1.) Men's Vogue - the premiere issue
Dana Vachon (a.k.a., D-Nasty, a.k.a., my consistently loyal and brave "plus one" during the loathesome party reporting days) has a feature in the premiere issue of Men's Vogue titled, "A Swiss Account: Where Dollars and People Go to Hide" that is, like almost everything Dana writes, hilarious. There's also a brilliant piece by A.A. Gill called "A Bloody Good Time" about shooting (for sport) in England. The American version of his travel book A.A. Gill is Away comes out this Fall. I read it a while ago, and though I'm not big on travel writing, loved it. Gill is perhaps best known in the UK, where he's sort of the Dale Peck of restaurant reviewers. (He once infamously began a restaurant review with "Why is there never a Palestinian suicide bomber when you need one?" and ended it with "My chickpea soup was like sucking wet sand, the Blonde's bourride was an accident involving a hair-dryer and an aquarium, the flat chicken supreme was a battered hen, the ham was sweaty and curling, the wine (I'm told) was having a sex change to vinegar, and the service was resting while its agent placed the treatment/novel/play." He also pleasurably eviscerated Jean George's 66 in Vanity Fair a couple of years ago.)
2.) John Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise
John runs the Little Gray Book Lectures in Brooklyn, and you've ever been to one, The Areas of My Expertise is sort of like LGB in text form. But funnier. The catalog description:
John Hodgman brings his considerable expertise to bear in answering all of the questions book buyers have been asking:
-What are the mottoes of the 51 United States?
THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED
-Who were the U.S. presidents who had hooks for hands?
THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED
-What role does the Yale secret society "Skull and Bones" play in the secret world government?
THERE IS NO SECRET WORLD GOVERNMENT
-What was the menu at the first Thanksgiving, and did it include eels?
Technically, that is two questions, but do not apologize, for John Hodgman shall answer them both . . . LATER.
-Aside from a compendium of fake trivia, what is the best kind of book to write?
A SIMPLE TABLE OF THE 55 MOST DRAMATIC LITERARY SITUATIONS PROVIDES THE ANSWER, and John Hodgman is the author of that table.
Also, if the opportunity presents itself to hear Hodgman read, it's even better in person.
3.) Jersey boy Rob Sterling has started a local blog for Richmond called R804.com. Or R804ist, as I like to call it. On the upside, it's very pretty. On the downside, it's about Richmond. (Kidding, kidding.)
And randomly (not a reading recommendation):
I'll be speaking at the Impact Conference next Thursday. Here's the panel description:
2:00 PM: “Social Networks, Blogs and other New Channels of Influence”
Moderator: Brad King, Web Editor, Technology Review
Tom Foremski, Editor and Publisher, Silicon Valley Watcher
Elizabeth Spiers, Editor-in-Chief, mediabistro.com
Joe Trippi, Political Strategist