PRAISE FOR FICTION
You may have seen the reports that reading fiction can improve your social skills. Ann Lukits of the Wall St. Journal writes the following: “People who read a lot of fiction are known to have stronger social skills than nonfiction readers or nonreaders. A new study suggests that reading fictional works, especially stories that take readers inside people’s lives and minds, may enhance social skills by exercising a part of the brain involved in empathy and imagination.” So, all you novel readers, rejoice! There is an added benefit to getting lost in “novel-novel land” (as the Chief Penguin calls it).
WHAT I’M READING NOW
The spate of historical novels about wives of famous men and about overlooked or understudied notable women continues apace. We had The Aviator’s Wife about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Loving Frank about Frank Lloyd Wright’s second wife, The Paris Wife about one of Hemingway’s wives, and Circling the Sun about Beryl Markham. Now I’m reading The Arrangement by Ashley Warlick about a 5-year period in the life of M.F. K. Fisher. I saw it on Amazon and was attracted to it because I like reading about food, and I don’t know that much about her personal life. My paperback copy arrived and looks like a proof copy—no publisher or date, no blurbs front or back, and unusual page numbering. I’m instantly suspicious about its merits. But I’ve started reading it and am mildly entertained so we’ll see how it goes from here.
DOCUMENTING CONFLICT
I received this book as a gift several months ago and it has been sitting in my “to be read” pile. I re-discovered it the other day and, having heard New York Times war correspondent Carlotta Gall talk about the conflicts she had covered, it seemed the right time to read it. Lynsey Addario is a prize-winning freelance photojournalist who has been in the thick of crises in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya and Congo. She aims to document the human story, especially that of the women, and to show the impact on ordinary people of bombs and airstrikes be they enemy ones or American.
The book is It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War. Addario is frank about her need to do this—it’s a calling more than a profession—and she willingly and eagerly puts herself in harm’s way. It’s a risky, dangerous life (she’s been kidnapped and almost killed) and hard on lovers and family left behind. Early on, she thought she’d never marry or have children, but she did and her story of combining work and family is both impressive and daunting. Adding to the text are her compelling color photos.
EATING
With all the meals out I report on, some might think I’ve given up cooking. Not so. One of the joys of this phase of life is the luxury of preparing a meal without pressure. No more hurrying home from work and hastily assembling ingredients to have dinner ready in the next 45 minutes. Now I can select a new recipe, do the prep work in a leisurely fashion, and then do the actual cooking late in the day.
The Chief Penguin and I first became acquainted with contemporary Israeli food at Zahav (chef Michael Solomonov) in Philadelphia, thanks to good friends. We returned solo and have since become fans of another Israeli chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, and his cookbooks, Plenty and Jerusalem. Chicken with caramelized onion & cardamom rice is a tasty dish I’ve made in the past.
Yesterday I dared to try and serve to guests his roasted chicken with clementines & arak. Arak, not being that common, I used the suggested Pernod instead. It was a lovely combination of fennel bulbs and fennel seeds with soft notes of orange and brown sugar perfuming the chicken thighs. Epicurious has a version of this recipe which is quite close to the original, but uses a much lower oven temperature.
SOMEONE TO WATCH
We had the pleasure, and pleasure it was, of seeing and hearing baritone John Brancy perform songs by Schubert and others last week. Marilyn Horne told our interviewer, June LeBell, to get him while he was still affordable. In conversation, Mr. Brancy was charming and engaging, and oh, what a voice and a presence. Definitely a name to follow as his career gains momentum in the opera and recital worlds!
