The Quotable Janet Malcolm: “How had the pair of elderly Jewish lesbians survived the Nazis?”
The New Yorker staff writer and noted biographer Janet Malcolm’s latest work, Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice, about Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas has received early critical acclaim from the The New York Times ("Malcolm’s writing in Two Lives is brilliant, penetrating and playful. There is in her cleverest, most arcane intellectual analysis a grace, a lightness of touch, that one rarely finds in a work of scholarship… If Two Lives has a weakness, it is that one wishes, at the end, for more.") to BookLoons. The Yale Press Log has a full roundup of links, including excerpts and photos from the book.
Malcolm comes to the Y to kick off this season’s Biographers & Brunch Series with a discussion of the book on October 7. If you’re unacquainted with Malcolm’s place in the literary world, read Craig Seligman’s now 7-year-old lengthy dissection of her on Salon.com. It’s worth your time. Here are a few quotes she has made her indelible mark with:
“Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.”
The Journalist and the Murderer
“Analysts keep having to pick away at the scab that the patient tries to form between himself and the analyst to cover over his wounds. The analyst keeps the surface raw, so that the wound will heal properly.”
Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession
“Trials are won by attorneys whose stories fit, and lost by those whose stories are like the shapeless housecoat that truth, in her disdain for appearances, has chosen as her uniform...The truth does not make a good story; that’s why we have art.”
The Crime of Sheila McGough
“The narrator of my nonfiction pieces is not the same person I am—she is a lot more articulate and thinks of much cleverer things to say than I usually do.”
The Believer Interview, 2004
Related: Janet Malcolm’s recent review of Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home, co-written by New York Times op-ed page editor David Shipley who is coming to the Y on November 29 to share the secrets of writing opinion pieces that get published.
We recently held our annual Street Festival and it was a great time for everyone involved. This year we tried something new and offered a “Share Your Story” video booth for anyone who wanted to talk about their experience with the 92nd Street Y, Judaism, New York or whatever was on their mind. We heard tales of falling in love at the Y, making lifelong friends at camp, learning how to dance and breaking a smoking habit, to name a few. The above video is a short sample of the amazing people we met that day. We are always looking for more stories so if you have one you’d like to share, please drop us a line.
The above video is a fun take on the shaking of the traditional lulav and etrog that’s associated with prayer and commemorating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Don’t be afraid to dance. If you’re looking for more good times, the Y has a full lineup of activities—many of them free—planned for people of all ages to celebrate Sukkah in the City.
Experts in government, industry and science agree, however, that these three broad trends will shape the coming decades in space:
NASA has embarked on a program to return to the Moon by 2020, not just for what some critics call “flags and footprints,” but also for a lasting presence with scientific research and preparation for expeditions to asteroids and, eventually, Mars. The space shuttle program is being wound down by 2010 to create the next generation of vehicles.
Other nations, notably Russia and China, have ambitious plans and could spur a space race like the one that sent Americans to the Moon. “It took Sputnik for us to recognize what the Soviet Union was up to,” said Harrison H. Schmitt, who flew the last mission to the Moon, in 1972. “I don’t know what it will take this time.”
Private enterprise is moving ahead, beginning with space tourism and, later, transport services for NASA and other governments to outposts like the International Space Station. Beyond that, ventures could include mining on asteroids and manufacturing drugs in space.
Over the past few years I took writing classes at the Y with Hettie Jones and Liz Frank. With such wonderful teachers, it should be no surprise to you that my first book, Dough: A Memoir, won the AWP Prize in nonfiction and is being published this week.
Today, Sunday September 23rd, at about 4:45pm, NPR’s All Things Considered will air the interview Jacki Lyden conducted with me in the Ninth Street Bakery in Manhattan for Dough: A Memoir.
NPR will subsequently have the interview on their website along with photos and excerpts from the book.
You have no idea how meaningful your wonderful program is to the many apprentice writers such as myself. Keep up the good work.
Later, Mort sends an update: “since Sunday, Dough has rose up the Amazon ranks to now come in at about #2000 or so, three major NYC publishers are interested in acquiring the paperback rights, and the BBC is interviewing me on Thursday for a program to be aired on 426 stations world-wide in over a dozen nations.”
We are thrilled for Mort and congratulate him on his success. You can listen to the interview and read an excerpt from his book on the NPR website. If you’re ready to get cooking on your own future bestseller, the Unterberg Poetry Center Writing Program has plenty of classes for both beginner and advanced writers with accomplished and amazing teachers.
Trinidadian-American poet Roger Bonair-Agard attended the Unterberg Poetry Center’s season opener with Derek Walcott here last week and posted an enthusiastic and heartfelt review of the evening:
Went to see Derek Walcott read poems today at the 92nd Street Y and I almost cannot believe that this is the first time I have had a chance to see him read live. Understand that not only is this man an 80 yr old 20-something-odd book Shaolin master of poetry, but he is a man whose work I was asked to recite in school back home. It is possible that he is among the very first masters whose work, schooled as it is in the colonial education we both had, moved between the particulars of the people’s syntax we heard spoken in the street, our dialect, and a standard Shakespearean English, and in every movement commanded lionization for its brilliance.
Today I completely geeked out on him. I agonized over what I would wear. I imagined what it would look like and what sort of conversation i might get to have with him in the 45 seconds he’d be signing my books. I wrote my mailing address down because I had heard he does not like e-mail and I made sure I plugged the LouderARTS Project and begged him to come read for us. I memorized the first page of his poem “Spoiler’s Return.” Spoiler is an old-school Trinidadian calypsonian who has long since passed. Spoiler’s work itself was of that part of calypso that is clever and cutting social commentary; art that is political not because it believes that to be its role but because there is no other way to be.
Bonair-Agard goes on to excerpt Walcott’s poem and tells readers, “This might be the most major of major poets you have a chance to hear and read while still alive. Do it now!” Read the full review.
Next up in our Unterberg Poetry Center Reading Series: Lydia Davis and Per Petterson. A full schedule of once-in-a-lifetime readings and literary performances are on tap.
Entertainment journalist Eddy Friedfeld (left) chats with actors Bob Balaban (center) and Tim Robbins (right) to honor legendary movie director Robert Altman in front of a sold out audience at the Y’s Buttenwieser Hall last night.
More Arts & Entertainment talks at the Y this season include Dr. Annette Insdorf’s popular Reel Pieces series, Steve Martin, Dave Barry, Chris Elliott, Andy Borowitz, Steve Earle and others.
Mike Colameco is recognized by many New Yorkers as the host/producer of Colameco’s Food Show on public television, but his radio show on WOR 710 HD is required listening if you consider yourself a foodie. Thankfully you can download each day’s show as a podcast and listen at your leisure. We highly recommend today’s episode.
In it, he talks with Josh Ozersky of New York magazine’s Grub Street blog—still breathless with praise for his meal last night at Alto—who’s been chronicling a culinary tour of the B subway line. Then he interviews Tony Muia of the widely lauded A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tours, which will be offered here through the Y in the spring.
Colameco himself will lead a guided food adventure of Arthur Avenue in October, and his cooking classes at the Viking Showroom are filling up fast. If you like your food talk and instruction entertaining, informative and completely unpretentious, Mike is your man.
Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio at the 92nd Street Y in Fall 2006
Next Sunday, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio—"one of the world’s most successful chamber ensembles"—will be performing the Complete Beethoven Piano Trios in a series of 3 concerts in a single day, a rare first for New York City. Brattleboro, Vermont beat us to the punch last weekend but the review from the Barre/Montpelier Times Argus certainly heightens the anticipation.
...the works [were] largely in chronological order. The middle one proved the most rewarding. The closing “Ghost” Trio was intense, powerful and moving. But the real beauty was found in the joyful performance of the B-flat Trio, Opus 11, and the sublime lyricism in its adagio. In the “Kakadu” Variations, Opus 121a, the three reveled in the overt expressiveness, and the string sound in the lyrical passages was touchingly sweet. Throughout, the trio delivered the power of Beethoven.
The opening concert, the three early trios, was the longest, and an interesting mixture of passionate and reserved, but the slow movements were all beautifully expressive. In the final concert, the E-flat Trio, Opus 70, No. 2, was full of life, with Laredo’s warm playing of the allegretto ma non troppo exquisite. And the closing “Archduke” was full of emotional intensity and grandeur.
Modern Dance at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center
Doug Fox of the Great Dance Weblog shares his thoughts after the first session of a dance class at the Y:
So, the class I took last night was beginning modern with Susan Cherniak who danced with Eric Hawkins and teaches his technique. (She’s performing at 92nd Street Y’s Harkness Dance Center in December.) I liked the class - it was taught at a nice, comfortable pace, was well within my experience and had live musical accompaniment from a percussion player.
After taking classes for over two years, I feel like starting from the beginning again. Some of the modern and jazz classes I’ve taken have been too challenging for me - although fun - with the end result that I don’t really have time to focus on the fundamentals because I’m struggling too much just to stay with the rest of the class. So I just want to take beginner classes like this one and have more time to develop my skills and technique. But most of all, I just want to move.
Feeling the same? Whether you’re at the beginner, intermediate or advanced level, there are a variety of dance classes for adults, teens and children at the Y to keep you moving.
What You Missed: Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell
Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell on stage and backstage at the 92nd Street Y. Photo Credit: Joyce Culver
Last night saw a full house for the rare dual speaking engagement of former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and his wife Andrea Mitchell, NBC News journalist. Here’s a roundup of excerpts from various media and blog sources.
The NBC news political reporter, who also happens to be his wife, steered the conversation to the more controversial points from his new book, The Age of Turbulence, criticisms of his fiscal policy, and more personal questions about figures like writer Ayn Rand.
In his 30-year friendship with the controversial Rand, Greenspan said she made him consider the essential role that human nature plays in the otherwise predictable and model driven study of economics and statistics.
“She got me to think in ways that naturally increased my ability to understand how the world works,” said Greenspan. “I go around the globe and am fascinated by the ways in which people all behave very similarly.”
“I’m torn between proving my objective journalistic values and wanting to save my marriage,” Mitchell confessed early on. She seemed to favor the former impulse by dogging 81-year-old Greenspan, twenty years her senior, on whether he helped set up the current bust by repeatedly lowering interest rates post-9/11. “Guilty or not guilty?” she asked him. When Greenspan pleaded the latter, she reminded him that other experts had warned that super-low rates might fuel a backfire. “If you had some inkling, why were you so bullish about adjustable-rate mortgages?” she persisted. (Greenspan said that he’d only promoted ARMs on prime mortgages, not foreseeing the subprime implosion that’s driven the current chill.)
On the Iraq War? An audience member asked the heated question—Was it all about oil?
“I wasn’t saying the administration was going to war because of oil. I was concerned that Saddam’s behavior over 30 years looked increasingly like an attempt to control Middle Eastern oil. And somebody like Saddam in control of the that oil flow could control the entire industrial world.”
Yes, he said, oil is currently $80/barrel. But, had Saddam had a nuclear weapon, we’d be looking at $140/barrel, if not more, said Greenspan.
“The fact is, if there had been no oil under the sands of Iraq, Saddam would not have been a problem.”
Adler emphasized the importance of social equality in order to prevent various forms of psychopathology and espoused the development of social interest and democratic family structures as the ideal ethos for raising children. His most famous concept is the inferiority complex which speaks to the problem of self-esteem and its negative compensations (e.g. sometimes producing a paradoxical superiority striving). His emphasis on power dynamics is rooted in the philosophy of Nietzsche. Adler argued for holism, viewing the individual holistically rather than reductively, the latter being the dominant lens for viewing human psychology. Adler was also among the first in psychology to argue in favor of feminism making the case that power dynamics between men and women (and associations with masculinity and femininity) are crucial to understanding human psychology. Adler is considered, along with Freud and Jung, as one of the three founding figures of depth psychology, which emphasizes the unconscious and psychodynamics.
In the slideshow above, Ellen Mendel, C.S.W. NCPsyA and President of the Alfred Adler Institute Board of Trustees, gives an overview of this year’s fall sessions.
The weather and overall mood could not have been better for the 92nd Street Y Street Festival this past Sunday. We’ll soon have plenty of pictures and stories to share from the amazing day. In the meantime, here is one family’s experience with silver soccer balls, arts and crafts like the “snack-lace"—a licorice string beaded with rainbow-colored Cheerios, pretzels and assorted edible bits.
This particular street fair was geared towards the kids...and their parents, of course. Apart from the food and cheap baubbles, there were some entertaining diversions. Like soccer! Monkey tested out his kicking, and was pretty impressive, for a two and a half year old.
Miss Mina was more deliberate in her pre-game preparation. First, you must assess the size of the ball. The shape, the color, the heft of it. Silver soccer balls require just the right type of kick velocity for maximum goal potential. With this kind of concentration, we expect great things in the future from our little Mia Hamm.
And then there were the crafts. Monkey has a remarkable attention span when it comes to arts and crafts...particularly those involving candy, sugary cereal, and pretzels. For the non-artisans reading this, Monkey is diligently working on his latest masterpiece...the “snack-lace.”
Bruce Wasserstein: “Giving good advice makes you a lot of money”
In the January 2006 video above, Bruce Wasserstein, Chairman & CEO of Lazard—a globally distinguished financial advisory and asset management firm—and owner of New York magazine, sits down with Charlie Rose to talk about Time Warner, Viacom and other Wall Street deals. Wasserstein brings his investment wisdom to the Y on September 20 with Stephen J. Adler, editor-in-chief of Businessweek, for our Captains of Industry series.
Trinidadian-American poet Roger Bonair-Agard attended the Unterberg Poetry Center’s season opener with 
Mike Colameco is recognized by many New Yorkers as the host/producer of 
