newyorkette

(image: carolita johnson)

With a name like “Friend,” how could he not like Katie Couric? I don’t, but if you’re curious about how Katie took Channel 2, or how we took Katie, read Tad Friend’s “Her Début.” I personally think that Katie could use a serious make-under (a lot less eye make-up, and a more natural look would be more attractive than the glum face she’s recently been trying on in an effort to look more serious and less hair-flippy), and a voice coach to help her lower her voice by at least half an octave. Yes, I’m one of those people who don’t like “perky.”

For a more manly take on things more manly, read David Remnick’s “The Wanderer,” a rather blunt, naked view of Bill Clinton, flattering here, rather unflattering there. All in all, if I were Bill, I couldn’t complain. He’s a nearly Molièresque character, Bill is, and his flaws are not unattractive, if not fascinating. It’s not online right now, but there’s the Online Only Q & A interview of David Remnick by Blake Eskin, to either give you a taste of it, or complement your paper version reading.

If you liked “Closer,” and “Paris, Texas,” you’ll like that they seem to make cameo appearances in Miranda July’s “Something That Needs Nothing.” It’s also not online. Read it on the subway in it’s paper version, and be careful not to miss your stop when the narrator deflowers herself.

I’ve only begun reading Ian Buruma’s review of Günter Grass’ memoir, “Peeling the Onion,” in War and Remembrance, but the opening paragraph, which includes a quote from Grass’ recent novel is promising:

“History, or, to be more precise, the history we Germans have repeatedly mucked up, is a clogged toilet,” the narrator in Günter Grass s most recent novel, “Crabwalk,” says. “ We flush and flush, but the shit keeps rising.” Now the author, a Nobel laureate widely regarded as “the conscience of Germany”—a man who has regularly sermonized against the forces of reaction and the corruptions of power—is up to his neck in it himself.

David Sedaris learns never to say “d’accord” when you don’t know what you’re agreeing to in France. (Actually, I’m not sure he learned a thing from this experience, and imagine he’ll wind up in trouble again and again. In France, it’s wiser to be difficult. Luckily for him, he hasn’t learned to use the even shorter version of “je suis d’accord avec vous,” which is simply, “d’ac!” ): In the waiting room.

Posted Saturday, September 16th, 2006 at 6:00 am under TNY weekend reader. Feel free to trackback from your own site. All images on newyorkette.com are the intellectual property of Carolita Johnson, and you must ask (and receive) express permission to use them or reproduce them in any way whatsoever.