Side B editors and columnists recommend some of their favorite things for readers this weekend:
Books
While I’m certainly loving spending my summer in Manhattan, I’ve been missing my North Carolina home. Until I can physically go there in two weeks, I’ve been seeking assurance in Jo Carson’s book of poems Stories I Ain’t Told Nobody Yet. This slim volume features poems of varying length capturing tales and experiences the author overheard while living in East Tennessee, only a few hours away from where I grew up. The poems are both elegant and deeply thought-provoking, and Carson’s meticulous attendtion to details in word choice, form, and tone are clear. While it asks some serious questions, it’s also an easy and pleasent read, a combination that I love in my summer reading. -James
It’s a big Wes Anderson week on 8-tracks. I like it. I’m certainly a Wes Anderson fan (though I get flak from other fans that I just can’t dig on Steve Zissou completely). I suspect you also adore Anderson. Therefore, see Moonrise Kingdom. The very first frame captured me, perfectly illustrating Anderson’s detail and attention in set work. It’s funny—maybe not in a laugh-out-loud way, but I think that’s the point. The cast is great—both the veteran famous actors and the fantastic kids. It’s about growing up, and not growing up, and already being grown up when you’re still little, and being misplaced in a weird little place. It’s about interpersonal interaction, and intrapersonal interaction. It’s ninety-four minutes of wonderful wearing Sunday school shoes. -Laura
Theater
My recommendation already won a Tony for best musical, so I’m not exactly being original here. And I know Broadway isn’t a feasible weekend activity for a lot of people. But Once really was something different. I was given a free ticket by family members, and although some of my… “acquaintances” didn’t understand when the show began, I thought the audience milling about on the bar-stage was fun. A lot of musicals are big productions, glam and glitz and too many smiles. The giant mirrors paneling the stage pulled in the small (and very talented ) company, making the show something told to just you while resonating to a crowd. And it was funny! It never felt odd that the characters broke out into song (which is more than I can say for a lot of movie-musicals). If you can’t get to Broadway, the soundtrack is spectacular on its own -Danielle
Online Musings
I think it’s fair to say that Flavorwire compiles some of the best lists on the internet (best in that the lists pull together things we observe, but don’t consciously notice). This list of 10 Fake Books In Movies is perfect. I’m sure if I watched some movies I could add to the list almost instantly (and I have to disagree, I’m much more interested in reading Margot Tenenbaum’s plays than her mother’s book), but whether intended or not, this list points out how seamlessly books intermingle with our lives. Does it say anything that Wes Anderson films made the list twice? -Becca
