Tag Archives: Austria

2021 Books Read

I lived at three addresses this year. I moved twice. In the middle of a pandemic. It’s been a year of upheaval, transition, as well as endurance. For most of this year, the majority of my stuff was in storage. … Continue reading

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Podcast: The Last Thing I Saw: Focus on Billy Wilder

It was so much fun appearing on Nicolas Rapold’s “The Last Thing I Saw” to discuss Billy Wilder. The other guests were Farran Smith Nehme (a good friend of mine), and Steven Mears. The inspiration to discuss Billy Wilder was … Continue reading

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Society’s cruelty and society’s secrets

“Society is always most cruel to those who betray its secrets, where its dishonesty commits a crime against nature.” — Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday I think of this sentence so often. It’s one of those rare sentences that … Continue reading

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2020 Books Read

What a year, huh. What a dumpster-fire year. I read a lot, mostly in the mornings, and it helped create rituals for the days, which often seemed endlessly the same, interchangeable. I read a lot of long and challenging books … Continue reading

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Recommended Books: Memoirs

More recommendations: Recommended Fiction Recommended Non-Fiction MEMOIRS The Fervent Years: The Group Theatre And The Thirties, by Harold Clurman Probably the most famous of all the Group Theatre-related books. Harold Clurman writes his memories of that time and what those … Continue reading

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Recommended Books: Non-Fiction

I have been meaning to do a Part 2 to my Recommended Books: Fiction list – put together years ago. I wanted to recommend non-fiction, from history books to biographies to essays to whatever. Here is the Non-Fiction list. I’ve … Continue reading

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My Social-Distancing “#StayTheFHome” Reading List

Have a lot of writing to do, plus my day job, which I already do remotely (so hanging around in my apartment with my cat is not all that big an adjustment), although having three weeks of perishable food lined … Continue reading

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For Film Comment: On Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life

I wrote about A Hidden Life, Terrence Malick’s stunning – and extremely Catholic – latest, for Film Comment. It opens this Friday. If you can, this one should be seen on the big screen. I know it’s not possible for … Continue reading

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Best Films (Released and Undistributed) of 2017: Film Comment

I voted in Film Comment’s critics’ poll for best of the year: released and undistributed (I love that they have that second category, for smaller films that may not have gotten distribution yet. I haven’t seen the majority of them, … Continue reading

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Dynamic Duo #6

Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth

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