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Do Not Delay, Find This Book
The opening four paragraphs of the most glowing book review I have ever read.
Dwight Garner in today’s New York Times.
“In the souk that is contemporary publishing, much attention has gone recently to the minimalists and the tinkerers, to writers of short novels steeped in irony. It’s been a meal of small plates, reflective of short attention spans.
The Jamaican writer Marlon James’s new novel, “The Disappearers,” at 600-plus pages, is instead a maximalist’s banquet: It is humane, blood-flecked, disturbing and sustaining. It takes James 90 pages to say hello. It’s another 70 pages before his story settles into your guts and begins to twist them. It’s yet another 150 before you fully comprehend his loping authority and the scale of his ambitions. Booster rockets fall away. Disparate coordinates begin to converge.
Why not just say it? With this novel about gay experience and murderous homophobia in Jamaica and elsewhere during the 1980s and ’90s, James has written a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far.
It deserves to be talked about alongside Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children,” for its tumult of language and its crisscrossing post-colonial themes; Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” (James picks up on a revenge scenario from that novel); and William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!” — the greatest American novel, I’d argue — for many reasons but especially for the way James, like Faulkner, hammers his themes like a Vulcan, rolling over them relentlessly from new and sometimes oblique angles, advancing and enlarging his attack each time. This is another way of saying “The Disappearers” was one of the signal reading experiences of my adult life. It sank knives deep into my heart. I’m still in recovery from it.”
Perspicacious
I read this sentence on Tyler Cowen’s blog today.
“I once had on Sam Bankman-Fried, now a convicted felon. It was an excellent episode, and I will point out my lines of questioning were more perspicacious than many people since have realized.”
Cowen is explaining to his readers why he’s going forward with an interview on his podcast with a well-known Chinese internet intellectual, who recently was accused of plagiarism.
I did not know the meaning of “perspicacious”.
I try to be as perspicacious here as possible, but ultimately, that’s your call dear reader.
The Horror
I nominate this “statement” from Tumwater, WA’s mayor as the worst, most wordy every penned by a public official. She should slowly step back from the keyboard. I fixed it and expect nothing in return. Just the kinda guy I am.
DDTTM
Second in a possible series of intros of especially loyal PressingPausers.
Full name, Dan Dan the Transpo Man. Dano is retired, but gets more done in a day than Travis or Scottie who allegedly “work” fulltime.
He’s from Minneapolis and has all the classic signs of Upper Midwest niceness—does not swear, prefers music from the 1950s-1970s, has wood tennis racquets in the garage—until a high school referee making $12/hour makes a questionable call against the local team. Then he loses it a bit. Or when the announcer says, “It’s another Olympia first down!” He despises that.
Why the Transpo Man? Because when he was a working stiff, he was in charge of Washington State’s federal highways. Which was fun because other friends and I had someone to vent to as our commutes worsened. He was always so sympathetic to our plight. Not!
Dan is a physical marvel. He runs a few times a week. Really fast for just having turned 69. And walks a few times a week. And hits the Tumwater Stairs really hard every Tuesday morn. And roller blades. And mows his ginormous yard. And goes to Adoration every Friday morning and prays in advance for a miracle for me once I’m at the Pearly Gates.
Start with Minnesota and add a progressive Catholicism and you get one goodhearted, generous dude. The type of dude who saved up his timeshare weeks to take twelve of his closest friends to Hawaii when he retired. The type of dude who returns from Alaska with salmon for everyone. The type of dude who will invite you to his Sunriver casa if you’re lucky. The type of dude who will take delivery of your new car for you when you’re stuck in Colorado.
He’s not perfect though. He still roots for all the sad (sick) Minnesota teams despite having lived in the PNW longer. He insists on using a nickname for your humble blogger mostly because I’ve never liked it. And, in a nod to Catholic brotherhood, he is likely to vote for Vance for President in 2028.
Just kidding on that last one. Dan is as blue as they come. And he’s an activist, writing letters to public officials and postcards to NC voters and even fancying himself a poet at times. An engineer with writing skills, who’d a thunk it?! A true Renaissance Man. And one of the nicest, best friends a guy could ever hope for.
Back in the day. DDTTM on the far right after trouncing Scottie and me.
Note To Self
Listening to a Spotify “Acoustic Chill” playlist while decluttering files and reliving the past is not a great combo. Word of the day . . . melancholy. . . a deep, quiet, and lasting feeling of sadness or thoughtful sorrow. It often comes without a single clear cause and can be mixed with a sense of nostalgia, longing, or calm reflection.
Then add this into the mix.
Nothing some hip-hop and touching grass can’t fix.
Losing It
Any self-respecting writer must eventually come to grips with today’s political reality. Eventually, intelligent readers deserve more than paddle boarding and dance vid posts.
So, what to make of today’s lead article in the “paper of record”? “As Iran Truce Expires and Options Shrivel, Trump Lashes Out”.
The first three sentences:
“As a crumbling truce with Iran officially collapsed on Monday, President Trump signaled his frustration at his inability to resolve a war that he started but cannot seem to end.
In an interview with Fox News, the president lashed out at an American ally, Oman, that has been trying to mediate negotiations with Iran.
‘If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,’ Mr. Trump said in a phone interview, according to Fox News’s Trey Yingst.”
Until this war “that he started”, Trump has excelled at bending reality to his patently false and often delusional will by using the bully pulpit and his legion of cowardly acolytes to repeat lies over and over until all of the Fox News anchors and half of the voting public believes them.
But lying as a means towards self-serving ends doesn’t work in the context of geopolitics. There are too many actors and too much complexity for his bullshit to work on the global stage. Remember when he said the Russian War against Ukraine would be over within 24 hours of his being elected? More specifically, Iran’s leaders are immune from his bullshit. As is the price of crude oil and all the related agricultural and consumer products. Saying we control the Strait of Hormuz and we have ample military resources for this conflict and others does not make it so.
Trump is learning he can’t bend Iranians or inflation to his will like he has the Republican Cult Party. And he can’t investigate or fire anyone abroad. He’s trapped by his own inattention to detail and his team’s incompetence, so of course he’s lashing out. At Oman. At South Korea. At the families whose sons and daughters are showing more selflessness on the USS Lincoln than he ever has. Or will.
This will not end well for the Middle East, for the (dis)United States, or for the global economy. But if his name is just put back on the Kennedy Center, Trump won’t sweat it.
Happy Bday To The Queen Of Pop
You hopped out of bed and got on it. Just the way you’re wired. Stretched, ate, walked, meditated, sipped green tea, logged onto PressingPause.
Me, not so much. Skimmed this NYT article in bed then went down a Madonna rabbit hole for the ages. I forgot how well she moves. 68 years young today.
Win At All Costs
Alternative title, “Felony Allegations to Ponder”.
From ESPN:
“Cornerback Terrion Arnold, who was released by the Detroit Lions earlier this summer after being charged with multiple felonies, plans to sign with the Seahawks, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Thursday.
The deal will be for one year, sources told Rapoport.
Arnold, 23, is facing eight felony charges stemming from a kidnapping and robbery in Tampa, Florida, in February. He was arrested in Hillsborough County in June after turning himself in and was released the following week by the Lions, who drafted him in the first round in 2024.
. . . Arnold is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and beating of three men who prosecutors believe he wrongly suspected of stealing $100,000 in cash from him, along with luxury watches and bags.
Arnold has pleaded not guilty, and, through his representatives, he has denied the allegations. He is facing four counts of kidnapping and four counts of armed robbery, which carry a potential sentence of life in prison.”
I’ve Had Way Worser Crashes
Paddleboarded today for the first time. Perfectly stable until I wasn’t. Crash landed in a cold, beautiful, tree and mountain-lined Colorado lake.
I have since dried off so the only long-term damage is to my ego.
Eventually, I suppose, even that will heal. Thank you for your concern.
Pressing Pause 