Emdashes. Modern Times Between the Lines.
Best of Emdashes: Hit Parade
A Web Comic: The Wavy Rule
Before it moved to The New Yorker:
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Features & Columns:
Headline Shooter
On the Spot
Looked Into
Sempé Fi: Cover Art
Disciples of Marx, Children of Adam
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.”
About us
Hello! We're a small band of media enthusiasts, culture addicts, and journalists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, formerly a New Yorker fan site, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, politics, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
You'd like to know more about the writers and artists and what our column titles mean? We live to serve!
We welcome tips, questions, comments, and corrections, and are always on the lookout for ardent, obsessive new contributors. Click here to email us.
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Tell me more
Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Writing on theater: reviews (for Time Out Chicago; imperfect but workable search results)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: 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)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
Blogroll highlights
- Box Office Boffo
- World of Pollux
- Jonathan Taylor
- Carolita Johnson
- Songs for blogroll lovers (more links)
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