Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer

This is a fairly painful novel to read, and I say that not as a cancer survivor, but as a reader, and one who does not routinely shy away from painful subjects. It is the author's debut novel, and it was long listed for the Booker prize, so that in itself is an accomplishment. The story follows the last few months of Lia’s life. She is an illustrator in her forties married to university professor, Harry, and mother to precocious tweenage daughter, Iris. Lia is dying of breast cancer. She had it once before, years ago as a very young woman, and now it’s come back. During the course of the book, the cancer spreads from organ to organ and eventually it breaches her brain. Despite this, there is very little about treatment in the book. Lia doesn't go on countless trips to the hospital or overhear tough, too real, conversations about hospice care. There are only glimpses of those typical cancer scenes: the short sharp sting of a cold cap, the red violence of the intravenous chemo drug, doxorubicin. Even the news that the cancer has recurred is told minimally, sparingly, as if it were an unimportant detail, anything but central to the arc. The grappling with her past and her present is what drives the story line, and it is unique and inventive in that way.

Picasso Museum, Barcelona, Spain

This museum is largely populated with early works by Picasso, and is rich in the history of his development as an artist. It is a must see, and if I were back in Barcelona, I would go back, as I am sure there are many things that I missed that have the potential to move me. Picasso was born in the town of Málaga but his family moved to Barcelona when he was a young boy. The origins of the museum lie in the desire of Picasso’s life-long friend Jaume Sabartés — to whom Picasso had given many of his paintings, sculptures and other artworks — to open a public museum for all to enjoy Picasso’s oeuvre. The building is 14th century Gothic.

This series of paintings of pigeons is quite striking, all displayed in one room. They were painted in the amid to late 1950's. Many of Picasso's works produced during the later 1950s show views through a window or out over a balcony. Some of these may have been inspired by the actual layout of the studio at La Californie. However, these balcony views also recalled the work of Henri Matisse, who died in 1954 and had been both a friend and a rival to Picasso for over half a century.

Lastly, the ceramics on display, which are mostly from the 1960's, show anothe side of Picasso as an artist. Some are (to me) unattractive, but many have the playfulness of this piece, and are also potentially functional.

Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek

This book was very hard to read. It takes place in the midst of a war zone, which is true of a number of award nominated and winning documentaries, but somehow this story is more graphic, more real, and just as brutal. Rima, a young neurodivergent girl from Damascus, longs to walk, to be free to follow the will of her feet, but instead is perpetually constrained. She finds refuge in a fantasy world full of colored crayons, secret planets, and The Little Prince, reciting passages of the Qur’an like a mantra as everything and everyone around her is blown to bits. Since Rima hardly ever speaks, people do not know quite what to make of her, but she is just doing her best—the madness in the battered city around her would change us all for the worse. One day while taking a bus through Damascus, a soldier opens fire and her mother is killed. Rima, wounded, is taken to a military hospital before her brother leads her to the besieged area of Ghouta—where, between bombings, she writes her story. This book, nominated for a National Book Award, offers a surreal depiction of the horrors taking place in Syria, in vivid and poetic language and with a sharp eye for detail and beauty.

Béarnaise Sauce

My spouse made this to go with an end of summer vegetables meal built around beef tenderloin. It was absolutely delicious, and we put it in a thermos to serve it, and while it wasn't piping hot, that also worked pretty well. 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/4 cup white wine vinegar 3 sprigs chervil, leaves finely minced, stems reserved separately (optional; if not using add an extra sprig of tarragon) 3 sprigs tarragon, leaves finely minced, stems reserved separately 1 small shallot, thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns 2 large egg yolks Kosher salt 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter Combine wine, vinegar, herb stems, shallots, and black peppercorns in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and lower heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until reduced to about 1 1/2 tablespoons of liquid, about 15 minutes. Carefully strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Combine wine reduction, egg yolk, and a pinch of salt in the bottom of a cup that barely fits the head of an immersion blender. Melt butter in a small saucepan over high heat, swirling constantly, until foaming subsides. Transfer butter to a 1-cup liquid measuring cup. Place head of immersion blender into the bottom of the cup with the wine reduction and turn it on. With the blender constantly running, slowly pour hot butter into cup. It should emulsify with the egg yolk and wine reduction. Continue pouring until all butter is added. Sauce should be thick and creamy (see note). Season to taste with salt. Whisk in chopped tarragon and chervil, if using. Serve immediately, or transfer to a small lidded pot and keep in a warm place for up to 1 hour before serving. Béarnaise cannot be cooled and reheated.

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

In an effort to make this novel not about John Wilkes Booth, the assassin who killed Abraham Lincoln, the author goes a bit overboard--in my opinion--and writes a complex rendition of the whole Booth clan, and ends up with a book that is longer than is strictly necessary. This was longlisted for the 2022 Booker prize, but did not make the short list. John Wilkes Booth is born in 1838, the son of one of the era’s most famous stage actors, Junius Brutus Booth, and the ninth of 10 children. The Booths are a stage family, one in which--so says the author--the whole farm speaks in iambic pentameter when someone’s trying to learn lines. One son or another is always accompanying their father around the theaters of the East Coast, attempting to keep him sober enough to perform. On those rare occasions when Junius is home at the family’s farm outside Baltimore, his personality dominates the family. His declarations that the theater ought to be no place for his children, for whom he harbors middle-class dreams, are much less persuasive than the glamour he casts with every word, every gesture. He attempts to mold each of them, and he fails at every turn. As the children grow older, they launch careers and families of their own; many of those sons will become actors themselves, of various levels of success. One, Edwin, became a star; famous for his Hamlet, and he performed into the 1890's. They are not a close family, and they were not pro-slavery either, so in some ways, for me, the book raised more questions than it answered.

Moco Museum, Barcelona, Spain

This is an independent museum, meaning that it is a for profit museum that we happened upon because we were between finishing up one thing and having a while to wait for our lunch reservation. It had air conditioning and an inviting street appeal, and it wasn't crazy expensive either.

There was a wide range of inspiring modern, contemporary, and street art – MOCO is the amalgamation of Modern and Contemporary. Th Moco exhibits Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy (photo below), KAWS, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst (the photo to the left, Yayoi Kusama, Hayden Kays, David LaChapelle, Guillermo Lorca, Takashi Murakami (photo above), Nick Thomm, Andy Warhol, Studio Irma, and some others on an ad hoc basis. These are artists who are not as widely admired and collected as other artists on exhibit in Barcelona, but very thought provoking.

The other thing that struck me later was that there was art by black artists, and that is an under represented minority of artists on display in many museums. One example: in his short life, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a pop icon, cultural figure, graffiti artist, musician, and neo-expressionist painter. He was also an influential African-American artist who rose to success during the 1980s. Basquiat’s paintings are largely responsible for elevating graffiti artists out of the streets and into galleries, and so nice to see some on his work here.

The Trees by Percival Everett

This book is shortlisted for the Booker prize, and it is a complex and emotional story. It is a harsh satire, a fast-paced comedy with elements of crime and horro, and it directly addresses racism in a boldly shocking manner. The setting is a small town called Money, Mississippi, “named in that persistent Southern tradition of irony”. We meet a dysfunctional white family unit with its morose matriarch Granny C, her son Wheat Bryant, and her nephew, Junior Junior. This time it’s the white folks’ turn to be rendered in grotesque caricature, and the actions of this feckless clan are played as broad knockabout, almost like a reverse minstrel show. Wheat is found dead and brutally disfigured, with the mutilated corpse of a young Black man next to him, which subsequently goes missing. The same thing happens to Junior Junior, with the same disappearing cadaver, and all at once we’re in a horror story. As with the films of Jordan Peele, the paranormal is used to depict the African American experience in extremis, and here supernatural horror and historical reality collide in dreadful revelation. We are presented with a ghostly yet corporeal presence that haunts America’s consciousness. Money, Mississippi is a real place. It was where the 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in 1955, after being accused by a white woman of making suggestive remarks. We learn that Granny C is that woman, and the corpse is Emmett, returned to take his revenge on her descendants. The story careens along to a satisfying conclusion. Do not miss this one.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Nicholas Cage is an actor who has a fan base that is very attached to him, and the connections fans have with him are not strictly related to the quality of either his acting or his films. From this emotional symbiosis between fan and actor, the movie crafts a metanarrative that also explores the relationship between the actor and his on screen persona through the lens of contemporary Hollywood filmmaking. Middle aged Nic Cage plays middle aged Nic Cage who has trouble both finding work and paying his bills, as he grapples with who he was, who he is, how to be a competent parent to a teenager, and exactly how to make ends meet. That is how he ends up accepting a job to attend the birthday party for a lot of money. The affable Pedro Pascal (now forever in my mind cast as the Mandolorian) plays up his own ultra-likeable persona as billionaire super fan Javi Gutierrez, olive-exporting magnate who may also be an international gun runner who shells out big bucks to have his hero at his house. Pascal's grin never seems to fade around Cage, he’s just that happy to be around the man behind the myth, and to some extent, it is very relatable. Cage gets roped into trying to untangle who exactly is the bad guy here but the CIA, and while this may sound both juvenile and tedious, it really is a very fun romp that I unexpectedly enjoyed from start to finish.

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

I didn't love this book but it made me think, it made me uncomfortable, and I think that is in fact a mark of books that matter. The novel, which is in two parts that are interconnected, is a contemplation on being female and living in the 21st century. Natsuko asks if a body’s ability to become pregnant and nurse a child – that is, the possession of breasts and eggs – determine the fate of that body? This is not a discussion of sexual freedom or slavery, as pregnancy has come to represent in the United States, but rather what it in fact means to be a woman and have choices that are uniquely female. Options include breast implants, menstruation, artificial insemination and what is the meaning of parenthood. Natsuko has two acquaintances whose biological fathers were anonymous sperm donors. Aizawa was raised by a father he loved; Yuriko was raised by a pedophile whose horrific abuse has robbed her of all well-being. Every decision to bring a child into this ugly existence, Yuriko argues, is an act of violence. There is a lot on offer here, and in an unusual voice.

Bar Celta Pulperia, Barcelona, Spain

We mostly did a straight ahead high end one meal a day approach to our recent trip to Barcelona--it is a great city to do that in, and in the 5 days that we were there, we did not exhaust the supply of that sort of place. This is an exception to that rule, and I would argue that with the quality of the seafood that comes out of the Mediterranean and into the numerous neighborhood markets in town, you can eat very well at the more affordable end and eat very well indeed.

This is a bustling place that we had reservations for (so you can go that route), but then walked in much earlier than planned and were seated--the tables are close together and there is a long bar with seating as well, so not exactly COVID safe dining, but very much the style of places we have eaten throughout Spain and love. Bar Celta is know for it's octopus, so we had it two different preparation styles--pulpa a la plancha and pulpa a feira--I liked the former best, but they were both very good.

They were out of clams, so was unable to have my favorite dish, which is clams cooked in olive oil and garlic, but my second favorite is gambas cooked the same way. The sweetness of the seafood married with the garlic and olive oil is something so memorable it is imprinted on my senses, I can almost taste it looking at this photo weeks later. We will just have to go back.