Short Takes
June 29, 2009
Alice Hoffman: Shame on You!
The Boston Globe reviewer didn’t like Alice Hoffman’s new novel. This happens. Hoffman was unhappy. This also happens. But then, in a Twitter post, Hoffman called the Globe reviewer, Roberta Silman, “a moron” and said she wasn’t qualified to criticize her book. (In fact, Silman has had a respectable literary career. Look for yourself.). And then, in another Twitter post, Hoffman published Silman’s home number and urged readers to call and “tell her what u think of snarky critics.” That strikes me as the media equivalent of right-to-life crusaders publishing the home addresses of doctors who perform abortions — I doubt Hoffman’s fans will call, but still, that’s unforgivable. In response, I won’t be reviewing Hoffman’s book. And I’m sending this post to her representatives in the hope that they’ll pass it on with this message: “Alice, want to explain yourself? I’m listed in New York. Feel free to call me. So we’re clear: every word will be on-the-record.”
June 25, 2009
Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009)
I interviewed Farrah Fawcett several times, but I can’t say I understood her. The immensity of her fame separated us, of course — it’s hard to imagine any single woman as the fantasy object of an entire generation. But there was also the looming figure of the thuggish Ryan O’Neal. The night we met, he practically threw me out of the house for the offense of giggling with his son. Later, a weepy Tatum O’Neal called to beg me not to publish the list of men she’d slept with — a list, she said, that her father had given me. [He hadn’t.] Through it all, Farrah was warm and helpful. In a number of roles, she showed she was more than a cute blonde, but her greatest acting may have been to convince others — and herself — that her home life really wasn’t a war zone.
June 25, 2009
Julie Metz
Joyce Wadler, a hard-to-fool New York Times reporter, visited the author of Perfection in her Brooklyn apartment. How did the woman who confronted five of her dead husband’s lovers fare? Read all about it.
June 24, 2009
War Games
I stopped playing "war" around the time I started reading. If that connection between war toys and books isn’t unique to me, it’s not surprising that men who seem never to have read a book are the loudest cheerleaders for a big stick in international matters. This time around, they see Iranians as brown-skinned, sword-wielding infidels. No point telling these guys that bombing Iran would kill a lot of people who watch “The Daily Show” — that is, people like us. Are you also puzzled about men (and, I guess, some women) whose first response to crisis is to ratchet up the threats? Read War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning and consider its spooky thesis: Some of us are addicted to bloodshed.
June 18, 2009
The Woman on the Subway
I was reading. So was she — and she was laughing. I looked over and saw: The Tender Bar. “That was the best book I read whatever year it came out,” I said. She said she was loving it. “Later, it will break your heart,” I said. She said, “It already is. But it’s worth it.” The train slowed. My stop. We shook hands. It seemed like the right thing to do.