PRICE $8.99 JULY 24, 2017 JULY 24, 2017 4 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN 15 THE TALK OF THE TOWN David Remnick on the Trumps’ family drama; M.T.A. malaise; how to be a goddess; a new way to study abroad; David Lowery. LETTER FROM COLORADO Peter Hessler 20 Follow the Leader A small-town movement echoes the President. SHOUTS & MURMURS Jack Handey 27 Don’t Blame Yourself ANNALS OF TECHNOLOGY Nathan Heller 28 Mark as Read The slippery insights of e-mail. PERSONAL HISTORY Danielle Allen 32 American Inferno How a teen-ager becomes a crime statistic. PROFILES Kelefa Sanneh 42 Hat Trick George Strait’s startling consistency. FICTION Cristina Henríquez 52 “Everything Is Far from Here” THE CRITICS BOOKS Hua Hsu 56 Revisiting Bob Marley. 58 Briefly Noted James Wood 62 Joshua Cohen’s “Moving Kings.” MUSICAL EVENTS Alex Ross 66 A unique performance space in Colorado. THE THEATRE Hilton Als 68 “Pipeline.” THE CURRENT CINEMA Anthony Lane 70 “War for the Planet of the Apes,” “Lady Macbeth.” POEMS Natalie Shapero 25 “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done” John Skoyles 48 “My Mother, Heidegger, and Derrida” COVER Barry Blitt “Grounded” DRAWINGS Amy Hwang, P. C. Vey, Barbara Smaller, Edward Koren, Paul Karasik, Liana Finck, Benjamin Schwartz, Sam Gross, Edward Steed, Roz Chast, William Haefeli, Drew Dernavich, Robert Leighton, Alex Gregory SPOTS Jean Jullien CONTRIBUTORS Kelefa Sanneh (“Hat Trick,” p. 42) has Danielle Allen (“American Inferno,” been a staff writer since 2008. p. 32) is a political theorist and the James Bryant Conant University Pro- Cristina Henríquez (Fiction, p. 52) is the fessor at Harvard. This piece is an ex- author of three books, including the cerpt from her most recent book, “Cuz: novels “The World in Half ” and “The The Life and Times of Michael A.,” Book of Unknown Americans.” which comes out in September. Peter Hessler (“Follow the Leader,” Nathan Heller (“Mark as Read,” p. 28), p. 20) is a staff writer living in Ridgway, a staff writer, has contributed to the Colorado. He is currently working on magazine since 2011. a book about the five years he spent reporting from Egypt. Jack Handey (Shouts & Murmurs, p. 27) is the author of the forthcoming “Please John Skoyles (Poem, p. 48) lives in Truro, Stop the Deep Thoughts.” Massachusetts. His most recent books are “Suddenly It’s Evening: Selected Natalie Shapero (Poem, p. 25) teaches Poems” and “The Nut File.” at Tufts University. Her books include “No Object” and, most recently, “Hard Marisa Meltzer (The Talk of the Town, Child.” p. 17) is the author of “Girl Power” and a co-author of “How Sassy Changed Barry Blitt (Cover), a cartoonist and My Life.” She writes the “Me Time” illustrator, has contributed more than column for the Times. a hundred covers to the magazine since 1992. Hua Hsu (Books, p. 56), a contributing writer since 2015, is the author of “A James Wood (Books, p. 62) teaches at Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Fail- Harvard. “The Nearest Thing to Life” ure Across the Pacific.” is his latest book. NEWYORKER.COM Everything in the magazine, and more. DAILY SHOUTS FLASH FICTION A child’s commentary on her Amelia Gray’s “The Hostage” is mother’s “squishy and wobbly” body, the latest in our new series of very illustrated by Glynnis Fawkes. short stories. SUBSCRIBERS: Get access to our magazine app for tablets and smartphones at the App Store, Amazon.com, or Google Play. (Access varies by location and device.) COUCEIRO CRISTIANA RIGHT: 2 THE NEW YORKER, JULY 24, 2017 THE MAIL PUTTING AFRICA ON THE GRID over the years visiting siblings who lived in Austin. I suspect that, were Austin Bill McKibben, in his piece on off-the- transplanted to the Bay Area, it would grid solar power in sub-Saharan Af- be considered similar to Sacramento. It rica, unfortunately lapses into a cliché is Austin’s juxtaposition with the rest of account of the region (“Power Brokers,” the state that makes it seem weird, and June 26th). Although McKibben quotes endears it to people all over Texas. Tex- Africans, he presents the story of Af- ans who gloat about new Austinites rica as the story of Westerners in Af- who fled San Francisco’s “out-of-control rica, and makes the task of rural elec- housing costs” gloss over a basic fact: trification seem to be a series of tech nical San Francisco is more expensive than problems for Americans to solve. The cities in Texas in part because more peo- Westerners in his article are presented ple want to live here than there is hous- as operating in an idealized environ- ing. The fact that property values are ment, one devoid of the gritty institu- rising faster in Austin than in other tional challenges to development in Texas cities indicates that the state is Africa, such as local politics, govern- becoming increasingly liberal, tolerant, ment accountability, and legal empow- and “weird.” erment. Alloysius Attah, a Ghanaian Peter Albert entrepreneur, notes that “there are a San Francisco, Calif. lot of Ivy Leaguers coming to Africa to say, ‘I can solve this problem.’ . Wright notes the grassroots opposition They’re doing good work, but little in- to the “bathroom bill,” but that’s not vestment goes to community leaders.” the only thing that Texans are organiz- Rather than examine the broader im- ing against. In April, I rode in a con- plications of this observation—includ- voy of buses from Dallas to Austin, ing the West’s attitude toward Africa— where I joined people from across the McKibben narrowly interprets the state to lobby against budget cuts to “whiff of colonialism” as an issue of Planned Parenthood. The Women’s money: aid versus private capital. Hav- March in Austin drew more than forty ing lived in Africa for nearly a decade thousand participants, and there were and worked for African social enter- similar rallies in cities throughout the prises, I know that McKibben, whose state. Fed-up citizens have flooded town work is indispensable to today’s envi- halls. In the wake of Donald Trump’s ronmental movement, has accurately first travel ban against people from seven described the African solar-startup Muslim-majority countries, Mike Raw- scene. But stories like this perpetuate lings, the mayor of Dallas, held a press the ugly narrative of the West solving conference to denounce the executive Africa’s problems. When will journal- order, and a large group of people pro- ists stop making Westerners the focus tested at the Dallas-Fort Worth air- of stories about Africa? port. Based on the level of unrest among Matthew Muspratt fair-minded Texans—Republicans and 1Berkeley, Calif. Democrats alike—the future of Texas could turn out to be very different from KEEP TEXAS WEIRD its present. Don’t give up on us yet. Marian Avalos Lawrence Wright’s article on Texas, Dallas, Texas which describes the state legislature mov- ing farther to the right as voter demo- • graphics move to the left, stirred up mem- Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, ories of a state I’ve known and watched address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to [email protected]. Letters may be edited evolve since the nineteen- eighties (“The for length and clarity, and may be published in Future Is Texas,” July 10th & 17th). I am any medium. We regret that owing to the volume from San Francisco, and have spent time of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter. THE NEW YORKER, JULY 24, 2017 3 JULY 19 – 25, 2017 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN The game-changing Austrian-Italian designer Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) was ambivalent about retro- spectives. “It’s like having a birthday party where too many relatives show up,” he once said. That family is about to expand. On July 21, the Met Breuer opens a six-decade survey of Sottsass’s impertinent genius, from the lipstick-red typewriter he conceived for Olivetti, in 1969, to his gonzo work with the Milan-based Memphis design group, in the early eighties (including the “Carlton” room divider, pictured above). PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREW B. MYERS the chance to hear his rendition of one of the most exquisite arias the composer ever wrote, “Ombra mai fu.” Nicole Paiement conducts, and Tazewell CLASSICAL MUSIC Thompson directs. (July 20 at 7:30.) • This season’s 1 schedule mixes classic Americana and stories that echo today’s headlines. Rodgers and Hammer- CONCERTS IN TOWN lectures, master classes, and, most tantalizing, ro- stein’s “Oklahoma!,” a complex but idyllic slice bust concert programs from a variety of interna- of frontier life, changed Broadway forever when tional virtuosos and up-and-comers. One of this it premièred, during the Second World War. The “Calder: Hypermobility” year’s more notable soloists is the veteran Russian young opera singers Jarrett Ott and Vanessa Be- If any artist deserves the tribute of live-action pianist Vladimir Feltsman, who performs works by cerra star as Curly and Laurey, respectively, in a performance, it is Alexander Calder, whose prin- Brahms (including the Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79) staging by Molly Smith, the artistic director of cipal works—mobiles—are constantly in motion. and Mussorgsky (the composer’s original piano Arena Stage, in Washington, D.C.; James Lowe The Whitney Museum is augmenting its current version of “Pictures at an Exhibition”) at the Kaye conducts. (July 21 at 7:30 and July 23 and July 25 at Calder show with a number of events; this week Playhouse. (July 23 at 4.) (Hunter College, Park Ave. 1:30.) • This summer’s flagship work is George features Christian Marclay, a creator of both sound at 68th St.