Tag Archives: Joan Acocella

“Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella

Joan Acocella, longtime dance critic for The New Yorker, and regular contributor to the New York Review of Books died in 2024 at the age of 78, and I did not mark her passing. It’s her birthday today. Acocella brought … Continue reading

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“Attention equals Life.” — Frank O’Hara

“I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love.” – poet Frank O’Hara It’s his birthday today. First up: I launched my column at Film Comment with a piece about American poet Frank O’Hara’s love of … Continue reading

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“[I wish] to trace the gradual action of ordinary causes rather than exceptional.” — George Eliot

“What do I think of Middlemarch? What do I think of glory?” — Emily Dickinson I came to George Eliot late. As in, during the lifespan of this blog. I read Middlemarch (more like devoured it) in 2005, and wrote … Continue reading

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Bookshelf Tour #10

An extremely dog-eared section of my library. These books are rarely on the shelf since I dip into them so often. — The mighty Joan Acocella, dance critic for The New Yorker, but also so much more. Her dance writing … Continue reading

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2013 Books Read

It’s been a hell of a year. Devastating as well as redemptive. I started it out in Memphis, and end it here in New Jersey. And now my new niece Pearl has arrived! It’s been both a busy year as … Continue reading

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The Books: Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, ‘Perfectly Frank’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. Unlike a lot of poets, I feel that I know everything I need to know about Frank O’Hara by reading his work. He emerges, there, on the … Continue reading

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The Books: Twenty-Eight Artist and Two Saints, ‘Finding Augie March’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. I have some huge gaps in my reading history – and one of them is mid-late 20th century American authors. I have read Joseph Heller, J.D. Salinger, … Continue reading

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The Books: Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, ‘Feasting on Life’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. I’m not that much of a foodie, and so I am not familiar with M.F.K. Fisher’s food writing, although everything I have heard makes me want to … Continue reading

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The Books: Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, ‘After the Laughs’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. Known for her wit, one-liners, and caustic attitude, Dorothy Parker is one of those rare writers who didn’t write all that much during her lifetime (her last … Continue reading

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The Books: Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, ‘On the Contrary’, by Joan Acocella

On the essays shelf: Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays by Joan Acocella. Oh, Mencken. Along with Alexander Hamilton, I have been known to refer to him as “my dead boyfriend”. I have not read all of his stuff (that … Continue reading

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