The brilliant Nick Paumgarten writes a remembrance of Hunter in the latest New Yorker; how does it compare to mine? Let’s see:
WRITING: Wonderful, both. Tie.
ADJOINING CARTOONS: Nick’s – wry. Mine – nonexistent. Nick wins.
RICHARD BRODY’S BEARD: Nick – Most likely has had to pick nits and berries out of it, whereas I have been blocked by Mr. Brody on Twitter. I win.
HOW MUCH MASHA GESSEN? Nick – too much. Me – not enough. Push.
PAYMENT: Nick – Received some.for writing his piece. Me: Was not even reimbursed for the Retsina.
You win again, Paumgarten.
Damn. That intro about Black Peter is spot-on.
Nossir, YOU win. I am NOT a fan of music writers who put that much “I” in their opening paragraphs. I’m sure I did it on occasion when I was a crit, but in a eulogy like this one, I honestly don’t give a fuck about what teenage Paumgarten was doing in the ’80s . . . and opening his piece that way turns me off right from the git-go. Your opening segments were written in second person. You invited us all in without making yourself the center of attention. That’s much better writing. Seriously.
Stop that. Nick is a wonder, and his piece was beautiful.
And Richard Brody is the New Yorker’s movie critic, who is so woke he engenders sympathy for the “PC Culture is killing society” steakheads.
Glad I didn’t research, then.
I am one of those weird/rare lefties/smarties who gets actively annoyed at the very thought of NPR and the New Yorker and the NYT Style Section and suchlike. Dunno why. Probably the South Cackalacky reptile brain inside me. My default response to most things encountered there is “nope.”
(But my psychopathologies aside, your piece is still the best Hunter tribute I have read, and expect to read).
P.S. I don’t know who Richard Brody is. Do I need to do research or is it sufficient just to know that he is a dude with a beard who blocked you in the Twatter Zone?
Trick question. One of my theories is that paumagarten is you. Anyway the totd tribute was brilliant. The NYer piece more of a standard obit. As an aside I think the documentary talking head I referenced in my comment on your piece was also paumgarten.
You: I read it & appreciated greatly. Hit the mark.
Paumster: Didn’t read it.
Default to you.
Baumgartner? He went up for a cup of coffee with the Red Wings, no? Sent him back down to Rochester. Gordie said he couldn’t break a pane of glass with The Backhand. Curved blade and sideburns type.
Your readership probably outnumbers the New Yorker these days.
How much that Retsina put you back ? I’ll contribute.
The Donate Button is always open, but I will not beg. (Explicitly.)
The retsina reference has put Steely Dan’s “Home At Last” on the mental jukebox for the past week. I casually searched for the lyrics tonight to get the full complement and found this. Time to make a playlist and run up a bar tab . . .
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/steely-dan-drinking-songs/
Melina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL0YeEYhPIw
“Et boivent le vin résiné “