The Weekend Special

Pieces are given up to three Ellises (for fiction), McClellands (for essays), or Whitakers (for random picks). As with restaurant stars, even one Ellis, McClelland, or Whitaker indicates a generally positive review.

The Tony awards preshow starts in 90 minutes. My predictions are below. So scroll fast!

The Fiction issue is a single-week issue this year, which means I’ll have to chug to get this super-length Weekend edition and the barely-shorter-than-usual regular edition out! (Edit: I did not, in fact, chug. The newsletter is, as always, both here and also on its way.)

⏰ Fiction 1

“Stories” by Annie Ernaux. Two Ellises. cradle, crying, cruel. Masterful. (As is everything I’ve ever read by Ernaux, but still.) A miniature from 1984, this is newly republished alongside other short texts by Ernaux. The cruelty and performance of childhood are enacted on a weaker child, who is “lost” to Ernaux as a result. The story’s title refers to the scary tales, but the narrative itself is “just another story”, suggesting that this narrative may make us weep, sprawl on the ground and piss our own pants. Count how many mothers and how many children appear in this single page, from the Mother Superior to the “child thief” envisioned by a thief-child. Who’s stealing what, who’s giving what? Is a story born, or taken?

⏰ Fiction 2

“Firstborn Immigrant Daughter” by Taiye Selasi. No Ellises. mandate, marriage, man. Startlingly stale, possibly moldering in some back drawer since the age of the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie TED talk and its accompanying vision of global-girlboss power, bizarrely unreconstructed at this late date. Selasi’s language of “creatives”, women who “need permission” and “suffer from Stage IV Perfectionism” and “are often confused with anthropologists” but aim “to explore, not explain” is cringy and corporate on its face, but also undercut entirely by her story, which is blatantly didactic and anthropological in both form and function. She validates the capitalist “hustle” of the immigrant daughter without remotely undercutting it; she obliviously presents a vision of straightness as the sole and default option; she literally shouts out Madeline Albright. Girl, what year is it?! The story is not as overt as the interview in this respect, but it’s also less interesting, heavily relying on cliché and platitude to paint the outline of a group that is – of course – wildly various. (There’s also presumably some sort of Taylor Swift thing going on here, which I’m not even going to touch. Everybody’s so punk on the internet…) I’d sooner expect to read this essay on theodysseyonline than in these vaunted pages.

⏰ Fiction 3

“The Twice-Widowed Khala Helai” by Jamil Jan Kochai. Two Ellises. sectional, seesawed, secretly. A paraquel¹ to Kochai’s earlier story ‘On the Night of the Khatam’, this has a similiarly kaleidoscopic effect, which will prove too disorienting to some readers – it did to me, a bit, last time. Perhaps because I went in with a better idea of Kochai’s intent, I found it easier to digest the web of perspectives here (perhaps in part because fewer of the references are directly political and hyperlocal), in fact, my criticisms of the earlier piece struck me as a bit oblivious; clearly he’s trying to leave the reader breathless! The two stories do work better together than apart; the references across the two gain nuance from that deeper context, and feel less like a thin gender parable. A story that relies on the reader having read another, earlier story from the magazine is sort of catering to me in particular; and hey, I don’t claim to be uncorruptable.

⏰ Fiction 4

“A Talent for Seeming” by Jonathan Franzen. Three Ellises. righteous, rising, rid. Just when I thought I was out, Franzen pulled me back in. Call him a misanthrope, call him blithe or out of touch, but never, never say the man can’t write. This is an epic character portrait, the sort of miniature-bildungsroman-within-an-epic that Franzen loves, less pat and puerile than the equivalent sections in Freedom, even remarkably tender. It’s hard not to look down a bit at these people, with their glaring flaws and selfish choices, who hardly hesitate to build their whole lives around petty vengeances, misapprehensions, and cruelties. But Franzen isn’t hateful, he’s just a particularly curdled realist. He has an exceptional handle on scenic details, which refuse the annoying obfuscation so common to fiction writers (it’s not some major theater in Chicago, it’s just The Goodman) but never veer toward any Delillo-style surreal indulgence in language; and his handle on emotional details is just as strong: There is room for us to disdain, but there is even more room for us to understand. It’s hard to pin down exactly the alchemical procession Franzen manages here: There’s no obvious moment of pathos, but by the end, I was in tears. Who needs manipulation with performances like these?

⏰ Weekend Essay

“When the Religious Right Came for Martin Scorsese” by Isaac Butler. One McClelland. produced, protests, profited. I’m skeptical of Butler’s supposition that the tumult around Last Temptation somehow marked the beginning of the contemporary culture wars; I’d place that roughly around Schlafly’s formation of the Eagle Forum in ‘72, fifteen years earlier, though one could make the case for hundreds of other events. Overstating the case for the importance of the events you’re chronicling is a predictable shortcoming of popular nonfiction, and it’s too bad, because Butler’s story is interesting enough it doesn’t need the extra egg. (It definitely doesn’t need the sourpuss gripe about the left thinking “bad feelings” are “inherently injurious” – the left does not have any special predilection toward self-victimization², and that narrative is pushed by the right.) I knew that there’d been an uproar around Scorsese’s film; I didn’t realize that the studio had tried desperately but self-defeatingly to head off this uproar by catering toward the religious right – albeit without much follow-through. Butler does his best work giving a play-by-play of that fight, and it was a fight – Universal’s full-page ads and such are a reminder of how much, in the ensuing decades, corporate strategy has moved toward a offend-nobody, say-nothing ethos. So much for the good word.

⏰ Random Pick

“Todo Se Paga” (U.S. Journal) by Calvin Trillin. (February 5, 1979). One Whitaker. code, cousin, cornfield. Trillin recounts the birth of this family feud in straightforward and fairly brief fashion. Sadly but predictably, this feud continues to shape gang relations in this part of California, although the gangs have frequently fought their collective enemy, the Riverside police, in unison. That Trillin manages, without the benefit of hindsight, to provide enough context that present-day events make sense means he’s succeeded in telling his story. It’s not an especially surprising story; indeed, it’s in line with gang-origin narratives almost everywhere, even down to the role of toxic machismo in intensifying the feud. Trillin is determined not to draw any big conclusions, and if this limits the political scope of his piece, it means it ages far better as history.

⏰ Something Extra

Have seen a ton of good stuff recently, but I have to get my Tony predictions down and don’t want this edition to be a novel (just a short story). I’ll briefly mention that Schmigadoon was an absolute blast, a start-to-finish high-polish delight, and I’m extremely happy to have enjoyed the hell out of it as it now means that I have an actual rooting interest for Best Musical. Speaking of:

My Tony Predictions

(will win, not should win, but I’ll generally note the latter where it differs.)

Musical: Schmigadoon! And it’s richly deserving. All the internal griping over a weak field seems sort of self-defeating, no? (if Lost Boys wins we riot!)

Revival of a Musical: I’d much prefer to see Cats win here, and I think it’s nearly a coin flip. Ultimately, I just think there’s more oomph behind Ragtime.

Play: This is between Giant and Liberation (if Balusters wins we riot!) and honestly I think if Giant were running a month longer it would win, but voters aren’t going to be that pressed about discarding a Tony bump for three weeks of a show that’s selling great regardless. Liberation prevails.

Revival of a Play: Death of a Salesman, no doubt. (Paulson at the Times, whose method of literally calling a quarter of the voters has always struck me as bullshit, implies that Oedipus could surprise here. I’d be stunned, but I guess we’ll see.)

Direction of a Musical: This, I think, does go to Levingston/Rauch for Cats, which seems ‘more directed’ than deBessonet’s very straightforward, performance-driven take on Ragtime.

Direction of a Play: Mantello for Death, surely.

Leading Actor in a Play: Lithgow vs. Lane, a coin-flip, but John Lithgow has his face on the poster.

Leading Actress in a Play: I really could see Coon pulling this off. But I didn’t like that show, and I did like Lesley Manville in Oedipus, so let’s go with the chalk.

Featured Actor in a Play: The category with the most viable contenders. I’m going to say Alden Ehrenreich snags it over the apparent favorite in Abbott, but Santiago-Hudson should not be dismissed.

Featured Actress in a Play: I am counting out June Squibb. Laurie Metcalf can write her speech.

Leading Actor in a Musical: Joshua Henry has been campaigning hard, and he really didn’t even have to!

Leading Actress in a Musical: Caissie Levy, ditto.

Featured Actor in a Musical: Taking a big swing here. André has the written-in-the-script standing O, but he’s gotten his flowers and he has very little to do in Cats. (Now that I’ve caught it on Broadway: Robert ‘Silk’ Mason as Mr. Mistoffelees should have been the nominee.) Ben Levi Ross was nothing special, especially compared to his co-stars. Bourzgoi has a beautiful voice but I was not convinced. The annoying guy in Chess will get literally zero votes. Have I caught Titanique yet? Nope. But there’s clearly some love for it, it’s not on track to win elsewhere, and the idea of the iceberg having a big solo sure sounds hilarious! So, whatever: I’ll say Layton Williams gets it.

Featured Actress in a Musical: Shoshana Bean is lost in Boys, and I can’t understand why she’s apparently the frontrunner here. Nichelle Lewis is honestly a little one-note. Ana Gasteyer is delirious in Schmigadoon! I’m pulling for her, and I think she’ll make it happen.

Book of a Musical: Schmigadoon! (if Two Strangers wins we riot.)

Original Score: Here, Two Strangers has a much better shot, between so many of Schmig’s songs being reused and the fairly witty Strangers lyrics. (Shame about the music.) Still, I just think there’s going to be a broader base for such an obviously wonderful show than some might be anticipating. Schmigadoon! again.

Scenic Design of a Play: A surprise is possible here – Gold Derby favors Oedipus – but I’ll stick with Death of a Salesman.

Scenic Design of a Musical: Even as a verified hater, while I don’t think it serves the show the Lost Boys sets are hugely technically impressive.

Costume Design of a Play: I do think there’s enough buzz around the possible Qween Jean double win for Liberation to snag this over Fallen Angels.

Costume Design of a Musical: Cats! Not close!

Lighting Design of a Play: Death of a Salesman, easy.

Lighting Design of a Musical: I thought the Cats lighting was better at PAC, honestly. The Lost Boys should take this.

Sound Design of a Play: Sort of a who-knows award, but Oedipus edges up to Salesman in so many of these craft categories and this feels like the one where it’s most likely to prevail.

Sound Design of a Musical: Gold Derby thinks this is Cats vs Lost Boys, and since I hate the latter and thought the former sounded great, I’ll go Cats, though I’d think Ragtime would be close.

Choreography: Cats is the frontrunner, but I do think Schmigadoon, which is incredibly technically impressive, has a real shot. Ultimately, I’ll go Cats because it’s a show about dancing as much as it is a show with dancing, and such things tend to prevail.

Orchestrations: Another race between the same two horses, both superb. And again, because the reconfigurations draw so much attention to themselves, I’ll say Cats.

Sunday Song: