IT’S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair. We’ve hand-picked the week’s best reads for you to savour.
David Remnick goes on the road with US President Barack Obama, at a time when critics were declaring 2o13 his worst year ever,
(New Yorker – approx 82 minutes reading time, 16579 words)
Usually, Obama spends Sundays with his family. Now he was headed for a three-day fund-raising trip to Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, rattling the cup in one preposterous mansion after another. The prospect was dispiriting. Obama had already run his last race, and the chances that the Democratic Party will win back the House of Representatives in the 2014 midterm elections are slight. The Democrats could, in fact, lose the Senate.
Roger Angell is 93 and “feeling great”, despite the macular degeneration, arthritis, and nerve damage. As he reflects on life in his 90s, he does some with a humour that’s often missing in articles about life at an older age.
(New Yorker – approx 27 minutes reading time, 5511 words)
Like many men and women my age, I get around with a couple of arterial stents that keep my heart chunking. I also sport a minute plastic seashell that clamps shut a congenital hole in my heart, discovered in my early eighties. The surgeon at Mass General who fixed up this PFO (a patent foramen ovale—I love to say it) was a Mexican-born character actor in beads and clogs, and a fervent admirer of Derek Jeter.
James Traub looks at war reporting in Syria, a place “where there are no rules”, where journalists and activists are kidnapped… and simply disappear.
(Foreign Policy – approx 34 minutes reading time, 6808 words)
The growing danger of covering wars has spawned new equipment, new practices, and new professionals. War correspondents for major media organizations, as well as many freelancers, now carry satellite-tracking devices that allow their movements to be monitored by someone on the outside. And news organizations operating in danger zones now work closely with security officials.
Nathan Rabin looks at the career in film of comedic actor Bill Murray, from his early days on Saturday Night Live to his latest role in the Monuments Men.
(The Dissolve – approx 43 minutes reading time, 8700 words)
When Murray first played a dramatic role in The Razor’s Edge, he clung to his comic mannerisms and tics. Murray still charms women and small children and waxes sarcastic at various intervals throughoutBroken Flowers, but by this point, he had long since transcended the need for such crutches, delivering a powerfully spare performance.
Mark Seal delves into the 14-year marriage of Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng, which collapsed amid rumours of affairs and shifting power dynamics.
(Vanity Fair – approx 57 minutes reading time, 11,448 words)
Later, some would claim that Rupert felt betrayed by the close relationship between Wendi and Tony, who was his trusted companion and powerful political ally. Others would insist that Wendi and Tony were just friends, and that the handsome statesman was merely comforting the lonely wife of an absent and distant older husband.
Jason King introduces us to basketball player Adreian Payne, who defies the stereotypes we may have about top athletes. His dedication to a young girl with neuroblastoma is just one way that he stands out.
(Bleacher Report – approx 23 minutes reading time, 4675 words)
Whenever he gets the chance, Payne returns to Jefferson to share his story with students and offer advice. Gates has noticed that Payne often takes extra time to talk to teenagers in the back of the room who may not have been listening, or ones who come off as insecure and lacking confidence. Payne relates to those students well. For a time, he was one of them.
…AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES…
Every time the Winter Olympics rolls around, people become a little obsessed with the curling. So it’s a good time to give you this 1999 story by Guy Lawson about a curling impresario who put together an all-star team and pays its members big bucks… but, of course, there’s a catch.
(Saturday Night – approx 33 minutes reading time, 6769 words)
“How much would it take to get you to come to California and play with me next year?” Middaugh was narrow-shouldered and soft-chinned, a Midland, Ontario, golf pro in his early thirties; he was arguably the single best curler in the world. “I don’t know, Merv,” Middaugh said. “What are you offering?” “A hundred grand,” Merv said. “A hundred grand American.”
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