A Legend is Hatched! Bonus: Winter Recommendations

Actual things made by other people who are not me! A list of books, movies, TV, and more to enhance the season.

Winter is my favorite season in New York. I think I have seasonal affective disorder in reverse—I am always plagued by depression in the summer, but feel much better in winter.  I like the snow and I like the clothes. There’s no light like winter light. And we all know I never met a sparkly object I didn’t like it.  But I don’t just mean I like New York around the holidays. I even like February. Great, surprising things can happen in February. In fact, they’re always a surprise—because it’s February!

Since it’s the end of the year and my favorite season, for a change of pace, I thought I’d put together a list of Books, Movies, TV, Art, Podcasts/Music, Food/Restaurants, and Other Things to enhance the season. Some are new things from this past year and some are things I revisited this year and some are just things I thought of, but they’re all actual things made by other people who are not me.

Books

Some new and some old.

Not a Novel by Jenny Erpenbeck—All year I have been giving this book to people and if there is one thing that really makes people go, “…oh,” it’s a book largely set in East Germany.  As the title suggests, this is, indeed, not a novel, but instead a collection of essays and speeches about things like art, fiction, and being from someplace that is no longer considered a place.

Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick—This is another one that I tend to hand out to people. It somehow manages to be one of those that vibrates at a high frequency while also having a languid quality (maybe this is winter languid as opposed to summer languid?). 

The Blizzard Party by Jack Livings—A kaleidoscope New York novel that mostly focuses on the residents of an Upper West Side apartment building. Full of digressions, it touches on everything from WWII to September 11th.

Lost in Summerland by Barrett Swanson—I tend to associate narrative non-fiction with women (thank you, Joan Didion) but I thought this book of essays (by a man!) was great. It covers a wide range of topics—everything from a West Wing fan convention to the death of a childhood friend. 

We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper—I’m not usually into true crime anything, and this book definitely had me checking to make sure my door was locked, but I found this story about a murder at Harvard really engrossing. An author putting herself into the story is pretty standard these days (again, thank you, Joan) and when done well, is my preference. But what stuck with me here were the passages that grappled with why we make things into myths and repeat things that may not be true.

The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina Brown—I have been a big Tina Brown fan since I was a kid. For a brief time, she had a talk show on CNBC called Topic A with Tina Brown that I still think was amazing, and her Vanity Fair formula really can’t be beat.  Her book came out a few years ago, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. It brings to life a fantastical and vanished New York, but also has a self-reflection and vulnerably that a lot of media memoirs are missing.  And if there’s one thing we could all use, it is more sophisticated boom-boom. 

The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard—If you’re looking for something to really keep you occupied, this is it because there are five books. The novels are about a family and span from right before the Second World War into the 1950s. One of the reasons I think it’s interesting to read now is that an overarching theme is how history and societal changes affect personal choices.

World Without End by Francine du Plessix Gray— This novel is about three friends who are contemplating middle age on a trip to the Soviet Union. It goes back and forth between their trip and earlier in their lives. The characters have aspects that feel very familiar, but also very fresh.  Francine du Plesix Grey is one of my favorite writers and this is, I think, an underappreciated gem of a novel (it’s out of print, but easy to find used copies).

Originally, I did not have Joan Didion on this list, but the New York Review of Books has taken down the paywall on their Didion archive, and you should check it out because she’s one of the most important writers, in the English language, of the 20th Century.  There’s been a lot of trying to pin her down in the last week, but the thing I’d argue about Didion is that her influence is incredibly far-reaching and beyond genre or medium. I think Didion is better experienced on your own and, despite the fact that she’s my favorite writer, I really don’t have much to say. A lot of engaging with any kind of art or culture or entertainment or whatever you want to call it is about having a private experience in public, and, I guess, that’s why when someone famous dies it can feel like such a terrible invasion of privacy.

Also consider: you might not read the book because of the title, but at least read this book review; if you know a Jewish person, I beseech you to read People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn; speaking of the Jews both Plunder by Menachem Kaiser and Maybe Esther Katja Petrowskaja are recent highlights from the Jews digging into family history genera; You Don’t Belong Here by Elizabeth Becker is a fascinating look about the women who reported on the Vietnam War; All About Me! by Mel Brooks is a delight; it’s still worth reading Severance by Ling Ma, if you still haven’t; and Fran Lebowitz wrote a children’s book in 1994, which sounds like something not real, but is, in fact, real.

If you are like me and prefer reading actual physical books that than pile up everywhere in your apartment, Housing Works is a great place to donate books you’ve read and don’t want to keep. It’s super easy to drop them off in their shops.

Movies

(older ones that are great for winter!)

Swing Time (1936)—I watch this movie almost every year at the holidays. The entire film takes place in winter and has beautiful production design. It has some of the best dances in it: “Pick Yourself Up,” “Waltz in Swing Time” (filmed in one long shot!), and maybe my favorite Astaire-Rogers number ever, “Never Going to Dance.” (note: this movie also, unfortunately, has a number where Fred Astaire appears in blackface. I’ve been fast-forwarding through that number forever, which is probably a moral copout of sorts.)  

Stage Door (1937) —I rewatched this film a few times this year for an essay I was writing to go with the work of British artist Nina Mae Fowler. It’s one of those movies that you find something new in every time you watch it. The dialog really has that cacophony, symphonic New York feel. The whole cast is great (including a young Lucille Ball) but the real standout is Ginger Rogers (who also seems to be the MVP of this list).

Holiday (1938)—Maybe the best New Years Eve sequence in any movie ever. Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in a small movie that manages to feel really big.

To Be Or Not To Be (1942)—For some reason, I tend to watch this one around the holidays at lot. It’s a dark comedy with a fantastic (and, sadly, final) performance by Carole Lombard. It also features one of my favorite comedic exchanges, but I don’t want to ruin it by giving away the punch line.

(Speaking of Carole Lombard, I wanted to recommend Hands Across the Table from 1935, but it does not appear to be available to stream).

Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)—This movie is as hard to classify as Ginger Rogers’ continental accent in the film. It’s the type of film where you can imagine Mel Brooks “yes and-ing” it as inspiration for one of his films. I guess you could call it a dark comedy. It’s Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers and Nazis. I really enjoy it!

How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)—This movie is not a musical, but starts with an overture. Great, already, right? It doesn’t have the same level of craft as the classic screwball comedies, but it’s fun and slightly self-parodying, and takes you back to the days of “let’s have three martinis before noon and write a screenplay!”

Bells are Ringing (1960)—If you are feeling down, this movie will pick you right back up. “Just In Time” is maybe one of the most charming numbers in any musical. And Vincent Minnelli really was fantastic with color (I mean the color is just really beautiful). Great for midwinter.

Arthur (1981)—A few years ago I was going through a very difficult time and the only thing I seemed to be able to do was take walks in Central Park. I walked around the Park so much that I definitely crossed the line out of charmingly eccentric and into just eccentric, but one day, somewhere around the Reservoir, I started thinking about the movie Arthur and how it’s a perfect New York City movie for any season. If you can follow this line of thought, you’ll like this movie.

The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)—Earlier this year I was thinking a lot about New York on film, which led me to rewatch The Mirror Has Two Faces (not that I need an excuse to watch anything Barbra). It is delightful and super Upper West Side-y and shows ‘90s New York. It’s filmed entirely in warm colors, so it’s also a great looking movie. Also Lauren Bacall! This is the type of movie that would never get made today, which is really too bad. 

Also consider: Ruthless People, the movie where Bette Midler says “I’ve been kidnapped by K-Mart” is a Christmas movie; speaking of Bette Midler, I rewatched That Old Feeling, a movie I might be the only person to remember, and it has a certain ‘90s zaniness that makes you say “they don’t make ‘em like they used to!”; the ‘90s Little Women is worth a re-watch and has one of the greatest film scores of the era; and Sister Act is always a classic.

Television

I Love Lucy—Weirdly, no one has asked me to make a competing I Love Lucy movie, so might I recommend you check out the original series? Not every episode is available to stream, but here are some that are to start with: The Kleptomaniac, The Operetta, Lucy Writes a Novel, LA at Last, Lucy in the Swiss Alps, and Lucy Wants to Move to the Country.

Also, I recently wrote about the episode “Pioneer Women” (which is not streaming) for The Forward and you can read it here.

The Nanny—I rewatched The Nanny this year and it really is amazing. The mugging! The costumes! The food! The jokes are so well-crafted. It really gives you a warm feeling. But, god, doesn’t it make you sad that shows like this have gone out of style? It makes me sad.

Sex and the City, season 6, part 2— Obviously, it takes real bravery on my part to put SATC on my list at this moment in time, but here we are. This was a show that meant a lot to me growing up, but took me years to rewatch. I watched it when it originally aired, as a kid in Ohio, and didn’t know anyone else who did. It came as a real shock to me, later, to find out that so many people had such a different interpretation of it than I did. I’d venture that, in fact, there’s huge dissonance between SATC as culture artifact and SATC the actual series.  Anyway. The vast majority of Sex and the City took place in warmer weather, and part two of the final season was the only season to take place in the cold. As a season, it’s the least episodic and most self-contained. It’s strange and funny and it’s also the most melancholy season (along with parts of seasons 4 and 5).

Drew Barrymore’s talk show—You know, I find it enjoyable. This is the kind of weirdness I want from a talk show. In fact, I’d say, she should go even weirder.  The thing that has always irked me about so many contemporary talk shows is they have this weird underbelly of middling American morality for the “normal American” (who is that?). Whereas, Drew has never claimed to be normal—or better yet, what if Drew is, in fact, the pinnacle of the normal American? Anyway, I genuinely believe that she would be that enthusiastic about learning how to rewire a light switch.

The Morning Show, season two—People seem to think I’m being sarcastic when I talk about The Morning Show, but I really like it. Is it flawed? Yes, absolutely, but while there are some parts that are not good, there are other parts that are very good, and it is rare to have such extremes in one series. I find that fascinating. Jennifer Aniston is really good in this. Her character is a good exploration of how the difference between compromise and complicity is context—and context is not static nor are relationships.  I think one of the things that makes her character and performance so compelling is the lack of backstory, which is pretty rare these days. It asks for a certain amount of audience complicity, and I think that might be why people don’t like this show. Personally, I find this show very emotionally resonate. Critics call it unrealistic. I think I am right. Admittedly, everyone I know might be crazy.

Art

Things you can visit/google/buy the exhibit catalogue!

Alice Neel at The Met/David Zwirner—The big art event of the year was the Alice Neel show at The Met. As some people know, a painting that used to belong to my grandmother was featured in the show (you can see it in her house here). I had big plans to steal this painting back. I am a very good planner, but not so good with upper arm strength or running while carrying heavy objects, so this did not work out. David Zwirner did a show of Neel’s early work, which I liked even better than The Met. Her cityscape paintings do not get enough attention! The Zwirner show led to one of my embarrassing art world moments this year (the other having to do with a Charlotte Salomon piece) when I enquired how much two of the pieces were. I am still haunted by not owning these pieces and might have to attempt the Barbra Streisand method of “I’ll just paint my own.”

Modern Worlds at the Neue – This exhibit is still open! I like most exhibits the Neue does and this is no exception. Everything there always feels transporting. They also have a great restaurant and great bookshop. It really does feel like Vienna.

Modern Look at the Jewish Museum—The thing that I like about exhibits at the Jewish Museum is that they tend to be very good on cultural and societal context, in part because so many of their exhibits are linked thematically rather than retrospectives. This one appealed to my natural interests anyway, but was also a chance to see work that you don’t always see together. Another great example of this was their Edith Halpert exhibit.

Dawoud Bey at the Whitney—I had somehow not made it to the new Whitney until this summer when a friend invited me to go. She wanted to see a specific exhibit, but we ended up stumbling on this exhibit of photography, which turned into a real highlight. The Birmingham photographs got the most attention, but I’d also really recommend the “Night Coming Tenderly, Black” series.

Bertien van Manen—Sometimes I spend time browsing on Artsy and one day, after typing something like “Siberia” into the search field, I came across some photos by van Manen. I’d guess I’d describe her as a Nan Goldin who traveled.

Here is a charming photo of my cat.

Also consider: Saul Leiter’s photos of New York; Ruth Orkin’s photos of Central Park taken from her window; the Lee Miller archive; and Marianne von Werefkin.  

Podcasts and Music

I am not a big podcast listener. I just don’t understand how to listen to them. Meaning where do your eyes go? I prefer listening to music when walking around since I truly believe my life is a movie. I can sometimes listen to podcasts if I lie on the floor. But as Diana Vreeland said, “the eye must travel!” But here are a couple of podcast highlights from this year!

I Love Lucy podcast (The Plot Thickens, TCM)—As a student of Lucille Ball, I have a high bar of Lucille Ball things, but I thought this podcast about her life was well-done and interesting, even if it’s mostly information you (if you, too, have read a lot about Lucille Ball) already know.

My friend Shoshana has a musical theatre podcast called Scene to Song, which covers a wide variety of topics related to musicals.  I was a guest this year to talk about Bernadette Peters. Obviously, this was excellent, and you can listen to it here.

(and if you want to read the Bernadette profile, you can read it here).

My friend Celia started a podcast this year called Sunday Pancakes where she interviews performers. Actually, no, she doesn’t interview them—she has conversations with them, which is one of the reasons it is good. The thing I like about Celia is there’s always something to think about it.

This year, my cat has really taken to Maria Callas singing Puccini and Dvorak’s ninth. She’s worked out some great tail choreography to these two albums.

Early Bette Midler—I’ve spent an above average amount of time this year telling people how weird the song “Friends” actually is, and, I mean, it really is weird! And great. As is all of Bette’s early work. Here she is singing a cover of “Martha” on SNL.

Also consider:  Steve and Eydie singing “Hallelujah” (Milk and Honey version);  The Westminster Cathedral Choir singing “In The Bleak Midwinter”;  Barbara Hendricks singing “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray”; The Ethel Merman Disco Album, which is, yes, real.

Food and Restaurants

I do not cook, so this year I mainly ate Brussels sprouts, sardines, and toaster waffles. I have also acquired the Jewish habit of putting cottage cheese on top of things and calling it a meal.  I googled how to make a baked potato, but it still didn’t come out right.  

Here are some food and drink highlights made by other people:

Metro Diner Grilled Cheese—Five stars.

Tonno sandwich from Sant Ambroeus—You can’t go wrong with this one!

Butterfield Market hot chocolate—For years, I’ve been trying to find the best hot chocolate in Manhattan and I’ve decided the winner is the humble, available through the pass-through window, hot chocolate of Butterfield Market.

Orange juice—After a certain age it seems like it becomes unacceptable to drink anything with more than five calories that is non-alcoholic, but orange juice is terrific! There’s something really decadent about a glass of orange juice!

Meanwhile, I am still looking for the perfect bread to make one of my absolute favorite foods: toast. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know.

Sarah Jessica Parker’s Grub Street diet-- I enjoyed this because she seems to still be eating like it’s the last century.  In general, I respect SJP’s stance on the NYC lifestyle because she comes across as someone who read Franny and Zooey in early adolescence and decided the Glass siblings shtick was a bit to really commit to.

The article about Bemelmans was depressing. Whole Foods is always depressing. If La Grenouille closes, I’ll kill myself.

Elio’s had the best social media post from a restaurant this year. It’s what I want from NYC restaurant social media.

My friend Phoebe is a great source for all things food, including sometimes selling baked goods. You can follow her here.

I have spent a lot of time this year thinking about restaurants that no longer exist. There used to be a lunch spot in midtown that had excellent tuna sandwiches, and that I loved as a kid. Actually, there were two and you always had to make sure you specified which one someone should meet you at (this was before cell phones).  It kills me that I can’t remember the name of this place. Speaking of tuna sandwiches, the old restaurant at Bergdorf’s also used to make a good one (I always got it with pea soup and brownie). This was back when the restaurant was on the fifth floor and had a cafeteria aesthetic. I spent a good two hours looking for photos of the old restaurant online, and I couldn’t find a single one. Does anyone remember the tearoom at Takishmaya and the big bouquets of flowers they used to have in the windows? Or  China Grill—god, remember China Grill? I remember how excited I was to go to 21 because I’d heard it mentioned on I Love Lucy. I still have the souvenir tin I got from the gift shop.  Even the last Hamburger Heaven has closed. For years, I had a stack of old Zagats that were in my grandmother’s apartment. I’m really sad I threw them out.

Other

Various things that will make your winter brighter!

Perfume—I have liked perfume since I was a little girl. It always seemed very glamorous to me, in part because I associated it with duty free shopping in foreign airports. Formal, heavy perfumes have gone out of style, but I think they’re great.  I feel that my presence should be an experience that involves all the senses. I think winter is a great time for perfume.

The seventh floor of Bergdorf’s is the best smelling spot in the city. The second best are Nuts 4 Nuts carts.

Stationary—As a child I definitely thought the adult word would involve more uses for custom stationary. The fact that it doesn’t has been a real disappointment.  But I am trying to send handwritten notes whenever possible. The great thing about handwritten notes is they can be saved in a shoebox and/or burned. As I am moving, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I want my new stationary to look like, and I find this a very calming activity. People should write more letters.

Nice Pajamas—There are some thing that I always want to buy despite not needing numerous pairs (like my obsession with coats) and this year I’ve gotten very into nice pajamas. I pretty much like anything with a stripe and/or contrast piping. There are many options out there that have a glamorous by-gone era feel to them, and, unlike some other items of clothing, you never have to worry about where you’ll wear them.  Nice pajamas transform depression into “having character.”

Central Park—I keep seeing articles about how people are annoyed that they might have to go back to only seeing friends in the Park. But no! Central Park is amazing! It always has some of the best people watching in the city.

(The Central Park Conservatory has been operating at a deficit so consider making a donation or buying something from their gift shop).

The FDR in the evening—I think one of the best things in New York is evening taxi rides, and one of the best drives is up or down the FDR. Maybe part of it is because I’m not from NYC and the FDR is how you get into the city from the airport. There’s always a spirit of arrival on the FDR.  

And, of course, you can always revisit all the editions of my newsletter!

Happy New Year!