Highbrow Magazine - Manhattan https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/manhattan en Author Laura Pedersen Tackles the Highs and Lows of Life in New York https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/5219-author-laura-pedersen-tackles-highs-and-lows-life-new-york <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/books-fiction" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Books &amp; Fiction</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 09/02/2015 - 18:39</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nybook.jpg?itok=Zx-zGVvo"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nybook.jpg?itok=Zx-zGVvo" width="311" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>New York City is the “City that Never Sleeps,” due to all its hustle and bustle; millions of people have been migrating to the metropolis in the hopes of making their dreams come true and establishing a life since the first Dutch colony settled in lower Manhattan in 1626.</p> <p>Laura Pedersen is one of those millions. A native upstate New Yorker from Buffalo who arrived in 1984 and has chronicled her time and observations of NYC in her latest memoir, <em>Life in New York: How I Learned to Love Squeegee Men, Token Suckers, Trash Twisters and Subway Sharks. </em></p> <p>Pedersen has already established herself as a successful writer, so this memoir doesn’t follow the upward mobility storyline of “country-girl-to-big-city-slicker.” Rather, Pedersen writes about the ever-changing history and culture of NYC--spanning the 1600s to the 18<sup>th</sup> century to the present--and peppers each chapter and observation with her family’s or her own experiences.</p> <p>Chapter 5 titled ‘Rental Illness’ for example, launches into some architectural history, explanations of neighborhood acronyms and apartment-hunting lingo. But what personalizes the breakdown is her own stories of renting in New York City, as a double-illegal rent-controlled, sublet visitor, no less. Nitty-gritty details such as not being able to cook in the apartment or take out the trash without running into the landlord give the chapter, as well as the rest of the book, the personal touches that balance out the common, researched information.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumtimessquare.jpg" style="height:481px; width:731px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Of course, Pedersen’s writing style may not suit all: filled with sweeping generalizations and run-on sentences grouping objects together (that can take up an entire paragraph) the prose can feel tired and cliché. What can be said about NYC that hasn’t been said already? However, Pedersen succeeds at being refreshing with her snarky, sometimes sharp, deadpan sense of humor; it’s not so much laugh-at-loud, but rather elicits a knowing smirk, such as this subtle dig towards sexism in NYC: “If a man speaks rudely to a woman in New York he may be hit with a sexual harassment suit. If a man wants a woman to speak rudely to him it costs approximately $4 per minute.”</p> <p>The only issue at hand is that “Life in New York” is very Manhattan-centric. Pedersen may mention the other four boroughs, but it seems to stem out of necessity and not experience. In this case, she seems to be an outsider looking in, rather than a transplant from upstate New York who has successfully integrated and blended into city life and attitude.</p> <p>But overall, “Life in New York” succeeds at capturing and encapsulating the city’s lively, contradictory, dramatic, and restless pulse that flows through its residents, visitors, structure, and history.<a name="_GoBack" id="_GoBack"></a></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Gabriella Tutino is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/laura-pedersen" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">laura pedersen</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york-city" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">New York City</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/life-new-york" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">life in new york</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-books" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new books</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/manhattan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Manhattan</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Gabriella Tutino</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 02 Sep 2015 22:39:31 +0000 tara 6308 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/5219-author-laura-pedersen-tackles-highs-and-lows-life-new-york#comments Why New York Remains America’s Most Fascinating City https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2000-why-new-york-remains-americas-most-fascinating-city <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/travel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Travel</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 01/30/2013 - 08:43</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumtimessquare_0.jpg?itok=JNMu4R_U"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumtimessquare_0.jpg?itok=JNMu4R_U" width="480" height="316" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>Despite many obstacles, New York City is still the best place on Earth. A destination in its own right, our town proudly rests in the upper echelon of civic greatness. Gotham maintains distinction well beyond the spheres of arts and entertainment and is often considered the cultural capital of America. While other cities exist as single-industry economies, New York is multifaceted. The Big Apple’s economic machine sustains business beyond finance and media. New York City is also a catalyst for architecture, medicine, publishing and other industries.</p> <p> </p> <p>As seen during recent flooding, the distinctive and touching soul of New York stems from the communities. Tightly-knit and distinct neighborhoods weave the fabric of the city, creating a sense of community not felt among other towns and strip malls throughout the remainder of America.  Like many enterprises, New York’s greatest resource is its human resource, and the city’s ability to adapt, evolve, enchant and inspire elevates the town to fairy tale significance. </p> <p> </p> <p>The streets are certainly not paved with gold, but the riches derived from living here pay dividends beyond one’s wallet. Distinctively different from anywhere else, New York has always danced to its own beat. From a renegade trading outpost in the new world to the renegade voices of Occupy Wall Street, an ambitious spirit has nested on our shores for centuries, sparking innovation through the prism of enlightenment.</p> <p> </p> <p>Considering Gotham’s controversial history, no wonder the citizens possess a distinctive edge. The vibrant culture of the city induces feedback from every visitor -- even if the opinions are based on half-baked stereotypes. But having a New York story is what every visitor seeks; because in New York, like nowhere else, the exposure <strong><em>is </em></strong>the attraction. The soul of the city is felt on the sidewalks and subways, on the front stoop and back alleys. You just can’t paint it on the walls.</p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumNewYorkSkyline_0.jpg" style="height:375px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Despite well-known flaws, New York offers a top-notch quality of life. The high cost of living, tainted air, crime, and the strain of life-on-the-go, take its toll; but again, the dividend of living in the cultural cradle of America is worth the hassle. Almost like osmosis, New Yorkers are enriched with attributes that, when properly cultivated, place us at the top of the societal food chain. The air of superiority plays a role in boosting New York’s brand of confidence and productivity to the world. Peter W. Kaplan, writing for <em>The New York Observer</em>, wonderfully characterized the attitude as “constantly congratulating itself for the lovely, roaring, extravagant business of being New York.”  Simply stated…we pick up instincts here that enable us to excel in <strong><em>any</em> </strong>environment.</p> <p> </p> <p>Comedians and the social sciences also demonstrate that there’s a touch of truth in every stereotype. Nudging the stereotype along -- like teenage bystanders in a schoolyard fight --  are the filmmakers and visitors to New York City. The aforementioned groups do a bang-up job selling a story to gullible strangers. With such strong influences at work, counteracting the stereotype is easier said than done, but hey, as we say in New York, ”<em>It is what it is</em>.” The New York stereotype is largely promoted outside of our enclave, but there is wisdom in recognizing a stereotype and not letting it get the better of you.</p> <p> </p> <p>Dreams are fulfilled in Gotham, but not without a cost. In the last few months alone, many have perished trying to start a new life in New York. Foreign stowaways routinely starve to death in overseas shipping containers, or are suffocated, crushed, or frozen <a href="http://www.bellanaija.com/2012/10/27/searching-for-greener-pastures-nigerian-stowaway-found-dead-in-arik-airplanes-undercarriage/" target="_blank">in the landing gear of airplanes</a>.</p> <p>  </p> <p>As of this writing, there are people still without shelter or utilities from hurricane Sandy. The historic 12-12-12 benefit concert took place in midtown, while downtown streets were dark. Trailer-sized generators still provide heat and power to the financial heart of the city, while New York struggles to get back onto its feet. Most shoreline communities in the outer boroughs remain decimated. Many have not been permitted to return to their homes, and many formerly flooded, but structurally intact homes are still without utilities. Times are tough for New York City now, but at times like these the spirit is often strengthened.</p> <p> </p> <p>Public opinion of New York’s quality of life varies at times. The storm of the century has been New York’s greatest test of morale since the September 11<sup>th</sup> attacks. New Yorkers, though, have grown accustomed to disruptions in their lives. Aside from the looming, prolonged daily reminder of terrorism, our citizens have been caught in a myriad of public inconveniences.</p> <p> </p> <p>The American Airlines crash in the Rockaway’s (flight #587) two months after 9/11 is overlooked in memory; but that disaster also tore apart a community while the city grieved the loss of nearly three thousand at Ground Zero. The controversial delays and rebuilding of downtown’s hallowed ground keeps the wounds very visible. In recent memory, the Big Apple has struggled through the inconveniences of a major blackout, a crippling blizzard, and a week-long occupation of the Republican National Convention, and a frigid three-day transit strike in 2005. Aside from the destruction on 9/11, there have been 16 unsuccessful terrorist plots in New York City alone since 2001. Adding irony to the strain, on November  25, 2012, New York City recorded the first 24-hour period in many decades without one recorded shooting, slashing, or stabbing. Looking at the big picture, one can understand a mood of pessimism from the locals.</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1987, Iconic New York author Pete Hamill denounced changes he perceived in New York. In his famous essay <a href="http://nymag.com/news/features/48277/" target="_blank">“The New York We’ve Lost”</a> for <em>New York Magazine</em>, Mr. Hamill shredded vestiges of a city he saw regressing since the 1950’s -- including the demolition of famous ballparks, dance halls, movie palaces and the loss of Brooklyn’s famed trolleys. “Growing up here you learned one bitter lesson: whenever something was destroyed for the crime of being old, what replaced it was infinitely worse” writes Hamill, “for many of us, looking back is simply too painful.” Interestingly enough, a similar sentiment was expressed by Walt Whitman in the Brooklyn Eagle a century earlier about the dissolution of New York City culture. Hamill’s lament also reflects a tone not unlike disenfranchised New Yorkers today.</p> <p> </p> <p>As a lifelong city resident and the recipient of complaints for decades, one sees patterns develop from the complaints. Most critics are skeptical of change because it challenges their pleasant notion of the good old days. Their concern is reasonable because the magical land of yesteryear embraces fondness in memory - and the era often complimented some high point in their lives.</p> <p> </p> <p>But too many often focus on nostalgia instead of reconciling one of life’s great lessons…change happens. Nobody likes letting go of old memories, but, of course, it’s only a matter of perspective. Part of the allure of New York City is the connection between nostalgia and modernization. A masterful municipality in flux, Gotham today promotes innovation while trying to embrace its past. From public spaces to eco-friendly office towers, it seems the Big Apple’s construction perpetually diverts pedestrians around sidewalks and through ever-present scaffolding across town. Change happens here, but not everyone appreciates the change -- particularly with the city’s terrible track record of preservation.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumnewyorkchinatown%20%28Marianzetta%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="height:483px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Much is discussed of the folly of destroying the old Pennsylvania station, or the citywide real-estate swindles that traded lush oceanfront assets for public housing developments. During the Giuliani era, a wrecking ball literally demolished Coney Island’s famed Thunderbolt rollercoaster overnight. The Thunderbolt was murdered in its sleep just prior to a hearing to determine landmark status. Preserving New York’s past should be a priority, but in the quarter-century since Hamill’s essay, poor planning has endured. Coney Island’s amusement area alone has fallen victim to treacherous acts of municipal vandalism and must be carefully monitored, especially since the storm has ravaged the area and bankrupted the few remaining small business owners.</p> <p> </p> <p>Profound changes have altered the New York landscape since the 1980s. Areas of the city littered with derelict vehicles and abandoned buildings provided an ample habitat for squatters and the drug-addicted. Slowly, many blocks were reclaimed and redeveloped. Development continued even as the gangs and drug wars raged in the streets. Communities in East Flatbush, and Bedford-Stuyvesant (which had the highest levels of murder and violence in the Northeast) began to lure newcomers. Into the late 1990’s, brave new faces priced out of Manhattan, began colonizing the outer boroughs and confusing the locals as they pushed up rents. They stood out like hipsters in the ghetto.  I called them pioneers, but some cops called them marshmallows (soft-white people). Scruffy beards and tight-legged jeans, they could not have stood out more if they traveled in covered wagons down Fulton Street to their 4<sup>th</sup> floor walk-ups. Yes, they were the new lifeblood in a booming economy, and yes, they were frequently victimized.</p> <p> </p> <p>Before the local exodus of Manhattan there was a middle class in New York’s least populous borough. Neighborhoods resembled the outer boroughs where families lived for generations. Blue-collar jobs and rent control laws helped keep neighborhoods intact before real-estate investment firms gobbled up properties and reorganized them as condominiums. As the cost of living skyrocketed, many legendary mom and pop shops were lost to corporate chain stores only paying employees minimum wage.</p> <p> </p> <p>Then “Sex and The City” encouraged legions of bankrolled princesses to colonize Manhattan, stagger clumsily in high heels, and fumble with Martini glasses for the first time. The middle class was eventually squeezed out, leaving only the wealthy and those in public housing to coexist on the island. Despite small pockets of “old money,” many wealthy New Yorkers are new arrivals. Today Manhattan is not New York. Outside of a diminishing area uptown, the New Yorker is an endangered species on the island of Manhattan. Fortunately, Manhattan still offers vivid nightlife and entertainment that far exceeds other cities of the world -- even if the experience has been diluted by our out-of-towners.</p> <p> </p> <p>While my prime years were not spent patronizing iconic institutions as the Stork Club, Gilly’s<a href="#_msocom_1" id="_anchor_1" name="_msoanchor_1">[N1]</a> , Plato’s Retreat or Studio 54, I still have the good fortune of experiencing CBGB’s, Chumley’s, Limelight, and the Bottom Line. Pete Hammill’s experience riding the trolley to see the Brooklyn Dodgers is grand, but riding in an air-conditioned subway to the Barclays center in a fraction of the time is notable. Living through an era where the great borough of Brooklyn has now adopted two professional sports teams is a definite thrill as well.</p> <p> </p> <p>Egotistically, many New Yorkers fail to recognize and respect the memories of those in their prime today. Yesterday’s Sound Factory nightclub is an ancestor to Pacha, and those enjoying a late-night papaya drink and hot dog deserve credit -- even if the combo today costs more than a buck. Faltering about the Lower East Side, midweek morning, beneath the shadows of the bridge after too long at the speakeasy, or simply strutting the ‘walk of shame’ is a time-honored right of passage. Glancing sharply upward, obscured by the century-old steel and stone structures, one can notice the string of cabs rushing back into Manhattan. Their white triangular rooftop advertisements glow in the dawn light as they hustle back for the morning rush hour. Memories of sunrise over Chinatown after a good meal and a better night out, or watching the sun set behind the Statue of Liberty is a timeless dividend granted to every generation in our great town.</p> <p> </p> <p>Still, today’s, short-timers, comfortable in their reclaimed enclaves of Bushwick, Harlem, and Long Island City complain without a proper frame of reference. Lacking time-tested experience, their opinions seem baseless, as they are not the pioneers of the early 1990s. Despite decades of criticism, what differentiates today’s experience from generations prior, is that New York has <em>improved</em> in recent times. In a way, though, their reflections are still nostalgic. Rents go up as crime goes down, and the city prospers. But there are tradeoffs. Just as ambassador Hamill and many generations experienced changes in New York, recent years have still been bittersweet to the city.</p> <p> </p> <p>Not long ago, 99 cent stores sold items for under a buck, and for another dollar one could purchase a 32-ounce fountain soda without violating the law; subway tokens were very reliable and never got damaged or demagnetized; parking tickets didn’t cost as much as monthly garage space; and an overabundance of bike lanes and pedestrian medians didn’t discourage drivers from entering Manhattan for noncommercial purposes.</p> <p> </p> <p>The world has changed in ways we have <em>always</em> predicted. Today, the greatest free speech experiment on the planet is under surveillance as Big Brother is alive and very present in New York. Like it or not, we have given up liberties in exchange for safety…and it’s working. Violent crime has steadily declined, yet being on camera every step from your building lobby to the corner coffee shop, through your subway ride and into your workplace may cause performance anxiety.  </p> <p> </p> <p>Today New York City is the safest big city in America - if not the world - and the safest it has been in generations. We can split hairs and rant about the particulars, but the stats can’t lie that much. I say all the time that, as locals, we won a planetary lottery. Whether rich or poor, we have the good fortune of having the most dynamic place in the world outside our door. We could have been born in the slums of another country, never to know New York beyond folk tales. Instead we are in a good place. In fact, we are cradled in the best place on earth.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Eugene Durante is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine <em>and a born-and-bred New Yorker.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Photo: Shinobi Kanobi (<a href="https://wallpapers.com/picture/fisheye-pictures-p2udii3vflbrn17m.html">Wallpapers.c</a>om, free license, Creative Commons); Dschwen (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Top_of_Rock_Cropped.jpg">Wikipedia</a>, Creative Commons); Marianzeti (Flickr, Creative Commons).</strong></em></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york-city" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">New York City</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new york</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/times-square" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">times square</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/lower-east-side" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Lower East Side</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/upper-east-side" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">upper east side</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york-pizza" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">New York pizza</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/living-new-york" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">living in new york</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rudy-guiliani" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rudy guiliani</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mayor-bloomberg" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Mayor Bloomberg</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/september-11" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">September 11</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/twin-towers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">twin towers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hurricane-sandy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">hurricane sandy</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-yorkers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">New Yorkers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/manhattan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Manhattan</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york-night-life" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new york night life</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Eugene Durante</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Creative Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:43:03 +0000 tara 2276 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2000-why-new-york-remains-americas-most-fascinating-city#comments A Toast to Cocktails in Literature https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1834-toast-cocktails-literature <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/books-fiction" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Books &amp; Fiction</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 12/06/2012 - 10:41</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumHemingwaydrinking%20%28Wikipedia%20Commons%20--%20JFK%20Library%29.jpg?itok=T8gLNabq"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumHemingwaydrinking%20%28Wikipedia%20Commons%20--%20JFK%20Library%29.jpg?itok=T8gLNabq" width="324" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> The cocktail, that delicate blend of liquors that has become such a fixture in contemporary culture, has long been the delight of writers and artists. While the first recorded use of the word “cock-tail” is dated back to 1798, it was not until the 19<sup>th</sup> century that the cocktail began to attain some cultural significance, with the first bartender’s guide appearing in print in 1862. By the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, the cocktail began to achieve a more celebrated role with cocktail parties becoming common fare in the years immediately following the First World War, and continuing discreetly throughout the 1920s, despite the Volstead Act, which established prohibition throughout the United States. In literature, while alcoholic beverages (particularly wine) have been referenced since early written history (both in the Eastern and Western tradition), it was not until relatively recently that the mixed drink was first mentioned in literature, and rarely with any memorable description.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Throughout the works of Russian writers, like Tolstoy and Chekhov, the characters drink vodka like there is no tomorrow, and also wine, as in Tolstoy’s <em>War and Peace</em>. Mead, the delicious honey wine first created by the ancients, played a significant role in <em>Beowulf</em>, with Beowulf, the hero, defending the king’s mead hall against the terrifying beast, Grendel. In works like Steinbeck’s classic moral tale, <em>The Pearl, </em>the featured drink of choice is pulque, a beverage made from the maguey plant’s fermented sap. In yet other works, the favored libation was whisky, beer, grappa, champagne or absinthe. Yet, the mixed drink was nowhere to be found.</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumabsinthe%20%28ArnaudH%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 450px;" /></p> <p> Some writers were known for their famous alcoholic addictions and their related downfalls. The French symbolists, for instance, – Rimbaud, Verlaine, Baudelaire – were often associate with absinthe, which Verlaine blamed for many of his personal demons, including his tumultuous love affair with Rimbaud. When we think of Fitzgerald, it is often difficult not to also think of gin, which he allegedly preferred because he believed it did not taint one’s breath as did other spirits. Faulkner, being the glorious Southerner that he was, is said to have been quite fond of his mint juleps. And Hemingway was such a renowned lush that he was associated with many a drink, including his said favorite, the mojito, and some that he allegedly invented, including the Papa Doble – a daiquiri made with rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur – and Death in the Afternoon – a fitting name for a blend of  champagne and absinthe.</p> <p>  </p> <p> While the biographies of many writers, and their personal correspondences, suggest that they were quite fond of the bottle, it is particularly interesting to see how cocktails have found their way into the works of modern literature – not just alcohol or spirits, but that sticky blend of two or more ingredients that achieved its prominence in the relatively recent past.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Perhaps the most memorable drink in literature is the martini. It appears in many works of fiction, notably the Vesper martini in Ian Fleming’s <em>Casino Royale </em>(1953)<em>, </em>the “very strong [. . .] and very well-made” drink that James Bond orders with precise instructions: “A dry martini [. . .] In a deep <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_stemware" title="Champagne stemware">champagne goblet</a>. [. . .] Three measures of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon%27s_Gin" title="Gordon's Gin">Gordon's</a>, one of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodka" title="Vodka">vodka</a>, half a measure of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillet" title="Lillet">Kina Lillet</a>. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_peel" title="Lemon peel">lemon peel</a>.”</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediummintjulep%20%28GrizDave%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 400px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> In John Steinbeck’s <em>Sweet Thursday </em>(1954), the follow-up to <em>Cannery Row </em>(1945), the martini reappears with yet another twist from the classic version. While Doc and Suzy are waiting for their wine to cool, Doc orders two “Webster F. Street Lay-Away Plans” – “a martini made with chartreuse instead of vermouth.” It certainly sounds better than the beer milkshake that Doc abashedly orders in <em>Cannery Row. </em></p> <p>  </p> <p> In Hemingway’s <em>The Sun Also Rises </em>(1926), the characters are perpetually drunk, quaffing everything from the always memorable martini, wine, grappa, absinthe, beer and brandy to Anis del Mono and “a Basque liqueur called Izzarra,” not to mention the Jack Rose, – a combination of applejack, grenadine and lime juice – which Jake Barnes orders while awaiting the arrival of the “damned good-looking” Lady Brett Ashley.   </p> <p>  </p> <p> <em>Catcher in the Rye </em>(1951), the archetypal story of teenage angst, also pays homage to the martini, which Carl Luce – one of Holden Caulfield’s many “phony” acquaintances – orders “very dry” with “no olive” at the Wicker Bar in the “swanky” Seton Hotel. Meanwhile, Caulfield was already lit after drinking a couple of scotch and sodas, which he ordered standing up so that the “lous[y]” bartender wouldn’t think he was a “goddamn minor.”</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediummojito%20%28Culinary%20Geek%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 399px; height: 600px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Try to escape martinis though we may, they also appear in Truman Capote’s 1958 novella <em>Breakfast at Tiffany’s</em>, with Holly Golightly “tapp[ing] an empty martini glass. ‘Two more, my darling Mr. Bell.’” Many other libations also grace the pages of Capote’s comically tragic story about the charmingly naive Holly Golightly. Upon news of “Fred” the narrator’s upcoming publication, Holly and “Fred” enjoy “Manhattans at Joe Bell’s,” and when Joe hears of Fred’s good news, they get “champagne cocktails on the house.” But no drink gets quite so much attention from the author as the White Angel, a kicker of a martini that Capote describes approximately five pages into his novella as “Something new [. . .] one-half vodka, one-half gin, no vermouth.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Kurt Vonnegut’s wildly funny <em>Breakfast of Champions </em>(1973) also has no shortage of cocktails. While crazed Pontiac dealer and Burger Chef franchise owner Dwayne Hoover orders his “customary drink, which was a House of Lords martini with a twist of lemon peel,” parolee Wayne Hoobler overhears many of the other drinks ordered in the Holiday Inn cocktail lounge in Midland City, Ohio, including: “Gilbey’s and quinine with a twist,” a Manhattan, a Brandy Alexander, a Sloe Gin Fizz, a Johnny Walker Rob Roy, “Southern Comfort on the rocks, and a Bloody Mary with Wolfschmidt’s.” The author of the book, appearing as a character, orders a “Black and White and water.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Sticking with books that have no shortage of alcohol, one can almost get drunk or high by simply reading Hunter S. Thompson’s classic 1971 work <em>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. </em>It’s almost impossible not to when Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo are making a road trip from Southern California to Las Vegas with “two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.” Throughout the book, the main characters drink everything from “two cuba libres with beer and mescal on the side” to Bloody Marys. At least they also brought along plenty of grapefruit to get their daily intake of Vitamin C: healthy choice.</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediummartini%20%28Chris%20Palmer%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 450px; height: 600px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Jack Kerouac, like many writers, was no stranger to the bottle. He drank more than enough wine to make Dionysius swell with pride, applying the Latin maxim <em>in vino veritas, </em>in <em>The Dharma Bums</em> (1958): “There’s wisdom in wine, goddam it!” But <em>The Dharma Bums </em>was more about transcendence and Zen Buddhism without the many drug and alcohol frills of his earlier classic, <em>On the Road </em>(1957). In that earlier work, when Sal and Dean aren’t getting high on tea or jazz they’re getting tight. At a bar in San Francisco, Dean and Sal hang out with “a colored guy called Walter who ordered drinks at the bar and had them lined up and said, ‘Wine-spodiodi!’ which was a shot of port wine, a shot of whisky, and a shot of port wine.” Though it does not seem from the description that it is served in true cocktail form, wine-spodiodi can be and often is mixed together and served up cocktail-style in all of its syrupy sweetness.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Finally, not without missing more than a few cocktail references along the way, no discussion of cocktails in literature would be complete without mention of Fitzgerald’s classic tale of Jazz Age decadence, <em>The Great Gatsby </em>(1925). At Gatsby’s fêtes, many unnamed cocktails often float along on trays, but in the drunken fun of the seventh chapter, we encounter two cocktails by name. The first is the gin rickey – actually four of them – a mix of gin (Fitzgerald’s liquor of choice), carbonated water and lime juice. The second is the mint julep, the suggestion of Daisy Buchanan, a combination of whisky, water, sugar and mint.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In good books we not only find interesting plots, wonderful prose, and character development, but we can often find some sort of wisdom or truth. This is true to some extent or another whether we are reading about Tolstoyan free will, Sal and Dean’s perpetual quest for “It,” Chekhovian philosophies on life, the moral lessons of Steinbeck or the rich allegories found in Melville’s prose.  In this sense, we can crudely turn Kerouac’s appropriation of the Latin maxim <em>in vino veritas </em>on its head and say that just as there is wisdom in wine, so too there is plenty of wine in wisdom, and a generous order of martinis, too. Next time we enjoy a libation, let’s raise our glasses and give a toast to cocktails in literature. In the celebratory cup-tapping words of Hemingway’s Lady Brett Ashley: “Bung-o!”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong><br /> <em>Benjamin Wright is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: Arnaud H, GrizDave, the Culinary Geek, Chris Palmer, CayUSA (Flickr, Creative Commons).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cockails" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cockails</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/literature" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">literature</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ernest-hemingway" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ernest Hemingway</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jack-kerouac" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jack kerouac</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/f-scott-fitzgerald" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">F. Scott Fitzgerald</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/beowulf" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">beowulf</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kurt-vonnegut" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kurt vonnegut</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/truman-capote" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">truman capote</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/martinis" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">martinis</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sloe-gin-fizz" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sloe gin fizz</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/gin" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">gin</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mint-julep" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mint julep</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/manhattan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Manhattan</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mojito" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mojito</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/absinthe" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">absinthe</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/drinking" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">drinking</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Benjamin Wright </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Wikipedia Commons - JFK Library</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:41:28 +0000 tara 2004 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1834-toast-cocktails-literature#comments The Master of Reinvention: Why Woody Allen Still Matters https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1093-master-reinvention-why-woody-allen-still-matters <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 22:15</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumwoodyallen.jpg?itok=s-diHbPh"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumwoodyallen.jpg?itok=s-diHbPh" width="480" height="329" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> Woody Allen’s films — 40 in all, from 1971’s <em>Bananas</em> to 2011’s <em>Midnight in Paris</em> — compose one of the most astonishing sequences of cinematic expression in American movie history. For a filmmaker who is often accused of making the same picture over and over, Allen is remarkably adept at reinvention. Who expected <em>Interiors</em> after <em>Annie Hall</em>? Or <em>Zelig </em>after <em>A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy</em>? Or <em>Match Point</em> after <em>Melinda and Melinda</em>?</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> Allen uses the tunnel-vision approach to moviemaking: He often begins writing the script for his next film on the very day he finishes editing his previous picture. This method allows him to steadily and unceremoniously produce a movie every year. At such a breakneck speed, not every film is a masterpiece, but nearly a fourth of them <em>are</em> — a testament to his singular achievement as a humorist, satirist, filmmaker and performer.</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumanniehall_1.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 322px; " /></p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> The classic Woody Allen works of the 1970s (<em>Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall</em>,<em> Manhattan</em>) have been given their due, but a second golden age in his filmography runs from 1992’s <em>Husbands and Wives</em> to his sadly undervalued 2001 entry, <em>Curse of the Jade Scorpion</em>. This  10-film streak represents his finest efforts as an actor-writer-director because it offers his most successful experiments with the two seemingly opposed aspects of life that have obsessed him for decades: comedy and tragedy. “That’s what I’ve been fooling around with for a while now,” Allen told interviewer Stig Björkman in <em>Woody Allen on Woody Allen</em>. “The attempt to try and make comedies that have a serious or tragic dimension to them. And this is not so easy for me…because it’s very hard to strike a balance in a story so that it’s amusing and also…tragic or pathetic. It calls for a lot of skill to do that; one tries and one is afraid of failing and then sometimes one gets lucky and accomplishes it.”</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> His movies rest upon the belief that life is essentially a comedy. If life is a tragedy, there’s little reason for laughing: see <em>Match Point</em> and the dramatic half of <em>Melinda and Melinda.</em> Life is comic, but it is also tragic. That’s why Allen’s best comedies ask big questions. <em>Small Time Crooks</em> is, on one level, an examination of how sudden wealth affects several low-class thieves. Superficially, <em>Curse of the Jade Scorpion</em> is a 1940s comic-book detective story -- an absurd screwball romance with snappy dialogue. But it’s also unmistakably about the shock one experiences upon recognizing the truth of reality. The magician in <em>Jade Scorpion </em>offers this prophetic warning: “The ugly curtain of reality will soon fall upon us.” Allen told Björkman, “You can really see my personality come through on that line. The truth is that we don’t live in a hypnotic trance all the time, where we see things beautifully. The truth is that reality comes back, and it’s not so pleasant.” In <em>Small Time Crooks </em>and <em>Jade Scorpion</em>, a farcical plot is subtly given dramatic weight.</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <em>Husbands and Wives </em>is quite the opposite: A tragic plot is given a comic coloring. During filming, Allen devised a new visual composition. It began with the disappointing discovery that movies look too neat and polished. “So much time is wasted [on] the prettiness of films and the delicacy and the precision,” he told Björkman. “And I said to myself, why not just start to make some films where only the content is important. Pick up the camera, forget about the dolly, just hand-hold the thing and get what you can….Don’t worry about all this precision stuff and just see what happens.” <em>Husbands and Wives</em>, an uncomfortably dark mockumentary about two middle-aged couples drifting apart, is, as Allen says, “more volatile and explosive” than his previous films. (The choppy, jump-cut editing further enhances the anxiety.)</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumsmailltimecrooks.jpg" style="width: 555px; height: 370px; " /></p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> The following year, in <em>Manhattan Murder Mystery</em>, he used the same filmmaking technique to craft a grounded farce that is menacing and devastatingly suspenseful; the final effect has an improvised, off-the-cuff quality. This freewheeling approach allowed for even more impressive performances. Sean Penn was interviewed in Robert B. Weide’s engaging 2011 film <em>Woody Allen: A Documentary</em> about working with Allen as a director. “His feeling is that the best, complete thing he’s gonna get is going to come out of the actor’s instinct,” Penn said. “What he finds out on the first day is whether or not he cast it well.”</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> Allen’s casting process has always been notoriously mysterious. And during this period he made even bolder casting choices, each of which paid off enormously well onscreen. Douglas McGrath, his screenwriting partner on <em>Bullets Over Broadway</em>, thought Dianne Wiest was the worst choice for the self-absorbed stage diva Helen Sinclair. Wiest even thought she was wrong for the part until Allen convinced her otherwise. Sydney Pollack is flawlessly cast in <em>Husbands and Wives</em>; Tracey Ullman is ideal as Allen’s insufferable wife in <em>Small Time Crooks</em>; and Kenneth Branagh’s rendition of the Woody Allen persona in the criminally underrated <em>Celebrity</em> is a revelation. Curiously, it was Branagh’s performance that was attacked by the critics. In his review of the film on November 20, 1998, Roger Ebert complained Branagh “does Allen so carefully, indeed, that you wonder why Allen didn’t just play the character himself.” Allen has played himself many times before. He explained to Björkman that it’s puzzling to him that some people seemed to be “searching for a reason why they didn’t like [<em>Celebrity</em>]. And they thought that I should have played the part, instead of Kenneth trying to play me. But I would always answer that Kenneth is doing me better than I ever could have done me.” It’s difficult to challenge Allen on this point: Branagh — young, handsome, neurotic, over-anxious, girl-shy — <em>does</em> play the Allen character better than Allen; he adds a dashing charm to the character that would have otherwise been absent.</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumhusbandswives.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 413px; " /></p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <em>Bullets Over Broadway</em> is  considered Allen’s best all-out farce, but <em>Manhattan Murder Mystery </em>is arguably his crowning achievement. It’s probably as close as Allen will come to making a horror movie — the scenes are infused with an explosive mixture of farce and danger. He uses the camera like Stankley Kubrick or Roman Polanski — spinning and lurking and trailing and eavesdropping and freely framing the scenes as they unfold.</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> When Allen was writing <em>Annie Hall</em> with Marshall Brickman, they originally outlined the film as a murder mystery. The idea was abandoned for nearly  15 years and <em>Annie Hall</em> went on to become something completely different in the editing room. But <em>Manhattan Murder Mystery</em> (co-written by Brickman) works as an imaginative sequel to <em>Annie Hall</em>. It’s as if Alvy and Annie <em>did</em> get back together and got married and grew into a a couple of typical Manhattanites. They’ve changed their names: Alvy is now Larry and Annie has become Carol. He drags her to hockey games; she drags him to a Wagner opera. And one night they bump into an old couple down the hall and are almost bullied into stopping by for coffee. When the better half of the couple suddenly drops dead, Carol (the superb Diane Keaton) suspects the husband killed her, and Larry suspects his wife has gone crazy.</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediummanhattanmystery.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 406px; " /></p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <em>Manhattan Murder Mystery</em> has a deeper dimension beyond the murder mystery of the title. The mystery is a symbolic scenario used to explore the notion that a marriage without adventure is a marriage worth reexamination. Carol says “Larry, I think it’s time we re-evaluated our lives.” He responds “<em>I’ve</em> reevaluated our lives: I got a 10, you got a 6.” The movie isn’t about the murder as much as Carol and Larry’s marriage.</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> When Larry is holding a copy of Marcia’s manuscript in his office, we catch a glimpse of the title in capital letters: “COMFORT ZONE.” It’s never mentioned, but perhaps it’s there for a subtle reason. The whole movie is about Woody Allen being pushed outside of his own comfort zone. This is one of his best performances onscreen. He’s  quite understated until mind-boggling circumstances <em>push</em> him — the timid and feverishly nervous and multi-phobic personality that he is — into behavior that is at once completely believable and utterly slapstick. The film suggests that love requires growth, and growth requires courage, of which Woody Allen has plenty as a filmmaker.</p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:2.25pt;"> During the past decade, Allen has produced a curiously inconsistent mélange of critical and commercial flops. <em>Match Point</em>, an enticing Dostoyevskian exercise, and the charming romantic comedy <em>Vicky Cristina Barcelona</em> are obvious exceptions. <em>Hollywood Ending</em> offers a few situational laughs and portions of <em>Melinda and Melinda</em> are undeniably clever, but <em>Anything Else</em>, <em>Scoop</em>, <em>Cassandra’s Dream</em> and <em>Whatever Works </em>are the efforts of an inventive filmmaker struggling to find something fresh to film. After the meandering <em>You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger</em>, Allen found his footing once again with last year’s lighthearted comic fantasy <em>Midnight in Paris</em>. With his next film — <em>To Rome with Love</em>, a modern re-imagining of Giovanni Boccaccio’s <em>The Decameron</em> — scheduled for a summer release, one thing remains apparent: The Woody Allen audiences adore is back. </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;">  </p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p style="margin-left:6pt;"> Christopher Karr, a contributing writer at <em>Highbrow Magazine</em>, is originally from Barbourville, Kentucky. After graduating from Northern Kentucky University with a BFA in Theatre, he co-founded the experimental theatre group Artemis Exchange. Since moving to New York City in 2008, Karr has written a novel, poetry, essays, a slim adaptation of the Bible, and an unfilmable screenplay based on Kurt Vonnegut’s <em>Cat’s Cradle</em>. His award-winning plays have been performed in Cincinnati and Chicago.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/woody-allen" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Woody Allen</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/annie-hall" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Annie Hall</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/manhattan-murder-mystery" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Manhattan Murder Mystery</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/husbands-and-wives" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Husbands and Wives</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/manhattan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Manhattan</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/melinda-and-melinda" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Melinda and Melinda</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/small-time-crooks" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Small Time Crooks</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bananas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Bananas</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Christopher Karr</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:15:56 +0000 tara 776 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1093-master-reinvention-why-woody-allen-still-matters#comments