• “Samba Triste,” performed by a young Baden Powell.
• Karen Russell’s “Vampires In The Lemon Grove“: Originally appeared in Zoetrope and is included in Best American Short Stories 2008, edited by Salman Rushdie. Worth searching out.
• Two nonfiction books: Rebecca Solnit’s history of walking, Wanderlust, and Sarah Hrdy’s Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species, the latter recommended by Steph. Neither are about topics I’d have thought I’d find interesting — and yet they’re both fascinating. Both definitely of the fox, not hedgehog school.
• Summer Will Show, of course.
• Werner Herzog: My new thing is to watch a Herzog double feature on the weekends, Werner Herzog Sundays!, a ritual I plan to keep up for at least a few more weeks. The first weekend was My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski and Grizzly Man, which worked well back to back as character studies. Next were the Les Blank-directed documentaries about Herzog: Burden of Dreams and Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. I’ll be away this weekend, but the one after will be Fitzcarraldo and I don’t know what. Maybe filling out an application for Herzog’s Rogue Film School.
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
