Inputs
Minor Detail by Adania Shabli: I came across this book in Rebecca Makkai’s newsletter. MD is a novella beginning with the historical event of a Bedouin girl’s rape and murder in 1949 by Israeli soldiers, then moving on to a fully fictional woman trying to learn more several decades later about what happened.
The waves of sand, with their shifting shapes, would not settle until the vehicle had vanished far into the distance and the sound of its engine had entirely faded.
Shabli was scheduled to receive an award for this book at the Frankfurt Book Fair a few weeks ago, but the organizers of the award canceled the ceremony for reasons that seem to me to rooted in a profound misunderstanding of the book. This 65-page story is about moments and individuals, and never suggests that there are many other moments and individuals beyond its scope that are any less valid or significant.
Glossy by Marisa Meltzer:
Read this book if any of the following apply to you:
Want to hear more about Emily Weiss, but don’t mind that the details she reveals about her personal life never top what she wrote about her prewedding colonic
Haven’t come across many interviews or reviews about the book, most of which will pretty much give you the gist
You can contemplate the public statements that corporations and business leaders made in the spring and summer of 2020 without wanting to hurl
Learning the margins on cosmetics will not make you boil with rage (or they will, but you don’t use them so it will be righteous rather than humiliated rage)
Can handle a book-length case study about the end of your generation’s cultural relevance
The brief aside about a debauched WeWork retreat wouldn’t make you feel like maybe you are reading the wrong book
Some of these apply to me (a user of multiple Glossier products daily, and no one who has read this book would think that is any kind of flex) although not quite enough.
Outputs
This year I am thankful for:
Reuniting with my one true hair dresser after losing track of her during the pandemic, and the comfort of knowing that at least one aspect of my appearance is about as good as it’s going to get all things considered.
The duvet cover we bought from Ikea, so that now even if we are still using the inserts from T’s childhood home and/or that my mom bought for her dorm room in 1974, there is at least the illusion that our lives are not entirely buttressed by our parents’ generosity and conditioning but rather are shaped by our own preferences.
The day N and I took the train all the way to the end of the Orange Line to Papercuts, then rode home in silence looking at our new books side by side.
Consistently attending a standing weekly knitting group again after drifting in and out of various ones because none ever matched the vertiginous highs of Tuesday night Stitch n’ Bitch at Foster’s Market in Durham, NC circa 2010-2012. Being where I am now, I did have to witness a tense exchange a few weeks ago between two members about the historical techniques of Viking sailmaking, but it is worth it for a default source for non-work non-parenting related social activity.
The day we went to Crane Beach with our next door neighbors, and their eight year old daughter and I were the only ones who could stand the temperature of the water for more than a few minutes so we stayed out there until her lips were purpling and my legs were going numb because I didn’t know when would be the next time a little girl would clutch my arm and squeal with shocked laughter when a wave dashed her in the face, so I hoisted her up again and again until my back was lamenting, and I felt lucky to live near the ocean again.
Condiment Corner
The instructions suggest pouring this sauce over sauteed shrimp and asparagus as pictured. I used kale. It was very sharp and peppery, to the point where I was thinking with some trepidation of all the yuzu products still to come in the queue. But once it was mixed with rice it was much more pleasant. Would probably also be good with salmon, something kind of strong and fatty.