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Filed under: On the Spot Tagged: 92nd Street Y, A. J. Liebling, Adam Gopnik, Audax Minor, Austin Kelley, Calvin Trillin, Carolita Johnson, events, Katha Pollitt, Nancy Franklin, Patricia Marx
As far more organized chroniclers Ron Hogan and the preternaturally poised Rachel Sklar have already reported, Adam Gopnik and Patricia Marx read (but mostly shot the breeze—they're close friends and live 53 steps away from each other in the same building) at the 92nd St. Y last night. They also made many new friends, game as they were to mingle among a gaggle of bloggers who, accustomed to explaining basic terminology to befuddled literati, were instead treated to cheese plates, giant blackberries, prime seats, and "Welcome, bloggers!"
I didn't have a chance to meet everybody; could we have nametags next time, Andrew? Dorky, yes, but blogging is definitely dorky, so we might as well go whole hog. Missing from those lists of the writers and sitemakers present, by the way, were Newyorkette, a.k.a. New Yorker cartoonist Carolita Johnson; Kesher Talk's Judith Weiss; the soulful Austin Kelley, editor of the elegantly illustrated and smartly written Modern Spectator (a "literary sports journal" that would do Audax Minor proud); and future multiplatform creator Olivia, co-star of Bumping Into Mr. Ravioli. She's cute as a button.
Marx was as funny as I expected her to be from her Q. & A. with Nancy Franklin recently; she read "Audio Tour," and I suddenly remembered having actually reported something: What happens when you call the phone number (212-399-4838) in the story? Gopnik was garrulous, enthusiastic (during our conversation, he spoke glowingly of Katha Pollitt, Calvin Trillin's reportage, Trillin's U.S. Journal, A.J. Liebling, NYC eccentrics of yore ["Now they all have agents and websites"], and the New Yorker librarians), a bit of a dandy (his wife, Martha, is a glamourpuss herself), and extremely charming. He'd been reading at Sundance—there are readings at Sundance now, apparently—and, during the talk, read from an original copy of an old New Yorker and did several impersonations. Marx seemed like a sparkle-eyed, wisecracking dame of the old school, with the attendant tender heart. PM: "Do you have anything dark to say?" AG: "I'm a perpetually sunny person."
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Hello! We are media enthusiasts and culture addicts—not to mention classically trained (as we like to say) professional journalists. This is our collection of generally civilized conversations about magazines, movies, politics, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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They say that dashes “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like em dashes—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is currently written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. (Unsigned posts through October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.)
The site is designed and maintained by House of Pretty and illustrated by Jesse Ewing for Inkleaf Studio. Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (who also draws our daily comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The kissable Emdashes logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World; PDF, p. 20)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, man about town, and New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Report: Learning to read with comic books--that are edited by Françoise Mouly (for Print)
- Interview: Designer Eleanor Grosch (for Print)
- Proposal: a better-designed Metrocard (for A Brief Message)
- Review: Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life by Linda H. Davis (for Newsday)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Review: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Report: Eustace Tilley spruces up for The New Yorker's website redesign (for Print)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Micro-essay: on saving time through inspiration (for A Brief Message)
- Review: books about various New Yorker cartoonists by Liza Donnelly and Iain Topliss (for Newsday)
- Profile: screenwriter and novelist Joe Keenan (for Newsday)
- Review: The Complete New Yorker (for Print)
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