Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author’s words reverberating in your head.
The Brooklyn Follies
by Paul Auster
Auster’s Palace:
I did some traveling recently and brought a couple of Paul Auster books with me: Moon Palace and The Brooklyn Follies. I had previously only read Auster’s New York Trilogy, but after his death in April of this year I felt moved to explore more of his work. I finished Moon Palace several weeks ago and loved it, but I’m well into The Brooklyn Follies now and love it equally. Despite some dark passages, I ultimately found both books companions of good cheer during a hectic period in life.
When you’ve lived as long as I have, you tend to think you’ve heard everything, that there’s nothing left that can shock you anymore. You grow a little complacent about your so-called knowledge of the world, and then, every once in a while, something comes along that jolts you out of your smug cocoon of superiority, that reminds you all over again that you don’t understand the first thing about life.
The Brooklyn Follies
by Paul Auster
Margheriti Revisited:
I wrote about Italian filmmaker Antonio Margheriti back in August of 2023. This week I watched another of his movies, The Day of the Owl (1968), released in the U.S. with the highly original title Mafia. It’s not exactly Goodfellas (1990) – the first half hour really dragged – but the emotional tension escalated well as the story developed. The Day of the Owl has moments of humor but it is primarily a thoughtful drama about the code of silence resulting from widespread corruption, and also about how much individuals should be willing to sacrifice in the face of systemic injustice. While the conclusion isn’t a happy one, it does leave some room for hope. The Day of the Owl is currently streaming free on Tubi.
You’re saying that you don’t talk because the killers are still on the loose – but the killers are still on the loose because you won’t talk!
Franco Nero as Captain Bellodi
The Day of the Owl
Talking Soderbergh
I only recently learned about the Talking Pictures podcast hosted by TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz. A second season is in said to be progress, but the entire first season is available on most podcast platforms. I was especially fascinated by Mankiewicz’s conversation with Steven Soderbergh. I immediately watched Soderbergh’s 2013 release Side Effects. The cast includes Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Channing Tatum. Tatum doesn’t have a lot of screen time but his character influences the entire story. Side Effects was a clever parable on pharmaceutical industry corruption. Still, I found the end a little too problematic. Side Effects is also currently streaming on Tubi.
However, I also watched Soderbergh’s recent Web series Command Z. It’s a highly entertaining satire on oligarchy and climate change (and dogs). There are only 8 brief episodes, and it’s worth sticking with each one till the end just for the hilarious “More Information” movie suggestions, such as Soylent Green (1973) for climate change and Snoopy Come Home (1972) for dogs. Currently, the series is available free through its own site or through Soderbergh’s Extension765 site.
The Creative Life Adventure 
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