Summer in New York is sweet because the town thins out some. People go on vacation, or at least they often vamoose for the weekend. The trains are less crowded cause kids are out of school. The Farmer’s market has incredible fruit and veggies.
There’s plenty of flesh to enjoy.
So long as the power doesn’t go out–thank the heavens for ice cubes and air conditioning–life is good.
[Photo Via Bags and the most incredible, This Isn’t Happiness]
Adapted from his foreword to a new Modern Library Edition, here’s John Jeremiah Sullivan on William Faulkner’s masterpiece, “Absalom, Absalom!”:
A poll of well over a hundred writers and critics, taken a few years back by Oxford American magazine, named William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!” the “greatest Southern novel ever written,” by a decisive margin — and the poll was conducted while looking back on a century in which a disproportionate number of the best American books were Southern — so to say that this novel requires no introduction is just to speak plainly.
Of course, it’s the kind of book a person would put first in a poll like that. You can feel reasonably confident, in voting for it, that nobody quite fathoms it enough to question its achievement. Self-consciously ambitious and structurally complex (unintelligible, a subset of not unsophisticated readers has always maintained), “Absalom, Absalom!” partakes of what the critic Irving Howe called “a fearful impressiveness,” the sort that “comes when a writer has driven his vision to an extreme.” It may represent the closest American literature came to producing an analog for “Ulysses,” which influenced it deeply — each in its way is a provincial Modernist novel about a young man trying to awaken from history — and like “Ulysses,” it lives as a book more praised than read, or more esteemed than enjoyed.
But good writers don’t look for impressedness in their readers — it’s at best another layer of distortion — and “greatness” can leave a book isolated in much the way it can a human being. (Surely a reason so many have turned away from “Ulysses” over the last near-hundred years is that they can’t read it without a suffocating sense of each word’s cultural importance and their duty to respond, a shame in that case, given how often Joyce was trying to be amusing.) A good writer wants from us — or has no right to ask more than — intelligence, good faith and time. A legitimate question to ask is, What happens with “Absalom, Absalom!” if we set aside its laurels and apply those things instead? What has Faulkner left us?
I have never read the book, though I’ve started it a few times and have read four other novels by Faulkner. This article has me curious to try again.
[Painting by Steven Sullivan]
Well, I missed the whole damn affair. Family gathering upstate. Had to be done and it turned out to be a nice time. I checked the score from time-to-time and was thrilled to learn that Phil Hughes, after giving up a couple of runs in the first, was stingy. He went eight innings and a two-run home run by Robinson Cano–yes, that man again–broke the tie as the Yankees beat the White Sox, 4-2.
Cano is surging, is in the prime of his career, and more than capable of carrying the team for weeks at a time. It’s also been great to see Hughes, Nova and Kuroda pitching well, am I right?
Zach Schonbrun has a nice write-up in the Times.
Coupled with a Baltimore loss the Yanks are now six games ahead in the American League East. That’s the way to beat the heat. Nice job by the Yanks after losing the first two games of the series–the White Sox got two runs in the last couple of games.
Say Word:
And on Old Timer’s Day (covered here by Harvey Araton), Derek Jeter, C.C. Sabathia, Curtis Granderson and Cano were selected to the All Star Game. Sabathia was replaced by C.J. Wilson. Also, the Yanks picked up a reliever today and over at River Ave Blues, Mike Axisa can’t figure it.
[Featured Image via: Kathy Willens/AP Photo; interior pictures by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images and Willens]
Old Timer’s Day at the Stadium or “The Return of Tanyon Sturtze!”
Laughs and old men running around in costumes playing a boy’s game.
More heat. Boy, is it hot.
Phil Hughes follows as the Yanks try to break even against the White Sox.
Never mind the nostalgia: Let’s Go Yank-ees!
More than 50,000 fans packed Yankee Stadium to watch DiMaggio as he took aim at the all-time hitting streak record. Wee Willie Keeler had hit in forty-four straight games in 1897. The crowd was anticipating a record, and they were also no doubt excited to watch the Yanks battle Ted Williams and the Red Sox. In the opening game, DiMaggio came up empty in his first two at bats, fouling out to first in the first inning and grounding out to third in the third. In the fifth, he hit another grounder to third, but third baseman Jim Tabor bobbled it momentarily before firing wildly to first, allowing DiMaggio to reach second.
The official scorer gave him a hit, although many disputed the call. The crowd, incidentally, was left in the dark, as the scoreboard at that time did not flash the H or E that modern fans are accustomed to seeing. Most people in the park didn’t know whether or not the streak had been extended. With his next at bat, however, DiMaggio erased all doubt with a clean line drive into left field. The crowd erupted with an ovation that lasted a full five minutes. The Yankees won the game, 7-2, but for the first time in nearly a month they didn’t hit any balls over the wall. Their record of hitting home runs in twenty-five straight games still stands today. (I think it’s been tied recently, if I remember correctly; it’s a difficult record to track down.)
It should also be noted that there were two DiMaggios playing center field on this day; Joe’s younger brother Dom was in the other dugout with the Red Sox, and he hit his fourth home run of the season in the opener of the double header.
DiMaggio took care of business much earlier in the second game. He lined a single over shortstop for a single in the first inning to tie Keeler’s record. The Yankees won easily in an abbreviated five-inning game, 9-2, and stretched their lead in the American League to 2 1/2 games over the Cleveland Indians.
Hiroki Kuroda has quietly been the Yankees most reliable starting pitcher this season. He had a rough stretch early on and their was talk that the adjustment to the American League East was too much. But that hasn’t been the case overall and Kuroda had another strong start today, just when the team needed it, as he shut out the White Sox for seven innings. He struck out eleven batters–tying a career high–despite not having his best split finger fastball. The Sox only managed three singles against Kuroda.
Solo homers from the lefties Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Dwayne Wise (who added an RBI double) was enough against Jake Peavey who pitched a pretty good game minus those mistakes.
On a unpleasantly warm day in the Bronx, Kuroda and the Yanks cooled off Chicago, and for that we are grateful.
Final Score: Yanks 4, White Sox 0.
[Photo Credit: Thomas Hoepker/MAGNUM PHOTOS]
Yeah, it’s hotter n July hot today in the Bronx as Hiroki Kuroda looks to stop the bleeding for the Yanks who have dropped the first two games of this series to the White Sox.
Yanks will need a Score Truck Debut today but they’re facing a tough pitcher in Jake Peavey.
1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Rodriguez 3B
4. Cano 2B
5. Teixeira 1B
6. Swisher DH
7. Ibanez RF
8. Martin C
9. Wise LF
Never mind the lotion: Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Leonard Freed via Je Suis Perdu]
Photo and recipe for sweet and sour cherry jam over at Hungry Ghost Food+Travel.
Adam Warren dug in for the first start of his big league career tonight, dealt to Alejandro De Aza, and came up with a satisfying strike out. Let’s leave Adam Warren right there because it was mostly a mess after that and why rub it in?
The Yankees were on the board early and looked to be playing the part of a big brother protecting his younger sibling his first time out at the playground. The Yankees gave Warren a four-spot in the first, but he must have had a hole in his pocket because it was gone before he could spend it.
Girardi mercifully ended his night in the third and handed the ball to David Phelps. Phelps would be a better option than Warren to begin with – he’s been better in the Minors and looks to have better stuff based on their side-by-side comparison tonight – but he’s been in the bullpen all year and is not prepared to throw a lot of pitches. The Yankees tied it at six in the fourth, but Yankee runs seemed to bring out the worst in the pitchers. Phelps gave the White Sox the lead back one batter into the fifth.
Pitching for the White Sox was a Yankees cast-off named Jose Quintana. He had pitched well in the low minors, but he was not in the Yanks plans. They let him walk as Minor League free agent and the White Sox snatched him up.
He’s been great for Chicago so far, but the Yankees bashed him around for four innings and he seemed destined to be on the losing end whenever the runs stopped scoring. He had nothing and seeing him out there in the six was shocking.
But the Yanks went cold and stupid while the Sox tacked on more runs. The lowlight was either Robinson Cano’s brainless pick-off in the fifth or Cory Wade’s lifeless pitch to Alexei Ramirez, sporting a .563 OPS heading into the game, in the seventh. The homer helped Ramirez add .032 OPS points tonight and finished off the Yankees.
The White Sox kept scoring from there and piled up an ugly 14-7 victory. Joe Girardi’s binder must have said “14-7 = time for a position player to do some pitching.” Dewayne Wise got the last two outs so quickly the other pitchers didn’t even have time to take notes.
Photo via Elsa/Getty Images
Ah, the old place. Well, the second old place, anyhow.
It’s hot out there for Adam Warren’s big league debut. The ball should be a-jumpin’, even though the White Sox are throwing a good young pitcher tonight. I keep waiting for Adam Dunn to hit one into the upper deck in right field.
1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Teixeira 1B
4. A-Rod 3B
5. Cano 2B
6. Swisher RF
7. Jones DH
8. Nix LF
9. Stewart C
Stay hydrated and: Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Laura Powers]
The Yankees arrived in the nation’s capital to play a doubleheader against the Washington Senators, and 31,000 fans showed up to watch DiMaggio’s attempt to tie and pass George Sisler’s record. Pitching for the Senators in the opening game was knuckleballer Dutch Leonard, probably the last type of pitcher a hitter on a hot streak wanted to face. DiMaggio had trouble in his first two at bats, lining out to center in the second and popping up to third in the fourth. In the sixth inning, Leonard made the mistake of trying to sneak a fastball past our hero, and DiMaggio roped a double to left center, tying the record at forty-one straight. In the ninth inning, Tommy Henrich knocked a two-run blast into the seats, capping the scoring in the 9-4 Yankee victory and stretching the team’s homer streak to twenty-four games in a row.
But back to DiMaggio. As he prepared for his opportunity to pass Sisler in the second game, he discovered that his bat had been stolen. In these days before star players had boxes of signature bats at their disposal, DiMaggio suddenly found himself without a sword to enter the afternoon’s battle. Some weeks earlier, however, Tommy Henrich had borrowed a bat from DiMaggio, looking to change his luck. It had certainly worked for Henrich, and now, in this desparate hour, he offered it back to DiMaggio.
With his new old bat in hand, DiMaggio looked uneasily towards the second game. He usually prepared his bats by sanding the handles to the desired thickness, but there was no time for that now. Also, in what was typical of ballplayers then and now, he was quite superstitious, and didn’t like the idea of changing anything in the middle of the streak, especially not his bat, but there was no choice.
For much of the game, it looked as if the bat thief had saved Sisler’s spot in the record book. DiMaggio flew out to right in the first inning, lined out to short in the third, then flied out to center in the fifth. As he came to bat in the seventh inning, it was possibly his last shot at the record. With the crowd buzzing, he lined a 1-0 fastball into left field for a clean single. The Washington crowd, unconcerned about their team’s 7-5 loss to the Yanks, roared in appreciation of DiMaggio’s feat — forty-two straight games. DiMaggio’s response? “Sure, I’m tickled. It’s the most excitement I guess I’ve known since I came into the majors.”
Joe Gordon’s second inning home run pushed that streak to twenty-five straight, and helped the Yankees move a game and a half ahead of second place Cleveland.
Oh, man, this place looks tasty, never mind the trek to Brooklyn.
[Photo Credit: 3000 miles ’til dinner]
Happy belated birthday to Mel Brooks who turned 86 yesterday. To celebrate please enjoy the following:
You’re welcome. (Yeah, I know it’s printed backwards–Hebraic, don’tcha know?–and sideways: Tilt your head dammit, tilt your head.)
Underground New York Public Library is a tumblr site worth following.
[Photo Credit: Walker Evans; L.A. Observed]
Coolin’ out on a grey Friday in New York. Here’s a gem: Bill Evans in Paris.
[Image Via Love Speakeasy]
Spotted on on Ludlow Street between Canal & Hester earlier this spring by a pal.
Dodger graff on the L.E.S.? Well, go figure that. Never know what you’re going to find in this town.
“Academy Theater (Inglewood, California),” By Julius Shulman (1940)
Check out this reissue of a rare Ernie Kovacs album: “Percy Dovetonsils…thpeaks.”
[Drawing by J.R. Williams]
