In the New Yorker...

[Jeff Wrangler]

Jeff, I wondered what you thought of the ad for Philadelphia that said "Betsy was the real badass."

I didn't even notice it.

[serious crayons]

I'd never thought about the homeowners' tax credit, either. I'll bring it up next time somebody complains about Biden's student loan forgiveness proposal.

[Front-Ranger]

Recently I've been reading the Critics section with a thought in the back of my mind, along the lines of "there's only one true story that applies to us all." I find many parallels whether I read a book review, a movie review, or a television one (I tend to skip most of the theater reviews, unfortunately).

The review of the book about Preston Sturges is a case in point. First off, it's a book (Crooked, but Never Common: The FIlms of Preston Sturges, Stuart Klawans) about a movie director/writer so it covers two of the bases. One of the facets of this one true story that I've identified is that people want to be or are something that they are not. The review author, Rachel Syme, tells about one of Sturges' films, "The Lady Eve" that capitalizes on the deceptions of a woman and a man.

Another enduring theme is the trade-off of comedy and tragedy. More on that late.

[serious crayons]

Looking forward to hearing more about this interesting idea!

(I skip the theater reviews, too, or at least will until I schedule my next trip to NYC.)

[Jeff Wrangler]

(I skip the theater reviews, too, or at least will until I schedule my next trip to NYC.)

I still miss years ago when they used to list what was playing, what theater, and so forth. I guess they stopped it because people can find that on the internet if they're so inclined, but it seems to me that even so, they actually have fewer reviews of shows and movies than in the past. Actually, review is probably not the correct word here; what I mean is in the front section where there are short pieces about plays and movies, not articles by Anthony Lane, et al. The March 27 issue had only three shows and four movies.

[Front-Ranger]

...A very long article that I nevertheless enjoyed was "Magic Realism" by D. T. Max about a novelist named H. G. Carillo who was African-American from Detroit but created a new identity for himself as a Cuban.

More on deception, this from the March 20 issue, and then there's "Fooled Again", yet another good article on animal deceptions by Elizabeth Kolbert, who seems to be in a neck-and-neck race with Jill Lepore to have the greatest word count in the magazine. That one is in the April 3 issue. Is it possible that editors' interests are shaping the subjects selected for inclusion? Or is it the audience's reactions? Or simply the general Zeitgeist?

[serious crayons]

More on deception, this from the March 20 issue, and then there's "Fooled Again", yet another good article on animal deceptions by Elizabeth Kolbert, who seems to be in a neck-and-neck race to have the greatest word count in the magazine. That one is in the April 3 issue. Is it possible that editors' interests are shaping the subjects selected for inclusion? Or is it the audience's reactions? Or simply the general Zeitgeist?

Guessing, but I would think the editors place a lot of faith in longtime writers, at least, to pitch stories they're interested in and determine an appropriate length. I still remember when Tina Brown took over and the stories got shorter, punchier and more zeitgeisty. I, for one, did not complain; before she started I'd been slogging through a seemingly 50-page article about the day-to-day operations of a small grocery store.

[Jeff Wrangler]

In the immediate future I think I may begin skipping Elizabeth Kolbert. I have no doubt of the truth of the things she writes about, but her articles have begun to be way too depressing. She makes it sound like it's way too late to save the planet (and ourselves), and I think she may well be correct, but I just can't deal with her negativity right now.

Now it seems that it's way too late to save the caterpillars. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

If you have not read the article about the Irish author Sebastian Barry (March 27), at least go back and look at page 74 for the wonderful column filler "How's That Again? Dept." 

[Front-Ranger]

The latest issue has come, and we're going back to the Trump covers. I thought I had removed all New Yorkers with Trump covers and was gone with them for good. But no. It's like the yeast at Passover. No matter how you try to get rid of it, there's always some lurking somewhere.

So, the theme of deception continues in "Shouts & Murmurs" with Steve Martin's "My Husband's Secret Life." Unfortunately, it's not funny. (S&M is satire, and perhaps satire is not supposed to be funny, or at least not overtly funny.) But it does make a clever point: deception is practiced by both the con person and the person duped.

A vague theory that has occurred to me is that all this talk about AI has led to people being leery of interactions with others, particularly when not on an in-person basis. We wonder if we are dealing with the real thing; another human being. But another theory also occurs to me. Perhaps I'm seeing all these works about deception because I'm looking for them. You know how you never see an orange car until someone brings it up and then you see an orange car everywhere.