I meant to send this out on Sunday, but I was on a mostly failed Christmas shopping expedition because, surprise surprise, it’s suddenly almost Thanksgiving. How the holiday season manages to sneak up on me every single year despite the ample notice I will never understand. My reading week was moderately more successful, however.
What I Read This Week
Holding on to the Air, a ballet memoir by Suzanne Farrell (co-written with Toni Bentley). She was New York City Ballet founder and legendary choreographer Balanchine’s last big muse. I’ve been obsessed with this video of her performing the pas de deux from “Diamonds” with Peter Martins for weeks, and her memoir is the perfect combo of beautiful dancewriting and ballet-world gossip.
A ballet mystery about three dancers at the Paris Opera Ballet, because I’m nothing if not obsessive.
Robert Kolker’s latest longread for the NYT Magazine about the botched search for the Gilgo Beach serial killer. I finished reading his book on the case, Lost Girls the day before they made an arrest, which made me feel psychic. Anyway, both the book and the article are great, victim-focused pieces of true crime reporting that I highly recommend (and not just because I’m from Long Island).
“The Reinvention of Jeremy Allen White”—I’ve been watching The Bear, sue me!
A fascinating look at the first Black cheerleaders for the Washington football team.
What I Did This Week
Visited Miracle on 9th Street as an early kick-off to the holiday season, where I drank something called a “Christmas cricket” and heard “All I Want for Christmas Is You” for the first time this year.
Pre-order my upcoming novel, YOUTHJUICE (6/4/24) here.