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What's in This Week's New Yorker: 04.06.09
Filed under: Headline Shooter Tagged: A.S. Byatt, Anthony Gottlieb, Anthony Lane, Brad Watson, Bruce McCall, Hilton Als, John Colapinto, Nicholas Lemann, Peter Schjeldahl, Rebecca Mead, Sasha Frere-Jones, Seymour Hersh, Tad Friend
Martin Schneider writes:
A new issue of The New Yorker comes out tomorrow. Here is a description of its contents.
In "Syria Calling," Seymour M. Hersh reports on the prospects for peace talks between Syria and Israel, and the opportunity that now exists for the Obama Administration to mediate them—"a role that could offer Barack Obama his first—and perhaps best—chance for engagement in the Middle East peace process."
In "Cash for Keys," Tad Friend looks at the housing crisis in Southern California and follows Leo Nordine, one of L.A.'s leading brokers specializing in selling foreclosed homes, who "has a knack for pricing houses aggressively, so they sell fast, a valuable skill in a county where values are declining two to three per cent a month."
In "Message in a Bottle," John Colapinto chronicles the development of Plastiki, a sixty-foot "bottle boat" which David de Rothschild, the environmentalist better known for his family's banking fortune, and a crew hope to sail across the Pacific Ocean.
Nicholas Lemann comments on populist rage and the Geithner plan.
In Shouts & Murmurs, Bruce McCall launches a company to help executives escape their bad behavior.
Rebecca Mead profiles Matthew and Michael Dickman, twin brothers and poets.
There is a poem by A. S. Byatt.
Anthony Gottlieb explores the miserable history of the Wittgenstein family.
Peter Schjeldahl views paintings by European masters from the Norton Simon Museum at the Frick Collection.
Hilton Als reviews Exit the King, People Without History, and Rambo Solo.
Sasha Frere-Jones listens to U2's new album.
Anthony Lane reviews Monsters vs. Aliens and Shall We Kiss?
There is a short story by Brad Watson.
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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Comments
I recently wrote here that I thought the New Yorker has a way of making seemingly-uninteresting subjects interesting. I still believe that. However, it seems to me that lately it has been taking on a lot of subjects that are just plain unappealing. Poet twins? Snooze. Yasmina Reza Returns to Broadway. Yasmina who? (Granted, I’m a landlocked Missourian who can’t make it to New York all that often so maybe I’m just not sufficiently culturally aware). On and Off the Avenue? Bleh. Alber Elbaz? Who the heck is Alber Elbaz and why should I care? (The march 16 issue appears to be particularly yawn-worthy).
Where are the articles by Bill Buford? Ian Frazier? I don’t recall who wrote them, but there were some great articles about fishing and wild hogs. What about Ken Auletta? Another great train story by John McPhee?
I guess what I found most appealing about the New Yorker is that it wasn’t particularly stuffy, as some of the recent articles appear to be. They sort of had an everyman appeal.
In the interest of intellectual honesty, I don’t have as much time to read the New Yorker anymore, being a law student and subscribing to three other magazines, and all. Nonetheless, I still feel that the New Yorker is just not quite what it was in the last three or four years.
I guess I need to catch up on my reading so that I can prove myself wrong.