-making with it,” Bedford-Stuyvesant communi- effective (if controversial) and com- heroics, their lack of follow-through— ty leader Anjelica Odom said at a recent munity outreach programs have proven at best—undoes any goodwill. At worst, luncheon honoring her and others who effective at stemming juvenile crime in it prompts resentment in locals: a secret have worked to rebuild the inner city. low-income areas. Minor violence and wish that the magic & wonder superhe- “We’ve just grown up as a community, larceny, combatting which was once roes draw upon had never been discov- gained a little political autonomy, found the stock-in-trade of superheroes, has ered. As the city enjoys its respite from a financial foothold. Of course property now largely become a manageable nui- the crime on which these heroes made values are rising, for better or worse. sance, kept in check by the city and its their name, the destruction that accom- Frankly, we’ve benefited from being out residents without the intervention of panies these new misadventures (and of the [heroes’] war path, so to speak.” mutant and alien do-gooders. Citizens As early as 1982, however, com- are left to wonder, then, what exactly is munity leaders were speaking out about prompting the super heroes to linger. the heroes’ tendency to save victims that While minor crime has been more resembled themselves. The Reverend Al or less eradicated, other historically Sharpton, speaking at a Morningside unheard-of issues now threaten the av- Heights rally, had this to say: “And yet, erage New Yorker. With superheroes our community remains somehow terra come supervillains. Instead of subway incognita for these so-called heroes. As muggings, city residents now cope with afflicted as our neighborhoods are with the semi-annual threat of nuclear holo- just the kind of crime these masked caust. Commutes are regularly thrown marauders treat as their bread and but- into disarray as interdimensional portals ter, we all see the front pages. We know manifest in the Canarsie and Montague what kind of victims make the news. MTA tunnels. Bridges over the East the attendant rebuilding costs) comes We know that there are self-mytholo- River are demolished with alarming without any ability to seek redress. The gizing egos at work here.” Sharpton was regularity. Mad scientists have engi- city can hardly seek restitution from eventually cut off by a Kool Herc break neered the redirection of comets, setting a group with no fixed name, let alone that sampled audio of Batman tripping them on a course for Gotham. Resi- discover the tax standing of any of the over a curbstone. dents pine for days when they merely Justice League’s membership. The com- And, indeed, documenting these had to watch knife-wielding vagrants plex legal architecture undergirding crime-fighting exploits has put lo- soil themselves on the walk to Zabar’s. each superhero’s consists of a host of cal media on the journalistic map. In a Nemeses of the superheroes have FEINs and LLCs, each with limited as- recent op-ed for the Daily Planet, for- prompted the heroes themselves to be- sets. Wonder Woman is technically an mer cub reporter Clark Kent bragged come commuters. Having made their S-Corp but files as a 501(c)(3). There at length about building his career homes along the Hudson, the heroes appears to be larger reasons than mere on early exclusives and first-hand ac- see little of the city they protect. Su- humility for these figures’ insistence on counts. Though veteran reporters perman has been known to refuse to hiding their identities. As city advocate are often tempted to revere the past, accommodate others on Metro North, Letitia James said in a recent address, Kent’s nostalgia reads as dangerously claiming some alien gravity-related “For years, we have heard that ours rose-tinted, given Superman’s recent

58 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 popping up. A small tent community has reformed in Zuccotti Park, with pro- testers holding placards with slogans like “Flying Heroes Are Corporate Welfare.” Effigies of Batman hang from lamp- posts. A recent statement from the occu- piers reads, in part, “Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man have long generated and attracted far more crime than they ever thwarted. We ask only that they let the city carry on in peace.” Mike Daisey, the disgraced playwright and monolo- gist known for his later-retracted pieces indicting Apple, has recently begun pre- views for a new show entitled “Waiter, There’s a Utility Belt in My Soup.” City comptroller Scott Stringer echoed these sentiments recently, say- ing, “If they could truly eradicate crime, they would have by now. The simple fact is they need crime to exist in order to thrive, and so have a vested interest in keeping our citizens unstable and un- safe.” Shortly afterward, a lawsuit on behalf of the city was brought against the LLC under which the League main- “You know what I really don’t mind? Toiling in obscurity.” tains most of its financial holdings. The damages, according to those briefed on the sealed documents, were listed as incalculable. Buried within the suit are . . searing allegations regarding high-level collusion between Wall Street and the Justice League. It has been dismissed as sinking of Roosevelt Island (and its after hiring uninsured contractors for unenforceable and frivolous by Justice 9,500 residents). Bloviation aside, the cleanup following hero-related building League PR representatives. city’s newspapers have long struggled destruction; the development tycoon has with a credibility gap as concerns the filed suit and publicly sworn that “those T was not always thus. heroes. In an email, Times editor Sam queers in capes are gonna pay through Throughout the 80’s, theNYPD Sifton wrote: “In a field that subsists so the nose.” andI the superheroes operated in a kind totally on access, it’s no wonder some of Larger companies have come to see of grudging detente. As violent crime the local dailies opt for reverence rather New York as a metropolitan test tube. numbers plummeted, Superman would than investigation, let alone criticism. Wayne Industries, which operated in often appear alongside Police Com- Particularly when it comes to people the red throughout the 70’s and 80’s, has missioner Devine and Mayor Koch at who can literally lift buildings, reporters recorded profits every year since being press conferences, fielding questions. feel compelled to give at least a little bit tapped to consult on the rebuilding of Behind closed doors, Batman was said of a tugjob.” the MTA lines in 1991. “New York offers to be “highly cooperative” and “hardly More damning by far is developers’ us a unique opportunity to test low-yield a dictator” when it came to evidence- growing reliance on the city’s ongoing production runs of new high-efficiency sharing. Spider-Man reportedly filed destruction. Given the overwhelming materials before going into full produc- thorough statements, with photograph demand, the city and its property own- tion,” said a Wayne executive who did documentation, and would often re- ers have been forced to offer no-bid con- not wish to be named. “We can try out quest and deliver his own lab work. tracts to builders and engineering firms. a new polymer or material and see how Crime figures looked like they fell of a Unable to successfully raise taxes on an it fares in the few years it stays in place. shelf; the city thrived. Aquaman, with increasingly depressed populace, the city Should it not prove out in real-world a growing excess of time on his hands, has plunged into debt while its white- conditions, it won’t be long before a wea- briefly joined Devo as bassist before collar residents have invested in local ponized solar flare or acidic cloudburst forming a No Wave band of his own, development and flourished as a result. destroys it anyway.” The Watery Graves. Donald Trump, inevitably, found him- Recently, protests against the super- A pressure valve had been released, self locked in bankruptcy proceedings heroes’ continued residency have begun

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 59 with the accumulated toxic energy of de- SEX cades of stagnation billowing off of the city. Quality of life increased ten percent I can’t remember how it goes. or more each year from 1983 through 1990. The Justice League seemed genu- Some lilting melody… inely to enjoy interacting with the city’s licking, arching, aching bones that crack, residents. Most Thursdays in 1985 Spi- and lightning bolts in red and blue der-Man could be found volunteering at etched across her back the Bowery Mission, while Batman cut the ribbon on the city’s first needle ex- change depot, across from Katz’s in what My love was a quiet one, is now (no kidding) a gelato laboratory. A thrusting by the river High-profile arrests of crime bosses Rustling in the summer breeze and gang leaders spurred the city into a But hushing as the thrushes sang. state of devotion and adulation. “It was Eager always, on my knees. an incredible time to be in the ticker tape trade,” confetti supplier Randolph Particity recalled. “We were making These days I keep to corridors, money hand over fist, between the near- Perverted eyes averted. weekly parade prep, and then getting the Some speed machines were built to rust cleanup for the same parade funneled Windshield cracked by swallow’s teeth, through a sister company we created for private sanitation. God, New Yorkers Fenders bent by bulky bucks. love a parade.” Documents from the era highlight I fear the others have it worse. the heroes’ continued efforts to eradicate How could they ever dance again? crime, but with few outwardly sinister Silk shoes hung up on the mantle, forces remaining in New York, the usual suspects were nowhere to be found. In- These spinster reminisce besides the fire stead, as the excesses of the financial Of the one far too hot to handle. sector began to bloom, Superman and others found themselves bedevilled not —Michael J. Wolf by typical henchmen but instead at the mercy of cocaine-addled day trad- ers. Attempts to infiltrate the arena of industry executives. Such an interest in point, it was custom: you’d show up and white-collar crime were met handily by exacerbating the frustrations of the elite Batman would swoop in and do the executives and financiers. Batman, in one was not lost on Spider-Man’s colleagues, rest.” infamous photograph, is pictured help- who removed him to an upstate “sanito- The NYPD’s cooperation with su- ing hedge fund manager Steven Cohen rium” for a period of drying out. During perheroes relied on non-interference: select a Basquiat from Larry Gagosian’s this time he supposedly learned to code; the heroes attack, the police clean up. downtown gallery; in full mask and re- his online aliases all played off his own “That first time, I got back to collect the galia, Batman sips an espresso. Gagosian relations to webs and web-related activ- victim, and she’s mad at me. Just totally recalled him as a neophyte, “badmouth- ity. It was an early rumbling of internal loses it. She thought she was going in ing primitivism, had this weird hard-on discord. Their hands exposed, the heroes the newspaper, wanted her fifteen min- for early Koons. His check cleared, at attempted to maintain an appearance utes. I said, ‘lady, I just used my service least.” of fealty to the city, but skeptical New revolver for the first time, that punk’s Adrift in a decade that privileged Yorkers had already begun to notice a walking with a limp the rest of his life,’ greed and doubted morality, Spider- downtick in the quality of service. and she starts swatting at me with her Man found himself sunk into a depres- umbrella!” Caliendo gazed down at his sion, his moral compass skewed. Often started busting muggers again styrofoam as he squeezed excess water considered a sulk among his peers, and in, let’s see, 1988?” said Detec- from a teabag. “Ended up having to among the least respected among the tive“I Travis “Garlic” Caliendo, a thirty- bring her in too. This city, I don’t know public, the webslinger lashed out. He year veteran of the police force. “It was sometimes. I think I was better off when was among the first to identify and pur- strange—we’d grown accustomed to all we did was tickle hippies.” sue “crime against the environment,” someone swooping in from above to get As the 90’s came barreling to- locating and removing toxic sludge and the collar. Even as I hustled after this wards New York, the tone of the Justice barrels of chemical waste only to de- first purse snatcher, I figured I’d see a League shifted away from the local and posit them on the Hamptons lawns of grappling hook fly by my face. At that personal and more towards the distant

60 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 and cynical. Altruistic in their actions, ing lack of media coverage exposed the do-over that caused thousands of New the heroes proved themselves not above heroes’ long-simmering vanity. Without Yorkers to be committed to state psychi- financial temptation in the form of en- the torrent of credit and goodwill that atric institutions for what the Diagnostic dorsements. A line of Reebok sneakers, commonly accompanied their exploits, and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) refers an early Gatorade variant, at least two the superficial benefits of altruism dis- to as “time madness.” While the initial Jitney buses—there were few places the solved altogether. The three met atop oversight may have cost untold lives, the Justice League wouldn’t permit its im- the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge later mayor, having lost his wife to the “hour- age, for the right price. An over-the-top that evening. Having each separately glass curse,” implored of the heroes: “No marketing campaign for Superman- received the key to the city at various mulligans. No do-overs. If you’re going branded “Hypercolor” shirts required points throughout the 80’s, the three to put us all in danger, just get it right. the man of steel to circle the Brooklyn individually heaved their golden keys as Now, please excuse me. I have to inject bridge at supersonic speed, creating a far into the bay as possible. This act of my wife with vertigo medication.” Christo & Jeanne-Claude–esque heat- childlike defiance was ridiculed as “ob- It might be uncouth to mention sensitive drapery. The city had not been noxious” in the Post. Pat Kiernan did a that on 9/11 the heroes were attending contacted regarding appropriate per- deep-voiced impression of a simpering a “message coordination” summit at an mitting, and early news reports suggest- baby Batman on the following evening’s underground bunker on the moon. That ed the bridge itself was being fumigated NY1 news broadcast. said, few New Yorkers fail to recall Su- without warning. Panic ensued. Dozens perman’s appearance at Shea Stadium at leapt from the bridge into the January he decline in hero popularity the first ball game following the attacks. frost blanketing the East River. throughout the 90’s was an inverse Invited to throw out the first pitch, as Pioneering urban theorist Jane Ja- reflectionT of the success of the Giuliani a unifying act for the city, the Man of cobs described this transitional time in era. Conservative and controversial to Steel was booed by a sold-out crowd of an essay for Harper’s, saying: “those fig- some, the strict enforcement of on- 14,000. In response, Superman heaved ures we once imagined capable of reori- the-books laws by the police depart- the ball at a record 311 mph. A hole in enting our experience of the Manhattan ment overtook the daring escapades of Mike Piazza’s catcher’s mitt glowed red landscape have instead been consumed the 80’s. The efficacy of Commissioner at the edges. The hall of famer wears a by it, as surely they feared would be Bratton’s ends-justify-the-means bro- glass eye to this day. the result all along. The city shifts he- ken windows policing drove crime to “It was just such an act of childish- gemonically; those forces which hoped its lowest rate on record. A period of ness, at the worst possible moment,” said to transform it are themselves trans- peace settled into the waning days of veteran Met player and current com- formed, utterly, beyond recognition. The the Clinton administration; the US as a mentator Keith Hernandez. “I still refer onward march of capital tames us all.” nation unknowingly grew complacent to it as the second most tragic day of In a letter to the editor, local business and vulnerable. The superheroes, sus- that month. And coming just a season magnate Bruce Wayne declared Jacobs piciously, became the target of threats after the Subway Series. Just pathetic.” a “tired old biddy” who “couldn’t make altogether unknown on the earth. New friends with people” so “hung out with York transitioned; for more than a gen- ot long ago, in December bricks instead.” The inchoate flame war eration, gang activity, mafia violence, 2012, a group of henchmen loyal between the scholar and the tycoon was and other acts of pedestrian violence toN one of Batman’s nemeses attempted nipped in the bud when Jacobs declared had remained the greatest threat to to ignite the ozone above Long Island. her intention never to leave Toronto, everyday citizens. Now, however, evil The effort was foiled, not by the dark in disgust at what she called “the end geniuses were becoming common. In- knight but rather by road closures and of New York as we have known it. The tergalactic terrorists, bearing no real debris buildup related to superstorm slums have been cleared. Long live the grievance with the people of the me- Sandy. Unable to coordinate effectively, new slums.” tropolis, began targeting New York. the henchmen were picked up in a rou- To most New Yorkers, the final true The heroes found their way back tine search at a National Guard check- act of heroism the heroes brought to to the front pages, but this time the point outside near the Rockville Centre the city was the foiling of the 1993 at- papers struggled to find a vocabulary LIRR stop. Recovery efforts had been tempt on the Twin Towers. An intense for the threat that was being repelled. in effect since the storm’s arrival in late collaboration between local, federal, Nor, indeed, did the city’s myriad salva- October, but superhero involvement and superhuman abilities, the ultimate tions come with much closure. Threats in cleanup had been minimal. Sources result involved the inert detonation of became increasingly inconceivable be- close to President Obama say he was the terrorists’ weapon in a garage be- forehand, and the city began to fear approached about a photo opp with the neath the towers that had reportedly most attacks from things it couldn’t yet heroes but declined, citing a need to ap- been reinforced by a material composed imagine. In one highly publicized inci- pear above reproach in the midst of an of contributions from each of the “mar- dent, Superman reversed the rotation of election. quee” heroes—Batman, Spider-Man, the planet in order to turn back time. The appearance of any costumed Superman. Unfortunately, for reasons This later revealed itself to be merely adult in the New York sky is now a cause of national security, the breadth of the an attempt to whitewash a disastrous for alarm—an indication that trouble is collaboration was kept secret. The ensu- oversight on the crusader’s part, a heroic on the way. People immediately seek

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 61 washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it, is surely one of the great and I got a shock when I saw the back shelter,hole-in-the-ground assuming high-altitude latrines outside, destruc with- ensorceledapproaches by tobeams any ofcultural light inpilgrimage a color elaborate.of a woman, Never dressed formally in a inducteddirndl and into high- tionsome and disconcerting its attendant twig falling brooms objects propped mysite, mind the cannot castle comprehend.appearing across Maybe the thecrowned League, Spider-Manhat, exiting appearsfrom what to be I’d arenext on tothe them. way. AllSome of theex–New hut’s seventy-York- it’sGulf just ofme, Trieste but damn.” in a series of visual throbs sufferingthought awas crisis the ofempty conscience, downstairs, having and ers,nine priced beds out were of expected their neighborhoods, to be filled, and, likeRecent the unabashedly local elections orgasmic highlighted build of enlisteddisappearing with the into UN the as woods. a global Later, am -on- claimwith that some they serious could drinking never be already beckoned going theRilke’s discord; poems. the Inmayoral 1912, hecandidates wrote to a bassador.line, I discovered He was most that recentlyEichmann spotted and his backon toin thethe city.dining “Honestly? room, this I’ve was been begin in - in friend,2013 at“We times are incompeted the karst, to and see the who hard - chattingS.S. guards with hadBono stayed on aat fact-finding the inn while Passaicning tofor strike three me years as problematic.now and no Nightone couldened distance mountains themselves forgo the the eff eminacymost missionfleeing in U.S. Central troops Africa. at the end of the war. haswas threatened going to tobe incineratea challenge; my morning block fromof anythe vegetation.”Justice League. There’s For actually their part, quite GoldAnd coins so New that theyYork buriedpersists, under bur -the in gruesome.exchange for something they will thea lotheroes of vegetationseem to have around no intention the castle denedhuts byin thosethe meadow most suited had beento protect dug up only mysteriouslyI decided that refer the to only as ‘the way device,’ to han- of (andmoving only on Rilke to greener, could haveless populated us. Though theoccasionally daily services over of the super years.- youdle know? it was There’s to get myself the usual to sleep New imme-York pastures.imagined Indeed, the gentle with theslopes exception of heroes have ceased,If andI had a criminalto choose ele a- fa- bullshitdiately, that and youto cleardon’t out see first anywhere thing in Spider-Man,nearby to bethe mountains), heroes appear to have ment has crept voriteback stretchinto everyday from my life, sam- the morning. I had a sleeping pill in my but the path itself is pure pling of the Via, it would else, and then there’s the shit these guys retired to a life among Manhattan’s up- the NYPD’s statistics-based models tend attract,”glasses said case, former where Upper I’d also West stowed Side my perkarst: crust, fantasticalwith Superman water- recently spot- to be just as effectivebe the inpart ongoing of the Blueviolent trail residentcontact-lens Hugo Carbine, container. an ophthalmolA minor mis-- tederoded at Per stone, Se dining fissured with into David Koch crime prevention.that When passes a major through crime the ogisthap whose gave thefamily day liveda final in farcicalNew York twist. andwhat former geologists Mayor Bloomberg.call clints Report- slips through theirWalser grasp, villages Superman of the Pied-et forSome generations. of the “Ilens like solution that I can had get leaked, my edly,and Superman’s grykes—blocks temper andflared up over al. hold it up asmont. an example The landscapeof their on was- kidhalf-dissolving to school without my the precious fuselage narcotic. of an a cracks—anddisagreement aboutfluted sentencing like and going necessity;thickly when a forested, crime is thwartwith Chi-- alienThere craft was slamming no alternative into Amsterdambut to lick the prisoncake conditionsicing or pinched in the Unitedinto States. ed, regardless ofnese-looking how, they muscle crags their and Avenue.”residue out. I was doing this, my tongue Longrigid a championwaves like of an privatizing arrested incar ocean.- wayknolls onstage scarved to take in fog.the Thecredit. villages Average were buriedCarbine deep echoed in the whatcase’s manyplush interior,high- ceration,I then the headed Man northof Steel into reportedly Austria, and Newmiraculous Yorkers now specimens shrug off of antheir ingenious, antics profilewhen theNew door Yorkers opened have and said the about Swiss coughedresumed a followingbutter-poached the Purple lobster trail. tail One as low-impactthough talking culture. about There any other were localminia- leavingcouple the came city. in. Many An awkward celebrities pause now fol- throughstretch a ofwindow it passes and near into the the Altaussee center crackpot.ture funiculars Altruism for has bringing given way in tosupplies so- makelowed, their in homeswhich inI decided the tri-state it would area be of saltColumbus mine, where Circle’s the Nazisglobe. hid Batman some of lipsism.(the streets And everyare too foiled steep plot and becomes narrow for outsidehopeless the tocity try limits, to explain. and chalk They their stared recentlytheir stolenappeared art. Ion dropped Meet the down Press, from transmutedcars), Richard into another Scarry-like advertisement vehicles on departuresfor a moment, up to more evidently than justreappraising relaxed insistingpristine that meadows—still “the United Statesemerald needs green forcaterpillar how doomed treads we forwould the begarbage without and taxtheir codes high-minded in New Jersey roommate and Connecti as some- to inbuild August—and the wall, and looked Wayne at Industhe old- theheavy heroes’ lifting, assistance. stone housesIn-house caged and in cut.kind “I likeof cokehead having a yard.or very I like specialized that I triesrailbeds, is the with company salt crystals to do glittering it.” Long along contractwooden brand balconies, managers scythes for the lying Justice on the won’tdeviant, be kidnapped before beating and used a retreat. as a tokenI passed suspectedthe tunnels of xenophobia, and a subterranean Batman chapelhas League,stone-covered including roofs, Karl chimneysRove, articulate shingled in out,an intergalacticmercifully quickly, hostage to trade,” the dim said roar refuseddedicated to stop to St. crime Barbara, in Queens the patron since saint a messagelike tiny of houses. the city’s The ongoing schist-rich need forlocal formerof Slovenian New Yorker drinking Chris songs,Rock. “Iand like left theof mid-80’s, miners. Years-oldsaying “they swags should of fir take hung protection,rock made a rehasheverything of the glitter messaging madly in thatbefore I can daybreak walk my the dog next without morning. being careon ofthe theirwalls, own,” smelling and as refusing if they’d tojust usedthe to sunshine. re-elect Bush. The Walsers were Ger- Just beyond the hut, I saw something been cut, the salt air keeping them un- man-speakingYet the heroes refugeesbring as muchand migrants threat moving in the gray light below me: a naturally fresh. as whoanyone spread else. Thesouth tactics through that the helped Alps shaggy animal with big horns. It was an That evening, I stayed at Blaa-Alm, makeduring this thecity Middle safe have Ages, grown improvising old, and a ibex, though in profile it looked like a an inn along the trail. The owners, who’d perhapslife style the on end the justifiedhigh terrain the where means. no- slightly disreputable unicorn. I took out told me they were going to be gone for Butbody what else about farmed after or lived.the end? It was New a fru- my phone and filmed it as it ambled the night, left my room key in the en- Yorkgal finds life style,itself inconstrained the same situation by the de-as across the lunar scree. When I look at trance. It was an old wooden building Iraq.mands Ravaged of basic by a survival,destructive but overreac there were- the footage now, it seems the perfect in the Tyrolian style, deep in the mid- tionenough to a bad grace situation, notes wonderingto make you how feel emblem of that place: wild and dream- dle of silent countryside, with flower- to thatrebuild, the inhabitantsforced to lean enjoyed on the their very exis- like and marvellous. hung balconies looking out on a meadow influencestence. In thata little wrought museum the in Alagna,destruc- I full of small farm buildings, and I seemed tionadmired in the afirst teaspoon place. carved The withcurrency a hand in iking the entire Via Alpina to have it entirely to myself. A wooden Newholding York anow rose. is fear. Children travel H would take years, so after leaving staircase led up to a large bedroom in to schoolIt’s the in loopingbuses reinforced continuum with of thekev trail- Triglav National Park I got into a car which the walls, ceiling, and every other larthat and makesexplosion-resistant the Via Alpina glass, what protec it is.- It and drove to other sections of the trail. surface, including the light-switch cover, tiondoesn’t in case take overhead long to war lose should yourself break in the Moving southwest, I crossed into Italy, had been intricately panelled in the same out.rhythms The subway of mountain system travel: continues the morn to - where I began a walk on the Karst Pla- butter-colored wood. It was very com- undergoing climb its first and longrevamping afternoon in decades, descent, teau, a rocky landscape pockmarked with fortable, even luxurious, if a touch sar- butthe the dependably bulk of the undependable money is going weather, to caves and sinkholes, and ended up at cophagal. I sat out on the balcony, watch-protectionthe never from quite forces knowing underneath what you’rethe Duino Castle. It was here, walking along ing night fall and feeling as though I’d tunnels,going whereto see Batman’sover the nemesescrest of themake next the cliff-top path above the Adriatic, landed in a folktale about a traveller ar- theirhigh lairs. pass Quality or who’s of going life is toat emergeits lowest from that Rilke claimed to have heard a voice riving in a household under some pow- sincethe atmist least along the the Lindsay trail—though, administra unlike- speak the opening line of what became erful enchantment. tion.Ötzi, These you canheroes be steppedfairly sure in tothe assist stranger us the Duino Elegies: “Who, if I cried, There was nothing sinister, exactly, whereisn’t agoing feckless to killpolice you. force He could might not. even would hear“Yeah, me from I know. among But the there’s Angels’ always though a little the voice tall fir in treesmy head around the Butwant now to thatbe your they friend. no longer We’ve need come to that  orders?” The Sentiero Rilke,saying, as the‘You’re Ital- notmeadow so super.’” were forbidding in the dusk, protect,far since will the they Bronze ever serve? Age. THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 39

62 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016

FICTION DESIGN BY STRICK&WILLIAMS BY DESIGN

PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY OEZDEN YORULMAZ 6664 THE THE NEW NEU YORKER, JORKER, APRIL JUNE 11, 20,2016 2016 ILLUSTRATION BY REID FAYLOR e watches the second car into the house, she is not worrying other question, asked only by the hus- hey had left the scablands and startsback a fire. out Maybe of the catchesdriveway him and- everyThere minute were about never money. any shotsShe is when going band, and only in his head: How does weeks ago. Had traded a shrub- Hself on fire.then Everyone he makes else a thinksslow lapit’s theto thebig gymman again.went outShe hunting, is washing and a science-fiction guy end up writing ra- dottedT landscape for one of powdery thearound divine the plan block, and careful sets fires not ofto their step theher carrabbits on a regularhad no basis. injuries. In her Theyclean cial melodrama? Also: How do I write dust mottled with grass and the oc- own.on the The cracks place in goesthe sidewalk.up like a Frompyre, werecar, injust her dead. damp gym clothes, she this character without making him seem casional sagebrush that reminded becauseother houses the comeLord thehelps sounds those of dogswho drivesThat through night the the bright-blue kid had morn- first like all the other decent, long-suffer- them of a dog with mange. It was a helpbarking, themselves.” and from other yards the noise watch,ing, feeling and calm.the others She’s fellgoing asleep to be as right he ing, wrongly accused black men who hard, empty land. The only other liv- of lawnmowersThe kid thought. and leaf blowers.With a Con-thin hummedon time. in that same clear tone. have shown up onscreen over the years? ing things they’d seen for weeks were facestruction and fair is happeninghair, coated somewhere in dust, he • • beetles in the food and lice in their lookeddown the like street. a balsa After wood completing doll. “I think the He tips back in his chair and looks Spit. Spraying across the glass. The clothes. itlap was he lightning,”looks up at he the said. clock on top of Theat the kid whiteboard, found a wherestreamlet the story the beatsnext barking sudden and loud. A black dog The path went southeast, cor- the Catholic“That wasn’t church any the nextlightning, block over:I’m morning,for Act I haveand whoopedbeen written as he in cleaned streaky at the back door, lunging at him from ralled between two mountain ranges. tellingnine-forty. you Heit was walks bandits.” up the driveway himself.black marker. Grady They’re and theonly bigtwo mandays the other side of the window in the The only breezes to be had were hot, purposefully“Even bandits and pushes wouldn’t through burn the a walkedinto breaking over to the join, episode but Hoke and alreadystayed door. It looks big, maybe seventy-five dry, and coated everything with dust. church,white wooden not unless gate, they a high had gategold. that, But withthe character the horses. of Emmett Diggs is pos- pounds. It looks from its light eyebrows Their hands, faces, throats, and eyes thathe noticed church yesterday,didn’t even doesn’t have havewin- ing Cleanproblems. or not, So farthey the all formula filled their has as if it might have some Rottweiler were all stung by it. The horses had dows.”a lock. canteensbeen consistent: before setting nineteen-sixties out. bad mixed in. The door shakes when the painful sores beneath their saddles. “I’d bet my horse• it was bandits.” guy Itcommits was a long heinous morning, crimes, and winds Hoke up dog launches itself, its nails scrabbling Each morning the big man put Ecola?“You couldOrkin? bet Idling your atboots the ifinter- you mutteredin solitary and in Attica,cursed travelsfrom his through saddle. a on the glass. Through the window, be- on a red tie that turned pale pink be- hadn’tsection, lost she themcan’t rememberat dice two for weeksa mo- rift in“This the goddamnedspace-time continuum, dust. It doesn’t and yond the dog, he can see the washer fore the sun had broken free of the gone,”ment the said name Hoke. of the company she is grindpops upyour in present-daythroat raw upstatethen it Newhalf and dryer, he can see sweatshirts and horizon. He rode ahead of the rest, on her“I’m way not home betting to meet. my Inboots, the pastI’m blindsYork, whereyou.” He he coveredcontinues his hisface crime with jackets hanging from hooks, cleaning picking out a path with practiced bettingweek three my horse.” men came through the hisspree hat. until he is tracked down and ap- supplies lined up along a shelf. Not too ease. The slit back of his battered house,“It onewas aftersoldiers.” the other,The bigwearing man prehended by a top-secret team of far from the back door to the shelf, cavalry coat laid smoothly over the hadjumpsuits rejoined and slippingthem. His disposable white boo-hair special agents. Which the network says the distance no more than the length horse’s flanks. framedties over his their weatherworn shoes, three facemen inon ring their- they like; which has worked just fine of his arm, outstretched. And the dog, Behind him was Grady. He’d lets,hands like and a cherubknees in grown the attic, old. Hecreaking rode until now; so why, on the first episode now that he’s had a minute to look at been from a city once, but no longer. onoverhead, without tapping further inquisitively dissembling. at the he’s been assigned to write, are they it? Not as big as its bark makes it sound. All he’d kept was a pipe and a vest beams.The After others collecting were all silent. the estimates, Soon trying something different? • coat with a cameo brooch in the waist enoughshe consulted they hadwith passed her husband, the church who • At the stop sign, she counts to five. pocket. Sat lightly in his saddle, his andhad onlyseen thisthe to other say: “Trustside. Theyour gut.”wall The back yard is a mess. Weeds up She doesn’t want to get another ticket. shadow stretched ahead of him as the hadOh—Greenleaf! been dynamited That’s theand name. collapsed They to his waist, cracked concrete. A tarp And then waits a little more, because sun fell towards evening. inward.cost the The most, roof but on she that liked side the sagged man slung over a pile of stuff pushed up there’s Jessica, her neighbor, out walk- On this particular evening they closeand, accordingto the ground to the like literature, a man tipping they against the garage door. From the front, ing Cocoa. She gives a tap on her horn saw a modeste watches church the a wayssecond down car hisuseinto hat.one-hundred-per-cent-organic the Dark house, stains she isran not from worrying inside theother house question, looked asked nice. only Neat. by the Green hus- and waves: Go ahead, cross the street. the trail. backStacked out stonesof the madedriveway a small and thematerials.every church minute into about the money. crater Sheoutside. is going A lawn.band, Frontand only door in painted his head: a glossy How bright does She isn’t in any hurry, and she’s preoc- Hroom withthen a rough he makes wooden a slow cross lap on buzzardto the gym had again.gotten• Sheitself is caughtwashing in red.a science-fiction ABut good back piece here guy ofit’s end an di upffhourerent. writing passed Flat- ra- cupied with a relaxing and anticipatory anaround eave. theWhen block, they careful came closer,not to theystep aher priest’sThe car husbandon robes.a regular isIts late basis.head to work. Inpoked her As clean outthe beforetenedcial melodrama? cardboardHoke’s horse Also: boxes, Howstumbled dusty do I grill.writeand sort of arithmetic. How many more sawon the it wascracks burnt. in the Grady sidewalk. started From the grotesquelyelevatorcar, in her carries dampthrough him gym upthe toclothes, collarthe o ffias sheces, it bumpedPlasticthis character playhouse Grady’s without bleachinghorse. making He in himgrabbed the seem sun. weeks before they can talk about get- speculation.other houses come the sounds of dogs hoppedhedrives is thinking through and flapped, aboutthe bright-blue tryingEmmett to escape. Byronmorn- HokeShrunkenlike all hard the lumpsatother the decent,shoulders.of shit alllong-su over fftheer- ting some bids on the roof? Also, the barking,“Bandits,” and from said other Grady, yards the“they’d noise Diggs,ing, Theyfeeling Attica kept calm. inmateriding She’s untilgoingNo. 243 after to .be Diggs sunright- deading,“Take wrongly grass. that He accused hat hesitates, off andblack thenlook men thinkswhere who kid needs a proper bookcase; the shelves burnof lawnmowers up the world and if leaf they blowers. could.” Con- set.willon time. be the first innocent man to ap- you’reofhave the shown carsgoing.” that up onscreenpulled out over of the the drive- years? in her room are starting to bow. The struction“It wasn’t is happening any bandits, somewhere the folk pear on the show. When• the showrun- way:“I a Prius,won’t. a ThisMini• Cooper.dust bothers There willme Voder-Smith family is ready to gradu- indown that the church street. burned After completingit themselves,” the nerHe put tips him back on the in hisepisode, chair heand said, looks “I moredefinitelySpit. than Spraying be you Apple do.” across gear theinside. glass. The ate from Swedish-designed particle- saidlap he Hoke. looks Heup atrode the clocka gouch-eared on top of Whendon’tat the wantwhiteboard, it was you too to wherethinkdark tothethat ride story I’m safely beatsask- barkingGrady sudden hit him. and• loud.A formless A black gasp dog board! They’ll have to plan ahead for horse.the Catholic His hat church was thebattered, next block and over: his theyingfor Actyou made Ito have writea roughbeen this written onecamp. just inThe because streaky kid escapedat theOn backone through sidedoor, of lunging Hoke’sthe board, athat him possible as from he property taxes, due at the beginning clothesnine-forty. stiff He with walks sweat. up the driveway gatheredtheblack character marker. scrub is They’re black,”wood to andonly make he two replied, a daysfire. hunchedbackstoriesthe other over,side for Emmettofbraced the window Diggs:against in1 . Ar-thehis of December, but if all goes as it purposefully“Why would and pushes anyone through burn theup He“Iinto don’t sang,breaking think clear that.”the and episode But high, now and while he already is be-he cantle.thriticdoor. It gardener’s looks big, son,maybe recently seventy-five home should they won’t have to ask her mother theirwhite own wooden church?” gate, a high gate that, searched.ginningthe character to worry of Emmett about what Diggs to do is pos-with frompounds.He the tookIt Army; looks slow from 2 breaths. Head its light cheffor eyebrows a in time, the for help this year. And if—is even to he noticed“Religious yesterday, ecstasy,” doesn’t said Hoke, have Emmetting Outproblems. Diggs.by Sothe far bedrolls,the formula Hoke has whilekitchenas if it Grady mightof local havelooked country some asclub; Rottweilerfar 3 . Mem-down think it to jinx it? Her husband is su- sayinga lock. the words like they were bor- brushedbeen consistent: down the nineteen-sixties •horses. bad thebermixed ofroad thein. as Themaintenance he door could. shakes Hokesta ffwhen atslowly Miss the perstitious about these things—if the rowed. “They got all• swept up in their guyTwo Gradycommits thousand set heinous up onethe hundredstewcrimes, pot winds and and sev- set up straightenedSo-and-So’sdog launches up. School.itself, its Behind nails scrabbling each of show gets an order for nine more epi- sermon.Ecola? Speaking Orkin? Idling in tongues, at the treminter-- toenty-fivein solitarykindling dollars: in a Attica, fire. this He travels she piled remembers through the fire a theseon the“Damned possibilities glass. Through sun’d is thecook the question: a window, cow where How be- sodes, maybe they can finally tackle the blingsection, with she the can’t holy remember spirit. But for then a mo- it higherexactly.rift in the asAfter the space-time kidthe broughtjob iscontinuum, done, more she wood. willand itdoesyond stands,” a the black dog,said man heHoke. incan 1961 Hesee gain putthe entryhiswasher hat to back yard. goesment different.” the name of the company she is writepopsThe upout bigin the present-day man entire dropped amount upstate two and of New the backtheand spaces dryer,on his wherehe head, can richandsee sweatshirtsgentlywhite girlsheld live,andhis • on her“How way does home that to makemeet. themIn the burn past long-leggedfeelYork, of wherethe check andhe continuestearingscoop-eared crisply his rabbits crimealong stomach.sojackets that hehanging He can took fall from in two love hooks, bullets with cleaning one, out getof We open on a couple, embracing in upweek their three church?” men camesaid the through kid, riding the peculiarthespree perforated until to hethat is line trackedpart will of be down thea small, countryand silly ap- asecretlysupplies pouch engaged,linedon his up hip alongand and then a heldshelf. be them Notaccused tooin the dark. The grounds of a golf course alongsidehouse, one the after two. the other, wearing nextthingprehended to that the pleases byfire. a top-secretGrady her. Thank tried team younot ofsoto hisoffar murder hand.from thewhenAs backhe she looked isdoor found toat dead,thethe shelf, facesraped roll away on all sides, the grass metal- jumpsuits“Some and fool slipping knocks disposable over a candle, boo- lookmuch!special as For agents.he preparedthe Whichfirst time them. the since network moving says he’dandthe distancemutilated,carved in no the on more softa golf than lead, course? the his lengthsmile An- lic in the moonlight. From nearby, the ties over their shoes, three men on their they like; which has worked just fine of his arm, outstretched. And the dog, hands and knees in the attic, creaking until now; so why, on the first episode now that he’s had a minute to look at THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 67 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 65 overhead, tapping inquisitively at the he’s been assigned to write, are they it? Not as big as its bark makes it sound. beams. After collecting all the estimates, trying something different? • she consulted with her husband, who • At the stop sign, she counts to five. had only this to say: “Trust your gut.” The back yard is a mess. Weeds up She doesn’t want to get another ticket. Oh—Greenleaf! That’s the name. They to his waist, cracked concrete. A tarp And then waits a little more, because cost the most, but she liked the man slung over a pile of stuff pushed up there’s Jessica, her neighbor, out walk- and, according to the literature, they against the garage door. From the front, ing Cocoa. She gives a tap on her horn use one-hundred-per-cent-organic the house looked nice. Neat. Green and waves: Go ahead, cross the street. materials. lawn. Front door painted a glossy bright She isn’t in any hurry, and she’s preoc- • red. But back here it’s different. Flat- cupied with a relaxing and anticipatory The husband is late to work. As the tened cardboard boxes, dusty grill. sort of arithmetic. How many more elevator carries him up to the offices, Plastic playhouse bleaching in the sun. weeks before they can talk about get- he is thinking about Emmett Byron Shrunken lumps of shit all over the ting some bids on the roof? Also, the Diggs, Attica inmate No. 243. Diggs dead grass. He hesitates, then thinks kid needs a proper bookcase; the shelves will be the first innocent man to ap- of the cars that pulled out of the drive- in her room are starting to bow. The pear on the show. When the showrun- way: a Prius, a Mini Cooper. There will Voder-Smith family is ready to gradu- ner put him on the episode, he said, “I definitely be Apple gear inside. ate from Swedish-designed particle- don’t want you to think that I’m ask- • board! They’ll have to plan ahead for ing you to write this one just because On one side of the board, possible property taxes, due at the beginning the character is black,” and he replied, backstories for Emmett Diggs: 1. Ar- of December, but if all goes as it “I don’t think that.” But now he is be- thritic gardener’s son, recently home should they won’t have to ask her mother ginning to worry about what to do with from the Army; 2. Head chef in the for help this year. And if—is even to Emmett Diggs. kitchen of local country club; 3. Mem- think it to jinx it? Her husband is su- • ber of the maintenance staff at Miss perstitious about these things—if the Two thousand one hundred and sev- So-and-So’s School. Behind each of show gets an order for nine more epi- enty-five dollars: this she remembers these possibilities is the question: How sodes, maybe they can finally tackle the exactly. After the job is done, she will does a black man in 1961 gain entry to back yard. write out the entire amount and the the spaces where rich white girls live, • feel of the check tearing crisply along so that he can fall in love with one, get We open on a couple, embracing in the perforated line will be a small, silly secretly engaged, and then be accused the dark. The grounds of a golf course thing that pleases her. Thank you so of murder when she is found dead, raped roll away on all sides, the grass metal- much! For the first time since moving and mutilated, on a golf course? An- lic in the moonlight. From nearby, the

THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 67 e watches the second car into the house, she is not worrying other question, asked only by the hus- washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it,back is surely out of one the of driveway the great and andevery I got minute a shock about when money. I saw She the is back going band, and only in his head: How does hole-in-the-ground latrines outside, with approachesH then to any he cultural makes pilgrimagea slow lap ofto a woman, the gym dressed again. in a She dirndl is and washing high- a science-fiction guy end up writing ra- some disconcerting twig brooms propped site,around the castlethe block, appearing careful across not to the step crownedher car onhat, a regularexiting basis. from In what her cleanI’d cial melodrama? Also: How do I write next to them. All of the hut’s seventy- Gulfon ofthe Trieste cracks in ina series the sidewalk.of visual throbs From thoughtcar, in was her the damp empty gym downstairs, clothes, and she this character without making him seem nineeffect. beds Bang! were expectedZoom! To to the be moon,filled, and,Alice! like the unabashedly orgasmic build of disappearing into the woods. Later, on- my uncle Charlie, usually deep in sleep,” other houses come the sounds of dogs drives through the bright-blue morn- like all the other decent, long-suffer- withShe some knows serious he’s drinkingnot going already to do going it. Rilke’s poems. In 1912, he wrote to a line, I discovered that Eichmann and his Foos said. “He drank a lot. Once, I did barking, and from other yards the noise ing, feeling calm. She’s going to be right ing, wrongly accused black men who on in the dining room,• this was begin- friend, “We are in the karst, and the hard- S.S. guards had stayed at the inn while see them having sex, and it made me of lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Con- on time.Hoke ate the extra dinner. have shown up onscreen over the years? ning Somethingto strike me is as required problematic. of him Night in this ened mountains forgo the effeminacy fleeing U.S. troops at the end of the war. upset. I was jealous. She was mine, I struction is happening somewhere • • wasmoment, going tohe beknows. a challenge; Someone morning is scared of any vegetation.” There’s actually quite Gold coins that they buried under the thought.” down the street. After completing the He tips back in his chair and looks Spit. Spraying across the glass. The gruesome.and needs his help. What’s confusing a lot of vegetation around the castle huts in the meadow had been dug up I listened without comment, al- lap he looks up at the clock on top of Nextat the morningwhiteboard, Grady where was the upstory before beats barking sudden and loud. A black dog isI thedecided question that theof who. only Evenway to though han- (and only Rilke could have occasionally over the years. though I was surprised by Gerald Foos’s the Catholic church the next block over: everyone.for Act I haveHe slappedbeen written the dust in streaky from at the back door, lunging at him from dlethe it wasboy tois getlooming myself over to sleep her andimme- has imagined the gentle slopes If I had to choose a fa- candor. I had known him for barely nine-forty. He walks up the driveway hisblack clothes marker. and They’re yanked only the two saddle days the other side of the window in the diately,his fist and cocked, to clear they out both first look thing to himin nearby to be mountains), vorite stretch from my sam- half an hour, and he was unburdening purposefully and pushes through the ontointo breakinghis horse. the He episode tucked and his alreadycameo door. It looks big, maybe seventy-five thelike morning. they’re Iin had trouble. a sleeping pill in my but the path itself is pure pling of the Via, it would himself to me about his masturbatory white wooden gate, a high gate that, broochthe character into the of Emmettkid’s possibles. Diggs is pos- pounds. It looks from its light eyebrows glasses case, where I’d• also stowed my karst: fantastical water- be the part of the Blue trail fixations and the origins of his voyeur- he noticed yesterday, doesn’t have ing Thickproblems. clouds So droopedfar the formula down from has as if it might have some Rottweiler contact-lensArm raised, container. hand clenched, A minor he mis- sees eroded stone, fissured into that passes through the ism. As a journalist, I do not recall a lock. thebeen sky consistent: that morning, nineteen-sixties hiding the sun.bad mixed in. The door shakes when the hapit then,gave clearly:the day shea final thinks farcical he’s twist.a joke. what geologists call clints Walser villages of the Pied- meeting anyone who required less of • Asguy they commits rode, heinous Hoke coveredcrimes, windshis face up dog launches itself, its nails scrabbling SomeHe sees of theit in lens the stubbornsolution wayhad sheleaked, holds and grykes—blocks and mont. The landscape was me than he did. He did all the talking Ecola? Orkin? Idling at the inter- within solitary his hat. in Attica,His horse travels bumped through into a on the glass. Through the window, be- half-dissolvingher body, the blankmy precious look, the narcotic. total ab- cracks—and fluted like thickly forested, with Chi- while I sat and listened. The car was section, she can’t remember for a mo- onerift inof thethe space-timeothers. continuum, and yond the dog, he can see the washer Theresence was of fear. no alternative He’s a lightweight. but to lick A joker.the cake icing or pinched into nese-looking crags and his confessional. ment the name of the company she is pops“Was up in that present-day you, Grady? upstate Sorry, New I and dryer, he can see sweatshirts and residueHe’s not out. going I was to dodoing it. Actually, this, my he tongue thinks, rigid waves like an arrested ocean. knolls scarved in fog. The villages were He told me that he was a virgin on her way home to meet. In the past gotYork, my where hat over he continues my face again,”his crime he jackets hanging from hooks, cleaning buriedyes I deepam. in the case’s plush interior, I then headed north into Austria, and miraculous specimens of an ingenious, through high school. It was only after week three men came through the said.spree There until hewas is onlytracked silence. down and ap- supplies lined up along a shelf. Not too when the door opened• and the Swiss resumed following the Purple trail. One low-impact culture. There were minia- joining the Navy, serving in the Medi- house, one after the other, wearing prehended“I know byit rilesa top-secret you up.” team of far from the back door to the shelf, coupleBam! came Pow! in. An Right awkward in the pause eye. fol- She stretch of it passes near the Altaussee ture funiculars for bringing in supplies terranean and the Far East, and train- jumpsuits and slipping disposable boo- specialGrady agents. said Which nothing. the networkHoke’s sayshat the distance no more than the length lowed,stumbles in which backward, I decided nearly it wouldfalling be on salt mine, where the Nazis hid some of (the streets are too steep and narrow for ing as an underwater demolition spe- ties over their shoes, three men on their wentthey like;back whichon his hashead. worked just fine of his arm, outstretched. And the dog, hopelessher butt, to letting try to explain.go of the They bag. stared their stolen art. I dropped down from cars), Richard Scarry-like vehicles on cialist that he enlarged his knowledge hands and knees in the attic, creaking untilThey now; rodeso why, on on until the firstearly episode eve- now that he’s had a minute to look at for a moment, evidently• reappraising pristine meadows—still emerald green caterpillar treads for the garbage and of sex under the guidance of bar girls. “You deserve to overhead,be dead!” tapping inquisitively at the ning,he’s been when assigned Hoke nudgedto write, his are horse they it? Not as big as its bark makes it sound. e watches the second car theirintoLenny high-minded the house,brightens. sheroommate “Actually, is not worryingas I’ve“Poughkeepsie!” some been inother August—and question, asked looked only at by the the old hus- heavy lifting, stone houses caged in But he also kept fantasizing about his beams. After collecting all the estimates, totrying the sidesomething of the traildifferent? and called out. • back out of the driveway and kindthinkingevery of minutecokehead about about that! or money.very And specialized here’s She is where going railbeds,band, andwith onlysalt crystals in his head:glittering How along does wooden balconies, scythes lying on the Aunt Katheryn. she consulted with her husband, who He needed to relieve• himself. Grady At the stop sign, she counts to five. then he makes a slow lap deviant,weto canthe before introducegym beatingagain. some aShe retreat. really is washing Idark, passed in - thea science-fictiontunnels and a subterraneanguy end up writing chapel ra- stone-covered roofs, chimneys shingled HWhen he returned from the service, ••had only this to say: “Trust your gut.” andThe the backbig man yard stopped, is a mess. but Weeds the kid up She doesn’t want to get another ticket. around the block, careful not to step out,terestingher mercifully car on stu a regularffquickly, in the basis. to B thestory. In dim her You’ve roarclean dedicatedcial melodrama? to St. Barbara, Also: the How patron do Isaint write like tiny houses. The schist-rich local he started dating—and soon married— Oh—Greenleaf! That’s the name. They didn’t.to his waist, cracked concrete. A tarp And then waits a little more, because on the cracks in the sidewalk. From ofseencar, Slovenian in‘The her Manchurian drinkingdamp gym songs, clothes,Candidate,’ and left she ofthis miners. character Years-old“The without emperor swags making of is fir himnaked—and hung seem rock hemade has everything a flabby butt!” glitter madly in Donna, who was a nurse at a hospital sen the single-story Manor House Motel clinic,cost thewhere most, she butlived. she He liked opened the manthe slung“Look over who’s a pile got of himselfstuff pushed in a hur up- there’s Jessica, her neighbor, out walk- other houses come the sounds of dogs beforeright?drives daybreak O.K.,through so the thewhat next bright-blue I’m morning. thinking morn- is: onlike the all walls, the smellingother decent, as if they’dlong-su justffer- the sunshine. The Walsers were Ger- in Aurora. Foos found work as a field as the site of his laboratory years ear- doorand, toaccording my room, to switchedthe literature, on the they ryagainst now,” the said garage Hoke. door. From the front, ing Cocoa. She gives a tap on her horn barking, and from other yards the noise thebenting,Just warden feeling beyondthe tracks calm.has the been hut,hisShe’s tearsdoingI sawgoing somethinghad some to beleft crazy right on beening, cut, “Differentwrongly the salt accused myair keepingass. black I bet them men they un who -fit man-speaking refugees and migrants auditor for Conoco. He was miserably lier because it had a pitched roof—high air-conditioner,use one-hundred-per-cent-organic and put down my lug- the Gradyhouse rodelooked toward nice. theNeat. kid Green with- and waves: Go ahead, cross the street. of lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Con- movingpsychologicalhison time.dusty in theface. gray experiments light below onme: the a naturallyyouhave perfect.” shown fresh. up onscreen over the years?••who spread south through the Alps employed, sitting in a cubicle all day, enough for him to walk upright across gage,materials. saying that he would collect me outlawn. a glanceFront door at Hoke. painted a glossy bright She isn’t in any hurry, and she’s preoc- struction is happening somewhere shaggyinmates. animal Includinge watcheswith big• Emmetthorns. the Itsecond was Diggs. an car Thatinto“Those theevening, house, aren’t I stayed she•my is boots.”at not Blaa-Alm, worrying Grady duringother the question, Middle askedAges, improvisingonly by the hus-a keeping records of the inventory levels the attic floor—which would make it in an hour to go out• to dinner. “After red. HeBut caughtback here up it’sto dithefferent. kid Flat-and cupied with a relaxing and anticipatory down the street. After completing the ibex,They’ve Hethough tips madeback backin profilehim out in intohisof it the chairanlooked drivewayassassin and like looks and aand an theheaded inneverySpit. hallway along minute downSpraying the until trail.aboutthe heacross trail.The money. arrives owners, Hokethe She glass.at sighed,who’dthe is goingThe el - life uponband, style being onand the onlyasked high in byterrainhis a head: female where How o ffino- doescer of oil tanks. To escape this tedium, he possible for him to realize his dream of that,The we canhusband come is back late andto work. take Asa lit the- grabbedtened cardboard him. boxes, dusty grill. sort of arithmetic. How many more lap he looks up at the clock on top of slightlyheMountainat thedoesn’t disreputablewhiteboard,then evenwalls, he know toowhereunicorn. makes far it! the toUsing, Ia storytook slowreach outbeatsyou lapin toldevator,bouncingbarkingto me the they which suddengym the were foot again.he andgoing takesfrom loud. She to handto be A isthe goneblack washingto lobby. hand. for dog body asa theyscience-fiction else loadfarmed her or intoguy lived. endthe It up ambulance,was writing a fru- ra- said, he began to undertake what he creatingH a viewing platform to peer into tleelevator tour of carriesthe attic,” him he up said. to the offices, Plastic“What playhouse are you—” bleaching in the sun. weeks before they can talk about get- the Catholic church the next block over: myknow,afor around phoneday’s Act radical Iride, theandhave brainwashingblock,pennedfilmed been careful writtenit them as it techniques, notambledininto streaky to this step theAfterTheather night,the car kid noddingback lefton and adoor,my regular the atroom lungingthe big basis. keysecurity man atin In himthe her turnedguard, en-from clean gal “Now,cial life melodrama? style,were constrainedyou in Also: any Howother by the doway de-I writeas- called “voyeuristic excursions” around the guest rooms below. heAfter is thinking I unpacked, about I Emmettbegan making Byron ShrunkenThe kid lumps fell loose-limbed of shit all over out the of ting some bids on the roof? Also, the nine-forty. He walks up the driveway acrosslikebasin.blackon athe mixturemarker.Most lunarcracks days scree.They’reof in what theythe When sidewalk. onlytheysaw I littletwodolook inFromdays atbut ‘A trance.hedownthecar, pushes other Itinthe was her trail.throughside an damp oldof the the woodengym windowglass clothes, doors.building in theHeshe mands saulted?”this characterof basic will survival, withoutfeel for butmaking the there first him were time seem Aurora after dark. Often on foot, al- He bought the property for a hun- notesDiggs, of myAttica impressions inmate ofNo. Gerald 243. DiggsFoos. hisdead saddle. grass. GradyHe hesitates, didn’t notice then thinkswhen kid needs a proper bookcase; the shelves purposefully and pushes through the theClockworkthoseintoother footage breaking walls, houses now, Orange’ stunted thecome it seemsepisode plus theplants, electric-shock soundsthe and andperfect already of each dogs in stands door.thedrivesHoke Tyrolian It on throughlooks thefollowed. emptystyle,big, the maybedeep bright-bluesidewalk, in seventy-five the squint mid- morn-- enoughafraid,like all graceor the that notesother the dog,todecent, make after long-su youattacking feelff er- though sometimes in a car, he would dred and forty-five thousand dollars. Mywill interest be the in first him innocent was not mandependent to ap- Hokeof the carsjoined that him. pulled He out saw of theonly drive- the in her room are starting to bow. The white wooden gate, a high gate that, emblemtherapyother.thebarking, character of Butplus thatand hypnosis?today offromplace: Emmett other theywild So what yardsandDiggssaw dream we the ais come pos-cartnoise- dle ingpounds.ing, of inThe silentfeeling the Itold lookssunlight,countryside, calm.man from shruggedShe’s barely its goingwith light registeringand flower-eyebrowsto beurged right that a ing,U.P.S. the wrongly inhabitants delivery accused driver, enjoyed black will their bemen exis-taken who cruise through neighborhoods and spy “Donna wasn’t happy about giving up onpear having on the access show. to Whenhis attic. the I wasshowrun- hop- kid,way: dead a Prius, and a Minialready Cooper. cold, withoutThere will a Voder-Smith family is ready to gradu- he noticed yesterday, doesn’t have liketopulledingof andrealize lawnmowersproblems. marvellous.by istwo what mules.So andtriggers far leaf the blowers. himformula is white Con- has hungthehisason if mulesbalconies tratime. itffi mightc onward. going looking have by. outsome Then on Rottweiler ahe meadow slowly tence.tohave a rescueIn shown a little organization up museum onscreen inup over Alagna,north the years?that I on people who were casual about low- our house and living in the manager’s ingner to put get himhis permission on the episode, to read he the said, hun- “I markdefinitely on him. be Apple gear inside. ate from Swedish-designed particle- a lock. women—”beenstructionThey consistent: ledAbruptly is their happening nineteen-sixties horses the husband offsomewhere the pushes path bad fullrotatesmixed of small toin. farm faceThe thebuildings, door building.• shakes and TheIwhen seemed secu the - admiredspecializes a teaspoon in Australian carved• shepherds,with a hand or ering their window shades. He made quarters of the motel,” Foos said. “But dredsdon’t of want pages you that to hethink claimed that I’mto have ask- It took most of• the evening for board! They’ll have to plan ahead for • awaywhileguydowniking commits fromthe the the cart thestreet. heinous table,passed,entire After his crimes, andcompleting Viachair said Alpinawinds squeal their upthe - to ritydog have guardHelaunches it tipsentirely moves back itself, to toin myself. itsopenhis nails chair theA scrabbling wooden anddoor looks for holding that Spit.the a daughter,rose. Spraying having across been the glass.told that The no secret of his voyeurism to Donna. I promised her that we’d buy another writtening you during to write the pastthis fifteen one just years, because with GradyOn oneand sideHoke of tothe bury board, him. possible They property taxes, due at the beginning Ecola? Orkin? Idling at the inter- inghellosinlap solitary wouldagainst he to looks the take inthe driver, Attica,up years,floor. at theshort Hesotravels clockafter stands, and through leaving onold rising top and aof staircase him,Theyonat the but camped glass.whiteboard,led the up Throughhusband toagain a largewhere aftershakesthe bedroom the window, dark. hisstory head, The in beatsbe- herIt’sbarking motherthe looping sudden tripped continuum and atloud. the ofA gym theblack trail and dog “Even before our marriage I told her Hhouse as soon as we could afford it.” thethe result character that heis black,”would andone dayhe replied, allow hadn’tbackstories thought for Emmettof anything Diggs: to say 1. Ar-af- of December, but if all goes as it section, she can’t remember for a mo- Triglavtowithriftthe his in Catholicmore National fullthe space-timeheight,mules church Park than the theI continuum,gotsightteeth. next into of blockThe whicha car cart andover: which pullskidyondfor gathered theActhis the walls, carI dog,have keys wood ceiling, he been from can for andwritten hisseethe every pocket, thefire. in washerother Hokestreaky and that splitat makes the her back eyebrowthe door,Via Alpina lungingopen onwhat at a himbarbell,it is. fromIt that this gave me a feeling of power,” Foos pulled into the parking area of me“I todon’t write think about that.” him. But I knewnow hethat is hebe- terwardthritic gardener’s so they stood son, withrecently their home hats should they won’t have to ask her mother ment the name of the company she is andmakeswaspopsnine-forty. drove covered up Lenny toin other present-day Hewith pause walkssections a canvas.and up shoot upstate ofthe the drivewaya trail.quick New surface, turnsmanagedandblack dryer, towardincluding marker. the he the horses.can theThey’re parking seelight-switch sweatshirts only garage. two cover, The anddays doesn’twillthe grow othertake nervous long side to of wheneverlose the yourself window the inwoman inthe the he said. She seemed to understand. the Manor House Motel, a brick build- viewedginning himself to worry as a about sex researcher what to do along with crushedfrom the in Army; their 2hands.. Head chefWhen in the for help this year. And if—is even to on her way home to meet. In the past MovingglanceYork,purposefully“What’s whereatsouthwest, the showrunner.inhe and the continuesI pushescrossedcart?” said“Everything throughinto his the Italy,crime kid. the had onlyjacketsinto beenA place breakingpile intricatelyhanging ofhe kindlingwants the frompanelled episode to hooks, satgo in inright andthe cleaningfront samealready now of rhythms putsdoor. on Itof exercise looksmountain big,clothes—he travel:maybe the seventy-five somehow morn- “Donna and most nurses are very open- ing painted green and white, with or- theEmmett lines of Diggs.Alfred Kinsey, and I assumed sunkitchen touched of local the country horizon, club; the 3big. Mem- man think it to jinx it? Her husband is su- week three men came through the whereO.K.,spreewhite“Bodies,” I untilbeganbuddy?” wooden he a saidiswalk the trackedgate, the onshowrunner aoldthe highdown man.Karst gate and “Some Plaasks. that,ap-- butter-coloredisGrady,suppliesthe home. character who lined hadn’twood. upof Emmettalong Itspoken was a shelf. Diggsvery since Notcom- is thepos-too ingsensespounds. climb that and It regardlesslooks long from afternoon of its the light blooddescent, eyebrows and minded,” he said. “They’ve seen it all— ange doors leading into each of its that his account centered• on what ex- rodeber of up the to them.maintenance staff at Miss perstitious about these things—if the house, one after the other, wearing teau,Thefolksprehendedhe a husbandrockynoticed came landscape toby looksyesterday, town a top-secret at pockmarkedand him caused doesn’tevenly. team with“Yes,”trou have of - fortable, cart.faring from problems.He even startedthe luxurious, back So the• fardoor fire ifthe ato touchandformula the fed shelf,sar- hasit, the tearsas dependably if his it mightattention undependable have should some be Rottweilerweather, focussed death, disease, pain, disorders of every twenty-one guest rooms. He parked citedTwo him thousand sexually, onebut hundredit was possible and sev- So-and-So’sHe tucked School. his Behindpigging eachstring of show gets an order for nine more epi- jumpsuits and slipping disposable boo- cavesheble.speciala says.lock. Nowand agents. “I’msinkholes, they’re just Which gettingleaving.” and the ended a network Coke.” up atsays cophagal.keepingthebeenEmmett distance consistent: I hissat hangsouthead no on more down backnineteen-sixtiesthe balcony,than forwhen athe moment, watch-the length big bad the elsewhere.mixed never in.quite The The knowingsound door ofshakes thewhat front whenyou’re door the kind—and it takes a lot to shock a nurse.” next to an adjacent building consisting thatenty-five he noted dollars: things this that sheexisted remembers beyond backthese intopossibilities the britchin is the question:of his saddle, How sodes, maybe they can finally tackle the ties over their shoes, three men on their DuinotheyGrady Castle.like; which snuckIt was has here,•a• lookworked walking under just along finethe ingsurveyingmanofguy night his commitswalked arm, fall the outstretched.and up. scene.heinous feeling He On closed crimes, as oneAnd though hand, histhewinds eyesI’ddog, he up going openingdog to launches see softly over itself,makes the crest its him nails of look the scrabbling nextat the She even accompanied him sometimes of an office and the family quarters. hisexactly. desires. After A voyeur the job is motivated is done, sheby an will- thendoes swepta black his man hand in 1961 back gain toward entry the to back yard. hands and knees in the attic, creaking thecover,until cliThere’sEcola?ff now; -topthen more sopathbackedOrkin? why, blood above onaway.Idling thanthe the His firsthe atAdriatic, expected.theface episode inter- was landedwantswhennowin solitary that in tohe a go folktalehe’sheard toin hadtheAttica, aboutthe woman,a minute rabbitstravels a traveller who to throughhit lookis ar-sobthe at- a high boyon pass (athe little orglass. who’s heavyset, Through going stillto the emerge wearing window, from the be- on his voyeuristic excursions, and it was Donna, a short blue-eyed blond woman ticipation;write out he the invests entire endless amount hours and in thethe trail.the spaces A breeze where kicked rich white up agirls vicious live, • overhead, tapping inquisitively at the thatThepale,he’ssection, Rilke beenladyhis claimed sheeyes isassigned holding can’t wide to rememberhave to withher write, heard eyefear—like with forarea voice athey themo- a rivingbingground.it?rift Not inin a asthe disbeliefhousehold big space-time as its and bark under dripping continuum,makes some it pow- bloodsound. and the satchelyond mist along theslung dog, the over trail—though,he hiscan shoulder),see the unlike washer but Donna, he said, who first encouraged wearing a nurse’s uniform, greeted us hopefeel ofof seeingthe check what tearing he wishes crisply to see. along Yet sprayso that of he dust can fallthat in made love with Grady one, and get We open on a couple, embracing in beams. After collecting all the estimates, speakhandhorsey.tryingment the that somethingthe opening was name on the lineof di themessenger ffoferent? whatcompany became bag, she and is erful onpops theenchantment.He up floor.forced in present-dayBut himself even• though upstateto look he New hasat Ötzi,beforeand you dryer, he can can behe cross fairlycan the see sure room sweatshirts the andstranger reach and him to make notes about what he saw. in the office. She was heading to the forthe every perforated erotic episode line will he be witnesses a small, sillyhe Hokesecretly flinch engaged, away. and The then dust be accusedsettled, the dark. The grounds of a golf course she consulted with her husband, who theheon Duinocan “Lookher see way Elegies: bloodat homethis comingone!” “Who, •to meet. said throughif Hoke.InI cried, the herHepast notheThereYork, At wayrabbits. the wherewasof stopknowing nothingHis hesign, chestcontinues shethatsinister, felt counts a verytight hisexactly, to goodcrime andfive. isn’thim,jackets going before hangingto hekill can you. from open He hooks,his might mouth cleaning even and hospital, to work a night shift. isthing also privythat pleasesto hundreds her. Thank of mundane you so andof murder the big when man she was is found still there.dead, raped“It’s roll away on all sides, the grass metal- had only this to say: “Trust your gut.” wouldfingers.liftedweekThe hear the In threeback me herfoot fromyardothermen of is amongonehandcame a mess. of she’s thethroughthe Weeds stillAngels’ corpses hold theup - thoughplasticheShespree spat. doesn’t theuntilsurgeon Wanted tall wanthe firis will tracked totrees getyell.sew aroundanother downHeup hergrabbed and theticket. eye ap-- wantsay,supplies to“Hey, be your linedbrother,” friend. up along the We’ve boy a shelf. come has Notclosed that too e’re getting close to our On the way to my room, Foos told momentsmuch! For representing the first time the ordinary since moving daily timeand mutilated,to go,” he said.on a golf course? An- lic in the moonlight. From nearby, the Oh—Greenleaf! That’s the name. They orders?”ingouttohouse, his thepast Thewaist, telephone. onethe Sentiero canvas.crackedafter The theRilke, “Ain’t concrete. other,person as these the wearing onA Ital your tarpthe- meadowbroweachAndprehended rabbit,withthen were twenty-twowaits twisted forbiddingby a littletop-secret its stitches, head, more,in the snapped becauseteam dusk,or that of farthe farsince door from the behind theBronze back himAge. door and  to is thegone. shelf,  “ motel,” Foos said, as he drove me that their son was a freshman at the human routine—people channel-surfing, And they rode on. Wcost the most, but she liked the man otherboots?”slungjumpsuits end over seems anda pile slippingto haveof stu finally disposableff pushed hung boo- up.up herthe there’sspecial neck.husband, Jessica, agents. His despiteherback Which neighbor, rounded histhe networkfirst out and showwalk the says- the distance no more than the length THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 67 along East Colfax Avenue, passing Colorado School of Mines, and that snoring, urinating, primping, and doing THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 39 and, according to the literature, they againstties“No, over the theirthose garage shoes, are door.• threehis From menboots. the on front, I’mtheir beingbreathingthey Cocoa. cancelled, like;fell outwhichShe of giveswill him.has go a workedtap on toon writeher just horn forfine of his arm, outstretched. And the dog, through a neighborhood of stores, a their daughter, who was born with a other things too tediously real for real- NEWYORKER.COM use one-hundred-per-cent-organic wearingthehandsThe house husbandand my looked kneesboots.” walks innice. the right Neat.attic, past creakingGreen the aand untilrelatively Allwaves: now; through Gopopularso why, ahead, dinner onsupernatural crossthe his first theplate episodestreet. posat- now that he’s had a minute to look at trailer park, fast-food outlets, and an res piratory ailment, had to drop out of ity television. NEUJORKER.COMSarah Shun-lien Bynum on stories that don’t materials. olawn.ffioverhead,ce“That’s kitchenFront tappingdoorthe and bootspainted keeps inquisitively you heading a glossy lost downbright gamat the- liceuntouched.Shehe’s procedural,isn’t been in assignedanyHe hurry, orwent that to and towrite, the she’sbed woman, are preocearly, they- goit? according Not as tobig plan. as its bark makes it sound. auto-repair shop. He said he had cho- high school to be treated at a special I was intrigued by the notion of the Pat Landers on making small talk with friends • bling.red.beams. But Remember?” After back collectinghere it’ssaid diall theff theerent. kid. estimates, Flat- andcupiedtrying was with something asleep a relaxing before diff andtheerent? anticipatorykid started of friends. • THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 73 The husband is late to work. As the tenedshe“No. consulted cardboard Those withwere boxes, herdifferent husband, dusty boots.” grill. who THEhumming.sort NEW of YORKER, arithmetic. APRIL 11,•How 2016 many more43 At the stop sign, she counts to five. elevator carries him up to the offices, Plastichad only playhouse this to bleachingsay: “Trust in your the sun.gut.” weeksThe before back theyyard canis a talkmess. about Weeds get up- She doesn’t want to get another ticket. he is thinking about Emmett Byron Shrunken66Oh—Greenleaf! lumps THE NEU That’sof JORKER,shit the all name. JUNEover 20, Theythe 2016 tingto his some waist, bids cracked on the concrete.roof? Also, A thetarp And then waits a little more, because Diggs, Attica inmate No. 243. Diggs deadcost grass.the most, He hesitates,but she liked then the thinks man kidslung needs over a proper a pile bookcase; of stuff thepushed shelves up there’s Jessica, her neighbor, out walk- will be the first innocent man to ap- ofand, the accordingcars that pulled to the out literature, of the drive- they inagainst her room the garage are starting door. From to bow. the Thefront, ing Cocoa. She gives a tap on her horn pear on the show. When the showrun- way:use aone-hundred-per-cent-organic Prius, a Mini Cooper. There will Voder-Smiththe house looked family nice.is ready Neat. to graduGreen- and waves: Go ahead, cross the street. ner put him on the episode, he said, “I definitelymaterials. be Apple gear inside. atelawn. from Front Swedish-designed door painted a glossy particle- bright She isn’t in any hurry, and she’s preoc- don’t want you to think that I’m ask- •• board!red. But They’ll back havehere toit’s plan different. ahead Flat- for cupied with a relaxing and anticipatory ing you to write this one just because OnThe one husband side of is the late board, to work. possible As the propertytened cardboard taxes, due boxes, at the dustybeginning grill. sort of arithmetic. How many more the character is black,” and he replied, backstorieselevator carries for Emmett him up Diggs:to the 1o.ffi Ar-ces, ofPlastic December, playhouse but bleaching if all goes in the as sun.it weeks before they can talk about get- “I don’t think that.” But now he is be- thritiche is thinkinggardener’s about son, Emmettrecently homeByron shouldShrunken they won’tlumps have of toshit ask all her over mother the ting some bids on the roof? Also, the ginning to worry about what to do with fromDiggs, the Attica Army; inmate 2. Head No. chef 243 .in Diggs the fordead help grass. this Heyear. hesitates, And if—is then even thinks to kid needs a proper bookcase; the shelves Emmett Diggs. kitchenwill be ofthe local first country innocent club; man 3. Mem- to ap- thinkof the it cars to jinx that it? pulled Her outhusband of the isdrive- su- in her room are starting to bow. The • berpear of on the the maintenance show. When sta theff showrun- at Miss perstitiousway: a Prius, about a Mini these Cooper. things— Thereif the will Voder-Smith family is ready to gradu- Two thousand one hundred and sev- So-and-So’sner put him School.on the episode, Behind he each said, of “I showdefinitely gets anbe orderApple for gear nine inside. more epi- ate from Swedish-designed particle- enty-five dollars: this she remembers thesedon’t possibilities want you to is thinkthe question: that I’m How ask- sodes, maybe they can• finally tackle the board! They’ll have to plan ahead for exactly. After the job is done, she will doesing youa black to writeman inthis 1961 one gain just entry because to backOn yard. one side of the board, possible property taxes, due at the beginning write out the entire amount and the thethe spaces character where is black,” rich white and hegirls replied, live, backstories for Emmett• Diggs: 1. Ar- of December, but if all goes as it feel of the check tearing crisply along so“I that don’t he think can fall that.” in loveBut withnow one,he is get be- thriticWe open gardener’s on a couple, son, recently embracing home in should they won’t have to ask her mother the perforated line will be a small, silly secretlyginning engaged, to worry andabout then what be to accused do with thefrom dark. the The Army; grounds 2. Head of a golfchef course in the for help this year. And if—is even to thing that pleases her. Thank you so ofEmmett murder whenDiggs. she is found dead, raped rollkitchen away ofon local all sides, country the club; grass 3 .metal Mem-- think it to jinx it? Her husband is su- much! For the first time since moving and mutilated, on a• golf course? An- licber in ofthe the moonlight. maintenance From sta nearby,ff at Miss the perstitious about these things—if the Two thousand one hundred and sev- So-and-So’s School. Behind each of show gets an order for nine more epi- THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 67 enty-five dollars: this she remembers these possibilities is the question: How sodes, maybe they can finally tackle the exactly. After the job is done, she will does a black man in 1961 gain entry to back yard. write out the entire amount and the the spaces where rich white girls live, • feel of the check tearing crisply along so that he can fall in love with one, get We open on a couple, embracing in the perforated line will be a small, silly secretly engaged, and then be accused the dark. The grounds of a golf course thing that pleases her. Thank you so of murder when she is found dead, raped roll away on all sides, the grass metal- much! For the first time since moving and mutilated, on a golf course? An- lic in the moonlight. From nearby, the

THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 67 THE CRITICS

THE CURRENT CINEMA BOOKS FUN AND GAMES ROUND AND ROUND “Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Miles Ahead.” A debut novel mines the political, both personal and national BY ANTHONY LANE BY JAMES FOLTA f you can’t think of a good way to habited, or infested, solely by members his first scene, he holds up a copy of Carl I kick off your movie, how about this? of the baseball team. His roommate is Sagan’sHailed “Cosmos” as a andLolita says forto Jake, the “Chappost–- Take a handsome young buck, put him Billy (Will Brittain), a country boy Citizenster 9. It’ll United blow your world, mind.” Keifer’s That nov mo--

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The buck in ques- even at Ping-Pong; Niles ( Juston Street), ofas hethe is known,most prestigious is the eloquent newspapers, one, spool- tion is Jake (Blake Jenner), and by the the resident jerk, who claims to have theing outnovelist his verbal must ri digffs indeeper. a bid notHands just end of the song we’ve already grasped thrown a pitch at ninety-five miles an onto catchthe Wheel girls butis a towonderful boost the exploradramatic- the unfolding shape of his life. He glides hour; and Dale ( J. Quinton Johnson), tiondash ofof thethe unorthodoxproceedings. love “We between all take past groups of girls his age and parks in the only black guy in the house, not that aturns man being and chumpsa bus and around sacrifices here,” he they ex- front of a house on a pleasant street. He anyone notices or cares. There are mul- mustplains. make. “You accept By the your end chumpification, of the novel, has a shy smile and a box of LPs in his tiple flash points in this society, mostly theand astutemove on.”reader Excellent wonders advice, whether in any it arms. Sunlight pours down like a ben- to do with sporting smarts or carnal brag- isfield stranger of endeavor, than theand world a key to of the modern lovely ediction. He’s ready for anything. gadocio, but racial bias isn’t one of them. primarynote of comic politics. humility with which the Linklater has long been a champion In his limber and leisurely fashion, Link- natural-bornKiefer’s bookbumptiousness comes after of the much stu- of beginnings and ends. “Dazed and later is glancing at a golden age. anticipation.dents is tempered The and publishing soothed, andworld the Confused” (1993) hung out with a bunch His most cheering gift, and maybe hasmovie long prevented been delightedfrom coarsening with intothe of kids on their final day of high school; the reason that he calls this movie a “spir- origina brawl. storyJake and of theHands other on newbies the Wheel must,: “Boyhood” (2014), having tracked its itual sequel” to “Dazed and Confused,” ridingof course, a busexpect into a dose New of Yorkhazing, City, and hero, Mason, for many years, bid him is an itch to populate the frame. At his Kieferthey are wasduly sofastened inspired with by duct his tape trip to farewell on his first day of higher edu- best, he doesn’t really direct a film so thata border he fence,immediately one of them sped upside out down, 400 cation, at once bewildered and blissed much as host it—keeping all his charac- pagesand peppered in a fit with of hyperproductivity.baseballs struck by out. Jake, too, is at that pivotal point. A ters involved, rescuing the wallflowers, “Atheir substantial bat-wielding majority teammates. of the I pagesguess freshman at an unnamed college in making sure that everyone is plied with provedthat’s part unusable,” of the deal, Kiefer yet the mused tale as in a southeast Texas (otherwise known, to lines and bits of stage business, as if he anwhole, interview though lastfilthy-mouthed, year in this is magalenient- moviegoers, as Linklaterland), he is more were topping up drinks. The obvious zine,and humane. “but the No idea freshmen of a werebus harmedas the of a jock than Mason, and less of a comparison is with “Hail, Caesar!,” in vehiclein the making for narrative, of this film. it stuck in my wounded soul; whatever his past may which the Coens introduced a crew of It is set in 1980, a crossroads for mu- craw, as it were.” The autopilot was have herebeen, ’wes a learnmoment very little in Hands about onit. promisingthrob in figureshis eyes. and The then bus let easedthem slide,right setsical to trends novel. both coming and going. We He’s thelike Wheel a passenger (Melville boarding House), a ship the half-used;around the the snowy result New left Hampshire audiences cul-de- gaz- get theKiefer’s dregs mainof disco, character, Blondie’s Harri“Heart- Twithshimmering a single suitcase.debut novelWhat mattersby Jason is ingsac, around groping at theat the end pavement and asking, through “Is that the sonof Glass,” Lincoln, the isCars, carefully Cheap drawn.Trick, and The a theKiefer, surging when tide protagonist of the now, Harrison and the it?”melting To Linklater, ice. Inside no the one cavernous is disposable. universi- burst of pustular punk. We get M’s “Pop ty, the candidates shuffled away their pre- most interesting revelations of his cameraLincoln follows remarks him on eagerly the awakening into the Takedebate Nesbit jitters (Austin like huskies Amelio), softly who shaking tends characterMuzik,” which come to through my horror his I busremem log- house—takingof his intimate its connectioncue from a snakingto the to snowplace from unwise their bets, fur. forAnd a asfew they dollars, took theon ber, in pitiless detail, from 1979. And,

entries. Beginning as simple record- SCARABOTTOLO hose,presidential which runs campaign from the bus garden that to hean fruitlessstage, Harrisondaily activities; brought Plummer his bus to (Tema stop.- ingcourtesy of space of the and Sugarhill time, the Gang, logs we soon get Carefully, tentatively, the bus and Harrison upstairsdrives for bedroom, a living: where a water bed is ple Baker), who is just off the pace when- become“Rapper’s more Delight,” romantic chanted and inpersonal angelic GUIDO slowly being filled. It’s that kind of place. evermade jokes love. are flying about; or Willoughby chorus, consonant-perfect, by Roper, The bus purred beneath him. His as Harrison and the bus’s sexual rela- Jake is a pitcher, and the house is in- (Wyatt Russell), the in-house hippie. In Finn, Plummer, Dale, and Jake as they : ABOVE hands gripped the wheel, sweating slight- ly. CNN flashbulbs popped in the night ILLUSTRATION BY KEVIN ALVIR KEVIN BY ILLUSTRATION Richardaround Linklater’sthe bus and Harrisonnew movie felt each is set one at a TexasJason college.Kiefer Atoffers his best,a look he underdoesn’t the really hood direct of a abus film driver’s so much unorthodox as host it. affair.

74 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 67 Kiefer, keen to bring us close to Harrison’s lust for the bus, lav- ishes his prose upon the details of engines, axles and grinding gears. The details are delightfully cor- rect, giving the reader an unadulter- ated look into the filthy hands and stained undersides of vehicles of a puerile Springsteen-meets-middle- America car culture. In one memo- rable passage, careful descriptions of Harrison cleaning the bus’ exhaust system mingle with overheard con- versation between the senator and his staff as they pore over the details of a policy paper. Is building a func- tional tax system much different than building an engine? Kiefer cer- tainly gives the astute reader much to chew on. “Haven’t you heard? Inanity is the new sophistication.” Educated at the exclusive Idaho Writing Retreat, Kiefer learned to craft sentences with the unambigu- ous zip that demonstrates their evi- dent merit. His sentences snap but . . never crackle; they rush but never exceed the speed limit. His prose is its trimmest in dialogue, when the tionship blossoms. This log, from an young staffer with the transforma- characters speak like people around early trip in Iowa, is so stark that it tive McGovern campaign of ’72, the us might, verging on the mundane. verges on found poetry but crackles senator struggles with the discovery But Kiefer time and again proves with lust: “January 19th. 6:15 AM: of Harrison’s love. It is a fascinat- adept at stepping carefully along left Marriott Motor Inn; 6:45 AM: ing investigation of the curdling of what we might call the Baumbach arrive Applejack Diner. Gas and the sexual revolution of the Sixties line, making sure his sparsity im- fluids refilled, the bus laps them up in the older age of the baby boom- plies depth while displaying ba- hungrily. Weather grey, roads slick.” ers. Senator Dash recognizes that as nality. Take this exchange between Harrison is drawn to the one Harrison and Dash: constant in his life, his campaign bus. A strong and stoic former The road opened out before them in straight lines, extending out across the Greyhound Bus, the vehicle seems Midwestern plains into unseen distances. to listen when Harrison speaks to Harrison stared so long that the horizon it, late at night when the rest of the seemed to become just another of the roads. staff is asleep or somnambulantly “Straight roads out here, eh Harrison?” “Yes sir. Straight and true.” at work. And certainly anyone who “True as well, eh?” The senator’s voice has driven a large vehicle can under- trailed up an octave. stand the connection, the way the “Sure. You could trust these roads. I weight can sensuously resist a turn mean look.” Harrison took his hands off of the steering wheel, slowly raising them of the wheel, the way car and driver above his head. The bus, his bus, continued can together understand and navi- driving along the road, only ever wobbling gate a road. These moments in the slightly off of course. novel are so relatably put, that the a younger man, his mind would have “Well I’ll be,” remarked the senator, “I guess some things still are true.” astute readers will find themselves been more open to his bus driver’s “Sir, you’ve been in politics too long.” wondering how lustful is their rela- love, but as a presidential candidate The senator surprised himself with a laugh tionship to cars. and an older man, he must think at Harrison. Senator Tom Dash, whom Har- pragmatically. Harrison and Dash’s “Ah, Harrison, too true. I have been in the game too long. A statement as true as rison works for, is a principled man conversations are a tug of war been this road.” He groped in his jacket for some loosely modeled on a Gary Hart or a younger men’s souls fighting against piece of loose paper. It didn’t much matter Joe Biden. Having cut his teeth as a older men’s minds. which, he needed something to occupy his hand.

68 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it, is surely one of the great and I got a shock when I saw the back hole-in-the-ground latrines outside, with approaches to any cultural pilgrimage of a woman, dressed in a dirndl and high- some disconcerting twig brooms propped site, the castle appearing across the crowned hat, exiting from what I’d next to them. All of the hut’s seventy- Gulf of Trieste in a series of visual throbs thought was the empty downstairs, and nine beds wereeffect. expected Bang! Zoom! to be filled, To the and, moon, like Alice! the unabashedly orgasmic build of disappearing into the woods. Later, on- with someShe serious knows drinking he’s alreadynot going going to doRilke’s it. poems. In 1912, he wrote to a line, I discovered that Eichmann and his on in the dining room, this was• begin- friend, “We are in the karst, and the hard- S.S. guards had stayed at the inn while ning to strikeSomething meKiefer as problematic. is is requiredto be Night ofparticularly him ened in this mountains forgo the effeminacy fleeing U.S. troops at the end of the war. was goingmoment,lauded to be a challenge; forhe knows.his rigorousmorningSomeone isprocess.of scared any vegetation.” There’s actually quite Gold coins that they buried under the gruesome.and Traveling needs hison ahelp. generous What’s grant confusinga lotfrom of vegetation around the castle huts in the meadow had been dug up I decidedisthe the that University question the only ofwayof who.Texas to han-Even at Austin’sthough(and only Rilke could have occasionally over the years. dle it was theCenterto get boy myself foris looming Innovative to sleep over imme- Bus her Writing,andimagined has the gentle slopes If I had to choose a fa- diately, andhisthe to fistyoung clear cocked, outauthor firstthey thingwasboth able lookin totonearby visithim to be mountains), vorite stretch from my sam- the morning.likean I impressivethey’re had a sleeping in trouble. number pill in of my Midwest but the- path itself is pure pling of the Via, it would glasses case,ern where diners I’d over also astowed• summer. my Andkarst: the fantastical water- be the part of the Blue trail contact-lensresearch Armcontainer. raised, shines A hand minorin clenched,his mis- attention heeroded sees to stone, fissured into that passes through the hap gave theitthe then, daydetailing clearly:a final offarcical she cutlery, thinks twist. plateshe’s whata joke.and geologists call clints Walser villages of the Pied- Some of theHemenus. lenssees itsolutionThe in the descriptions stubborn had leaked, way often sheand holds run grykes—blocks and mont. The landscape was half-dissolvingherpages body, myand theprecious pages blank at narcotic.alook, time, the doling totalcracks—and ab-out fluted like thickly forested, with Chi- There wassencespecifics no alternative of fear. in He’sheaping but a tolightweight. lick portions: the Acake “cofjoker. icing- or pinched into nese-looking crags and residue out.He’sfee I was notthe doinggoing color to this, anddo it.my Actually,taste tongue of heold rigidthinks, steel waves like an arrested ocean. knolls scarved in fog. The villages were buried deepyesbeams,” in I theam. case’s“pancakes plush teeteringinterior, to IBa then- headed north into Austria, and miraculous specimens of an ingenious, when the beldoor heights,” opened andand •the“short Swiss order resumed eggs following the Purple trail. One low-impact culture. There were minia- couple camearrived Bam!in. An so Pow!awkward fast Right that pause theyin fol-the seemed eye.stretch She to of it passes near the Altaussee ture funiculars for bringing in supplies lowed, in stumbleswhichbe cracked I decided backward, from it their would nearly shells be falling alreadysalt mine,on where the Nazis hid some of (the streets are too steep and narrow for hopeless toherover-easy.” try butt, to explain. letting The Theygo culinary of thestared bag.tour their is asstolen art. I dropped down from cars), Richard Scarry-like vehicles on for a moment,good evidentlyas any other reappraising• food writing pristine and meadows—still emerald green caterpillar treads for the garbage and their high-mindedtheLenny sections roommatebrightens. are a joy “Actually,as tosome peruse. I’vein beenAugust—and looked at the old heavy lifting, stone houses caged in kind of cokeheadthinking orabout very that! specialized And here’s railbeds, where with salt crystals glittering along wooden balconies, scythes lying on the I felt the author’s hand reaching “The kitchen is fantastic.” deviant, beforewefor cana beating crutch introduce a in retreat. the some moments I passed really dark, ofthe Har intunnels- and a subterranean chapel stone-covered roofs, chimneys shingled out, mercifullyterestingrison’s quickly, quiet stu ffreflectionto in the the dim B while roarstory. walking You’vededicated to St. Barbara, the patron saint like tiny houses. The schist-rich local of Slovenianseenalone drinking ‘The musing Manchurian songs, on the and bus leftCandidate,’ he ofcomes miners. Years-old swags“The ofemperor fir hung is naked—androck made everything he has a flabbyglitter madlybutt!” in before daybreakright?to love. theO.K., The next so sections morning.what I’m captivate thinkingon andthe is: walls, smelling as if they’d just the. sunshine. . The Walsers were Ger- Just beyondtheinspire, warden the hut,but has Ihave saw been somethinga doingtendency some tobeen crazy lose cut, the salt air keeping them un- man-speaking•• refugees and migrants moving inpsychologicalsteam. the gray They light are belowexperiments thrilling me: a when onnaturally the he fresh. who spread south through the Alps inmates. Including Emmett Diggs. shaggy animalis mentally with big composinghorns. It was speechesan That he evening,remarks, I stayed“well, at Blaa-Alm,Harry, what during is a the Middle Ages, improvising a They’ve made him into an assassin and the hallway until he arrives at the el- groundupon being on askedthe book’s by a female own terms.officer ibex, thoughwould in profile give, itadmissions looked like ahe anwould inn along woman the trail. to Thedo when owners, a manwho’d is notlife thestyle on the high terrain where no- he doesn’t even know it! Using, you evator, which he takes to the lobby. Becauseas they load what her can into any the ofambulance, us hope slightly disreputablemake, or sonnetsunicorn. toI took recite out to histold bus. me theyman were who going she thoughtto be gone him for at firstbody to else farmed or lived. It was a fru- know, radical brainwashing techniques, After nodding at the security guard, to“Now, find were in any you romantic in any other relationship way as- my phoneBut and the filmed sections it as tendit ambled to break the down night, be?”left myThere room is keyno doubtin the en-in thegal mind life style, constrained by the de- like a mixture of what they do in ‘A he pushes through the glass doors. He butsaulted?” a little will sex feeland fora little the sympathy? first time across the whenlunar Kieferscree. When has to Ifind look his at waytrance. back It wasof the an astuteold wooden reader building when he mandsor she of basic survival, but there were Clockwork Orange’ plus electric-shock stands on the empty sidewalk, squint- afraid,And or asthat we the watch dog, afterour attackingairwaves the footageto now,the fact it seems that Harrisonthe perfect is standingin the Tyrolian exhales style, the deep small in sigh the ofmid- recognizingenough grace notes to make you feel therapy plus hypnosis? So what we come ing in the sunlight, barely registering becomea U.P.S. increasinglydelivery driver, thickened will be taken with emblem ofalone that place:in an wildempty and field, dream often- dleignor of -silenthumor countryside, that we withare in flower- the presence that theof inhabitants enjoyed their exis- to realize is what triggers him is white the traffic going by. Then he slowly politics,to a rescue they organization become upso northweighed that like and marvellous.ing the campaign staff searchinghung for balconies an ace looking humorist. out on a meadow tence. In a little museum in Alagna, I women—” Abruptly the husband pushes rotates to face the building. The secu- downspecializes that inthe Australian rhetoric shepherds,and trickery or him. These transitions are asfull unof -small farm buildings, and I seemed admired abecomes teaspoon carvednormalized. with a handThe calcula- ikingawaygainly the from asentire theythe table, areVia unnecessary. Alpinahis chair squealto haveThe- it rityentirely guard to movesmyself. to A openwooden the doorholding for a thatrose. the daughter, having been told that ing against the floor. He stands, rising him, but the husband shakes his head, tions,her mother horse-trading tripped atand the adgym homi and- H wouldone take saving years, graceso after here leaving might staircase be at led up to a large bedroom in It’s the nemlooping attacks continuum feel ofjust the trailpart of our Triglav Nationaltothe his book’s full Park height, apt I got ending, intothe sighta when car of awhichwhich wan- the pullswalls, his ceiling, car keys and fromevery hisother pocket, that and makes split the herVia Alpinaeyebrow what open it is.on It a barbell, makes Lenny pause and shoot a quick turns toward the parking garage. The day,will growpackaged nervous and whenever slick, thepart woman of a and drove deringto other Harrison sections ofand the Kiefer’s trail. knowlsurface,- including the light-switch cover, doesn’t takebalanced long to losebreakfast. yourself Anyin the thinking Moving southwest,glanceedge ofat theIFort crossed showrunner. Green into Italy,Park “Everything artfullyhad been intricatelyonly place panelled he wants in the to samego right rhythms now ofputs mountain on exercise travel: clothes—he the morn- somehow O.K., buddy?” the showrunner asks. is home. Americansenses that isregardless advised ofto the step blood on andthe where I begansituates a walk a firecracker on the Karst of Pla a set- piece.butter-colored wood. It was very com- ing climb busand withlong afternoonSenator descent,Dash and Har- teau, a rockyThe landscape Muchhusband hay pockmarked looks has at been him with madeevenly. fortable, in “Yes,” the even luxurious, if a touch• sar- the dependablytears hisundependable attention should weather, be focussed he says. “I’m just getting a Coke.” Emmett hangs back for a moment, rison,elsewhere. to prowl The sound the politicalof the front streets door caves and publishingsinkholes, andworld ended over up Kiefer’s at cophagal. repu- I sat out on the balcony, watch- the never withquite them. knowing Kiefer what brings you’re us inside Duino Castle.tation It was as ahere, sad walkingand• dour along young ing man. night surveyingfall and feeling the scene. as though On one I’d hand,going he to seeopening over the softly crest makes of the him next look at the There’s more blood than he expected. wants to go to the woman, who is sob- theboy (amachine, little heavyset, reorienting still wearing the pothe- the cliff-topBut path this abovebook isthe a Adriatic,brilliant signlanded post in a folktale about a traveller ar- high pass orlitical who’s process going to backemerge to from the strange that Rilke Theforclaimed fans lady towho is have holding know heard him her a voice toeye be with brutalriving the -in abing household in disbelief under someand dripping pow- the blood mist alongsatchel the slungtrail—though, over his unlike shoulder), but hand that was on the messenger bag, and on the floor. But even though he has placebefore it he should can cross be. the Kiefer’s room andintimate reach speak the openingly funny. line There of what is no became doubt readingerful enchantment. Ötzi, you portrayalcan be fairly shows sure theus thatstranger the political the DuinoheHands Elegies: can seeon the“Who,blood Wheel coming if Ithat cried, hethrough is down Thereher- wasno way nothing of knowing sinister, thatexactly, a very isn’t good going him, to kill before you. he He can might open evenhis mouth and fingers. In her other hand she’s still hold- plastic surgeon will sew up her eye- processsay, “Hey, is brother,”as simultaneously the boy has strange closed would hearright me from hilarious. among This the Angels’ is clear inthough sec- the tallThe fir triumph trees around of good the fictionwant isto beand your relatable friend. We’ve as, well, come a that man having ing the telephone. The person on the brow with twenty-two stitches, or that the door behind him and is gone.  orders?” Thetions Sentiero like Rilke,when asHarrison’s the Ital- mothermeadow wereto allow forbidding us to inempathize, the dusk, tofar open since the Bronze Age.  other end seems to have finally hung up. her husband, despite his first show sex with a bus. excitedly attends one of the Sena- a curious door. Harrison and the • being cancelled, will go on to writeTHE NEWfor YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 39 tor’s rallies, only to realize halfway bus are a relationship we find our- NEWYORKER.COM The husband walks right past the a relatively popular supernatural po- NEUJORKER.COM through that she has confused the selves frowning on, but it is not Sarah Shun-lien Bynum on stories that don’t office kitchen and keeps heading down lice procedural, or that the woman, go according to plan. candidate with his opponent. As a our own frown, but society’s. The James Folta blogs about vlogs. mortified Harrison tries to smooth astute reader struggles to find his THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 73 his mother’s confusion, she loudly or her own smile, to find common

THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 69 BRIEFLY NOTED

TheAt the New Existentialist York Times Café, by, by Various Sarah Bakewell Authors (Other(Self-published). Press). This Alively meandering history of theplot existentialist that follows movement hundreds makes of characters, a strong, if eachsometimes in the disorienting, critical moment case for of the their inextricability saddest, least of philoso- fasci- natingphy and exploit. biography, It embeddingtakes major dense intellectual concepts—such jumps asto “being,” con- sume“nothingness,” this book and in “badits entirety, faith”—in and the even colorful more lives time and to domi- so.lieus Moreover, of those who and debated perhaps them. more Though damningly, the book it lacksis in manythe trappingsways a group of anystudy, actual dotted book, with includingcameo appearances bearing aby physi Albert- calCamus, likeness Simone to any de Beauvoir, book I’ve Maurice seen. It Merleau-Ponty, is impossible toand read oth- thisers, itbook focusses and keepon Heidegger the pages and together Sartre. inHeidegger the correct appears order. as It’soracular, triumph hermetic, of course and Nazi-tainted; is leaving the Sartre reader as intellectually with an over pro-- whelmingmiscuous and sense Soviet-sympathizing. of doom. For now, Their one thingdivergent I can characters say for Theand checkeredNew York Timesreputations: tonally, lend it credence is very consistent.to Bakewell’s The view New that York“ideas Times are interesting, is better than but peopleyou. The are New vastly York more Times so.” is right.

APutin Tough Country Maze, by, by Anne Wull Garrels Shootz (Farrar, (Ringlings, Straus Barnums & Giroux) & . Baileys)Most reporting. Start. Down.on Russia Right. is done Up. insideSecond the Right. Moscow Down. Ring Right.Road; theDown. American Right. equivalent Down. Left. would Right. be midtown Up. Left. Manhat- Up. Left.tan or Right. the o ffiRight.cial precincts Down. Left.of Washington, Left. Down. D.C. First But Right. Gar- Down.rels, who Left. has beenDown. a superb Left. Up.reporter Left. for Down. NPR andDown. ABC, Left. sets Up.her quietUp. Right. but excellent Left. Down. book inUp. the Down. provincial Left. cityRight. of Che-Up. Left.lyabinsk, Up. justLeft. beyond Right. the Right. Ural Down.Mountains, Down. on Left.the border Right. of Up.Europe Left. and Up. Asia, Left. where Right. the Right. glitz ofDown. the capital Left. isLeft. nowhere Up. Left.to be found.Down. Her Left. clear, Up. patient, Left. sympathetic Down. Right. portraits Quick of teach- Up. Right.ers, children, Up. Right. prostitutes, Down. doctors—the Right. Down. whole Right. raft Up. of RussianRight. Up.humanity—provide Left. Up. (Spoiler a Alert!)pointillist Right. landscape Done! and an under- standing of the country, and its mentalities, that eludes many Newmore Yorkovertly City political for Peoplebooks. Who Don’t Get It, by Josh Whiteguy (BuzzFeed). Few writers have attempted to dis- tillAnd the After essence Many of Days New, by York Jowhor City Ile into (Tim a novel, Duggan consum Books)- . ableAt the by peopleopening who of thisdon’t début live here novel, so thatthe teen-agethey might son have of a somethinglocal magistrate to aspire in coastal to. Reminiscent, Nigeria goes of missing. course, Hisof Fitzger younger- ald’sbrother The examines Great Gatsby the events in its thatcriticism may haveof the contributed upper class, to whichthe disappearance, also brings toand mind the storyWharton’s unfolds The in Ageflashbacks of Innocence across anddecades. Plath’s The The inhabitants Bell Jar. This of thenovel family’s is undoubtedly ancestral like village The Catcherare in conflict in the Ryewith and an Aentity Tree theyGrows refer in Brooklynto as “Company,”, in that Newwhich York destroys City farmsalso acts and as, homes and bearwhile with drilling me foron this,oil and a characterlater attempts in the to book. build Bang gas thepipelines Drum Slowly,through The the House region. of Mirth,The stando Americanff slowly Psycho, builds Breakfast to violence, at Tiffany’s culminating: these novels in the areboy’s all disappearance. summoned to mindThis structurein comparison; undermines but what suspense a rare beastbut creates to read opportunities a novel about for New ominous York City.foreshadowing—for instance, in the magistrate’s habit of asking his children, The“Are Boyyou there?”Who Hit the Moon, by Donna Tartt (Penguin Random House). Like many of the men who have traveled toWinter the moon, by Christopher and beyond, Nicholson this is (Europa) the tale. Thisof a dreamer.understated, A boy,tender our novel hero imagines Tony, purchases an elderly all Thomas of the eggsHardy’s in town.unrequited On afascination clear night, with after Gertie his Bugler,parents the and woman sister whose have motherdrifted wasto sleep,the inspiration Tony carries for thehis heroinecartons ofonto “Tess the of roof the d’Urbervilles.”of his house and,Hardy’s with second, all of hismuch might, younger he lobs wife, them Florence, towards forms the the moon. other Hepoint drifts of this to not-quite sleep, confident love triangle. that The the plot thumps concerns he aheard the- wereatre production eggs hitting of the“Tess” moon, in which and notGertie hundreds plays the of lead.eggs Flor-pil- ingence, up who on hisis thwarted neighbor’s in herroof. writing We are dreams invited and to enjoyacts as the her naïvetéhusband’s of asecretary, young boy, watches while his sharing infatuation in the withtragedy despair. of the “I townam forty-five waking yearsto find old that and theremy life are is noin tatters,”omelets. she laments. Although the book’s pace is unhurried and—Caroline its action Schaper sparse, Nicholson has created an entrancing piece of fiction.

70 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMESTHE NEW FOLTA, YORKER, BOOK APRIL COVERS 11, 2016 BY ALEX CHEN77 THE CRITICS THE ART WORLD

NEARINGTHE THE CURRENT ASYMPTOTE CINEMA

One woman’s superlative ugliness, and her son’s destiny to paint it

FUNBY KATHLEENAND JORDANGAMES “Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Miles Ahead.”

BY ANTHONY LANE

f you can’t think of a good way to habited, or infested, solely by members tureshis first now scene, on display he holds at up the a copy Luhring of Carl I kick off your movie, how about this? of the baseball team. His roommate is AugustineSagan’s “Cosmos” Gallery. and Since says to the Jake, open “Chap- - Take a handsome young buck, put him Billy (Will Brittain), a country boy ingter of 9. theIt’ll exhibitblow your last mind.” weekend, That the mo- at the wheel of an Oldsmobile coupe, mocked for his hickhood by the others. Chelseament ignites gallery our beensense packed;of him, andthe it and have him whip along a Texas high- They include Roper (Ryan Guzman), lineburns of throughart critics the restand of wealthy the film, buy reach- - way to the sound of “My Sharona,” by another comely fellow, who spends an ersing encircles a smoky fruitionthe block as helike proves one toof be the Knack. That is what Richard Link- entire scene lauding his own ass in the Fergstein’sthe undisputed mother’s master thickof the bong.curling later does in his latest film, “Everybody mirror; the mustached McReynolds arm Besthairs. of all is Finnegan, played with Wants Some!!,” and it’s hard to think (Tyler Hoechlin), who loathes losing, a runawayThe collection, charm by more Glen thanPowell. thirty Finn, of a brighter start. The buck in ques- even at Ping-Pong; Niles ( Juston Street), yearsas he inis known, the making, is the eloquent tracks one, Ferg spool- - tion is Jake (Blake Jenner), and by the the resident jerk, who claims to have stein’sing out attempt his verbal to ri ffsdocument in a bid not his just end of the song we’ve already grasped thrown a pitch at ninety-five miles an motherto catch Gert’s girls but unfortunate to boost the appear dramatic- the unfolding shape of his life. He glides hour; and Dale ( J. Quinton Johnson), ancedash as of he the lives proceedings. in her garage “We apartall take- past groups of girls his age and parks in the only black guy in the house, not that mentturns in being Terrytown, chumps aroundNew Jersey. here,” heHis ex - front of a house on a pleasant street. He anyone notices or cares. There are mul- motivationplains. “You is accept at once your chumpification,magical and has a shy smile and a box of LPs in his tiple flash points in this society, mostly heartbreaking:and move on.” heExcellent wishes advice, to depict in any arms. Sunlight pours down like a ben- to do with sporting smarts or carnal brag- thefield true of endeavor, depths andof her a key grotesque to the lovely- ediction. He’s ready for anything. gadocio, but racial bias isn’t one of them. ness,note and, of comic by his humility own measure, with which falls the Linklater has long been a champion In his limber and leisurely fashion, Link- shortnatural-born with each bumptiousness piece; luckily of for the his stu - of beginnings and ends. “Dazed and later is glancing at a golden age. fans,dents Fergstein is tempered feels and hesoothed, may neverand the Confused” (1993) hung out with a bunch His most cheering gift, and maybe capturemovie preventedGert’s truest from ugliness,coarsening and into of kids on their final day of high school; the reason that he calls this movie a “spir- soa brawl.he must Jake trudge and the on.other “Every newbies time must, “Boyhood” (2014), having tracked its itual sequel” to “Dazed and Confused,” I ofcomplete course, expecta painting, a dose I thinkof hazing, ‘This! and hero, Mason, for many years, bid him is an itch to populate the frame. At his Thisthey is are how duly ugly fastened my mother with duct is.’ tape But to farewell on his first day of higher edu- best, he doesn’t really direct a film so thena border I see fence, her atone breakfast, of them upside and per down,- cation, at once bewildered and blissed much as host it—keeping all his charac- hapsand thepeppered light catcheswith baseballs her nose struck in aby out. Jake, too, is at that pivotal point. A ters involved, rescuing the wallflowers, newtheir ungodly bat-wielding angle, teammates.and I know I then guess freshman at an unnamed college in making sure that everyone is plied with thatthat’s my part work of theis not deal, complete,” yet the tale the as a southeast Texas (otherwise known, to lines and bits of stage business, as if he artistwhole, said, though sighing filthy-mouthed, around a canapé. is lenient moviegoers, as Linklaterland), he is more were topping up drinks. The obvious “It’sand quite humane. depressing.” No freshmen were harmed of “Tella jock me,than what Mason, is itand you less plan of a kindcomparison (Middle is Pleistocene with “Hail, eraCaesar!,” by the in in Histhe makinginitial emailof this to film. me pitching towounded do with soul; your whatever one hiswild past and may mostwhich reputable the Coens accounts). introduced Much a crew to of the openingIt is set in and 1980 describing, a crossroads the for col mu-- precioushave been, life? we” learn very little about it. Zanepromising Fergstein’s figures artisticand then chagrin, let them hisslide, lectionsical trends was filledboth comingwith so and many going. hor We- He’s like a passenger—Mary boarding Oliver a ship mother’shalf-used; answer the result to Oliver’s left audiences question gaz - rificget superlativesthe dregs of disco,about Blondie’s his mother’s “Heart with a single suitcase. What matters is is,ing “To around get atuglier the end and and uglierasking, “Iswith that appearance—“theof Glass,” the Cars, foulestCheap Trick,looking and a the surging tide of the now, and the eachit?” Topassing Linklater, year.” no one is disposable. womanburst of alive,” pustular “greasier punk. We than get aM’s plate “Pop camera follows him eagerly into the TakeI’m Nesbit referring, (Austin of Amelio),course, towho Zane tends ofMuzik,” blue cheese which french to my fries,” horror “a I horridremem - house—taking f course its, cueany from well-read a snaking Fergstein’sto place unwise “Nearing bets, forthe a Asymptote:few dollars, on humanber, in swamp,”—thatpitiless detail, from reasonably, 1979. And, I hose, adultwhich runsis completely from the garden sick toof an Onefruitless Mother, daily activities;Fouler Still,” Plummer a series (Tem - hadcourtesy to question of the Sugarhill his credibility. Gang, weBut get SCARABOTTOLO OMary Oliver’s work, but this one of mixed media paintings and sculp- then I arrived. Indeed, the collec- upstairs bedroom, where a water bed is ple Baker), who is just off the pace when- “Rapper’s Delight,” chanted in angelic GUIDO lineslowly from being one filled. poem It’s thatis perfect kind of andplace. ever jokes are flying about; or Willoughby chorus, consonant-perfect, by Roper,

posesJake a questionis a pitcher, so and essential the house to ouris in- (Wyatt Russell), the in-house hippie. In Finn, Plummer, Dale, and Jake as they : ABOVE being that it is as if the poem has IMAGE BY JESSE BENJAMIN JESSE BENJAMIN BY IMAGE existedRichard since Linklater’s the dawn new movieof human is set- at aFergstein Texas college. self-describes At his best, as a he son doesn’t tortured really by directthe horrible a film sopresence much asof hosthis mother. it.

74 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 71 washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it, is surely one of the great and I got a shock when I saw the back hole-in-the-ground latrines outside, with approaches to any cultural pilgrimage of a woman, dressed in a dirndl and high- some disconcerting twig brooms propped site, the castle appearing across the crowned hat, exiting from what I’d next to them. All of the hut’s seventy- Gulf of Trieste in a series of visual throbs thought was the empty downstairs, and effect. Bang!nine Zoom! beds wereTo the expected moon, Alice! to be filled, and, like the unabashedly orgasmic build of disappearing into the woods. Later, on- She knowswith he’s some not seriousgoing to drinking do it. already going Rilke’s poems. In 1912, he wrote to a line, I discovered that Eichmann and his on in the• dining room, this was begin- friend, “We are in the karst, and the hard- S.S. guards had stayed at the inn while Somethingning is to required strike me of ashim problematic. in this Night ened mountains forgo the effeminacy fleeing U.S. troops at the end of the war. moment, hewas knows. going Someone to be a challenge; is scared morning of any vegetation.” There’s actually quite Gold coins that they buried under the half of the purse’s contents is crum- and needsgruesome. his help. What’s confusing a lot of vegetation around the castle huts in the meadow had been dug up pled up Gray’s Papaya wrappers. is the questionI decided of who. that Even the though only way to han- (and only Rilke could have occasionally over the years. Upon first glance, the pieces the boy isdle looming it was toover get her myself and to has sleep imme- imagined the gentle slopes If I had to choose a fa- in the collection possess hereditary his fist cocked,diately, they and both to clear look outto him first thing in nearby to be mountains), vorite stretch from my sam- but not genetic similarities—a wad like they’rethe in morning. trouble. I had a sleeping pill in my but the path itself is pure pling of the Via, it would of dead hair here mirrors a wad of glasses case,• where I’d also stowed my karst: fantastical water- be the part of the Blue trail dead hair there, but the elements, Arm raised,contact-lens hand clenched, container. he Asees minor mis- eroded stone, fissured into that passes through the the building blocks, the architecture it then, clearly:hap gave she thethinks day he’sa final a joke. farcical twist. what geologists call clints Walser villages of the Pied- feel entirely unique—of, and repre- He sees it inSome the stubbornof the lens way solution she holds had leaked, and grykes—blocks and mont. The landscape was senting, a new being in each work. I her body, thehalf-dissolving blank look, themy totalprecious ab- narcotic. cracks—and fluted like thickly forested, with Chi- mentioned this observation to Ferg- sence of fear.There He’s was a lightweight. no alternative A joker. but to lick the cake icing or pinched into nese-looking crags and stein over a tiny ham sandwich we He’s not goingresidue to do out.it. Actually, I was doing he thinks, this, my tongue rigid waves like an arrested ocean. knolls scarved in fog. The villages were shared in line for the bathroom, and yes I am. buried deep in the case’s plush interior, I then headed north into Austria, and miraculous specimens of an ingenious, his response was, “I hope each piece when the• door opened and the Swiss resumed following the Purple trail. One low-impact culture. There were minia- feels like it’s from a new artist and Bam! Pow!couple Right came in in. the An eye.awkward She pause fol- stretch of it passes near the Altaussee ture funiculars for bringing in supplies of a new subject because in essence, stumbles backward,lowed, in which nearly I fallingdecided on it would be salt mine, where the Nazis hid some of (the streets are too steep and narrow for they are. Each day I wake up in a her butt, lettinghopeless go to of trythe to bag. explain. They stared their stolen art. I dropped down from cars), Richard Scarry-like vehicles on house with my mother, I feel anew for a moment,• evidently reappraising pristine meadows—still emerald green caterpillar treads for the garbage and with disgust and rage because my Lenny brightens.their high-minded “Actually, roommateI’ve been as some in August—and looked at the old heavy lifting, stone houses caged in mother continues to find new ways thinking aboutkind ofthat! cokehead And here’s or verywhere specialized railbeds, with salt crystals glittering along wooden balconies, scythes lying on the to be the worst thing I’ve ever seen. we can introducedeviant, somebefore really beating dark, a retreat. in- I passed the tunnels and a subterranean chapel stone-covered roofs, chimneys shingled I want each piece to fully take on teresting stuout,ff mercifully in the B story.quickly, You’ve to the dim roar dedicated to St. Barbara, the patron saint like tiny houses. The schist-rich local the agony of that. Each day I shed a seen ‘Theof Manchurian Slovenian drinking “CanCandidate,’ you songs, keep and a secret?” left of “Theminers. emperor Years-old is naked—and swags of fir hung he has rocka flabby made butt!” everything glitter madly in skin, and each day she puts on a new right? O.K.,before so what daybreak I’m thinkingthe next morning.is: on the walls, smelling as if they’d just the sunshine. The Walsers were Ger- smellier one—like a cardigan pulled the warden hasJust been beyond doing the some hut, Icrazy saw something been cut, the salt air keeping them un- man-speaking refugees and migrants ••from a garbage dump outside of a psychologicalmoving experiments in the gray lighton the below me: a naturally fresh. who spread south through the Alps Chinese restaurant.” inmates. Includingshaggy animal Emmett with big Diggs. horns.. It was . an That evening, I stayed at Blaa-Alm, during the Middle Ages, improvising a The collection is Fergstein’s They’ve madeibex, him though into inan profileassassin it and looked the like hallway a an untilinn along he arrives the trail. at The the owners,el- upon who’d being life asked style onby thea female high terrainofficer where no- first—though using a word like he doesn’tslightly even know disreputable it! Using, unicorn. you I tookevator, out whichtold mehe theytakes were to the going lobby. to be goneas they for loadbody her else into farmed the ambulance, or lived. It was a fru- “first” might suggest that there is know,tion’s radicalvisceralmy brainwashingphone impact and on filmedthe techniques, nervous it as it ambledAfterlike a flaccidnodding the tilde,night, at the aleft symbol security my room which guard, key is in the“Now, en- weregal you life in style, any constrainedother way as- by the de- more to come. That, like so much in likesystem a mixture is acrosssignificant—breathtaking. of the what lunar they scree. do Whenin ‘A I heplacedlook pushes at over trance.through the Itletter thewas glass “n”an old indoors. certainwooden He buildingsaulted?” mandswill feel of forbasic the survival, first time but there were our small and inconsequential lives, ClockworkFergstein’sthe Orange’ footage body plus now,of electric-shock work it seems covers the perfectstandswords onin Spanish.inthe the empty Tyrolian sidewalk, style, squintdeep in- theafraid, mid- or thatenough the gracedog, after notes attacking to make you feel is a false suggestion. Fergstein has therapythe Luring plusemblem hypnosis? Augustine’s of that So what place: walls we wild comeand and ingdream inOne -the piecedle sunlight, of generated silent barely countryside, aregistering lot of atwith- flower-a U.P.S. deliverythat the driver, inhabitants will be enjoyed taken their exis- made it very clear that this will be tofloors realize in islike whata andtactfully triggers marvellous. overwhelmhim is white- thetention traffi atchung goingthe balconiesopening by. Then lookingnight he slowlyof out the on a meadowto a rescue tence. organization In a little up museum north that in Alagna, I his only collection because he does women—”ing composition: Abruptly the varioushusband pusheslarge rotatesexhibit, to and fullface of itthe small sold building. farm to buildings,investment The secu and- I specializesseemed admired in Australian a teaspoon shepherds, carved or with a hand not self-describe as an artist. He awaycanvasses, from thea seriesikingtable, histheof chairincreasingly entire squeal Via- Alpinarity guard tomoves have toit entirelyopen the to door myself. for A woodenthat the daughter,holding having a rose. been told that self-describes as a son tortured by ingnauseating against thesketches wouldfloor. He takeof stands, heryears, neck, risingso after a him,leaving but thestaircase husband led shakes up to ahis large head, bedroom her mother in trippedIt’s the looping at the continuum gym and of the trail H the horrible presence of his moth- tothree-foot his fullTriglav height, by three-foot National the sight Park touchableof which I got intopulls a car his carwhich keys the from walls, his ceiling,pocket, and and every split other her eyebrowthat makes open the onVia a Alpina barbell, what it is. It er in his life, and that horror must makespolyurethane Lennyand pausedrovemole andto with other shoot real sections a horsequick of theturns trail. toward surface, the includingparking garage. the light-switch The will cover, grow nervousdoesn’t takewhenever long tothe lose woman yourself in the sublimate into art, lest it cause his glancehairs protruding.at theMoving showrunner. southwest,Any one “Everything Ipiece crossed of intoonly Italy, place had he beenwants intricately to go right panelled now in theputs same on exerciserhythms clothes—he of mountain somehow travel: the morn- organs to rot inside his body. O.K.,art is buddy?”enoughwhere theto I beganmake showrunner ait walk clear on asks. thatthe Karst is home. Pla- butter-colored wood. It was verysenses com- thating regardless climb and of thelong blood afternoon and descent, The collection was discovered TheGert husband is theteau, singlelooks a rocky at ugliest him landscape evenly. person pockmarked “Yes,” to with fortable, •even luxurious, if a touchtears sar- his attentionthe dependably should undependablebe focussed weather, by famed gallerist Maren Chap- hewalk says. the “I’m cavesEarth—and just and getting sinkholes, yet a Coke.” our and appe ended- upEmmett at cophagal. hangs back I sat outfor aon moment, the balcony, elsewhere. watch- the The never sound quite of the knowing front door what you’re man, who came across the collec- tites are Duinoinsatiable. Castle.• At It entrancewas here, walkingto surveying along ingthe nightscene. fall On and one feeling hand, ashe though opening I’d softlygoing makes to see himover lookthe crestat the of the next tion in Fergstein’s Terrytown barn theThere’s gallery, themore flanked cli bloodff-top on than path both he above expected.sides the by Adriatic,wants to golanded to the in woman, a folktale who about is sob a traveller- boy (aar- littlehigh heavyset, pass or stillwho’s wearing going to the emerge from while looking for a place to leave a Thegrotesque lady isthat profiles holding Rilke ofclaimed her the eye hag, to with have is thethe heard bing a voice in disbeliefriving in and a household dripping under blood some satchel pow- slungthe mistover along his shoulder), the trail—though, but unlike puppy. Fergstein himself was happy handwork that that wasspeak was on the the the germination openingmessenger line bag, ofof andthewhat becameon the floor.erful But enchantment. even though he has before he canÖtzi, cross you thecan room be fairly and sure reach the stranger to have the collection trucked away. heentire can series:seethe blood Duinoan oilcoming painting Elegies: through portrait“Who, her if Ino cried, way of knowingThere was that nothing a very sinister,good him,exactly, before isn’t he cangoing open to killhis mouthyou. He and might even “It really hurts her feelings,” he said, fingers.of Gert. In herwouldWe other see hear handa methin-lipped she’sfrom still among hold liz -the plasticAngels’ surgeonthough will the sew tall up fir her trees eye around- say, the “Hey, wantbrother,” to be the your boy friend. has closedWe’ve come that ard woman with hair greased to the banker Ali Massoud for $520k with- nibbling on an apricot crudité. “And ing the telephone.orders?” The The Sentiero person onRilke, the as thebrow Ital with- meadow twenty-two were stitches, forbidding or that in thethe dusk, door behindfar since him the Bronzeand is gone.Age.   otherskull endand seems then, to where have finally it gathers hung up.in herin thirty husband, minutes despite of doors his first opening. show she’s even uglier when she cries.” the back, instantly• frizzing outward, beingIt’s a cancelled,portrait of will Gert go oncrouching to write foron THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 39 as if it must escape from her head or the ground cleaning out her purse. NEWYORKER.COM The husband walks right past the a relatively popular supernatural po- NEUJORKER.COMSarah Shun-lien Bynum on stories that don’t else drown in the slick oil spill that office kitchen and keeps heading down liceAs she procedural, holds her or wretched that the body woman, over Kathleengo according Jordan to plan. reads this article in a is her scalp. Her eyes are beady and the bag, the flesh around her hips cockney accent—and by the end it’s full-on grey-brown, and her eyebrows are pops out over her white corduroys. THEAustralian. NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 73 tattooed into what must have been That hip flesh looks like a drained a very disappointing shape—kind of cyst, floppy and empty. More than

72 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 THE CRITICS THE CURRENT CINEMA

KEEPINGTHE CURRENT THE CINEMA FAITH

“The Slow Drown” FUN AND GAMES BY MICHAEL YARSKY “Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Miles Ahead.”

BY ANTHONY LANE In a surreal and haunting opening f you can’t think of a good way to habited, or infested, solely by members scene,his first the scene, word he “Son”holds upis arepeatedly copy of Carl I kick off your movie, how about this? of the baseball team. His roommate is saidSagan’s by “Cosmos”his torturers and says as to he Jake, is “Chaplaid - Take a handsome young buck, put him Billy (Will Brittain), a country boy flatter on9. It’lla tilted blow wooden your mind.” board, That arms mo- at the wheel of an Oldsmobile coupe, mocked for his hickhood by the others. extendedment ignites outward our sense and of restrained him, and it and have him whip along a Texas high- They include Roper (Ryan Guzman), whileburns his through feet arethe boundrest of the crossing film, reach at - way to the sound of “My Sharona,” by another comely fellow, who spends an theing ankle. a smoky He fruition remains as hein provesthis pos to -be the Knack. That is what Richard Link- entire scene lauding his own ass in the turethe undisputedas he is methodically master of the bong.water- later does in his latest film, “Everybody mirror; the mustached McReynolds boardedBest ofby all his is Finnegan,interrogators. played The with Wants Some!!,” and it’s hard to think (Tyler Hoechlin), who loathes losing, Christ-likea runaway charm imagery by Glen in Powell.the film’s Finn, of a brighter start. The buck in ques- even at Ping-Pong; Niles ( Juston Street), openingas he is known, scene, is while the eloquent perhaps one, a spoolbit - tion is Jake (Blake Jenner), and by the the resident jerk, who claims to have bafflinging out consideringhis verbal riff sthe in aSon’s bid not own just end of the song we’ve already grasped thrown a pitch at ninety-five miles an Sikhism,to catch girlssurely but evokes to boost some the dramatic con- the unfolding shape of his life. He glides hour; and Dale ( J. Quinton Johnson), troversialdash of the yet proceedings. wholly illuminating “We all take past groups of girls his age and parks in the only black guy in the house, not that contoursturns being of chumpsthought: around For here,”example, he ex - front of a house on a pleasant street. He anyone notices or cares. There are mul- isplains. this the“You film’s accept plea your tochumpification, recognize has a shy smile and a box of LPs in his tiple flash points in this society, mostly theand commonalities move on.” Excellent between advice, major in any arms. Sunlight pours down like a ben- to do with sporting smarts or carnal brag- religions?field of endeavor, In these and troubled a key to the times lovely ediction. He’s ready for anything. gadocio, but racial bias isn’t one of them. ofnote our of comiccountry humility where with religious which the Linklater has long been a champion In his limber and leisurely fashion, Link- strifenatural-born is being bumptiousness wrought to the of themost stu - of beginnings and ends. “Dazed and later is glancing at a golden age. cynicaldents is oftempered political and ends,soothed, is andthis the Confused” (1993) hung out with a bunch His most cheering gift, and maybe edgymovie and prevented nuanced from portrayal coarsening of intoa of kids on their final day of high school; the reason that he calls this movie a “spir- Christ-likea brawl. Jake andSikh the meant other newbies to ame must,- “Boyhood” (2014), having tracked its itual sequel” to “Dazed and Confused,” liorateof course, the expect enmities a dose in of the hazing, name and hero, Mason, for many years, bid him is an itch to populate the frame. At his ofthey common are duly ground? fastened withIs it ductpossible tape to farewell on his first day of higher edu- best, he doesn’t really direct a film so toa borderbelieve fence, that one the of themcaptors upside of down,our cation, at once bewildered and blissed much as host it—keeping all his charac- protagonistand peppered would with chantbaseballs his struck name by out. Jake, too, is at that pivotal point. A ters involved, rescuing the wallflowers, astheir opposed bat-wielding to remain teammates. quiet and I guessfo- freshman at an unnamed college in making sure that everyone is plied with cusedthat’s during part of thethe torturingdeal, yet the process? tale as a southeast Texas (otherwise known, to lines and bits of stage business, as if he Orwhole, is it though just that filthy-mouthed, Cage kind isof lenient al- moviegoers, as Linklaterland), he is more were topping up drinks. The obvious waysand humane.has to doNo somethingfreshmen were Jesus-y harmed of a jock than Mason, and less of a comparison is with “Hail, Caesar!,” in inin his the movies? making ofRegardless, this film. Cage is wounded soul; whatever his past may which the Coens introduced a crew of surprisinglyIt is set in convincing 1980, a crossroads as a water for mu-- have been, we learn very little about it. promising figures and then let them slide, boarded,sical trends mentally both coming traumatized and going. gay We He’s like a passenger boarding a ship half-used; the result left audiences gaz- Sikh,get the giving dregs a ofperformance disco, Blondie’s as a “Heart wa- with ery a single liberally suitcase. What adapted matters is else.ing aroundCage atplays the end a mentallyand asking, trau“Is that- terboardingof Glass,” the victim Cars, Cheapreminiscent Trick, and of a the surgingfrom Mohamedou tide of the now,Ould and Sla the- matized,it?” To Linklater, openly gayno one Sikh is disposable.wrongly Christopherburst of pustular Hitchens. punk. We (Ironically, get M’s “Pop hi’sVcamera Guantanamo follows him Diary eagerly by the into gen the- detainedTake Nesbit at Guantanamo(Austin Amelio), Bay. who The tends Hitchens’sMuzik,” which actual to my waterboarding horror I remem - ariel F ilomeno tlemanhouse—taking who wrote its cue the from screenplays a snaking protagonistto place unwise is bets,never for identified a few dollars, by on wasber, woodenin pitiless and detail, unconvincing from 1979. And,in forhose, Forrest which Gump runs from and the The garden Curious to an name;fruitless all daily of activities;the characters Plummer in (Tem the - comparison.)courtesy of the Sugarhill Gang, we get SCARABOTTOLO Case of Benjamin Button, The Slow film only refer to him as “Son.” Son is placed promptly there-

upstairs bedroom, where a water bed is ple Baker), who is just off the pace when- “Rapper’s Delight,” chanted in angelic GUIDO Drowslowlyn beingseems filled. perfectly It’s that kindcalibrated of place. ever jokes are flying about; or Willoughby chorus, consonant-perfect, by Roper, as a showcase for Nicolas Cage’s Jake is a pitcher, and the house is in- (Wyatt Russell), the in-house hippie. In Finn, Plummer, Dale, and Jake as they : ABOVE more, ahem, “exuberant” talents as

ILLUSTRATION BY D BY ILLUSTRATION Nicolas Cage goes all-in for another Oscar bid in the role of “Son.” anRichard actor, Linklater’sbut strangely new offersmovie islittle set at a Texas college. At his best, he doesn’t really direct a film so much as host it.

74 THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 73 The idea that the self doing the but deprives it of its function. What Plimpton, Mailer, Styron, Bobby Short— speaking in poems and the self it will a verbal talent this relentless do fellows, have another drink. speaks about are two distinct charac- without its target, its “owd pal Fred You had to keep drinking or you’d sink. Smoking fifty cigarettes a day made ters, indentured warily to one another, Seidel”? your squid-ink fingers stink. is not new: it can be found, in vari- Increasingly, Seidel’s poems are ous forms, in Rimbaud and Fernando about old age, its indignities described Here we have Seidel’s ubi sunt poem, Pessoa, Borges and Elizabeth Bishop, in detail worthy of an Italian giallo. He pondering where the titans go when the and many others. But Seidel comes by has had, or fears he has had, or imag- dawn breaks. But it finds an unusual the notion honestly. He grew up see- ines he has had, a stroke; he thinks angle, marvelling at the fact that more after in solitary confinement where could not fail. color, we are indeed less invested ing his last name on blue coal trucks about his prostate; his sexual perfor- of them didn’t die sooner, and wonder- it seems the drowning effect that It is fair to say that Son’s narra- in his plight. Since Hollywood has circling the streets of St. Louis; this mance suffers; on one occasion (it is ing why Seidel was spared: waterboarding creates does impact tive does not end well: while he is brutally whitewashed Jesus and to prepared him for the uncanny expe- described in two poems) he ejacu- his cognitive functions even fur- released from solitary confinement, a lesser extent Christianity itself, rience of “walking down to Eighty- lates blood and fears the worst. En- Unlucky people born with the alcoholic gene Were likely to become alcoholics. Life is ther, triggering a trauma-induced what follows is a surreal mixture of the film tries to similarly “white- second Street / To Barnes & Noble to croaching death gives some of Seidel’s mean hallucination as his decaying body The Passion of the Christ and Oz. ify” Son by portraying him, in tab- buy my own book”—the self-estrange- blasphemy a kind of ballsy élan, as he That way, because others who drank as languishes in a lank, filthy cell. The Son’s many hours spent in solitary leau after tableau, as a Christ-like ment that writers feel when their own puts his mortal money where his out- much or more didn’t film is deftly directed by Christo- cause an inscrutable decay in cog- figure. And while Cage’s perfor- name is the one on the cover. rageous mouth has always been. The Succumb, but just kept on drinking—and pher Nolan, who brings a much- nitive capacity, thereby rendering mance is virtuosic in how he has Every poet creates a second self and horror in these poems seems real, not didn’t Do cocaine, and didn’t get fucked up, needed dark and gritty undertone him developmentally disabled in a sympathetically portrayed a highly then, watching it thrive, grows to resent hyped. And Seidel’s nastiness seems, in and just didn’t! to the subject material. In the hal- character arc reminiscent of Flow- intersectional character, many will it a little. The surprise is when, as with this work, a necessary defense against lucination, Son reimagines himself ers for Algernon. By the end of the be unsure as to how to go about Seidel, this other being is made to so fear, rather than a shock tactic that A night like this one at Elaine’s—at as a prisoner in Dachau talking to film, Son is still awaiting freedom gauging the authenticity of his closely resemble the first, and then dis- has escalated as his readers’ interest any bar—is a series of potential deaths a wise and surprisingly calm Vik- from prison, malnourished but still portrayal. This may in part be be- avowed as a fiction. The pitiful “old man has dwindled. It is better to be lonely successfully evaded until time runs out. tor Frankl–like figure named Vic holding onto humanity. He finds cause very few of us actually know at my computer pecking away, cooing than to die: this is the bracing news “Life is mean” because fate, in the form (played by the always welcome solace in his writing and hopes to any developmentally disabled, spring” is nevertheless assembling the these poems deliver. of alcoholism and addiction, rewards the Alan Alda). Vic is an undoubtedly “write a diary, a Guantanamo Dia- wrongfully imprisoned, hallucinat- voice that mocks him, “talking to him- “Widening Income Inequality” in- undeserving and condemns the worthy. charming and charismatic presence ry if you will, to tell my story.” The ing, Christ-like, gay Sikh memoir- self again” as he “strolls down Broadway cludes many occasional poems, as well Seidel’s elegy has some of the plastered despite the circumstances, and the ists. Furthermore, if we are unsure, in the rain,” or talking to “Fred Seidel,” as poems dedicated to—and mainly sweetness of a woozy toast. His rhymes cheery, precious dialogue could not would we certainly put forth any who invites him to his own funeral, in intelligible to—famous friends. But it locate us temporally, punctuating lines be more Eric Roth–like in execu- effort in discovering for sure? The a poem written in the kind of bubble- does have one truly moving poem, “Re- that, like the nights they describe, lack tion. Their friendship had begun Slow Drown is a framework by gum Yorkshire dialect that suggests a membering Elaine’s,” about the leg- an internal imperative to come to an to evolve into a clandestine love which Cage can do two things: (1) rural ditty: endary Upper East Side hot spot. At end. Seidel’s poems often employ this affair when Vic is brutally exter- display his talent and breadth of An’ it wur a funeral, his best, Seidel reminds me of a poet combination of strong rhyme and loose minated. In this hallucination, Son range by competently mastering It wur a grand funeral, who sounds nothing like him, Frank or nonexistent meter. It’s a method that falls, in sheer grief with his arms developmental disability, World Thur wur sum what laff’d o’er his grave O’Hara. Both are poets of the New non-poets use when called upon for an spread-eagled and his legs crossed, War II, and playing across races, And sum wot danced o’er his grave, York night; both are name-droppers impromptu poem, one that can feel into a random, really large pit. or (2) play a role where we would But I scriked me eyes out o’er grave and coterie poets. The natural drift of like a stunt. But there’s grief in it, and Of me owd pal Fred Seidel. Shortly thereafter, Son re-awakens have no idea whether or not he is such talents tends toward elegy, as their mortal comedy, and a covert human- to the present day. actually portraying the role well This is old York grieving for New circle of interlocutors and secret-shar- ism doused in vinegar: York: the imagination, freed from the ers shrinks over time: The sequence is staggering regardless. Cage is convincing if Aldrich once protested to Elaine that his although alarmingly long: this only because the audience is black- constraints of the body and history, is Many distinguished dead were there bill for the night was too high. flashback takes approximately 34 mailed into not having any other a country bumpkin, the subject of a At one of the front tables, fragrant talk She showed him his tab was for seventeen minutes out of the film’s 128-min- film becomes a passionate testi- choice: it’s simply wrong for its lord or duke whose death liberates it everywhere. Scotches and he started to cry.  ute running time. Cage does give mony for an artist’s need to create mostly white audiences to call him a compelling portrayal of a hallu- and to live with hope. If the film anything but inadequate—none of THE NEW YORKER IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2016 CONDÉ NAST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. cinating, emotionally broken, gay does serve a purpose beyond giv- us would be so galling—and yet it VOLUME XCII, NO. 1, February 8 & 15, 2016. THE NEW YORKER (ISSN 0028792X) is published weekly (except for five combined issues: February 8 & 15, June 6 & 13, July 11 & 18, Au - gust 8 & 15, and December 19 & 26) by Condé Nast, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. Sikh’s self-portrayal of a Jewish ing Cage another opportunity to feels so right to call him inadequate Elizabeth Hughes, publisher, chief revenue officer; Beth Lusko, associate publisher advertising; James Guilfoyle, director of finance and business operations; Fabio Bertoni, general counsel. WWII prisoner, but it seems the play a hysterically specific charac- because, and forgive the tautologi- Condé Nast: S. I. Newhouse, Jr., chairman emeritus; Charles H. Townsend, chairman; Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr., president & chief executive officer; David E. Geithner, chief financial officer; film delved into this territory only ter without any precedent in film, cal reasoning, he is Nicolas Cage. Jill Bright, chief administrative officer. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 123242885-RT0001. to demonstrate Cage’s desire to the film should serve as a source It is, from this angle, a truly Cage- POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE NEW YORKER, P.O. Box 37684, Boone, IA 50037 0684. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to The New Yorker, P.O. Box 37684, Boone, IA 50037 0684, call (800) 825- 2510, or e-mail [email protected]. Please give both new and old addresses as do a Holocaust period drama un- of inspiration for the wounded, de- esque film. When Cage plays char- printed on most recent label. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during der any circumstance whatsoever. velopmentally disabled, wrongfully acters suffering innumerable layers your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. For advertising inquiries, please call Beth Lusko at (212) 286-4454. For submission guidelines, please refer to our Web Rather than reflect further on the imprisoned, gay Sikh memoirists of physical and emotional pain, we site, www.newyorker.com. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to The New Yorker, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. For cover reprints, please call (800) 897-8666, ramifications of such a flashback, all over the world. want to believe his talent for it has or e-mail [email protected]. For permissions and reprint requests, please call (212) 630-5656 or fax requests to (212) 630-5883. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without the consent of The New Yorker. The New Yorker’s name and logo, and the various titles and headings herein, are trademarks of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. Visit us online at www.newyorker.com. To subscribe maybe by clarifying why Christ- To the film’s credit, it offers a become so masterful, but yet when to other Condé Nast magazines, visit www.condenet.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would inter- like imagery is appropriate in a refreshing perspective on recent, he tries to convey such a specific est our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 37684, Boone, IA 50037 0684 or call (800) 825-2510. Jewish concentration camp or “wrongfully accused” narratives mix of human experience, his por- THE NEW YORKER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED if this false “ancestral memory” like Making A Murderer by dem- trayal once again becomes unrelat- MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEN D has anything to do with Christo- onstrating a blatant truth: similar able. Is it possible that Cage is too ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY THE NEW YORKER IN WRITING. pher Nolan’s preoccupations with injustices have been committed good for his own good? Or is he THE NEW YORKER, FEBRUARY 8 & 15, 2016 107 space-time, the film instead grants and propagated on American soil too bad for his own good? us the opportunity to watch Cage for approximately fifteen years, The aforementioned questions nail what, I could only guess, is and we remain apathetic to it be- are ones Cage himself seeks to what a Sikh-Jewish-gay accent cause it is people of color who suf- answer. It is no secret to the film sounds like. It’s possibly the case fer those injustices. While this is industry that Cage will fearlessly that Cage was given such an im- a keen point, it is still the truth inhabit the circumstances of his possibly specific accent that he that, because Son is a person of characters regardless of personal

74 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 washbasins, and no toilets—just two ians call it, is surely one of the great and I got a shock when I saw the back hole-in-the-ground latrines outside, with approaches to any cultural pilgrimage of a woman, dressed in a dirndl and high- some disconcerting twig brooms propped site, the castle appearing across the crowned hat, exiting from what I’d next to them. All of the hut’s seventy- Gulf of Trieste in a series of visual throbs thought was the empty downstairs, and effect.nine Bang! beds Zoom! were expected To the moon, to be Alice!filled, and, like the unabashedly orgasmic build of disappearing into the woods. Later, on- She withknows some he’s serious not going drinking to do already it. going Rilke’s poems. In 1912, he wrote to a line, I discovered that Eichmann and his on in the dining• room, this was begin- friend, “We are in the karst, and the hard- S.S. guards had stayed at the inn while Somethingning to strike is required me as problematic. of him in this Night ened mountains forgo the effeminacy fleeing U.S. troops at the end of the war. moment,was goinghe knows. to be Someone a challenge; is scared morning of any vegetation.” There’s actually quite Gold coins that they buried under the and needsgruesome. his help. What’s confusing a lot of vegetation around the castle huts in the meadow had been dug up is the questionI decided of that who. the Even only thoughway to han- (and only Rilke could have occasionally over the years. the boydle itis waslooming to get overmyself her to and sleep has imme- imagined the gentle slopes If I had to choose a fa- his fistdiately, cocked, and they to clear both out look first to himthing in nearby to be mountains), vorite stretch from my sam- like they’rethe morning. in trouble. I had a sleeping pill in my but the path itself is pure pling of the Via, it would glasses case, where• I’d also stowed my karst: fantastical water- be the part of the Blue trail Armcontact-lens raised, hand container. clenched, A minorhe sees mis- eroded stone, fissured into that passes through the it then,hap clearly: gave the she day thinks a final he’s farcical a joke. twist. what geologists call clints Walser villages of the Pied- He seesSome it in of the the stubborn lens solution way she had holds leaked, and grykes—blocks and mont. The landscape was her body,half-dissolving the blank look,my precious the total narcotic. ab- cracks—and fluted like thickly forested, with Chi- senceThere of fear. was He’s no a alternative lightweight. but A tojoker. lick the cake icing or pinched into nese-looking crags and He’s notresidue going out. to do I wasit. Actually, doing this, he thinks, my tongue rigid waves like an arrested ocean. knolls scarved in fog. The villages were yes Iburied am. deep in the case’s plush interior, I then headed north into Austria, and miraculous specimens of an ingenious, when the door• opened and the Swiss resumed following the Purple trail. One low-impact culture. There were minia- Bam! Pow! Right in the eye. She Thecouple idea came that in. the An self awkward doing pause the fol-but deprivesstretch of it it of passes its function. near the What Altaussee Plimpton,ture funiculars Mailer, Styron, for bringing Bobby Short— in supplies stumbles backward, nearly falling on speakinglowed, in in poemswhich Iand decided the selfit would it bewill salta verbal mine, talent where thisthe Nazisrelentless hid somedo of (thefellows, streets have are another too steep drink. and narrow for her butt, letting go of the bag. speakshopeless about toare try two to distinctexplain. characThey stared- without their its stolen target, art. its I dropped “owd pal down Fred from Youcars), had toRichard keep drinking Scarry-like or you’d vehicles sink. on Smoking fifty cigarettes a day made ters, forindentured a moment, warily• evidently to one reappraisinganother, Seidel”? pristine meadows—still emerald green caterpillar treads for the garbage and Lenny brightens. “Actually, I’ve been your squid-ink fingers stink. is nottheir new: high-minded it can be found, roommate in vari as -some Increasingly,in August—and Seidel’s looked poems at theare old heavy lifting, stone houses caged in thinking about that! And here’s where ous forms,kind of in cokehead Rimbaud or and very Fernando specialized about railbeds, old age, with its indignitiessalt crystals glitteringdescribed along Herewooden we have balconies, Seidel’s scythes ubi sunt lying poem, on the we can introduce some really dark, in- Pessoa,deviant, Borges before and beating Elizabeth a retreat. Bishop, I passed in detailthe tunnelsworthy ofand an a Italian subterranean giallo. He chapel pondering stone-covered where the roofs, titans chimneys go when shingled the teresting stuff in the B story. You’ve and manyout, mercifully others. But quickly, Seidel to comes the dim by roarhas had,dedicated or fears to St.he Barbara, has had, the or patronimag- saintdawn like breaks. tiny houses.But it findsThe schist-richan unusual local seenof ‘The Slovenian Manchurian drinking Candidate,’ songs, and left of miners.“The Years-old emperor swags is naked—and of fir hung herock has made a flabby everything butt!” glitter madly in theThe notion idea honestly. that the He self grew doing up seethe- butines deprives he has had,it of aits stroke; function. he thinksWhat angle,Plimpton, marvelling Mailer, atStyron, the fact Bobby that Short— more right?before O.K., daybreak so what the I’m next thinking morning. is: on the walls, smelling as if they’d just the sunshine. The Walsers were Ger- speakingingdifficulty, his last in fromname poems volunteeringon andblue thecoal self trucksto itbe willandabout areal verbalhis life:prostate; talent how his thisboth sexual relentless lives perfor blur, do- ingof them andfellows, didn’t opportunistic have die another sooner, drink. andas wonder-Cage’s the wardenJust beyondhas been the doing hut, Isome saw somethingcrazy been cut, the salt air keeping them un- man-speaking refugees and migrants speakscirclingwaterboarded about the streets are in two rehearsal of distinct St. Louis; forcharac thisThe- withoutintersect,mance su itsff anders; target, onhow oneits one “owdoccasion can pal simply Fred(it•• is maneuveringingYou why had Seidel to keep might was drinking spared: appear or you’d in sink. this psychologicalmoving in theexperiments gray light belowon the me: a naturally fresh. Smokingwho spread fifty cigarettes south athrough day made the Alps ters,preparedSlow indentured Drown him tofor warily actually the uncannyto one being another, expe wa- Seidel”?informdescribed the in othertwo poems) especially he ejacuwhen- documentary as well as in every- inmates.shaggy Including animal with Emmett big horns. Diggs. It was an That evening, I stayed at Blaa-Alm, Unluckyduringyour squid-inkpeople the Middle born fi ngerswith Ages, the stink. alcoholic improvising gene a isrienceterboarded not new:of “walking itfor can the be down upcomingfound, to Eighty-in vari Con- onelatesIncreasingly, forcesblood andthem fearsSeidel’s to thelook poemsworst. as simi En-are- thing he does, it certainly resonat- They’veibex, made though him in into profile an assassin it looked and like thea hallwayan inn along until the he trail. arrives The at owners, the el -who’dupon Werelife being likelystyle asked toon become the by high aalcoholics. female terrain oLife wherefficer is no- oussecondAir forms,2. However,Street in Rimbaud / To itBarnes was and a& Fernando secretNoble to aboutlarcroaching as old humanly age, death its gives indignitiespossible. some ofdescribedOne Seidel’s in- ed Heremore we personally have Seidel’s than ubi suntthe poem,“not- he doesn’tslightly even disreputable know it! unicorn. Using, I youtook outevator, told which me they he weretakes going to the to belobby. gone foras theybodymean load else her farmed into orthe lived. ambulance, It was a fru- Pessoa,buythe myfilm Borgesown industry book”—the and that Elizabeth Cage self-estrange himselfBishop,- indeedblasphemy detail wonders worthy a kind ofif ofanCage ballsyItalian is élan, giallowearing as. He he likely-to-happen-to-me”ponderingThat way, where because the others titans who go events drank when as the of know,my radical phone brainwashing and filmed techniques,it as it ambled After the nodding night, left at themy roomsecurity key guard, in the en-“Now,gal were life style,you in constrained any other way by theas- de- andmentwould many that release others.writers a Butfeeldocumentary Seidelwhen theircomes ownthat by hasaputs “masc” had, his mortalor for fears his money he lover, has where had, or or ifhis imaghe out is- Thedawn Slow muchbreaks. orDrown moreBut didn’tit. Cagefinds anis unusuala cha- like acrossa mixture the lunarof what scree. they When do in I ‘Alook athe pushestrance. through It was anthe old glass wooden doors. buildingHe saulted?” mands will of basicfeel forsurvival, the first but theretime were thenameoutlines notion is the all honestly. oneof the on traumatic, theHe cover.grew upMeth see- inestrulyrageous he unleashing hasmouth had, has a his stroke;always inner hebeen. “masc”thinks The meleonic...virtuso?...andangle,Succumb, marvelling but just at kept the on fact drinking—and histhat films, more Clockworkthe footage Orange’ now, plus it electric-shockseems the perfect stands in onthe the Tyrolian empty style, sidewalk, deep squintin the- mid-afraid,enoughdidn’t or that grace the dog,notes after to makeattacking you feel ingod-inspiredEvery his last poet name endeavorscreates on ablue second he coal incurred self trucks and aboutthroughhorror his in thistheseprostate; character. poems his seemssexual real,perfor not- bothof them fictional didn’t die and sooner, not, and can wonder- attest therapyemblem plus hypnosis? of that place: So what wild we and come dream ing- indle the of sunlight,silent countryside, barely registering with flower- a U.P.S.Dothat cocaine, deliverythe inhabitantsand didn’tdriver, get enjoyedwill fucked be up, takentheir exis- circlingthen,in preparation watching the streets it for thrive, Theof St. grows Slow Louis; toDrown resent this. mancehyped.What Andsuff ers;does Seidel’s on become one nastiness occasion compelling seems, (it inis toing that. why SeidelBut a wasfilm’s spared: ability to take to realizelike and is what marvellous. triggers him is white the trahungffic balconies going by. looking Then out he on slowly a meadow to a rescuetence.and just Inorganization didn’t! a little museum up north in Alagna, that I prepareditThe a little. dreadfully Thehim surprisefor titledthe isuncanny when,Sikh And as expe with Ye- describedduringthis work, these ain necessary two proceedings poems) defense he againstisejacu the- an extraordinary person in an ex- women—” Abruptly the husband pushes rotatesfull to of facesmall the farm building. buildings, The and secu I seemed- specializes admired in aAustralian teaspoon carvedshepherds, with ora hand rienceSeidel,Shall Find ofthis “walking otheris a storybeing down aboutis tomade Eighty- Cage’s to so latesnaturefear, ratherblood of theandthan lovefears a shock storythe worst.tactic between thatEn- traordinaryUnluckyA night people like situation thisborn onewith andatthe Elaine’s alcoholic make — geneanat away fromiking the table, the hisentire chair Viasqueal Alpina- rity guardto have moves it entirely to open to myself. the door A woodenfor that Were theholding likelydaughter, ato rose. become having alcoholics. been told Life that is secondcloselyattempt resembleStreet to preserve / To the Barnes first, the and &Son Noblethen char dis to- croaching“Sonny”has escalated (adeath reference as gives his readers’ some to hisof interestSeidel’s “Son” ordinaryany bar— isperson a series identify of potential with deaths their ing againstwould the floor. take Heyears, stands, so after rising leaving him, staircase but the husbandled up to shakes a large his bedroom head, inher mothermeanIt’s the tripped looping at continuum the gym ofand the trail buyavowedacter myH off-screen ownas a fiction. book”—the inThe his pitiful self-estrange day-to-day “old man- blasphemycharacter)has dwindled. aand kind It Richy: is of better ballsy while to élan, be it lonely asmay he extraordinarysuccessfully evaded struggles…that until time runs out.is to hisTriglav full height, National the Park sight I ofgot which into a carpulls which his car the keys walls, from ceiling, his pocket, and every and other split That thather way, makeseyebrow because the othersopen Via Alpina whoon adrank barbell, what as it is. It mentatlife. my Thethat computer writerspersecution pecking feel when andaway, their harass cooing own- putsservethan his toas mortaldie: research this money is forthe where bracingthe dynamic his news out- what“Life ismuchmakes mean” or more filmbecause didn’t critics fate, infeel the alive. form makesand Lenny drove pause to other and sections shoot a of quick the trail.turns surface, toward including the parking the light-switch garage. The cover, will growdoesn’t nervous take long whenever to lose the yourself woman in the namespring”ment isborne isthe nevertheless one by Cageon the areassembling cover. unbearable the rageousrelationshipthese poems mouth deliver.between has always “Son” been. Theand Iof sawalcoholismSuccumb, myself but and justin addiction, keptCage’s on drinking—and virtuosity: rewards the glanceMoving at the southwest,showrunner. I crossed“Everything into Italy, only hadplace been he intricately wants to panelledgo right in now the sameputs rhythmson exercise of mountainclothes—he travel: somehow the morn - voiceto Everywatch: that poet mockshe iscreates consistently him, a “talking second mistak selfto him and- horror“Vic”“Widening in theseThe Income Slowpoems Drown seemsInequality” —Richyreal, notin- hisundeserving troubleddidn’t and search condemns for therecogni worthy.- O.K.,where buddy?” I began the ashowrunner walk on the Karstasks. Plais- home.butter-colored wood. It was very com-sensesDoing cocaine, that climb regardless and and didn’t long of get theafternoon fucked blood up, anddescent, then,selfen foragain” watching a Muslim as he it “strolls thrive, by sheer down grows bigots; Broadway to resent he hyped.iscludes an older,manyAnd Seidel’s occasionalbald, whitenastiness poems, male—one seems, as well in tion,Seidel’s authenticity, elegy has some and of perhapsthe plastered his The teau,husband a rocky looks landscape at him evenly.pockmarked “Yes,” with fortable, even luxurious,• if a touch sar-tearsthe hisand dependably attentionjust didn’t! should undependable be focussed weather, itinis atheconsistently little. rain,” The or surprise talking mistaken tois when,“Fred for Seidel,”asa Sikhwith thiscan’tas poems work, help dedicateda necessarybut feel to—and defenseenchanted againstmainly by battlesweetness against of a woozy loneliness, toast. Hisand rhymes I was he says.caves “I’m and just sinkholes, getting aand Coke.” ended up at Emmettcophagal. hangs I sat outback on for the a balcony,moment, watch- elsewhere.the never The quitesound knowing of the front what door you’re Seidel,whoby friends invites this otherandhim familyto being his own iswho made funeral, know to soinit fear,Son’sintelligible rather charm, to—famous than borne a shock from friends. tactic a seemBut that it- flatteredlocateA night us temporally,by like the this experience one punctuating at Elaine’s indeed. lines—at Duino Castle. It• was here, walking alongsurveying ing night the scene.fall and On feeling one hand,as though he I’dopening going softly to see makes over himthe crest look ofat thethe next closelyais poem an act resemble written but he’s inthe justthe first, kindCage-y and of then bubbleenough dis- hasinglydoes escalated have Sikh-like one trulyas hiscompassion moving readers’ poem, interest for “Re all- Sikhanythat, bar Andlike— isthe Ye a Shallseriesnights Findof they potential isdescribe, wonderful deaths lack There’sthe cli moreff-top blood path than above he expected.the Adriatic, wants landed to go into athe folktale woman, about who a travelleris sob- ar-boy (ahigh little pass heavyset, or who’s stillgoing wearing to emerge the from avowedgumto pull Yorkshire asit aoff fiction.; hedialect suffersThe thatpitiful the suggests “old outra man a- haslivingmembering dwindled. things Elaine’s,” Itand is bettera sense about to beof the lonelyspiri leg-- therapysuccessfullyan internal for evaded imperativethose whountil to longtime come runsto projto out. an- The thatlady Rilke is holding claimed her to eyehave with heard the a voicebing riving in disbelief in a household and dripping under someblood pow- satchelthe slungmist along over thehis trail—though, shoulder), but unlike atruralgeous my ditty: computerbigotry on pecking his Grindr away, profilecooing thantualendary tounity Upperdie: amongthis East is theSidethem. bracing hot And spot. news yetAt ect“Lifeend. themselves, Seidel’s is mean” poems because or findoften fate, a employ semblancein the form this handspeak that was the on opening the messenger line of what bag, andbecame on theerful floor. enchantment. But even though he has beforeÖtzi, he canyou crosscan be the fairly room sure and the reach stranger spring”as he attemptsis nevertheless to discreetly assembling hook the thesethis,his best, too,poems Seidel is deliver.a remindsperformative me of aspecta poet ofcombination alcoholismthemselves, ofand strong inaddiction, the rhyme lives rewards and of loosethe the he An’canthe it see wurDuino blood a funeral, Elegies: coming “Who, through if herI cried, no way Thereof knowing was nothing that a sinister,very good exactly, him, isn’tbefore going he can to killopen you. his Hemouth might and even voiceup Itwith wur that a men;mocksgrand funeral,he him, falls “talking in love—or, to him- ofwho “WideningCage’s sounds self: nothing Income is his compassionlike Inequality” him, Frank forin- moreundeservingor nonexistent successful and meter. condemns among It’s a us,method the regard worthy. that- fingers.would In her hear other me handfrom she’samong still the hold Angels’- plastic though surgeon the willtall sewfir trees up her around eye- thesay, “Hey,want tobrother,” be your thefriend. boy We’ve has closed come that selfratherThur again” wurdoes as sum he his “strollswhat character laff down’d o’er Broadwayhis fall grave in cludeshisO’Hara. partner many Both occasionala areperformance, poets poems, of the andas New well if lessSeidel’snon-poets of howelegy use wehas when assesssome called of their the upon plastered talents. for an ing theorders?” telephone. The Sentiero The person Rilke, on as the Italbrow- meadow with twenty-two were forbidding stitches, in or the that dusk, the doorfar since behind the Bronze him and Age. is gone.  inlove?—with theAnd rain,” sum wot or a talkingdanced tolerant o’er to “Fredhisand grave, “masc Seidel,” 4 asso,York poems is night; this dedicated somethingboth are to—and name-droppers we can mainly sur- Trulysweetnessimpromptu a film of apoem, critic’swoozy one toast.fodder. that His can rhymes feel otherBut end I scriked seems me to eyes have out finally o’er grave hung up. her husband, despite his first show whomasc” invites older him gentleman to his own who funeral, is un in- intelligiblemiseand coterie about to—famous poets.the relationships The naturalfriends. drift inBut our ofit locatelike aTHE stunt.us NEW temporally, ButYORKER, there’s APRIL punctuating grief 11, 2016 in it, lines and 39 Of me owd pal Fred• Seidel. being cancelled, will go on to write for aaware poem ofwritten Son’s in deepest the kind secret: of bubble that- doesownsuch havetalentslives? one tendsIs truly our toward moving so-called elegy, poem, asunity “Retheir- that,NEWYORKER.COMmortal like comedy, the nights and they a covert describe, human- lack The husband walks right past the a relatively popular supernatural po- NEUJORKER.COM gumThishe is, Yorkshireis in old fact, York dialectNicolas grieving that Cage. suggestsfor NewIt isa memberingwithcircle theof interlocutors world Elaine’s,” something and about secret-shar we,the leg-too,- anSarahism internal doused Shun-lien imperativein Bynumvinegar: on tostories come that to don’t an office kitchen and keeps heading down lice procedural, or that the woman, go according to plan. York: the imagination, freed from the ers shrinks over time: Michael Yarsky on what he would (and ruralstunning ditty: to watch Cage disappear endaryclaim aboutUpper ourselvesEast Side hotbut spot.utilize At wouldn’t)end.Aldrich Seidel’s do once for poems protesteda Klondike often to bar.Elaine employ that this his constraints of the body and history, is THE NEW YORKER, APRIL 11, 2016 73 intoAn’ hisit wur craft a funeral, and fully abide the hisonly Manybest, as distinguishedaSeidel means reminds to dead achieve wereme ofthere recoga poet- combinationbill for the of strongnight was rhyme too high. and loose aterms countryIt wur governing a grand bumpkin, funeral, his the professionalsubject of a whonitionAt soundsone elsewhere?of the nothing front tables, likeAs fragrant him,disorient Frank talk - or nonexistentShe showed him meter. his tab It’s was a method for seventeen that lordThur or wurduke sum whose what ladeathff’d o’er liberates his grave it O’Hara.everywhere. Both are poets of the New non-poetsScotches use and when he startedcalled toupon cry. for an And sum wot danced o’er his grave, York night; both are name-droppers impromptu poem, one that can feel THEBut NEW I YORKER scriked IS me A REGISTERED eyes out o’er TRADEMARK grave OF ADVANCEand MAGAZINE coterie PUBLISHERSpoets. The INC. natural COPYRIGHT drift ©2016 of CONDÉ like NAS T.a ALLstunt. RIGHTS But RESERVED. there’s P RINTEDgrief inIN THE it, andU.S.A. O f me owd pal Fred Seidel. VOLUMETHE NEU XCII, JORKER NO. 1, February IS A 8REGISTERED & 15, 2016. THE NEW TRADEMARK YORKERsuch (ISSN talents OF 0028 ADVANCED792X) tends is published toward AND weekly elegy, OVERTHOUGHT (except as for their five combinedmortal BITS issues INC.comedy,: February COPYRIGHT 8 &and 15, June a 6covert &© 13, 2016 July human- 11 CANDÈ & 18, Au - gustNASTY. 8 & 15, ALLand December RITES 19 RESERVED. & 26) by Condé E-PRINTEDNast, which is a division IN THE of Advance U.S.A. Magazine Publishers Inc. 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CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGI- NALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY THE NEU JORKER IN WRITING. THE NEW YORKER, FEBRUARY 8 & 15, 2016 107 THE NEU JORKER, JUNE 20, 2016 75 CARTOONCARTOON CAPTION CAPTION CONTEST CONTEST Each week, we provide a cartoon in need of a caption. You, yes you, the reader, submit a caption, and we choose Each week, we provide a cartoon in need of a caption. You, the reader, submit a caption, we choose threefi nalists, threeEachEach finalists, week, week, we andwe provide provideyou, yes a cartoonayou, cartoon vote in for inneed needyour of favorite.ofa caption.a caption. You,This You, is the democracythe reader, reader, submit insubmit action. a caption,a caption, The cartoon we we choose choosecaption three three ficontest nalists,fi nalists, is the and you vote for your favorite. Caption submissions for this week’s cartoon, by Harry Bliss, must be received by closestand thingand you youto vote the vote Athenianfor for your your favorite. ideal favorite. we Caption modern Caption submissionscitizens submissions of the for for modernthis this week’s week’s world cartoon, cartoon, have. by Please byHarry Harry exercise Bliss, Bliss, yourmust must power be bereceived received to vote. by by But Sunday, April 10th. The finalists in the March 28th contest appear below. We will announce the winner, and the onlySunday, Sunday,if you areApril April a resident10 10th.th. The Theof fionenalists finalists of the in goodinthe the March countries: March 28 28th the thcontest Unitedcontest appear appearStates, below. below.Canada We We will(except will announce announce Quebec, the for the winner, the winner, love and of and God), the the finalists in this week’s contest, in the April 25th issue. The winner receives a signed print of the cartoon. Australia,finalistsfi thenalists United in inthis this Kingdom, week’s week’s contest, contest, or the in Republic inthe the April April of 25 Ireland. 25th thissue. issue. And The The onlywinner winner if you receives receivesare eighteen a signeda signed or print above. print of Andofthe the cartoon. please cartoon. refrain Any resident of the United States, Canada (except Quebec), Australia, the United Kingdom, or the Republic of Ireland fromAnyAny highlyresident resident gratuitous of ofthe the United Unitedthreats, States, States,anthrax, Canada Canada and (except pictures (except Quebec), of Quebec), your genitalia.Australia, Australia, We’vethe the United hadUnited a Kingdom,shocking Kingdom, number or orthe the Republic of Republic submissions of ofIreland Ireland like age eighteen or over can enter or vote. To do so, and to read the complete rules, visit contest.newyorker.com. those justageage described,eighteen eighteen or and orover over in can addition can enter enter orto or vote.being vote. To horrifying, To do do so, so, and and they’re to toread read making the the complete completeour jobs rules, significantlyrules, visit visit contest.newyorker.com. contest.newyorker.com. less pleasant. So please, only light-hearted wit. Thank you. For a complete list of rules, visit contest.neujorker.com/pleasestopthemadness.htm THISTHIS WEEK’S WEEK’S CONTEST CONTEST

“ “ ” ” ......

THETHE FINALISTS FINALISTS THETHE WINNING WINNING CAPTION CAPTION

“I “Isee see “Picasso’sour our time time Fifth”is almostis almost up.” up.” AllisonSamSam Chains,Glantzow, Glantzow, Voluntown, Selby, Selby, S.D. S.D.CT

“At this“Tell“Tell level me me ofabout magnification,about your your childhood childhood everything very very quickly.” quickly.” looks like GlenaGlen painting Freyer, Freyer, at Montclair, the Montclair, Whitney” N.J. N.J. Dunn Dundon, Bozrah, CT “I am“Not“Not always now—I’m now—I’m happy in to inthe see the middleeveryone, middle of of awhy biga big docase.” case.”you ask?” “One“One more more after after this this and and we’ll we’ll be beable able to tomeet meet our our deductible.” deductible.” BillAliceAlice Toulaste, Cheng, Cheng, North Toronto, Toronto, Branford, Ont. Ont. CT MarkMark Freed, Freed,“Achoo!” Fair Fairfi eld,field, Conn. Conn. Barn Scrunting, Brooklyn, CT