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Meghan Daum |
Recent Columns:
Last week: What a thrill ride of news!
J.D. Salinger, as you may have read over the last few weeks, is inveighing against "phonies" yet again. Fifty-eight years since the publication of "The Catcher in the Rye" -- indeed, 44 years since he published anything -- the famously reclusive and litigious author, now 90, recovering from hip surgery and totally deaf, has taken legal action to stop the U.S. publication of a Swedish novel called "Sixty Years Later: Coming Through Rye." Subtitled "An Unauthorized Fictional Examination of the Relationship Between J. D. Salinger and His Most Famous Character," the novel depicts a 76-year-old Holden Caulfield, who meets his author and revisits various locations and characters featured in the original book.
Dear Mr. President:
Women, it seems, are bummed out these days.
As a homeowner, I know it's counterproductive to take delight in the real estate misfortunes of my neighbors. But massive price reductions on a house down the street from me have left a lot of us in the neighborhood gloating. A hulking McMonstrosity that's jaw-droppingly out of place among the modest bungalows that surround it, the house was clearly intended by its owner/builder to be a cash cow. But it's been sitting empty for nearly two years since it was finished, and the price just continues to drop.
Something extremely weird, and a little bit wonderful, has happened in the world of Internet retail. A black T-shirt bearing the image of three wolves howling at the moon has become a sensation.
Commencement addresses are a bit like wedding toasts. A handful are memorable; the rest tend to trigger such musings as, "Why did I wear such uncomfortable shoes?" "Will anyone notice if I send a text?" and "How drunk am I likely to be by the end of the evening?" But unlike nuptial tributes, which (unless you're in Japan, where they often hire pros) are delivered by unpaid amateurs, graduation speeches are less about the message than the messenger. Every year, a few colleges and universities attract attention because they've managed to book high-profile speakers, and, every year, the media dole out snippets of these speakers' sage remarks.
On May 5, subscribers to Planned Parenthood's mailing list received an e-mail from author Judy Blume. Cleverly headed "Are You There [Your Name Here]? It's me, Judy" (a reference to Blume's classic young-adult novel, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"), the message made a pitch for Mother's Day donations. "It's not easy to be a mother these days," Blume wrote. "And right now -- with more and more women seeking care from Planned Parenthood health centers -- we need to do all we can to support them. By honoring a mother in your life, you'll be making a gift to millions of mothers and families who seek care from Planned Parenthood."
It's been a notable week in not-really news. Songstress Susan Boyle, who supposedly delivered us from our shallowness by belting out a showstopper without the help of hair dye or eyebrow tweezing, continued to make headlines. The former vice presidential candidate's grandbaby daddy, Levi Johnston, went on "Larry King Live" and managed to say and be asked almost nothing. And Earth Day, with its myriad opportunities for celebrities to talk about CFL bulbs, filled talk shows like so many Styrofoam peanuts in a cardboard box.
Amid the ceaseless reminders that the economy is in a persistent vegetative state, it's easy to forget that some industries and products are thriving. U.S. News & World Report, which recently released its list of "10 Winners in the Recession," says that Hershey's chocolate increased earnings by more than 50% last quarter and the Burpee seed company has said it expects sales to increase by 25% in 2009 (and this was before the first lady's organic-gardening initiative).