The Times today covered the changing territory of the Jewish deli, which in too many cases has devolved into joints where tourists marvel at ridiculously large sandwiches that discourage actual eating (for shame, Carnegie Deli, for shame).
I’m all for the innovations and can tell you that the house-made sodas at Saul’s in Berkeley are terrific.
But [...]
Deli news and a Seymour Krim hangout
Bookforum review again
Didn’t notice before that Missing a Beat is the featured Daily Review at Bookforum today.
continue reading >>Vivian Gornick reviews Missing a Beat for Bookforum
Heavyweight critic and great essayist Vivian Gornick reviews Missing a Beat in the April/May issue of Bookforum, and her hardheaded take on Seymour Krim includes this assessment,
Krim developed an essay-writing persona—neurotic, ambitious, angry, and self-mocking—through which he made an identity out of his breakdowns, his hungers, his envy of those who had achieved worldly success: [...]
Great high school newspapers
Big web guy and mensch Dave Winer wins my heart by being a Queens kid who never let his love for New York die, despite decades in the Bay Area (the un-New York).
A few days ago he posted about his high school newspaper, Bronx Science’s Daily Planet, and the photo (left) on the cover set [...]
Late thoughts on Greenberg and Jews (plus Bellow, Krim)
Maybe I wasn’t being fair to the movie when I finally saw it yesterday. I didn’t want to see it, was almost afraid of seeing it. And I hated it.
I’ve put in a lot of time thinking about Greenberg-type characters — from Bellow’s Tommy Wilhelm in Seize the Day to self-declared failure Nicolas Slonimsky to [...]
David Brooks adds a page to Jewish literature of patriotism
David Brooks yesterday found a way to proclaim his love for America that in its heartbreak and longing adds a page to an American Jewish literature of patriotism.
The news hook for his New York Times op-ed column was the healthcare reform bill and the Democrats. But he soon got emotional, and it wasn’t the bill’s [...]
Alex Chilton’s “inspiring flakiness” vs. Seymour Krim’s
Seems I was the only guy on the planet who loved The Letter by The Box Tops — I played it incessantly on a jukebox on Corfu in 1976 — and did not know the vocals were by Alex Chilton, who before he died last week achieved what Phil Nugent called “inspiring flakiness.”
Since I just [...]
Seymour Krim forgotten? Fuggedaboudit
When I discovered Seymour Krim I couldn’t find anyone who had heard of him. To me he was the missing beat, hence the title of my book.
But over the last few days I’ve been hearing from people who not only have heard of him, but knew or corresponded with him.
Prof. Mark Shechner at SUNY Buffalo [...]
Isaac Rosenfeld talk unexpectedly moving (especially if you’re a Seymour Krim fan)
Essayist Richard Rodriguez talked movingly about the notion of success and failure last night in his discussion with Stanford’s Steven Zipperstein about the latter’s Isaac Rosenfeld biography, Rosenfeld’s Lives: Fame, Oblivion, and the Furies of Writing.
In the conversational presentation between the two writers and friends at the San Francisco JCC, Rodriguez questioned Rosenfeld’s reputation as [...]
Seymour Krim on Jews and Blacks
As part of a three-part series on Seymour Krim that Jewcy is featuring, I wrote this overview of Krim’s writings on blacks and Jews.
That is part 2.
Part 3 will feature Krim’s take on Jewish intellectuals. Let’s just say that he wasn’t a big fan.
