Essay · Arts & Lives A House That Made Her Possible Katharine Hepburn did not invent herself. She was manufactured — lovingly, rigorously, sometimes mercilessly — by two of the most unusual parents that Progressive Era New England ever produced, and she spent the rest of her life living out the experiment they designed. ByContinue reading “Katharine Hepburn”
Category Archives: Aesthetics
Chapter 24: A Fool Such As I
We are in the patio garden at Tilly’s parents’ house. I arrange to spend the summer in Newport with Cornelia. Her parents will be in Europe, so we’ll have the house to ourselves. She invites everyone to drop in whenever they want. Topper says he might come and see us, if I would like himContinue reading “Chapter 24: A Fool Such As I”
Chapter 23: I’ll Never Stand in Your Way
I am surprised when I receive a letter from Bryn Mawr, and it turns out I’ve done much better in my exams and essays than expected. I decide to give college a chance before I determine whether or not I want to drop out.I speak to Tilly, who, for once, is warm and generous withContinue reading “Chapter 23: I’ll Never Stand in Your Way “
Cher and the Art of Outlasting America
Cher has lasted so long, and in so many forms, that she can seem less like an entertainer than like a permanent feature of the culture itself. She belongs to that tiny class of figures who have ceased to be merely famous and become symbolic: instantly recognisable, endlessly referential, somehow both singular and omnipresent. Singer,Continue reading “Cher and the Art of Outlasting America”
Chapter 22: You May Go to College – You May Go to School
“We’ll come off too pedestrian if we stay in college housing,” Tilly informs me. “We’re adults. We need our freedom now.” I agree, if only to keep the peace. It’s the first term at Bryn Mawr, autumn after our debut into New York society, a debut none of us took seriously, which upset Tilly’s mother.Continue reading “Chapter 22: You May Go to College – You May Go to School “
Alan Parker and the Brutal Energy of Modern British Cinema
Alan Parker belongs to that increasingly rare category of British director whose work was at once popular, ambitious and unmistakably personal. He was not a miniaturist, nor a specialist, nor a filmmaker content to remain within one tonal register. He moved restlessly between genres and scales: from the stylised bravado of Bugsy Malone to theContinue reading “Alan Parker and the Brutal Energy of Modern British Cinema”
Chapter 21: My Happiness
I rush over to the boy’s new apartment on Alabama, they’ve moved again, as soon as I’m back for the summer of ’53. The boy isn’t home yet, but would I like to wait? He won’t be long.His mother brings me a cup of coffee, and sits with me at the kitchen table. “Did youContinue reading “Chapter 21: My Happiness”
Where the River Bends: Memphis and the Music That Changed the World
It is the most productive square mile in American cultural history. A city of grief and genius, of violence and transcendence, built on cotton and the blues and the unsettled accounts of race — Memphis made the modern world’s soundtrack and has never quite recovered from the effort. By Bergotte Begin with the geography, becauseContinue reading “Where the River Bends: Memphis and the Music That Changed the World”
Chapter 20: Till I Waltz Again with You
Gene Tierney is visiting the school. She used to go here. It’s a fancy school. One of Cary Grant’s wives, the one related to Tilly, is an alumna. All the Bouvier Beales, too. Lee was here until last year. She’s Jackie’s sister.I didn’t like Lee much, I can’t quite put my finger on why, justContinue reading “Chapter 20: Till I Waltz Again with You”
Ivor Novello and the Lost Language of British Glamour
Ivor Novello has survived in British culture in a peculiarly ghostly form. His name remains everywhere, attached to one of the country’s most prestigious songwriting honours, and yet the man himself has drifted into soft focus. Many know the Ivor Novello Awards. Far fewer could say with confidence who Novello was, what he made, orContinue reading “Ivor Novello and the Lost Language of British Glamour”
My World of Interiors 