Friday Fixations

Here's what I'm into right now

Happy Friday, my fellow suffering beings. Each week, I share two things I’m digging right now—books, TV shows, movies, music, and the like—plus one online video with nearly zero cultural merit.  

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. A novel that runs along two parallel timelines: one in the AIDS-era Chicago gay scene; the other, closer to present day, involving a mother searching for her missing daughter. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m hooked. 

More thoughts on The Wire. As mentioned a few weeks ago, I recently started rewatching David Simon’s masterpiece, 15 years after my first viewing. Having recently finished it, I have the following thoughts:

1. It holds up incredibly well. Arguably the best show ever made.

2. The much-maligned second season—the one partially set on the Baltimore port—is underrated. It has its flaws, but it’s largely a banger.

3. Seasons 1, 3, and 4 are the best, I think.

4. Season 5 is great, but less so than the preceding seasons. Too much of a caper. McNulty’s escapades beggar belief in ways that all of the storylines don’t. The weaknesses of that storyline are more than offset, however, by the magnetic and mysterious Marlo Stanfield. 

Please discuss. 

Behind Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” one of the best songs of all time, IMHO.

And finally, if you find yourself in upstate NY on November 24th, I will be hosting a meditation and conversation at the Troutbeck hotel in Amenia. You can find all the info here.

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