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 THENEW YORK ER
JAN U AR Y 15,2024

4 G OING S O N
7 THE TALK O F THE TO W N
AmyDavidson Sorkin ona verybigelect i
onyear;
Broadwayvs.pedicabs;in thestudio with Tony Visconti
;
conveningthecof
feecognoscent
i;L ee G rantlooksback
PERS ONAL HIS TORY
Jon L eeAnderson 12 The LongW ay
Tal
esofateen-agewanderer.
ANNALS O F EDUCATION
AlecM acG illis 20 Showing Up
How shouldwetackleschoolabsenteeism ?
LETTER F ROM TEXAS
Stephania Taladrid 26 The LifeoftheM other
O newomansperilouspregnancy.
PROF ILES
Julian L ucas 34 ShamelesslyD ram atic
TheplaywrightBrandenJacobs-Jenkins.
F ICTION
Joy W illiams 4 4 “The B each H ouse”
THE CRITICS
A CRITIC AT LARG E
DanielImmerwahr 5 0 E mpireasseenbyFrantz Fanon andIan Fleming.

B OOKS
55 B rieflyN oted

O N AND O F F THE M ENU

Hannah G oldjield 5 6 Theintox icatingappealof a
pssionfruit.
DANCING
JenniferHomans 5 8 BijayiniSatpathyandIndian cl
assi
caldance.
M US ICAL EV ENTS
Alex R oss 60 Theo
frmidableachievementsofG eorgeL ewis.

POEM S
C atherineBarnett 38 “ThoughtE xperim ent”
R ichardSiken 4 7 “P iano Lesson”

COV ER
BarryBlitt “B ack to the F uture”

DRAW ING S JoeDat

or, HarryBli
ss, E dHimelblau, M addieDai,
Anj aliC handrashekar, L ynn Hsu, M ike Twohy, E milyBernstein, R ich Sparks, FarleyK atz,
E dwardFrascino, DanielK anhai, P atAchilles,Justin Sheen SPOTS E rrata C armona
 THE
NEW YO RKER
A podcast
forthe
cul turally
curious.
Join TheN ew Y orkers
crit
icsforaweekly
conversationaboutbooks,
fil
m,television, andpop
culture. H ostedbythe
staffwritersV inson
C unningham,N aomiF ry,
andA lexandraSchwartz.
Listen w herever yo u get
yo ur po d c a sts.
Sc a n to listen .
To fin d a ll o fThe New Yorker'
visitn ew yo rker.c o m /po d c a sts.
CONTRIBUTORY
Stephania Taladrid (<TheL ife ofthe Julian Lucas (<ShamelesslyDramatic,=
M other,=p.26), a contributing writer, p.3 4) becameastaffwriteratthemag­
wasnam ed aP ulitzerP rize finalistin azine in 2021.
2023 forherreporting on the fallof
R oev.W ade.F abriceR obinetcontrib­ A lecM acG illis (<Showing Up,=p.20),
uted additionalresearch forthispiece. areporterforP roP ublica,mostrecently
published“F ulfillment.”Thisarticleis
Jon Lee A nderson (<TheL ong W ay,= acollaborationbetween TheN ew Y orker
p.12),astaffwriter,began contributing and P roP ublica.
to TheN ew Y orkerin 1998 .
C atherine B arnett(Poem,p.3 8) isthe
JoyW illiams(Fiction,p.4f) haspub­ authoroffourcollections ofpoem s,
lished ten books offiction, including including“H um an H ours”and“Solu­
thestorycollection“TheV isitingP riv­ tions forthe P roblem ofB odies in
ilege”and the novel“H arrow.” Space,”due outthis spring.
M ichaelSchulm an (The Talk ofthe D anielImm erwahr(A C riticatL arge,
Town,p.8) isastaffwriter. H islatest p.56) teacheshistory atN orthwestern
book,“O scarW ars,”cameoutlastyear. University and isthe authorof“H ow
to H ide an E m pire.”
H annah G oldfield (O n and O ffthe
M enu,p.5 6),astaffwriter,coversfood A lexandra Schwartz (The Talk ofthe
culture forthe magazine. Town, p.11) joined the m agazine in
R ichard Siken (Poem,p.47) isapoet,
2013and becameastaffwriterin 2016.
apainter, and afilmmaker. H isbooks JenniferH om ans (Dancing,p.58), the
include “C rush,”selected forthe Y ale magazine’sdance critic, isthe author
SeriesofY oungerP oetsprize,and the of,m ostrecently,“M r. B :G eorgeB al­
forthcoming“I D oKnow SomeThings.” anchine’ s20th C entury.”
THU W EEK ON NEW YORKER.COM
T
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A
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/
N
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T
S
R
E
H
THE POLITICAL 5CENE PER5ON5 OF INTERE5T T
A
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H
B enjamin W allace-W ellswrites KatyW aldman on the autofictionist :
T
H
GI
aboutthe turn ofIowa’ sreligious Kate Zambreno’ spandemic-era shift R
;
righttoward D onald Trump. from the inward to the communal. E
L
A
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O
DownloadtheN ew Y orkerappforthelatestnews, commentary, cri
ticism, J
T
F
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s po d c a sts, andhumor,plusthisweek’smagaz ineandalli ssuesbackto2008. L

THE M AIL
UNDER5TANDING CANCER
SiddharthaM ukherjee,in hispieceon
the rootcauses ofcancer, describes a
m om entofrevelation, when he came
tounderstand thatmutationsthatgive
risetocancerlielatentuntilthe“insult”
ofinflammationoccurs(“SleeperC ells,”
D ecember18 th). H e tracesthe devel­
opm entofthatidea m ostly through
epidemiologicalstudies. B utit’salso
interesting to considerone beautiful
experiment,bySalvadorLuriaandM ax
D elbriick, in 194 3,thatprovided clean
datasupportingtheideaofpreexisting
mutations.LuriaandD elbriickshowed
that,inbacteria,selectivepressuredoes
notinducemutations;rather,thepres­
sure revealsthe cellsin which m uta­
tionsalready exist. (W hen aviruswas
introduced into apetridish, itkilled
bacteria thatlacked disease-resistant
m utations, leaving behind organisms
that, by chance, had these mutations.
The virus merely “selected”forresis­
tantbacteria.) F urther,theexperiment
demonstrated the randomnessofm u­
tagenesis;them utation ratefluctuated
randomly. F ortheircontributions to
genetics, the authors shared a N obel
P rize. W ith the pow erful D N A -
sequencing m ethods available today,
a sim ilar experim entm ightbe run
on m am m alian cells to reveallatent
vulnerabilities.
Hugh Y oungR ienhojf,Jr. , M .D.
San C arlos, C alif.
M O RAL TRADITIONS
I agreewith many ofM asha G esseris
conclusionsintheirbrilliantessayTnthe
Shadow ofthe H olocaust”(newyorker.
com/gessen-on-gaza-and-the-holocaust).
H owever, I think thatthe piece’ sdis­
cussion oftheB iblicallegend ofA m a-
lek— inwhich G odissuesacommand­
m entforthe Israelitesto annihilate a
warring tribe— m ighthave overstated
thelegend’ scentralityintheJewishre­
ligioustradition.The story ofA malek
wasthe firstTorah lesson thatG essen
received, atthe age offourteen; today,
N etanyahucitesitasjustificationforhis
THE
NEW YO RKER
TH4
assaulton G aza. B ut,in the contextof
the restofthe B ible, itisa m inorep­
isode, and one thathasbeen interro­ Nl
WYOH MIl
RADIO
gatedbyB iblicalscholarsasfarbackas
M aimonides. Itisadistortion ofB ib­
HOUR
licalmoralteachingsforN etanyahuto W M YCSTU D OS
rank the annihilation ofanotherpeo­
pleasamajorcommandment, asifthe
F ICTION
TenC ommandments,theprophets’les-
sonsaboutsocialjustice, and the par­
adigm ofthe liberation from slavery
in the story ofE xodus, am ong other P odcasts
touchstones,weresomehow secondary.
Aaron M anson
Hastings-on-Hudson, N .Y .
thatinform,
A l I
N HEALTH CARE entertain,
A fterreading C harlesD uhigg’
aboutM icrosoft’
spiece
sbetonO penA I,I re­
anddeli ght.
mainpessimisticabouttheideaofatech
futurerunbySam A ltman,KevinScott, W hetheryou’
reinterested
and theirinvestors (“The O ptim ists,”
D ecember11th). In apitch to D uhigg inpoliticalanalysisfrom
aboutthetransformativepossibilitiesof W ashington,freshperspectives
A .I., Scottcriticizes the U.S. medical
system,citing an incidentinwhich his onculture,orin-depth
m otherwaited in an emergency room literarydiscussions,explore
forsevenhours,thenleftwithoutbeing
seen.“The rightC opilot”— likeaspe­ N ew Y orkerpodcaststo find
cialized version ofC hatG P T— “could greatconversations
have diagnosed the whole thing, and
written heraprescriptionwithin m in­ and storytelling.
utes,”he told D uhigg. B utthe current
health-care system failspatients pre­
cisely because the people who design
itandrun itareprofit-drivenbusiness­
menlikeScott,notclinicians.G iventhe
Nt
wydnMR
extensiveandever-growingbodyoflit­
erature aboutthe grim externalitiesof
for-profithealth care— and itspush to
getdoctors to spend aslittle tim e as THE W RITER
possiblewithpatients— itisdepressing V OICE
to read aboutatech executiveglossing
overtherootcausesofthisdysfunction.
Avelina Bardwell, M .D. Ava ila ble w herever yo u
Santa Fe, N .M . getyo ur po d c a sts.
L ettersshould besentwith the writer’
sname,
address,anddaytimephonenumbervia e-mailt o
themail@ newyorker.com.L ettersmay beedited
forlength and clarity, and may bepublished in
anymedium.W eregretthatowingt othevolume
ofcorrespondencewecannotrepl yt
oeveryl et
ter.
Sc a n to listen .
 agasp-inducing speech from "M acb eth/ this
disquisition seemsmoresuited to alecture hall
G OING S ON than thestage.— Dan Stahl(DR 2;t
hroughFeb.25.)

JA N UA R Y 10 - 16, 2024 ja zz | In 2021, aseverecaraccidentleftthealto

saxophonistLa ke c ia Be n ja m in with afractured
collarbone,afracturedjaw, and abroken shoul­
derblade, prom pting aneed notjustto reset
butto be reborn. The album she was touring
atthe tim e, "P ursuance,”from 2020, honored
the legacies ofA lice and John C oltrane with
W hat
, werewatching, listeningt
a, anddoingthisweek. thoughtfulreimaginingsoftheirwork; butinthe
wakeofthe accidentB enjamin desired to more
clearly commune with others in hercomposi­
M e she ll Nd e g e o c e llo i
sthe m ostsignificantbassistthis country has tions. "P hoenix,”herfirstalbum since, ispro­
produced since the adventofC harles M ingus and F lea. B nt, unlike gressive spiritualjazz thatrevelsin resurgence.
The transcendentalmusic— constructed around
those innovators, N degeocello, who perform s an upcom ing Series collaborationswith thescholarA ngelaD avis,the
ofshows atthe tab led jazz club B lue N ote, doesn’treally stick to jazz pianistP atriceR ushen, thepoetSoniaSan­
one genre. Iler incredibly m usicalearand voice— she’ safine singer, chez, the late saxophonistW ayne Shorter, and
m ore— blendsherformidableinstinctsasastar­
too— takesfrom jazz, soul, pop, and opera (asin hertribute toJam es in-waitingwithherimmenseimpulsetovenerate
B aldwin) to make sounds thatare resonantnotonly otthe tim esb ut othergreats.— Shel donPearce(Birdland;Jan.14. )
othervery deep and com passionate soul. N degeocellos latestalbum,
| B eth M orrison and Kristin
c l a s s ic a l m us ic
the sensational“The O m nichord R ealB ook,”isa testam entto her M arring havelodged them ultidisciplinary P ro ­
continued belietthatm usic,like life, only gets betterwhen we make to ty pe Fe stiva l, which they founded in 2013, in
ittogether— HiI tonA Is(BlueN ote;Jan.9-14.) N ew Y ork’sclassicalscene, on the strength of
theirunflinching beliefin the powerofcon­
tem porary opera. This year’slineup explores
religious and folk mythologiesofwomanhood
("Terce:A P racticalB reviary”and "M alinxe1' )
and the human effectsofthewaron terrorand
thedeathofcapitalism ("A doration”and ' ‘C hor-
nobyldorf' ) -“The theme, ifthere isone/M ar­
ring says, is thatof"an outsidertrying to find
theirrelationship to the forcesofasociety that
isdifferentfrom them .”F orM orrison, it’sthe
prerogative ofliving composers to illum inate
suchissueswith amusicallanguagethatlisten­
ershearastheirown:"W e’re telling thestories
ofourtime in ourvernacular.11— O ussama Zahr
(Variousvenues;sel ectdatesJan.10-21.)

da n c e | The curator ofthis year’sA m e ric a n

AB O UT TO V N
a rt | F orthree decades,A n -M y Le hasinter­
rogated the representation ofwarthrough the
preenactm ents and reenactm ents ofarm ed
conflict: staged b attles, training exercises,
film sets, and the m yriad ways in which it
is perform ed, rehearsed, or m ythologized.
The work on view in “A n -M y Le : Be tw e e n Tw o
R iv e rs '1 charts how conflictem beds itselfin
b oth physical and psychologicalterrains.
E ven as Le’s photographs reduce hulking
aircraftcarriers to toylike size, her closeup
portraits ofrank-and-file soldiers and tech
nictans evince an expansive em pathy forher
hum an subjects. In one im age, assailors set
up a shooting range, their bodies m ap onto
the contours oftheir targets'silhouettes a
little too precisely. Les photographs function
asan actofrepair, uncovering sub terranean
histories in order to witness them anew.—
Dennis Zhou (M O M A; through M arch 16.)
o ff | F or som eone who regularly
Br o a d w a y
playsbad guys— including aTony-nom inated
turn asH adesin "H adestown”— P atrickP ageis
dam n likable. H isgentlem anly charm and rav­
ishing basso profundo servehim wellin hissolo
show. "All th e De vils Are He re ," tnwhichhemakes
the caseforShakespeare asthe inventorofthe
psychologically complex villain. This baseline
appeal, togetherwith P age’spassion and feel
forthe m aterial, on display in monologuesor
dialoguesasR ichard III, Iago, and others, keeps
theaudienceon hissideevenwhendoubtsoccur.
W hataboutM edea?A nd why includeM aivolio
butnot, say, B rutusorC assius?D espite Simon
G odwin’swell-paced direction, which buildsto
D a n c e P la tfo rm , M el
anie G eorge, starts with
herown field ofexpertise— jazz dance— and
expandsfrom there.The firstofthree programs
combinestheD ormeshiaTap C ollective,paying
fierytribute to under-recognized B lackfemale
hoofers,with the elegantjazz-vernacularm ed­
itations ofJosette W iggan and the second-line
strutting ofM ichelle N . G ibson. O ther pro­
gramsfeature SolesofD uende, atrio ofacesin
tap,flamenco,and kathakwho shareagregarious
spirit, and D allasB lackD anceTheatre, bringing
new workbyC hanelD aSilvaand N orbertD eLa
C ruz III.— Bri anSeibert(JoyceTheat
re;Jan.9-14.)
| In 198 1, afterseeing dance perfor­
m o v ie s
mancesby P ina B ausch’sTanz theater, C hantal
A kerman m ade a choreographic film ofher
own, “To ute U n e N uiF ("O ne W hole N ight”),
am odernistm elodrama aboutthe varieties of
romance unfolding on ahotsummernight, in
severalneighborhoods in her hom e town of
B russels. The movie (scantly released in the
U.S. and screening in M O M A ’sprogram "To
Y
Save and P roject/which runsJan. 11-F eb. 4 ) is A
R
builtfrom a crisscrossing series ofencounters G
E
L
oflovers, whetherlongtim ers reconnecting or L
E
l
new ones m eeting, in cafes and corridors, in R
A
taxis, byphone. W ith acastofseventy-five,A k- Y
B
erm an films the roundelay ofmad dashes and H
P
timid introductions,ardentembracesand tender A
R
dances, in the form ofstylized gesturesthat— G
O
T
asin B ausch’swork— are both banaland sub­ O
H
lime.— R i
chardBrody(M O M A;Jan.23 andFeb.4. ) P

THE NEW YO IUEIL JANUARY 15,2024

 PI
CK THREE
ThestaffwriterP arulSehgal
sharesthreeofherav
f orite novellas.

1.Lat
ely, I’ve encountered too m any lapsed
readers.They bem oan how they used to read,
and would read, b utsince the pandem ic—
orcue any contem porary horror— the active
surrender thatreading requires (especially
fiction) feels too absorbing, too risky when
one m ustm aintain a state ofconstant alert.
O ver the holidays, I gifted the lapsed read­
ers in my life three novels— allshort, recent
(allowing my m alingering readers to justify
them asakind of"news/which, ofcourse,they
menu:eschewing the dinerconvention are) , and, m ostim portant, irresistib le. The
TABLES F OR TW O first, “ G h a c h a r G h o c h a r,” byV ivek Shanbhag,
otcalling things “hom em ade’’even translated from the Kannada into E nglish by
when they' re fresh oftthe Sysco truck, Srinath P erur, isthe story ofthe breakdown
O ld John’sD iner cooksatthe new O ldJohn' smake ital l ofam arriage, and itis a perfectpiece oflit­
14 8 W. 67 th St
. rightthere, from scratch.T he chicken-
erature-sw ift and harrowing, constructed
out ofthe sim plestlanguage and the m ost
It 1were to scrollback through m y noodle soup 1ate was soul-warm ing, inextricable m oraltangles.
life, tallying every dinermeal, every tat with curlyegg noodles,hunksotcarrot,
bythe Irish writer
2.“ Sm a ll Th in g s Like Th e s e ,"
ceramic mug otwatery coflee, 1think and threadsofwhitem eatheld in arich C laire Keegan, feelslike acousin to "G hachar
they m ightnum berin the thousands. golden broth; the lem on-m eringue pie G hochar,”with itsvelocity and itsplain, radi­
M ym ostrecentdinercheeseburgerwas was impeccable, abuttery crumb crust antprose. A coalm erchantdiscoversayoung
womanimprisoned in aconvent.A swith Shan­
atO ld John’ s,on the UpperW estSide, and pucker-tartyellow curd under a bhag snovel, weseean entire socialorderand
which torseventv-oddyearshasbeen a snowcap otfloatymeringue. a history m ade m anifest— or rebuked— in a
spark otlite in die strangely antiseptic D inerfoodshould notbeexcellent— single m om ent, in acharacter’ssingle choice.
m icro-neighborhood around Lincoln itcertainly
J should notincludeoneotthe 3.E va B altasar’
s“Bo uld e r," translated from the
C enter/I herestaurantclosed,seemingly bestlem on-m eringuepiesI' veeverhad, C atalan byJulia Sanches, isthe mostrecent
forgood,in2020,one otthecity’ sthou­ norsatinyi cecream madein-house,nor ofthe three— aragged, sensuous story. R ead
itlast. A fterthe two previous books thatare
sands otpandem ic-era small-business tendermeatloafbearing zero traces ot very much aboutmisogyny, here youwillmeet
casualties, only to be taken overand freezerburn, noractually well-crafted agorgeously untethered wom an wondering
reopened by aform eremployee, Louis cocktails. B utthe boothsatO ld John' s justwhatto do with herfreedom . A b ook
aboutnew life foranew year.
Skibar,now asuccessfil lrestaurateurwho areamix ofold-timersdoddering,hustle
) co-ownsthcToloacheR estaurantG roup. brosconspiring,parentscorralling kids,
M
O 1 henew O ldJohnsi sverymuch li ke and solo dinersnursing theirfourth cup
T
T
O
B
( the old. iheneon clockisstillthere,as otcoffee,exactlyasadinershould be—
A
L
R istheblack-and-whitemosaicfloor,but though the coffee isrich and aromatic,
A
S Skibarbrightened up the place, swap­ and theexperiencenotmerelypleasingly
U
S
;
A
K
I
ping outdark wood veneertorwhite tolerable butactively nice. D espite the
R T
E
K
T
U tiling and giving the restaurant’ sname excellence ofthe soup and the pie, the
R R
O
Y
K
;
)
aface-lift: form erly O ld John’ sLun­ burgeratO ldJohn' sismerelyfine/P his
W P
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N
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(
cheonette, it’ snow— less charm ingly isn' ta knock againstthe place; fine i s
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N but, as its open until 10 P .M ., m ore exactlywhata dinersburgeroughtto
T A
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honestly-— O ld John’ sD iner. H appily, be. O ld Johns isone ofthe bestdiners
F
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T H relievingly, noneotthe changesmake it I ve been to, butitremainsvery much
Y P
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W
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T feelatal lm odern:diners,asacategory, adiner,which i sto say thatit’saflaw­
S
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H are time machines, fuelled by m em ory less restaurantityoure already in the
D C
A Y otpastdecadesand pastselves. neighborhood and need aplace to eat.
Y B
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N The idealota diner— its prom ise, It'swarm, it'sopen, itexistsoutside the
A O
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A its function— isnotto begreatbutto flow ottim e, itseasy, itsrightthere. N E W Y O R K E R .C O M /G O
R
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bethere.A tO ld John’ s,partotSkibar' s (Dishes$8-$3 0. ) Sign up to receive the G oings O n newsletter,
H L
P L
I revam p has included upgrading the — -HelenR osner curatedbyourwritersand editors, in yourin-box.

THE NEW YOKKEft,JANUARY 15h 2024 5

 THE NEW YORK ER

DOCUMENTARY
academy aw ard® shortlist BestDocument
aryShortFilm

F
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DANCOGAN
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. S T O R Y S Y N D IC A T E
------ " A N D P H A IR IE E N T E R T A IN M E N T .
B E T T E R W O R L D P R O J E C T S A P E R A L T A P IC T U R E S
--- A R L O W A S H IN G T O N ? C H R IS T IN A A V A L O S
: D W Y A N E W A D E , J O N M A R C U S , L IZ O A R B U E ,
D A N C O Q A N , J O N B A R D IN . IA N
C O H E N , M E Q A N M A T T H E W S , JU L E S H O
• . V IR G IN E D A N G L A D E G , A N D R E W SA U NDER G O N
TO N Y H A R D M O N J O N G N IC O O N T E M P S

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 THE TALK OF THE TOW N

COM M ENT tionhasthecapacitytobringaboutreal themoodonthestreet,willrevealsome­

THE BI
G V OTE change, in terms ofpolicy and who is thingaboutP utin’ sholdonpower.(Iran,
inpower.P utanotherway,thestability whereelectionsarecontested among a
emocracy,accordingto manyob­ ofdemocraciesdependson the capac­ very lim ited spectrum ofcandidates,
D servers, isnow in the hands ofa ity ofelectionsto be destabilizing. A n
smallband ofvoters in a half-doze enlection thatdoesn’
tinvolvesomerisk,
willfaceaparalleltestthatsamemonth,
following a year ofm ass protests.)
swing states, whose feelings about to someone, ishardly anygood. M eanwhile,Ukraine’ sP resident,V olo­
D onaldTrumpwilldeterminewhether Those risks should be aboutout­ dymyrZelensky,hassaidthathedoesn’ t
itenduresorfalls. F rom thatperspec­ comes and not, ofcourse, aboutthe intend foran election scheduled for
tive,alltheothervotingacrossthecoun­ dangersofvoting orofrunning in the M arch totakeplace,because,giventhe
try thisyear, beginning with the Iowa firstplace.B angladeshgottheelection war,itwouldbe“absolutelyirresponsi­
caucuses, nextweek,ismerely agruel­ yearstarted onJanuary7 th,afterabit­ bleto throw thetopicofelectionsinto
ling prelude to the tensewait, on N o­ tercampaign in which the opposition society in a lighthearted and playful
vember5 th, forresultsfrom M aricopa complained ofpoliticized arrests and way.’’Thatchoicem aybe comprehen­
C ounty and the P hiladelphia suburbs. calledforaboycottofthevote.B utde­ sible.Y etitstillfeelslikealoss,andpos­
M uchdoesdependonthosevoters.B ut mocracyis,in anumberofrespects, in sibly atragedy.
democracy’ sstruggleswillplay outon an even more perilous state in R ussia, The singlelargestelection thisyear,
afarvasterfield.Thanks to an align­ whereV ladimirP utin willalmostcer­ spanningA prilandM ay,willbeforIn­
m entofcalendars, 2024 willsetarec­ tainly be re-anointed in an election in dia’sLokSabha,thelowerhouseofpar­
ord forthe greatestnum berofpeople M arch; themanwho m ighthavebeen liament,whosefi vehundredandforty-
livingin countriesthatareholding na­ hismostpotentchallenger,A lexeiN a­ three m em bers represent1.4 billion
tionwideelections:morethan fourbil­ valny,iscurrently an inmate atapenal people. The sprawling campaign will
lion,orjustoverhalfofhumanity.E ven colony in Kharp, in W estern Siberia. determinewhetherN arendraM odire­
more dependson them. Still,theturnoutofR ussianvoters,and mains P rim e M inister(itwould be a
Thisyearisaboutvoting, in allits shockifhe didn’ t) and ifhisB haratiya
hazardous glory. There are different Janata P arty willbe forced to form a
waysofcounting,butTheE conomisthas coalition (possible).This election will
tallied seventy-six countrieswhere the closely follow one in P akistan, which
wholeeligiblepopulationhasthechance hasbeen shaped by the criminalcon­
tovote,eveni f,asin B razil,it’
sonlyfor victionandimprisonmentoftheoppo­
localoffices.(Thatelection,inO ctober, sition leader, form erP rim e M inister
should serve asam idterm assessment Im ran Khan. P akistan mayalso offera
A
ofP residentLuisInacioLuladaSilva.) harbingerofthe rise ofartificialintel­
D
N
E The countriesinvolved— from A lgeria ligenceinelections:Khan,whohasbeen
Z
A
F toIceland,Indonesia,andV enezuela— blocked from m aking cam paign and
O
A
O
arestartlinglyvaried,includingin their broadcastappearances,releasedavideo
J
Y
B
commitmentto actualdemocracy. The with A .I.-generated audio ofhim self
S
N E conomistratedforty-threeoftheelec­ giving aspeech.
O
I
T
A tionsasfreeandfair,withflawsevenin The second-largestelection willbe
R
T
S
U
the freest, ours am ong them . O ne of forthe parliam entofapolity thatis
L
L
I TheE conomist'stestsiswhetheranelec­ still, in manyways, being formed:the

THE N EV YORKER,JANUARY I5,2024 7

E uropean Union. Thatelection will
be held in June, across twenty-seven
countries. M em bers ofthe E uropean
P arliam entcaucus notby country b ut
by transnationalm eta-party— b oth
F rance’sR enaissance and G erm any’
F reeD em ocratsarepartofthe R enew
E urope group, forexample.The elec­
tion willhelp to setE urope’spriorities,
notablywith regard to Ukraine. Itwill
also be a b arom eter ofthe political
m oods ofE uropean nations, m any of
which are regarded as restless; right­
wing populistswon a surprise victory
in the N etherlands lastyear. (In the
United Kingdom , which leftthe E .U.,
P rim e M inisterR ishiSunak hasuntil
January, 2025 ,to callnew elections.)
In N orth A m erica, M exico will
chooseasuccessorto P residentA ndres
M anuelLopez O b radorin June; the
leading candidates are two wom en,
C laudiaSheinbaum andX ochidG alvez.
N otcountingtheE .U.’ sjointpoll,how­
ever,the continentwith the m ostelec­
tionsin2024 isA frica— eighteenby The
E conomist'stally— though som e have
yetto be scheduled. O ne ofthe m ore
closelywatchedwillbein SouthA frica,
s where the A frican N ationalC ongress
hasasignificantchanceoflosingpower
forthe firsttim ein thirtyyears,largely
because votersview itsleaders ascor­
rupt. In South Sudan, where an elec­
tion thatwas originally scheduled for
2015 is supposed to take place in D e­
cember,the question iswhetherpeople
willgetto vote foranybody atall.
M eanwhile, an unusualnum berof
C hineseobservationballoonshavebeen
spotted overTaiwan, which is in the
m idstofa three-way race for a new
P resident,tobedecidedonJanuary13th.
In caseanyonemissedthemessage,one
C hineseofficialsaid,accordingto R eu­
ters, thatpeople in whathe called “the
Taiwan region”oughtto “m ake a cor­
rectchoice,”and suggested thatthe
wrong choice could lead to war. Lai
C hing-te,ofTaiwan’ sgoverningD em ­
ocraticP rogressiveP arty,isseen asless
conciliatory toward C hina than H ou
Y ou-ih, ofthe Kuom intang. The polls
arevery close.
The obvious question is: O fthese
dozens ofelections,which isthe m ost
im portant?W e m ightbe inclined to
say thatours is, because we are the
United States, and because ofallthat
Trum p m ightdo. B utwe don’ tknow
w hatcrises and trium phs willresult
from electionselsewhere,orwhatgoing
to the polls m ightm ean foranother
nation’ srise, even aswe contem plate
where ourcountry is in the arc ofits
worldsignificance.W edon’ tknow what
the effectwillbe— dem oralizing, un­
settling, orinspiring— ofm onth after
m onth ofelection news.M ostofall,in
agoodm anyplaces,wedon’ tknow who
isgoing to win.
— -AmyDavidson Sorkin

THE BOARDS said.“A nd there’

spredatorypricing.I’ ve beaudibleduringaperformance.That’ s
NOISE O N W HEELS heardstoriesofpeoplepayinghundreds justnotcool!”
ofdollars to go a few blocks.”O nly a The pedicab playlistscanbejarring.
smallnum berofpedicabsarelicensed, The H ayes Theatre, w hich recently
heexplained.Two daysearlier,in asting housedtheperiod farce“The C ottage,”
operation,theN .Y .P .D .had seizedsev­ setin the C otswolds in 1923, is across
enty-sevenillegalpedicabsin m idtown. thestreetfrom “A B eautifulN oise:The
C urbside skirm ishes are com m on. N eilD iam ond M usical,”where pedi­
imes Square, on itsbestdays, isa Lastspring, the proprietors ofG lass cabs strategically blast“SweetC aro­
T hive ofcontrolled chaos, where H ouseTavern,onF orty-seventh Street,
tourists,cabbies,actors,E lm os,and the
com plained on Instagram ab outthe
line.”“It’sfrustrating, because som e­
tim esthatnoisewilltakethe audience
N aked C owboy manage atenuousco­ horde ofpedicabs causing “dangerous outofthe m om ent,”Jim Joseph, who
existence.A new elem entcanupsetthe situations forpedestrians”and being operates the H ayes, said. O utside
ecosystem.W itnesstheproliferation of “verbally abusive to our staff”as the “G utenberg!The M usical!,”pedicabs
m usic-blaring pedicabs, which lately driverswaited forthe musical“Six”to played spooky musicon H alloween so
haveturnedfrom raretreatto swarm— letoutnextdoor. G lass H ouse posted loudly thatA ndrew R annellsandJosh
somesayscourge.“I’ veseenpedicabsin asignwarning touristsaboutthepedi­ G ad improvisedjokesaboutitonstage.
the city forovertw enty years,”Tom cabs’nine-dollar-per-m inute rate; in Lastsummer,whilethecom edianA lex
H arris, the presidentofthe Tim es apparentretaliation,the restaurantwas E delm anwasperform ing“JustforUs,”
SquareA lliance,saidthe otherday.H e besieged with negative reviewsonline. his solo show ab outJewish identity,
was nearthe TKTS b ooth, am id the N oise isabig issue.The police raid hecouldhearpedicabs’musicfrom be­
holiday throngs. “R ecently, the behav­ cametwo weeksafterthe city council­ hindthestagewall.H erecalled,“Some­
iorhaspushed itto apointwhere it’ s m an E rikB ottchersentaletterto three tim es I’
d be in a quietm om entin the
notan am enity— it’ sadetraction from city agencies reporting an “uptick in show and hear”— he broke into A licia
the quality oflife.” com plaints,”in partbecause ofam pli­ Keys— “ Tn N ew Y ork! C oncretej ungle
H arris(trenchcoat,B rooklynaccent) fied m usic thatis“frequently audible wheredreamsaremadeoj TT\\ey were
hasoverseenagrowingturf warbetween duringperformances,”hewrote.B road­ an om nipresentthreat.”
the bicycle-drawn carriages and the wayactorshavemessagedhim onInsta­ The problem is acute at“H ow to
B roadway comm unity. “They congre­ gram aboutit. H e urged strongeren­ D ance in O hio,”a new musical, atthe
gate around theatresatthe end ofthe­ forcem entofexisting regulations and B elasco,withautisticcastmembers.“W e
atre tim es. They alm ostblock up the possibly new legislation. “Ifyou’ re fol­ haveworkedveryhardtomaketheshow
entirestreet.Theirsoundisblastingout­ lowing the rules, I really don’ thave a accessibleforaudienceswho have sen­
side even before the show letsout,”he problem ,”he said. “B utthey shouldn’ t soryissues,sohavingthem comeoutto

8 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024

this blaring wallofpedicabs is really mission to try “oxy oralcohol”instead.
detrim ental,”F iona R udin, aproducer, H arford did. Itscanned.
said. O ne night, she recalled, an em o­ “Srz/Z-iant,”V iscontisaid.
tionalscene, in which an autistic pet­ A fterH arford finished a take, V is­
store employeeisberated by asupervi­ conticracked a smile and said, “I’ d like
sor,wasdisruptedbyapedicab boom ing totryalitdeexperiment.”O noneline— “I
“Single Ladies.” used to drink pink gin”— he suggested
H arrishelpedarrangebarricadesout­ thatH arford try speaking, ratherthan
side the B elasco, pushing the pedicabs singing,thelasttwowords.H e dem on­
acrossthe street.“W e tried to getthem strated it, and H arford repeated itback.
to turn down the music, and theyjust P ink gin, pink gin.
wouldn’tcom ply,”he said. A tinsel- M uldoon said,“C hris,putitin your
bedecked pedicab stopped atalighton norm alN ew Jersey accent.”(H arford
SeventhA venue,playingadanceremix grew up in P rinceton.)
of“JingleB ells”atareasonablevolume. “I’m coachinghim forD ylan,I’m so
H arriswaspleasedto seeabadgearound sorry,”V iscontisaid.“It’ skind ofasilly
thedriver’sneck.“Y ou’ reoneofthefew thing.I don’ twantto m akeadealofit.”
thatarelicensed,”he said. H arford tried again. “P ink gin.
“It’snoteasy,”the driver, M ustafa, Tony Visconti P ink gin.”
said.H e’d cometo N ew Y orkfrom Tur­ V isconti:“Say italittle louder.”
keythirtyyearsago anddroveataxibe­ how you getthe low E . They’ ve been “P ink gin.”
fore the pandem ic, when he switched doing itforcenturies.” “Say italittle quieter.”
to apedicab.“Thisisanim m igrantjob,” V isconti, who willturn eighty this “P ink gin.”
hesaid.B utunlicenseddrivershavehurt spring,hasbeen doing it— in thiscase, “O ne m ore tim e and elongate it.”
hisbusiness;he’ d alm ostcometo blows producingrecords— forsix decades.H e “P ink gin.”
with one.“I havetwo kids. F irsttim e I m ade hisreputation with M arc B olan “I love it. I fucking loveit!”
ask N ew Y ork State forSN A P help.” andT.R ex,andwithD avidB owie(V is­ “The pink-gin brigade isgoing to
A notherpedicab spedby,blaringW ill contiproduced halfofhis studio al­ be afterus,”M uldoon said.
Sm ith’s“M en inB lack.”“H ere’ sthedif­ bum s, including his finalone) , b utin H ewenton,“The songissetsom e­
ference— he’ sgotnolicense,”H arrisob­ theyearssincehasrangedfarandwide. where in the vicinity ofC leveland.”
served.“Thisislikeataleoftwo cities.” B y his count, he has m ade m ore than (The musicalsetting suggested M em ­
M ustafasaidthathewasgetting out two thousand tracks.H ewasin M ont­ phis,especiallyonceM ansfield im pro­
ofthe pedicab game; he’ d already sold clairto produce an album by R ogue vised some Stax-yfillson guitar,W ur-
two ofhisthreebikes.“I don’ tlikethis O liphant, a projectled by P aulM ul­ litzer, and B -3.)
job,”hesaid.“It’ stoo m uch hustle.V ery doon, the poet. M uldoon had written H arford sang ab itmore, then said,
bad environm ent.” lyrics and had convened the b and to “I don’ tknow ifI gotthatnote.”
— M ichaelSchulman composeandperform themusic.R ogue “C om e on,”V iscontisaid. “It’ sonly
O liphantisaconvocationofaces:W ar­ an A .”H e played an A on hisrecorder.
DEP T.O F JONG ren Zanes, C hris H arford, C aitO ’R i­ They’ d had fourdays in the studio
JK IN IN THE G AM E ordan, D avid M ansfield, and R ay to finish the tracks, rerecording parts
Kubian.M uldoon andthemusicians— and laying in new ones. This was the
allb utO ’R iordan, who wasin Ireland lastday.The album’ sworking titlewas
forthefuneralofherold P oguesband- “V isible from Space,”which was also
m ate Shane M cG owan— had shown thenameofthenextsongonthedocket.
up to add parts to ahalf-dozen songs. M uldoonwashereto opine,tweak,and
V isconti, in allblack, spun around savor, b utnotto boss. V iscontiwasin
ne afternoon lastm onth, ata re­ to face the controlpanel. The paper charge. M uldoon had asked his m an­
O cording studio in M ontclair,N ew cone, now on a coffee table, uncurled
Jersey,Tony V isconti, the record prao­
nd becam e a lyric sheetagain, fora
agerwhetherthere was any chance of
getting V iscontiand now feltveryfor­
ducer, satin a controlroom turning a song called “Skin in the G am e.”H e tunate to havehim .“W ewanted to see
lyric sheetinto a papercone. H e had gavedirectionsviaintercom to H arford, whatTony would do,”he said.
an alto recorderin hislap. H e inserted whowasinaremoteboothlayingdown “The group givesme permission to
the cone’snarrow end into the tip of theleadvocal.M uldoon,inaneasychair, alter,”V iscontisaid. “It’ smyjob to fix
the instrum ent’sfootjointand blew a appraised hisphrasings. A stanza kept songs. Someproducersaredictators.I’ ve
note.H ewastryingto illustrateapoint trippingH arfordup:“I usedtolikelong worked with producers who are utter
aboutsound:to createalowernotethan hours in court/In which they tried to arseholes.B utI’ m onthesideoftheband.”
the recorder’ stone holes would nor­ pin/A crimeonsomebodyinthrall/To O n the table, nextto the recorder,
mally allow,you couldjerry-rig an ex­ oxycontin oralcohol.’’Thelastlinewas was a deluxe b lack C D boxed set, a
tension.“Itaddslength,”hesaid.“That’ s amouthful.M uldoongaveH arfordper­ retrospective released in the fall, titled

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 9

“P roduced by Tony V isconti.”Itcon­ resented.Theirratingswoulddeterm ine
tainsseventy-seventracksbydozensof the winnerofthe eighth E rnesto Illy
artists, famous and obscure. V isconti’
s InternationalC offeeA ward.E achjuror
introduction, in the linernotes, ends hadbeenissuedacurved,Illy-designed,
with avow to keep m aking recordsfor low-scoop spoon,forprecision sipping,
aslongashisearsandbrain allow:“R e­ and an iP ad, forkeeping score.
tirem entisan unthinkableideato m e.” Theevaluatingninewere,perapress
Zaneswasinthebooth,singing“V is­ release,“m ultidisciplinary”and flownin
ible from Space,”and V iscontispenta from allovertheworld,and thus— for­
couple ofm inutestrying to gethim to tuitously— jet-lagged. The initialvibe
sing “the guy”astwo words instead of wasW illy W onka-esque. A life-style-
elidingthem into one. Zanessaid,over magazine editorfrom G erm anywasn’ t ofourclientele,”heexplained in Italian.
the intercom ,“W hatI’ vefound isthat, sure why she gotthe golden ticket:“I
when you stop trying to pleasepeople, lovecoffee.W ho doesn’ t?”A nothertes­
people aren’ tpleased.” terhadgoneforaquickbrushup atone
— N ickP aumgarten oflily’sseventeen UniversitadelC affe
branches. O n the otherhand, Sunalini
COF F EE NATIO N M enon, ofC offeelab, in B angalore, is
TA5TE TE5T world-renowned. Sheestimatesherca­
reerintake atnorth ofa m illion cups.
Thekeyto hersuccess?“Sipping,slurp­
ing, and looking wise thereafter.”
A lleyeswereon D avid B russa,lily’ s
chieftotal-qualityandsustainabilityof­
ficer. B russa, atrim m an in a navy suit
brewing.H ewasspeed-sippinghisway
throughtheofferings,againstthetrade­
m arkgurgleofan espresso-maker.(H is
tradem ark— his grandfatherinvented
the m odern machine, in 1935 .)
Illy wore an arabica-colored Zegna
suitwhosebuttonholeheldthesametiny
goldcupasB russa’ s.H esaidthathehad
woken thatm orning and flung offthe
falseluxury ofsleep with an A m erican
dripcoffee.“A mericansform alargepart
H e leaned forward, his eyesnarrowed,
his nostrils flared. H e held his tasting
spoon asfamiliarly asifithad been his
babyspoon,which itnearlywas:hehad
hisfirsttasteofcoffeeattwo and ahalf,
from hismamma.W hen aparticularcup
piquedhiscuriosity,hewouldaskhisba­
ristaforthe keyto the code.
“W hat’ sN o. 2?”
“R wanda.”
H iseyebrowsraised slightly(m ean­
ingunknown) .H e explainedtheorigin
ofthe tournam ent. In the early nine­

E
arly on a recentThursday m orn­ with atiny gold cup lapelpin, told the ties, the state ofthe coffee bean was
ing,ninecoffeeexpertsgatheredon judges to trusttheirinstincts and not abysmal. C offee isa com m odity busi­
the fortieth floorofthe E dition H ote
olverthink. A lso, sugarcould be found, ness, and, withoutenlightened leader­
in m idtown.Theirtaskwasto drink— in an emergency. E ighty-one cups of ship,bean growing isaraceto theb ot­
orsipat— twenty-sevencupsfrom nine cold-brewedcoffeearrived,spoonswere tom . To rally the suppliers, his father
differentcountries.Thefirstninewould raised, silence fell, and they were off. instituted acom petition.Theprizewas
becold-brewed;thenextnine,drip;the M eanwhile, the com pany’ sillustri­ notfiscalb utinspirational— bragging
finalnine, espresso.A llthe cupswould ouschairm an, A ndrea Illy, had quietly rights, basically. P roduction quality
benum bered,b utthetasterswould not snuck into a nook atthe back ofthe turned around, and so did the indus­
know whichcountriesthenumbersrep­ suitewhere baristasweregrinding and try— atleastin B razil.M oralextruded,
itwastim eto sipagain.C up N o.7 raised
an eyebrow,too— b utbeforeIlly could
finish hissethewasgone.
B ack to the m ain stage forthe last
cup ofthe espresso round. N ine tired
andwired cognoscenti.M enon’ sexper­
tisewasshowing— shehad arrangedher
firsteightcupsin apreciserow.F inally,
thelastespresso arrived andwasjointly
degusted. The judges gathered fora
photo, B russatabulated the results, and
thewinnerwas... wait!F irst,therewas
atrip acrosstown, to aU.N . convoca­
tion on coffee sustainability, with such
panelistsastheeconomistJeffreySachs.
Illy spoke: “W e allknow thatcoffee
makesuslivebetterand longer.There
aremanystudies.W edon’ thavetoprove
anything.”N ext,twenty-sevengrip-and-
grinswith the motivated growers. A nd
the G olden C up goesto ... ?N otyet!
B ack to F ifth A venue, foragala atthe
<E x cuseme, Ihavetogetupfora minute.Doyou mind watching N ew Y orkP ublicLibrary.Illywom en—
mylaptop, bagof r
peciousgems, andlifesavingsin cash? = A ndrea’ swifeanddaughter— dressedin
the com pany’ ssignature red.' !wo hun­
dredandthirtyotherattendees.R oughly
asmanyfiletsmignons.M any speeches.
F inally, N o. 9— B razil— wins!
A lter the U.N .,, the traffic, and die
photo ops,Illy needed aboost. C ansof
D ietC okewere piledon atable,butan
Illyespressoinapapercupwasbrought
to him .“Iti sdiequintessence, "hesaid.
H etookinthearoma.“D ry fruits,choc­
olate notes. Take a little sip. C oncen­
tratein dieretronasal. !hisi stheepiph­
any.’’H edrank.A merica, henoted,was
awork in progress:“Thirty years ago,
youused to drink coffeeasatuel. N ow
you drink itas a delicious product—
withm ilk.” B uthow coulddie U.S.make
the leap to Italian-levelsophistication?
“E ducation. E ducation. E duca­
tion,”he said. A nd lotsotespresso—
b utno milk.
— D.7 ?M ax
THE PICTURES
RETROS PECTIV E
L
eeG rant,the actorand director,gen­
erallyleavesherapartment,onW est
E nd A venue, once aweek, to go to P
lates.Inthefal l
,shordybeforeherninety-
eighth birthday, she made an exception
to attend the N ew Y ork F ilm F estival,
where the firsttwo films she directed
were being shown in the revivalsselec­
tion. G rantwore a red silky blouse, a
black skirt, and agrom m eted belt; her
silver-streaked hairhung overherfore­
headinbangs.1lervoicewasstrongand
warm , with a hintotrasp. “F rom my
heartto yours,”she told the audience.
F irstup:“The Stronger,”from 197 6,
alightiySapphicadaptation ofaStrind­
berg one-actabouttwo actresses in a
lovetriangle.N extwas“TellM eaR id­
dle,”aboutaJewish im m igrantcouple
who m etas revolutionaries in R ussia
and findthemselvesatem bittered odds
in theirold age.
A fterward, in apaneldiscussion led
bvJ
theTurnerC lassicM ovieshostA li-
cia M alone, G ranttalked abouthow
herdirecting careercame to be. “1was
in a m ovie called ‘Sham poo,’”G rant
said.The audiencecheered.“A nd W ar­
ren B eatty turned to meand said,' Lee,
you’ reforty-nind ’’N evermind thatshe
wenton to win the B estSupporting
A ctress O scartorherrole asaR epub­
lican housewife sm itten with B eattJv’ s
horndog hairdresser. “H e was saying,
'So long,baby!Thisi sI lollywood!’A nd
I wasreallyfifty.’The nextday,shegot
a callfrom the A m erican F ilm Insti­
tute. “ Theysaid,' D o you know any ac­
torswho would like to take adirecting
workshop?’A nd 1go, ‘ M e! ”
W hen diem om entcame,G rantfelt
underprepared. “1didn’ tknow which
end on the cam era was up,”she said.
She turned to F red M urphy, the cine­
m atographer on “TellM e a R iddle,”
who was sitting to herleft. “So itwas
F redwhosaid— well,whatdidyousay?”
“1justtold you itwas simple trigo­
nom etry,”M urphy said.
G rantdecam ped to C afe P aradiso
foracelebratorydinner.B rookeA dams,
who appeared in “TellM e aR iddle”as
thevivaciousgranddaughter,and isnow
a grandm other herself, was there. So
wereM aryB eth Y arrow,G rant’ sfriend
and producer, and Joe F eury, G rant' s told the m ourners thatB rom berg had
husband, whom she m etin the sixties
whiledoing amusical.“She hadon sail­
or’ sboots, asailor’stop,”he said.
O versteakandgingeral e,G rantrem ­
inisced. She wasborn Lyova H askell
i
R­ osenthal,andgrew up on 14 8 th Street
and R iverside.“M y fatherwasthe head
ofthe B ronx Y ,”she said. “M y m other
and hersister,F remo,camefrom O dessa,
becausethey were killing the Jews.”
In hermemoir,“1SaidYesto E verT y-
thing,”G rantwrites thatherm other
“was determ ined to plunge herhands
into mJv bab Jy fatand modelme into a
superior,beautifulbeing,who would ei­
therm arrv rich orrise above allothers
J
in the arts:ballet, theater.”G rantwent
with option two.A sateen, she studied
acting with Sanford M eisner atthe
N eighb orhood P layhouse, and m ade
her B roadway debut, in 194 9, as the
Shoplifterin “D etective Story.”W hen
she reprised the role in W illiam W y­
ler’s195 1 film adaptation, she won a
prize atC annes and earned an O scar
nom ination. “1was twenty-two,”she
said,laughingherthroatylaugh.“1didn’ t 'A ctually,rightnow,thisi snotabout
know whatthe O scarswere''
Thesameyear,shewasaskedto speak
ata memorialservice forablacklisted
actorwhom she had worked with on­
stage: “J. E dward B romberg, who was
partoftheG roup !heatre,”shesaid.“lie
wasin aplaythat1wasin thatmyhus­
band”— herfirst,A rnoldM anoft— “had
written.M y husband wa.saC ommunist,
and 1guess B romberg was, too.”G rant
L ee G rant
been terrified ofappearing in frontof
the H ouse U n-A m erican A ctivities
C ommittee;hehad abad heartandwor­
ried thatthe stressm ightkillhim.“The
nextday,1wasblacklisted,”shesaid.' A nd
fortwelveyears1didn’ twork.”
She was sum m oned by H UA C, too.
“M acho,fat,skinny,oldmen asking me
diestupidestquestions,’’sherecalled.She
refused to name names. “They wanted
to know itW illiam M orriswasaC om ­
munist. A nd 1laughed!”
Shewas finally taken oftthe black­
listin 1964 . “M y firstfilm job was '
In
theI leafofthe N ight, "shesaid.“N or­
manJewison,1laiA shby,theyknew all
aboutme.They called me in and said,
‘Lee, this isyourjob ifyou wantit. It’ s
aboutawom an who lostherhusband.’
A nd 1had lostm ine.”(D ivorce, in her
case, notmurder.)
D essertarrived. Y arrow gotup to
make atoast.“To ourdear, remarkable
Lee,mydearest,dearestfriend,”shesaid.
“W hataboutme?"F eurJvsaid.G rant
cracked up.
you,”Y arrow told him.
G rantrose. “This islike adream to
m e,”she said.
— -Alex andra Schwartz.
THE NEW YORKER.JANUARY 15.2024 I
 high school,mostlyfordrugs;I did acid
PERS ONAL HIS TORY andpot,likeeveryoneel se,butagirlonce
shotme up with heroin before archery
class.SeveralkidsI knew diedfrom over­
THE LONG W AY doses.A fterthat,myparentsdecided to
move again, and began looking fora
Adventuresofateen-ageworldt
ravel
ler. calm erplace to live. M y fathertook
earlyretirem entfrom hisF oreign Ser­
BY JO N LEE ANDERS ON vicejob— thinking, he often said later,
thatheneededto“savem e.”B utheand
mym otherwerealsotryingto savetheir
m arriage, which had becom e increas­
ingly strained during twenty years of
m oving around the world.
M y fatherhad alwaysbeen awan­
derer, the kind ofperson who’ d happily
getfrom oneplaceto anotherbytaking
afreighter.M ym other— achildren’ sau­
thorwho’ d published herfirstbook at
twenty-eight— had putherwork aside
to follow him . O n F oreign Service as­
signm ents, the two had lived in Trini­
dad, H aiti, E lSalvador, South Korea,
and C olom biabeforelandinginTaiwan
andIndonesia.A longtheway,they’ das­
sembledafamily.M ysisterM ichellewas
born in H aiti, where she gotinocula­
tionsfrom theE mbassy’ srecommended
physician— F rancoisD uvalier,thefuture
P apaD oc.Tinawasadopted duringthe
E lSalvadoryearsandM eiShan inTai­
wan. M y youngerbrother, Scott, and I
werebom in C alifornia, between over­
seaspostings.
M y m otherchose ournextdestina­
tion,theprettyV ictorian town ofLyme
R egis,ontheE nglish coast.LymeR egis
was fam ous for its cliffs and fossils,
andforbeingthesiteofthenineteenth­
century dram a thatunfolds in John
henI wastwelveyearsold,in1969, I ran awayfrom hom eseveraltimes, F owles’snovel“TheF renchLieutenant’ s
W myfamilymovedto R eston,V ir­ and so m y m otherand fatherdevised
ae
ginia.Itwasaplanned com m unity n sa
or
lution form yrestlessness:theysent
W om an.”Tome,itfeltlikeamodel-train
set. E verything was tiny, from the cars
W ashington, D .C .— a suburban utopia m e to stay forayearwith an auntand totheterracehouseswherepeoplelived,
where C .LA . agents and F oreign Ser­ uncle in Lib eria. I spentm ostofit and the E nglish had pale bodies, gray
vice officerslike m y fathercould raise ducking m y chaperons to travelinto teeth, and odd habits:even the children
theirfamilies.I hated R eston,andhated the Lib erian wilderness and around dranktea.To thelocals,weweretheex­
livingintheUnitedStates.W ehadstayed E astA frica, and w hen the tim e was otics,amultiracialA m ericanfamily,and R
O
H
inN orthernV irginiaforpartofthepre­ up I told m yparentsthatI didn’ twant I wasaboywho acknowledgednorules. T
U
A
viousyear,between stintsinTaiwan and to leave. I noted thata Swiss adven­ F orm y family, this period ofstasis E
H
T
Indonesia.D uring ourtim ethere,M ar­ turerhad passedthrough M onroviaon didn’ tlastlong.A ttheend oftheschool Y
S
tin LutherKing,Jr.,wasassassinated— hiswayto crossingthe Saharabycamel year,m yfatherloaded mybrotherScott E
T
R
U
one ofthe few timesI saw my parents and had invited m e to join him . M y into aV W van and setoffoverland for O
C
cry.W hile I was outselling “I H ave a parents pointed outthatI hadn’ tyet India.M ym othersecuredateachingpo­ H
P
A
D ream ”stickers in King’sm em ory to finished m iddle school. C restfallen, I sition atthe University ofF lorida in R
G
O
supportthe P oorP eople’ sC ampaign, a wentback hom e. G ainesville, invited by the Southern­ T
O
H
neighborsicced hisdogson me. I gotinto more trouble asI entered gothicnovelistH arryC rews,andbrought P
E
C
along m y sistersTina and M eiShan. R
U
O
Theauthoratsevent
een, when hehitchhikedthroughE urope, headed or
f Togo. M ichelle,who isfouryearsolderthan I, S

12 THE NEV YORKER,JANUARY 15,2024 PHOTO ILLUS TRATION BY JOHN G ALL

had already lefthome— firstliving on
the KenJyan island ofLam u and then
going to study in N ice.
B y the tim e my parents left, 1had
beenkickedoutofschoolinLymeR egis
(wild and undisciplined, the headm as­
tersaid) and sentto finish preparingfor
myA -lcvclexamsin the nearby ci ty’of
E xeter.1wasenrolledin anacademyand
setup in arooming house run by an el­
derly couple. M y housem ates were a
doughy white R hodesian and atallboy
from 1long Kong.W ewere allforeign­
ers, and therefore misfits, and we soon
fellin together.
O n F riday evenings, ifwe were al­
lowed out,we’ d getfish-and-chipsand
go to the movies. O therwise, we kept
to adullroutine.Thehousehad no cen­
tralheat, and to staywarm atnightwe
hadtofeed shilling coinsinto tinyheat­
ers in ourbedrooms. O urmealsran to
fried eggsand ham ,liverand mash,and
beans on toast. A ftersupper, we were
allowed to watch an hourof“telly" in
the living room ,with ourhosts in at­
tendance. 1' he landlady farted contin-
uously.W hen 1complained to dieother
boys aboutthis habit, she ejected m e
forrudeness.
1found aroom in acom m unalstu­
denthouse,and between classes1spent
hours jotting down ideas torexpedi­
tions. O n apieceofpaperheaded with
mynoteson C haucerand “King Lear,"
I sketched an outline for ayearlong
voyage,in which I’ dbuya“smalldhow"
on the P ersian G ulfand then sailto
M adagascar and beyond. N extto a
drawing ofthe dhow, 1setoutagoal
tordieexpedition:“Smuggleand trade,
beafreelancepirateship." 1determ ined
thatI’ d dealin guns and rare animals
butnotin opium — reading aboutthe
O pium W arshad com inced m ediatit
was an evildrug.
W hen myfatherreturnedfrom India,
afternearly ayearon the road,he asked
m e what1wanted to do with myself
when 1had finished my exams. 1told
him that 1wanted to join m y sister
M ichelle. She was spending the early
sum m er with the Kabiye people of
northern logo, on an anthropological
expedition, and 1had thoughtofnoth­
ing else since she went. 1idolized M i­
chelle. She wasbeautiful,brave, adven­
turous; shehadgoneto W oodstock,and
now she was in A frica— the happiest
place ofm y childhood. In letters, she ton Stanley, R ichard F rancis B urton,
had encouraged meto come to hervil­ and M artin and O saJohnson. 1told
lage.1had itplanned:1could hitchhike people 1m etto callme Salafi, a name
souththroughE urope,drencatchaboat. I'd been given in ajungle ham let1vis­
M y fathergave m e two hundred dol­ ited during m y tim e in Liberia. !he
larsin traveller’schecksand told me to name, I’ d explain, m eant“tallm an”in
make itlast.A da4vortwo later,■heflew the Kpellc language. (B ack in Liberia
back to the U.S. decades later, I learned thatitwas ac­
I found a com panion tor the trip: tually from a phrase m eaning "the boy
John P irongs, a dark-hahed kid, three who arrived by surprise.")
yearsolderthan 1,sturdyturdeven-tem ­ F rom B russels,John and 1thum bed
pered and good with his hands. O n rides through Luxem bourg and G er­
June 21st, the sum m ersolstice, I said manyandon to Switzerland and F rance.
goodbye to m ygirlfriend, E rica, prom ­A crossdieborderfrom G eneva,wewere
ising to send letters, and thenJohn and lefton a roadside atnight, and a car
1walkedto theedgeoftownand hitched pulled oftto pick us up:a C itroen D S
ourfirstride. B y evening, wehad made Shark,agleaming gangstermobilewith
itto Stonehenge,whereagroup oflong­ hydraulicsthatmade itseem to levitate
J
hairedD m idswerecelebratingthemoon whenyoustarted theengine.7 hedriver,
cycle by chanting and dancing among aburly m iddle-aged m an with aR us­
thegreatstones. sian accent, introduced himselfasP ar­
W e stopped in B russelsto getTogo­ chovsky:1lewasheaded elsewhere,but
lesevi sasbeforewecontinuedsouth.O ur wdienheheardourplanshegrandly de­
destination wasM arseille,where apas­ clared thathewould join ouradventure
sengerferry crossed the M editerranean asfarasM arseille.
to A lgiers. 1knew from obsessive read­ W e arrived justasdawn was break­
ing oftransportation timetablesthatwe ing over the harbor, and P archovsky
could catch atrans-Saharan bus from insisted thatwe toastoursuccess. H e
A lgierstoTamanrasset,an oasistown in parked nextto thewharfand led usto
theA haggarmountain range/I' llerewasabar, arough-edged after-hours place.
unrestin parts ofA frica, asP ortugal’ sThe only othercustomerswere apros­
forcesfoughtindependencemovements titute, with arussetstain in the crotch
in itscolonies.B utm ostofthe northern ofherwhitepants,and atough-looking
partofthecontinentseemed safeenough manwith ashavedhead,apparentlyher
to me.W e’ dpassthroughthedesertinto pim p. P archovsky ordered beers and
N igerand UpperV olta, and eventually raised aglass:“To Tamanrasset!”Then
we’ d arrive in Togo. hegavemeaG itanescigaretteto smoke
in hisname on A frican soil.
nyonewho passedme hitchhiking W ith the sun brightin the sky, we
A would have guessed my cultural lurched back to P archovskyscar, con­
leanings:1had long hairand ascraggg
lyratulating one anotheron completing
beard,andworewhitebell-bottom sthat the firstleg ofthe voyage. A s we ap­
I’d painted with orange mushrooms. I proached,wesaw thatthewindowshad
opposed the V ietnam W ar, despised been smashed and the trunk wasgap­
P residentN ixon,and distrusted diepo­ ingopen.O urbackpacksweregone; my
lice.M ybibleswere“Soulon Ice,”“Steal camera had been taken, and ourpass­
This B ook," and “The A utobiography ports,too.A swelooked around inshock,
ofM alcolm X ,"and mvsoundtrackwas P archovsky7 felturgentlyunderthedash­
D avid B owie, KingC rim son,Jim i1len- board. H e had hidden some cash there,
drix, Santana. I’ d been in London tor heexplained,andnow itwaggone.D azed
one ofP ink F loyds firstperformances by exhaustion and dismay, we drove
of“The D ark Side otthe M oon,”and through the em pty streetssearching for
I'd gone to A m sterdam toran under­ apolicestation.Littlediamondsofshat­
ground showingottheX -rated cartoon tered glassglistened on the dashboard,
“F ritz the C at.” and the m orning airblew in through
A tthe same tim e, 1nerdishly de­ the window frames.
voured the world atlas, anyABC Ship­ A tthegendarmes’base, alaconic of­
ping G uide1could gethold of,and the fi certook down the details ofthe rob­
writingsotadventurerslikeH enryM or­ bery, seem ingly oblivious of a large
THE NEW YORKER.JANUARY 15.2024 13
butcherknifethatlayonhisdesk, drip­ anironbardownontheopenwindowsill.
aid ofH itlerand M ussolini. B utI was
ping blood.Unableto contain my curi­ A few weekslater,wewere notified
horrified to see that, three and a half
osity,I askedwhatitwas. H e explained thatthe police had found ourbelong­
decades into his rule, virtually every
thatsomeF renchmenhadstabbedaM o­ ings, in awatery ditch atthe edge of
place I visited in Spain had statues of
roccan, and thathewaswaiting to hear town. M iraculously, they had retrieved
F rancoandavenuesnam edinhishonor.
whetherthevictim survived.Ifhedidn’ t, H itchhikingintheE xtremadura,I gath­
ourpassports,waterloggedb utstillleg­
theknifewouldbeevidenceinahomicide. ible. A lm osteverything elsewasgone.
ered the courageto ask am iddle-aged
A fterward, P archovskywenton his W e checked again on the ferry to A l­
Spaniard whathe thoughtofF ranco.
way,somewhatpoorerbutstillebullient. B eforerisking an answer,hegaveafur­
giers, b utthere was a new obstacle: a
There was no hope ofourtaking the heavysiroccowasblockingtheTam an-
tivelookoverhisshoulder.H isgesture
trans-M editerranean ferry,notwithout rassetroad.Too im patientto waitforit
revealed m ore than his response: the
passports,butthegendarm estold usto to clear, we decided to travelthrough
Spanish had acceded to dictatorship
checkin everyfew daysto seeifourbe­ outoffear.
Spainto M orocco,and som ehow getto
longingshad reappeared. Togo from there. O n this new journey, John and I
A friend ofafriend, Sylvie, had an headed forC adiz, the portin southern
apartm entin thecity,and sheinvitedus hadbeento Spain oncebefore,when Spain where C olum bus had begun his
to staywith herwhilewewaited. M ar­
seillehad areputation asaM afia town
I
m yparentsallowed me to go travel­ secondvoyage.A weeklyboattookpas­
ling overthe previous sum m erbreak. sengersto the C anary Islands.A ccord­
I’
and aheroin crossroads— “The F renchdbeenreadingabouttheSpanishC ivil ingto myinform ation,wecouldgetan­
C onnection”had come outa couple ofW ar: O rwell, H em ingway, and espe­ othership from there to Laayoune, a
yearsearlier— and itwasn’ ciallyW illiam H errick, aform erInter­ m ining portin the colony ofSpanish
thard to pick
nationalB rigadesmember,who wrote Sahara,justsouth ofM orocco.
afight.O ne day,seated nextto Sylviein
stirringlyofidealisticvolunteersm arch­
traffic, I yelled a phrase thatshe had A rriving around nightfall,wefound
ing into battle singing, “Life isjusta aplaceto sleep in the citypark.To kill
taughtmeatataxi-drivertrying to out-
bowlofcherries.”
m aneuverus: <C estlaguerre, cochon!= time,I proposedachallenge:I toldJohn
(“This iswar, pig!”). I m anaged to re­I knew thatthe idealistshad lost— thatI couldjum p from onesideofafit-
move my elbow justbefore he broughtbeaten by F rancisco F ranco, with the tie bridge to the other. A s I landed, I
heard a sickening pop, and feltpain
shootup m yleftleg; therewasno way
ofgetting to a doctor, b utI m usthave
torn m y A chillestendon.John helped
mehop away,then cuttreebranchesto
m ake m e a crutch. (I stillhave the
crutch’ sarm braces, carved with “Ten­
don B lues”and “M arseille.”)
Theboatto LasP almasboardedthe
nextday, and, aswe settled into our
cabin, the dooropened and we found
thatwehad acompanion:ayoungM o­
roccan nam ed B aba, with curly hair, a
wry face, and astreetkid’ ssparebuild.
F orthe nexttwo days, he keptup a
high-speed patterin broken E nglish,
like the dealerin aprotracted gam e of
three-card m onte. N otfaroutofport,
he inform ed us thathe was carrying
some hashish— a serious risk, because
drug possession in Spain could getyou
a six-yearprison term .Trying to keep
pace with him , I gotso stoned thatI
beganto hallucinateand stum bledinto
the bathroom ,where I saw m y face in
themirror,revealed asawizened death
mask. I m ade m yselfaprom ise never
to sm oke hash again, and for a few
yearsI keptit.
Itwasearlymorningwhenwedocked
‘
Tm attheshrub with theemptybagof p retzels in LasP almas, and we had to waitfor
wesniffedlastweek.W hereareyou? = acontrolpostrun bythe G uardiaC ivil
to open beforewecould leavethe port. plotting. ThatJuly, F ranco boarded a rescued orfigured outhow to survive.
The G uardia, when they showed up, chartered plane from Las P alm as to B eforelong,asmallgroup ofushad co­
werefearsom e-lookingfigures,inpara­ M orocco, where he and his fascistco­ alescedthere.TherewasB aba,theM o­
m ilitary green uniform s, black leather conspirators m ustered the so-called roccan who had com e with us on the
boots,andthebeakedblackleatherhats A rm y ofA frica and began m arching boat, and N ajir, a friend ofhis. There
thattheircorpshad worn since m edi­ north.Threeyearsandsix hundredthou­ was also a G hanaian nam ed B rando,
evaltimes.They were hostile, and asI sand deathslater, he prevailed. who claimed to beaprincein exile.W e
stoodinlinetohavemypassportchecked B y the m id-seventies, the G enera­ neverknew whose story wastrue, and
oneofthem kickedmyinjuredleg,curs­ lissimowaselderlyand ill,b utheclung m ostlywe didn’ task.
ing me asagilipollasand amaricon. to power,whilethe Spanish peopleex­ A M alaysianboynam ed P iliwason
O nceourdocum entspassed inspec­ istedin astateofsuspended anim ation. the netswhen wearrived. H ewasthin,
tion,wewere allowed through, butthe D espiteaveneerofm oder­ barely five feettall, funny
G uardiahad madeitclearthatwewere nityalongthecoasts,where and engaging and bright;
notwelcomein LasP almas.W eweren’ t hotelsandapartm entbuild­ he had learned passable
worried.Surely,wethought,we’ dbeleav­ ingsrose to accom m odate Spanishinjusttwom onths
ing forA fricawithin afew days. tourists, inland Spain was in Las P almas. H e told us
notm uch changed from thathe wasfrom a coastal
eographically, the C anary Islands the nineteenth century. village on the M alay P en­
G belongtoA frica,notE urope,with W ith F ranco’
themainislandofG ran C anariasetona ly
ssecretpolice
nd the C atholic C hurch
insula, where com m ercial
fishing fleetscameto force
a hundred and fifty miles from Laa­ conspiring to keep society young m en into servitude.
youne b utnearly eighthundred from in check, censorship pre­ A fterm ore than ayearin
Spain.The chain includeseightrugged vailed, and laws forb ade virtualslavery, P ilihad es-
volcanicislands,with idealsoilforsugar homosexuality,abortion,contraception, caped in Las P alm as, when the ship’ s
andbananas.Thei enoswho didn’
sl tfarm and divorce. D uring the evenings, I officerswentinto the city, leaving the
traditionally eked outaliving by fish­ watched girls and boys m y age walk crew fordayswithoutfood.
ing the A tlantic. outintheplazasto castsecretiveglances Y earslater, hum an-rights investiga­
KingF erdinand and Q ueen Isabella atone another, b utstern chaperons tions confirm ed the kidnappings that
had seized the islands in the fifteenth keptthem apart. P ilihad described. B utothervisitors’
century, notlong aftertaking A ndalu­ storieswere harderto verify. H assan, a
siabackfrom theM oors.The C anaries asP almassaton apeninsula,setoff charming, sophisticated Lebanese m an
provided easyaccessto thetradewinds,
and C olum busbeganusingthem ashis
L from the restofthe island by bar­ in his late twenties, turned up on the
renm ountains.Thewholecity— asunn -etswearing aconspicuouslyexpensive
finalstop forprovisionsbeforevoyages blastedplaceoflow,blunt,sand-colored leatherjacket.A swelaythereonenight,
west.The islands had been populated buildings— pointed atthe sea, with a stargazing and trading stories, he told
foramillennium bytheG uanches,B er­ m ilitary base on one side and abeach usthathewasacardsharp,trained bya
berpeopleofN orthA frican extraction. lined with touristhotels on the other. m an who lived in acitadelin the Leb­
B ut, in 14 95 , as the Spanish secured W hen we arrived, we discovered that anesem ountains— agamblerso skilled
control, the lastG uanche king threw therewasnopassageto Laayoune.M o­ thathe had been banned from casinos
him selfoffacliff. rocco and Spain were in conflictover around theworld.
F ive hundred yearslater, the C anar­ the fateofthe colony, and theboatwas A fteralong apprenticeship, H assan
iesandtheadjacentSaharancolonywere reserved forsoldiers. A frica wasjust said, his m entorhad pronounced him
practicallyallthatremainedoftheSpan­ acrossthewater,b uttherewasno clear readytogopracticewhathehadlearned.
ish E mpire, which had been eroded by way to getthere. I had eighty dollars’ H e’ d headed to M onte C arlo,whereon
independencerevoltsanddemolishedby worth oftraveller’ schecksleft. hisfirstnighthewonfiftythousanddol­
theSpanish-A mericanW ar;inonesum­ Sincewewerewaiting foraboat,we larsatpoker.Thenextevening,when he
m erofnavalskirm ishes, the despised decided thatthere was no betterplace returned to the casino, heaviesushered
Y ankeesstripped away the P hilippines, to camp than the port, and we found a him into aback room and warned that
P uerto R ico, and C uba. Spain’scolonial deserted concrete yard alongside the ifhe didn’ tleave town they would cut
A rm y was reduced to chasing B erber wharves,wherecommercialfishingnets offallhisfingers.N ow H assanwasstuck
guerrillas around M orocco. Itwas in werelaid to dry.In some areas,the nets in LasP almaslikethe restofus,trying
thoseobscuresquabblesthatF rancogot werebunched in mounds, offering hid­ to figureouthisnextmove. B uthewas
hismilitary start, in the twenties. ing spots. Itwas arefuge thatshielded cavalier:“D on’ tworry— one day soon,
B y 1936, he was the m ilitary com ­ usfrom view butallowedustokeepwatch I’llbeoutofhereand backon myfeet.”
m anderofthe C anaryIslands— posted on both the main portentranceand the H assan stayed afew daysbefore he
therebytheleft-leaninggovernm entin closestcity street. vanished. Then, severalweeks later, I
M adrid,which hoped to keep him ata The netswerelikeanisletthatship­ wasstanding on the avenuein frontof
safe distance from the capital. Instead, wrecked sailorsswam to, and then, de­ theportwhen someonecalledoutfrom
the islands served asa superb base for pending on their luck, were either a car. ItwasH assan, atthe wheelofa

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 15

M ercedes,sm ilingandwaving.1waved ered.F oryoung forei gners contending were resting up i n Las Pal mas between
back,Then the traffic moved and he with S painsrepressi vesocietyand strict operations atthe world’ sfirstgender-
sped oft.1neversaw him again. laws,di eplazaservedasanodein abush reassi gnmentcl ini c,in C asablanca.(O ne
telegraph— apl aceto exchange survi val ofthem,bearded and exuberant,l i
ked to
asPal maswasan attracti vepl acetor tips,warnings ofrisk,and rules ofthe show oftherbreasts i n afishnetshi rt.)
L internationalintriguers:wayward road.Y etwhenJohn and 1asked peopl
sailors,hippies carrying paperbacksby wem ettherehow wem ightgettoTogo, cal
e Atthe neighboring tabl es,portside l
sshared spacewith downbeattravel­
o­

PaulBowl es,andmercenari esonR.andR. no one knew anything.W e discussed lers from both sides ofthe M editer­
O ne ofthese fighterswasagiantF inn going back thewaywe had come,trav­ ranean.O ne evening,we satnextto a
with aredbeard— toopersi stentlydrunk ellingthelength ofS pai n to catchaboat G erman man with agraying goatee— -a
forme to find outwhere he was sta­ inM arsei le,butwith ourshrunkenfunds forem an ata S outh African diam ond
l
tioned,though 1guessed itwasRhode­ and me on acrutch itseemed im plau­ mi ne,onvacati on i n theC anari es.Inbe­
sia,where the so-called Bush W arwas si ble.Besides,we had come so far. tweencal lstormorel iquor,hecompl ained
beingfoughtbetween whitesettl ersand Afterafew days,aG erm an travell er loudlyabouttheAfricanworkershesu-
Black nationalistguerrillas.Another,a nam ed Pavel ,a strongly builtkid with pervi sed,calling them lazy and stupi d.
S pani ardwho cal l edhi mselfF idel ,joined longblond hah',tol d usthatheknew of F i nally,1lostpati enceandl unged athi m,
uson the fishing nets fora few nights. a ship sailing in a couple ofweeks to unti lm yG hanaian fri end Brando pul led
H e hi nted atbeing i nvolved i n clandes­ the former S panish colonyofE quato­ meoftand dragged mefrom therestau­
tine politicalmaneuvers— perhapswith rialG uinea.F rom there,Togawastan- rant.O utsi de,heexpl ainedthatthestakes
theC anaries’separati stmovement,which talizinglycl ose— justacoupl eofcoun­ ofgetting i n troubl e were differentfor
afew yearslaterplanted abomb atthe triesawayalongtheW estAfrican coast. hi m:1m ightgetroughedupbytheG uar­
localai rport,leadingtoadevastati ngcol ­ Pavelwas planning to go on the shi p. dia,buthe coul d bedeported.
lision between two 7 4 7 s. D id we wantto joi n him ? W e did. W eekswentby,and Pavelrecei ved no
S leeping on thenetshad ri sks.D ogs W e would need vi sas,and so he of­ word on ourvi sas,untileventually the
ran wild there,and one nightabi tch i
n fered to m ailourpassports,alongwith shi p to E quatorialG uineasetsailwith­
heatbegan followingme,untilapackof his,totheE mbassyofE quatori alG uinea outus.W ithoutthinkingaboutitmuch,
mal es,evidentlym istaking meforcom­ in M adrid.There was a fee oftwenty 1stopped com municatingwith m yfam ­
peti tion,backedmeawayfrom her,growl ­ dol lars; the processshoul d take aweek i l
y.Ithadbecomeapoi ntofpri deto ex­
ing.There were thi eves,too,and 1once orso.John and 1handed Pavelourpass­ tri cate mysel ffrom mvsi tuation,and in
woke up to fi nd thatmy backpack had portsand thecash.W efeltbuoyed.Just anycasetherewasnow
J J av to reach them
beenopened,i tscontentsstrewnaround— like that,we had di scovered an exciting by phone; the only option was poste
though the thi efm usthave quickly re­ route toTogo. restante,asystem bywhich travel l
erssent
alized that1hadnothingofval uetotake. andrecei ved lettersatpostoffi cesaround
'1he mostpersistentthreatwas the avelhad started outon thenetsbut theworld.I’ d m ailed acard to a fri end
G uardia C ivil.A tdawn one m orning,
we were awakened bJy * the screech ofa
P found awayoff:hewasliving with i
aS panish wi dow,i n aluxuryapartm ent
n Lym e Regis,telling him thatI’
rived in LasPalmas,butnothing more.
d ar­

patrolwagon pulling up nextto us.A overlooking the m ain beach.W ejoked Asti mewenton,1entered m yownbub­
hal f-dozen offi cersjumpedoutandbegan thathe was basically agigolo,and he bl e,living attheportand on the streets,
swinging nightsticks ateveryone they l aughed butdi dn’tdenyi t.O nceortwi ce, with m yhead fri llofpl ans.
coul d reach.Buttheirrealtargetswere he showed up atthe fountain with the
the two M oroccans,N ajir and Baba, wom an who kepthim oftthestreets— angingoutatthefountai n,1some­
whom theyquicklysurrounded,vi
beat,and then hurled into the patrol hi
ci ously attractive,fortyish,clearly am used by
scompany.
H ti
messaw atal l,muscul arAustrian
with a shaved head and a forbidding
wagon— to be detained toramonth on Therestofus,with no meansofsup­ manner.A friend who knew him told
whatwe laterdi scovered were charges port,spentourdaysbythefountain and methathehad been born on ajunk in
ofvagrancy.W ebegan setting l ookouts oureveningsatE lRayo,acheap restau­ 1long K ong and spenthisenti re l
ifeat
tortheG uardiaatni ght,butitwasharder ranton a prom enade notfarfrom the sea.H e was a form eropium addict,a
to avoi d patrol s in the street.N otlong port.Itwasal ong,cavernouspl acewith torm ented soul ,m yfriend sai d.1le had
afterN ajirand Babawere arrested,Pili harried waiters,who hustled plates of l osthi sboat,somehow,and wasfranti c
vanished,too.S everalweeksl ater,I en­ foodandbarkedoutorderstotheki tchen. to getanotherone.
countered him walking along a road.1 The headwaiterwasastockJyman wi th TheAustrian used tolurkattheedge
cal led out,butheseem ed to barelyrec­ greased hairand awalleye,and he de­ ofthe square wi th hi swi fe,a Vietnam ­
ognize meand wasspeaking gibberish. lighted in ignoring our tabl e,because esewomanwithlongblackhai r.O neday,
Afterward,1heardthattheG uardiahad we were too poorto afford anything theyvani shed,andwere mi ssing forhal f
beaten him sobadlythathel osthi smi nd. m ore than the cheapestplate on the aweek before 1heard newsofthem.In
D uring theday,weallwentoursep­ menu:friedgrouper,accompaniedbyall thegrip ofa m alarialfever,he had sto­
arate 'ways.John and 1usually headed the bread and ol ive oi
lwe coul d get. lenarowboat,forced hi swi feaboard,and
torafountain in apl aza,acrossfrom an The tabl enextto uswasoften occu­ setoutto row to M orocco.They were !T

ancientchurch,where t ravel lersgath­ pied by agroup oftrans women,who luckyto havebeen rescued by apassi ng
16 THE N EV YORKEK. JAN LAIIY 15,2024
shi pbeforetheyreachedthecoast; C ape
Juby,thepointwhere hewasheaded,i s
awallofhundred-footcl iffs,andtheseas
therehadbeen known si nceantiquityto
swal l
ow up boatsand theircrews.
TheAustrian had been reckless,but
I couldn’thelp noticing thathe had
nearlymadeittothecoast.I beganscout­
ing ships on the Las Palm aswharves,
where the better-offtravellers docked.
TheoneI coveted m ostwasaturn-of-
the-century schooner,with the nam e
M arte in carved gold braiding across
the stern.S he was a hundred and ten
feetlong,with threetoweringmastsand
ahold big enough to fitafam ilyofel­
ephants.I visited herevery day,walk­
ing on herdecksand fantasizing about
sailing heraround theworld.
S omeoftheboati essensedm yyearn­
ing,andoneofthem m entionedthathe
had a sailboatanchored on the neigh­
boringisland of T enerife.IfI wanted to <Holdon...didyou mean t
ohitSnooz eorJ az z f=
go take possession,she was m ine.I
cashed in one ofm y dwindling supply
oftraveller’ schecksto payfortheferry,
then hitchhiked and walked acrossthe
island,andbyearlym orningI hadmade larsI hadrem ainingin travell er’
schecks, proofthewhole surface and coatitin
ittothem arina.I walkedbackandforth and then figure outhow to repairit. paint.W eweresurewecoulddoit,with
alongthepiers,lookingforthenum ber I wentto seeheronasm allbeach not help from localsailors and boatbuild­
ofthem ooringtheyachtsm anhadgi ven farfrom theport,where shesatin dry­ ers.N otfarfrom thewater’ sedgestood
me,butwhen I reached ittherewasan dock,cradled on am etalplatform with a chiringuito,a rustic beach bar.S oon
em ptyspace.A m arinaempl oyeefinally al adder.S hewasatraditionalC anaries afterwearrived,I poked m yhead in to
explained.The sailboathad been sunk racer,alateen-sailed,deep-keeled boat m eetthepatrons.A grizzled m an sized
afew daysbefore,hetold me,pointing abouttwentyfeetl ong.Thekeelwasrot­ up m yblond hairand growled,“Fuera,
into thewatersofthe harbor.The sus­ ten and neededtobecom pletelyrebuilt; sueco"— <Beatit,S wede.=
picionwasthatshehadbeen scuttled— whatsaton theplatform wasreallyjust Later,the bar’sownercam e by to
som ethingto dowith insuranceclaim s. ahullwith amast.E ven so,itgavem a­ apologize.H ewasabruisernam ed Pe­
I returned to LasPal masfeeling dis­ terialshapeto thepossibilityofescape. dro— aformerweight-liftingcham pion
traught; allm ypl anshadbeen thwarted. I suggested thatwe callherG uanar- who keptagold m edalaroundhisneck
Increasinglydesperate,I began to pon­ temeII— thename,I’ d been told,ofthe to proveit.H eworelittle bikinibriefs
derjoiningtheS panish F orei gn Legion. lastG uanche king,who had leaped to and no shirt,exposingahugechestand
I had few il lusionsaboutwhatthe Le­ hisdeathratherthansubmi ttotheS pan­ bellyand an arrayofcrude tattoos,in­
gion stoodfor,butI’ d seen Legionnaires iards.(I learned laterthatG uanartem e cluding one dedicated to his m other.
gathered atagarrison neartheport,and wasactuallyani nfamoustrai tor,whohad Pedro lived in a large tentpitched in
I’d learned thataunitcall ed theN omad sol dhispeopl eouttotheoccupi ers.
)W e the sand,and he invited us there for
Troopspatrol led the S panish S aharaon scrounged forwood and tool sand built dinner:stew thathe had cooked in a
camel back.IfIjoinedup,I coul dbecome oursel vescrudebunksin thehull.W hen firepitoutside.Afterthat,wheneverhe
fam iliarwith the desert,pick up some theywereready,we moved offthe fish­ em erged from his tent,he’ d wave and
Arabic,and learn enough aboutcamels ingnetsandbegan sleepingon theboat. callus over.W e’ d wave back,butwe
to m ake m yway al one into the S ahara. Thebeachwasagrubbyrectangl eofsand, wereleeryofhisstews,and oftherough
I’d enlist,spend si x monthsorayearin setbeneath an elevated highway and a m en who wentto drink athisbar.
the N om ad Troops,and then escape. row ofstreetlampsthatshonedown on
E venJohn,who had willinglycome usatnight.But,onourpl atform,wewere ach m orning,John and I splitup,
with m e to the C anaries,thoughtthat
this plan was absurd.O ne day,he in­
m ostlyinvi si
bletopeopl eontheground.
Itwasasifwewerealreadyatsea.
E hoping to find work thatwould
payforfoodandm aterials.In m ysearch,
terrupted m y reveries to tellm e that To fix thekeel,we’ d need to replace I heard aboutan E nglish-language
he’ d found a sailboat.Itneeded work, planks,caulk the gapswith twine and academ y,the Institute Ingles,which
butwe could buy itforthe sixty dol- silicone paste,then sand and water­ m ightneed ateaching assistant.Itwas

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 17

an hour’swalk away, on the outskirts
ofLas P alm as, b utby now I was off
m y crutch— and there was the pros­
pectofajob.
The directorofthe Institute turned
outto be a bom bastic characterwith
wild, frizzyhairand an A strakhan cap,
whom everyone called P rofesorR eina.
A s soon aswe m et, he began boasting
ofthe languages he spoke— C hinese,
R ussian,adozen others— and recount­
ingam eetinghe’ d oncehadwithW in­
ston C hurchill.H ehadtravelledallover
theworld,hesaid,andnow hewashome,
teachingE nglishtoyoungcanari os.H is
m ethodwasto deploysongsfrom “The
Sound ofM usic.’T satin on aclass,lis­
teningtohim sing“D o-R e-M i”andthe
students dutifully sing itback to him .
M ostSpaniards, outside oftourist
enclaves, were rarely exposed to E n­
glish— there were no subtitled movies
in F ranco’sSpain. R einatold m ethatI
could com e back in the m orning and
helpthestudentspracticetheirpronun­
ciation.F am ished and farfrom m ypart
oftown, I decided to spend the night
nearby, to make sureI arrived on time.
I had noticed a pile ofconcrete pipes
nextto the coastalroad, partofan in­
<Itsmysecondrodeoandeveryonei sacting
likeIshouldbesomekind ofex pert.=
frastructureproject,I mademywaythere,
crawledinto oneofthepipes,and slept.
I worked forR eina the entire next
day,and atthe end heinvited m eto eat
with him — m y firstfood in days. H e
bustled around his little kitchen and
then setoutdinner:two cups ofcam ­
omileteaandasinglebowlofsoup,with
two spoons.A sweate,heinform ed m e
thatthesoupwasm ypay.A fteranother
hungry nightin a concrete pipe, I left
inthem orning,furiousandincreasingly
w orried ab out how we w ould earn
enough to fix ourship.
I heard ab outa village down the
coast— the lastplace in Spain where
fisherm enwentto seain open boatsto
harpoon tuna.John and I spentm ost
ofa day hitchhiking there, arrived at
nightfallon the village’soutskirts, and
sleptam ong the stalksatasugarplan­
tation. In the m orning,wewalked into
the village to ask ifthere werejobs on
the boats. Itwasthe wrong season,we
weretold;thetunawouldn’ tberunning
forsix m onths.
B ack on the wharves, I wenthun­
gry m uch ofthe tim e. Like othercast­
aways,John often panhandled in the
city.I sometimesdid,too,b utitfelthu-
m iliatingto accostlocalpeople:<Tienes
un duropara corner?*
E very few days, am atronly Spanish
wom anappearedatthefountaintogive
meaplasticbagwithbananasandbread,
and som etim es little packets ofbutter
and jam . Itwas a kind ofritual: she
handed m e the bag in silence, and I
thanked herasshewalkedaway.Som e­
tim es, asI shared the food with other
regularsatthefountain,theyaskedwhy
sheonlyevercameto me.I didn’ tknow
why— m y Spanish wasrudim entary in
those days, and herE nglish nonexis­
tent— b utI considered hera kind of
guardian angel.O nce,shem otionedfor
metofollow her,andwewalkedthrough
the streets to a smallhouse. Inside, a
tinyelderlywom anwaswaiting:theB a­
nanaLady’ smother.They pointed to a
showerroom and som e fresh clothes
laid outnearby. Itwasm y firstshower
in m onths; untilthen, to clean myself,
I had gone into the sea.
here seemed to beno workforme
T in LasP almas,so I inquired about
jobson fishing trawlers.A tonegrubby
vessel, a Sicilian trawler, crewm en in­
vited m einto theirmessand gavem ea
meal.They told metheywouldbeput­
ting outto sea soon fora two-m onth
stintoffishing.D idI wanttojointhem?
I came away hopeful, ifalittle per­
plexed aboutwhy theywere so eagerto
hire me. B utwhen I consulted B rando
aboutmyofferhewasvehement.“D on’ t
do it,”hesaid, explaining thatthe Sicil­
ianswanted measa“cabinboy,”to have
sex with.The samething had happened
to him on the ship he had taken outof
G hana, and he’ d been forced to defend
him selfwith aknife.Thatwasthe rea­
son he hadjum ped ship in LasP almas,
he said. I wasbitterly disappointed,but
I knew hewastelling the truth.
N ajirand B aba offered alast-ditch
alternative. Since getting outofjail,
they had m oved around Las P alm as,
eluding the G uardia and finding ways
to survive. N ajirsold pom films,which
were illegalin Spain and, he confided,
a lucrative hustle. O ther tim es, they
picked pockets in the streets— usually
targetingunwarytourists,who couldbe
counted on to be carrying cash. They
offered to show m e theirtechniques,
whichturnedouttoberudim entarybut
effective:you sidle up alongside your
mark, dip yourhand in hispocket, and home.O neofthewanderersinLasP al­ m onths in G hana, living atthe A ccra
run.Thekey,theysaid,wasto keepyour mas, agirlnam ed M aya, had gone to Y .W .C .A . She had avague idea thatI
nerve atthe crucialm om ent. the B ritish consulate and asked to be wouldbemaking mywayto A frica,but
O ne day atthe fountain, a drunk repatriated; the F oreign O ffice had shewasn’ ttoo worried untilaletterar­
middle-agedm ancameupandleeringly agreed to loan herthe costofreturn rivedfrom ourfather:therehadbeen no
propositionedme,pullingawadofpesetas passage. W hen John told m e thathe word from me form onths. W ould she
from hisjacketpocketand waving itin wanted to follow herexam ple, I said go track me down?
theair.I toldhim togetlost,butI couldn’t
thatI understood, and wentwith him She’d come to Las P almas intend­
help noticingtheam ountofmoneyhe’ d
to the consulate,on an upperfloorofa ing to spend afew days, maybe aweek,
flashed— enough to fix G uanartem e IIcommercialbuilding.I was scouting around. She’ d sat
and getoffthe island. N ajirand B aba,barefootand dirty, b utthe alldayin acafein themain
hovering nearby, had noticed the ex­ diplom ats w elcom ed us plaza,watching outforme,
change. A sthe m an stumbled off, theykindly. A fter the consul buttherewerehundredsof
drew my attention with a furtive sig­ learnedthatI wasanA m er­ peoplepassingthrough,and
nal— pullingdown an eyelidwith afin­ ican citizen, he suggested she’d ended the nightwith
ger— and m otioned me over.This, they that the U.S. consulate no leads.The B ritish con­
said,couldbemyfirsttestasapickpocket. m ightbe ableto do som e­ sulate was the nextplace
Like a pack ofscrawnyjackals, we thing forme. she tried. Itseemed almost
followed the drunk m an onto anearby U ntilthatm om ent, it too easy,shetold me— asif
shoppingstreet.F orseveralblocks,N ajir
had neveroccurred to m e we’dhadanappointm entto
and B abaguided m e by sign language, to seek help from the U.S. m eetin this specific place.
encouragingm eto getjustbehind him , governm ent.A sdetailshad poured out E verythinghappened fastafterthat.
m atching hispace.W hen I wasalong­ abouttheW atergatescandal,and about M ichellebookedmeintothesmallhotel
side,I could seewherehekepthiscash: the conductofthe warin V ietnam , I where shewasstaying and boughtm e
in aright-handblazerpocketthathung had feltasham ed to carry anA m erican some clothes. A few days later, I flew
open ashewalked.A llI had to do was passport. B utthe diplom ats reassured toN ew Y ork,andonto F lorida.W ithin
takethem oneyand flee.Trailingon ei­ me,sayingthattherewasno obligation three days ofleaving G uanartem e II,
therside,N ajirand B abasilentlyurged ifI stopped in. I was atm y m other’s new hom e in
me on— butjustthen I hesitated, feel­ W hen I walkedinto theU.S.consul­ G ainesville.Tina and M eiShan were
ingsurethateveryoneonthestreetcould ateandidentifiedmyself,theconsulmade there with her, and so was Scott, back
see me. In a m om ent, the drunk m an an astonished noise and asked meto sit from hisroad trip with ourfather.M i­
had moved outofrange. down. H e opened a cabinetand pulled chellewould arrivesoon,afterastop in
N ajirandB abagesturedto meto fall outafilewithmynameonit.I feltater­ F rance.W eweretogetheragain,b utit
back.W e’ riblejoltasI leafed through it. Inside
d have a second chance, they was clearthatthings wouldn’ tbe the
said— I justhad to keep m y cool. W e weredozensoftelegramsandlettersthat same asbefore. M y parents had sepa­
tracked the m an through the streets, my parents had sentto consulates and rated,andwould soonbedivorced.M y
untilhe stopped nearagroup ofteen­ embassiesacrosstheregion,askingifthey fatherwaslivingtwohoursawayonthe
agerslounging in frontofa building. knew anythingofmywhereabouts.They F loridacoast,with anA m ericanwom an
A swe watched from ablock away, he were accompanied by officialresponses he had m etin N epal.
again pulled cash from his pocket. In inwhichdiplomatstoldmyparentsthat F orseveraluneasy weeks, I didn’ t
an instant, oneoftheboysgrabbed the theyhadcheckedwiththisprisonorthat know whatto do with myself. I gota
money,andthewholegroupbolteddown hospitaland found no traceofme. haircut, and m y fathertook m e to a
a side street. W e chased them , yelling The consullooked atme scoldingly, doctor, who ran som e tests. H e in­
that they had stolen our m ark and b uthewasgraciousenough notto say form ed m e thatI had am oebas and
neededto sharethetake— buttheywere anything. I feltm ortified by the evi­ worm s, along with an ailm entthathe
too fastforus.In afew blocks,theboys, denceofthe anxietyI’ d putm yparents had only read ab outbefore: scurvy.
and the money, had disappeared. through. I wasin a state ofshock, un­ “Y ou m ean like C hristopherC olum ­
surewhatto think ordo,b utI told the bus’ ssailors?”!asked.H e nodded.I felt
y late O ctober, ithad b een four consulthatI would comeback soon. very proud.
B m onths since I leftE ngland, and
nothing had worked out. Sores had
The nextday,I accompaniedJohn to
the B ritish consulate again. I waschat­
B yearlyD ecember,I wasontheroad
again, w ith a m an I knew as Uncle
opened on m y fingers and in the cor­ tingwithhim andtheconsulwhenI saw D on— a fam ily friend from when we
nersofm ym outh.O neday,P avelfound someonecomeup thestairs— afamiliar livedin C olombia.H ehadboughtsome
m e andJohn and handed usourmiss­ figure, b utconfoundingly outofplace. oceanfrontland in H onduras, in a re­
ing passports.They had returned from Itwas m y sister M ichelle. W e b oth motestretchofu jnglenearavillagecalled
theE mbassyofE quatorialG uinea,with shoutedwithdelightandembracedeach Sambo C reek,andhe’ d askedifI would
no stampsandno explanation.W ewere other.H ow on earth had shefound me? comehelp him build ahousethere.E v­
backwherewe had started. M ichelle explained that, afterherTogo eryone agreed thatitwas the perfect
John began looking forawayto get expedition ended, she had spentafew solution forme. I washappy to go. ♦

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 19

 thicksidebuns.P rude,afriendlythirty-
ANNAL5 OF EDUCATION two-year-oldwithmultiplenoseandlip
studs, said she had woken the two up

S HOV ING UP thatm orning, b utthey had gone back

to bed, assum ing she would be ather
job, asasecurity guard atthe F illm ore
Hasschoolattendancebecomeoptional1? D etroitentertainm entvenue. B y the
tim eshediscoveredthattheyhadn’ tleft
BY ALEC MACG ILLIS forschool, itseem ed too late to send
them . She had setup a nanny cam to
seewhatwasgoingonatthehousewhen
shewasaway,shesaid,b utthe catshad
chewed itup. She hadn’ tbeen aware
untilrecently how m any daysthey had
missed;shehadnoticedsomeattem pted
callsfrom theirschoolb uthadn’ treal­
ized whatthey were about.
“I tellthem , ‘Y ’allare going to get
meintroubleforthis,”’shetoldJohnson.
“This is notanything like truancy.
W ecomefrom aplaceofsupport,’’ John­
sonsaid,inhercharacteristicallyupbeat
tone. “B ut, yes, itcould lead to that, if
they’ renotinschool,sowewanttomake
surethey understand.”
B ack in the S.U.V .,Johnson’ scom ­
posurebrieflyfellaway.“W ow,they are
toolittleto beskipping,”shesaidunder
herbreath.
Johnson is partofan increasingly
popularapproach to com batting tru­
ancy: she m akes hom e visits to learn
why children are m issing schooland
thenworkswith familiesand schoolsto
getthem back on track. She overseesa
team ofsix peopleinsoutheasternM ich­
igan who are employed by aB altimore
companycalledC oncentricE ducational
Solutions,whichhascontractswithseven
smallschooldistrictsintheD etroitarea.
n a cold, clearweekday m orning “the parentofJisaiah and King.”She Since 2021, she hasbeen driving back
O in earlyD ecember, ShepriaJohn­ wrote “parent,”avoiding the pluralas
sonpulledupto asmallhouseinE cors se
h,ehadseenschoolsdo.“Ifit’
saone-par­
and forth acrossthe D ownrivertowns
southwestofthe city, avastexpanse of
M ichigan, in an S.U.V .with adecalon enthousehold, thatm ightgettouchy.” dollarstores,potdispensaries,andm an­
the driver’ sdoorwhich read “Student There was som eone hom e. Kuan- ufacturing plants— some active, some
W holenessTeam .”Shelookedatanapp ticka P rude opened the door; b ehind abandoned. She passes the M arathon
on herphone. Itwas herthird often herwere som e ofhereightchildren. refinery, the G reatLakes SteelW orks,
visitsthatm orning, and shewasthere C atsdartedup anddownthefrontsteps, and the giantF ord R ouge C om plex,
to checkon agirland aboy,eleven and which were garlanded with C hristm as where thisfallshe could seethe picket
nine, who had missed enough days of decorations.Johnsonintroducedherself lineoftheUnited A utoW orkersstrike.
schoolto putthem on alistof“chron­ and said thatshewasconcerned about The strike ended. The crisis that
ically ab sent”students atG randport Jisaiah’s and King’s attendance and Johnsonwasdealingwith,on the other
A cademy, in E corse, an industrialsub­ wanted to seeiftherewasanythingthe hand,seemednever-ending.A bsentee­
urb ofD etroit. familyneededtohelpthem gettoschool. ism haslongbeen aproblem intheD e­
In casetherewasnoonehome,John­ “ThisisKing,”P rudesaid,gesturing troitarea, asin otherplaceswith high
sonwrotethestudents’namesonaform to a slenderboy with wary eyes, “and povertyrates,b utsincethe coronavirus
letter and addressed the envelope to this isJisaiah”— agirlwith herhairin pandem icithasworsened dramatically.
N ationwide, the rate ofchronic absen­
In thepastew
f years, chronicabsenteeism hasalmostdoubled. teeism— defined asmissing atleastten

20 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 ILLU STRATION BY OW EN G ENT
percentofschooldays, oreighteen in A fterthe family moved to E corse, last uation was uncertain. Usually, there
ayear— nearly doubled between 2018 - summer, the m ind-setlingered. “They were three hours ofinstruction daily,
19 and2021-22,to twenty-eightpercent gottoo comfortableathom e,”shesaid. hesaid,buttheW i-F ihadn’ tbeenwork­
ofstudents,accordingto datacompiled Thisisadynam icthatJohnson has ing properly. “H e’sdone forthe day,”
forthe A ssociated P ress by Thom as repeatedly encountered.W hen classes hisfathersaid.
D ee, aprofessorofeducation atStan­ were virtual, students would log on F amiliesfaced otherhurdlesaswell.
ford. M ichigan’srate was thirty-nine somedays,andsomedaystheywouldn’ t. O ne student’ sfatherhad died am onth
percent,thethirdhighestam ongstates. The world did notend. F orparents, it earlier, and in the previous six m onths
States thathave reported data forthe m ightseem easierthatway. N o drag­ two ofhisgrandparents had also died;
m ostrecentschoolyearshowed only ging kids outofbed before daybreak. his m otherwas suffering from heart
m inim alimprovement;somecitieshave N owrestlingthem into properclothes. diseasethatprevented herfrom work­
ratesofm ore than forty percent. N o getting them to the bus stop as ing, and she could no longer afford
A bsenteeism underliesm uchofwhat one’ sownworkwaited.“Y ouwereable schoolclothes.Johnson alertedthestu­
hasbesetyoung people in recentyears, tojustdo thethingsyouneededto do,” dent’ sprincipal,who had aspecialfund
including falling schoolachievem ent, Johnson said.“E verybodywascom fort­ forsuch needs.
deteriorating m entalhealth— exacer­ able. Itwas,T can go to m y com puter, The m otherofam iddle-schoolgirl
bated bysocialisolation— and elevated m y baby is in m y room on the com ­ had been in a carcrash; when a C on­
youth violenceand carthefts, someoc­ puter. W ere good.’” centric em ployee visited, the m other
curringduringschoolhours.B utschools A fterthathiatus, relearning old be­ had trouble even com ing to the door,
areusing relatively little ofthe billions haviorswashard.“IfI wereachild,and and she explained thatshecouldn’ tget
ofdollars thatthey received in federal I could stay athom e on m y computer, herdaughtertoschoolanymore.A high­
pandemic-recoveryfundsto addressab­ inm yroom ,andplaywith m ylittletoys schoolboyhadmovedinwithhisgrand­
senteeism.The issue hasalso attracted on the side, pick up the gam e foryour mother,buthewassleepingontheporch
surprisingly little attention from lead­ breakorlunchtim e,how hard isitto sit forlack ofa bed; C oncentric b ought
ers,electedorotherwise,and education in a schoolbuilding forseven hours?” him one. A superintendentpurchased
coveragein the nationalm edia hasfo­ shesaid.“Ittakesusto help build those awasherand dryerafterhearing from
cussed heavily on culture-warfights. habits, and I don’tthinkjustone per­ C oncentric thatsome studentsweren’ t
Thisvoidcreatedanopportunityfor son can do italone.” com ing to schoolbecause they didn’ t
a fledgling com pany like C oncentric. Someparents,unim pressedbywhat haveanyclean clothes.“O nceyouhave
F ounded in 2010, by D avid H eiber, a instruction consisted ofduring rem ote theseconversations,youknow thatthere
form erschooladministrator, the com ­ learning, didn’tsee m issing schoolas are real-life events thathappen, there
pany grew slowly. Ithad only ab out thatconsequential. Som e simply liked arereal-lifecircumstances,wherethey’ re
twentyemployeesbeforeCO V ID ignited having theirkidsaround. “Y ou’ re deal­ justnotable,”Johnson said.
thebusiness.C oncentricnow hasm ore ing w ith a differentgeneration here. Still, there were circum stances in
than a hundred employees, and itre­ This isa parentgeneration thatplays which negligence did seem to be an
centlyreceivedafive-million-dollarin­ video gameswith theirchildren,”Ste­ issue.Johnson, who isthirty-fourand
vestm entfrom asocial-venture-capital venM cG hee,thesuperintendentofthe has three kids, could feelhernatural
firm to fuelexpansion. H arperW oods district, anotherC on­ sympathybeing tested:“I’ vehad apar­
“R ightplace, righttim e, rightpan­ centricclientnearD etroit,said.“W hen enttellme,‘ W ell, hey, shewasn’tthere
dem ic,”H eibertold me sardonically. wewerekids,wewereoutofthe house because ofm y life problem s.’I getit,
andatschool.Therewasnooption.This b utyoucan’ tjustleaveastudentoutof
uanticka P rude had herfirstchild became optional.” schoolbecauseyou have issues.”
K when shewasthirteen, so she fin­
ished hereducation atthe city’ sm ater
i
E ven before CO V ID , some students
­n the D etroitarea had been able to ometimes parents askedJohnson if
nityacademy.B eforethat,though,she’ d chooseonline-onlylearningasanoffer­
likedgoing to school.“Itwasfun!W ho ingfrom publicorcharterschools.Since
S shewasatruantoffi
reply,“N o,I’
cer,andshewould
m aprofessionalstudentad­
wanted tobeathom eandlistentoyour thepandemic,m anyschoolshavemade vocate,”which was w hatC oncentric
m om com plain allday?”she told me, iteasierforstudentsto try to catch up called itsoutreach workers. “Ifyou’re a
when I spoke with herafterJohnson’ s from missed dayswith online material. truantofficer,they’
redefensive,”shetold
visit. “B ut, then, we didn’
thave CO V ID Thespectrum from in-persontovir­ me. “They automatically assume you’ re
and citiesbeing shutdown.” tualto nothing atallcan getpretty hereto getthem in trouble.”
D uringthepandemic,D etroit’ spub­ fuzzy. O ne early afternoon, I saw an W ithintheU.S.,theconceptofm an­
licschools,whereherkidswereenrolled eight-year-old boy w ith headphones datory schooling can be traced to the
atthetime,remainedclosedtoin-person on standing outside ahouse in E corse, seventeenth century, when the P uri­
instruction fornearly ayear.“They did playing avideo gam e on a tablet. H is tans ofM assachusettspositioned itas
schoolonline.I hatedit,”shesaid.“They m otherhad died ofaheroin overdose fundam entalto C hristian society, b ut
took itasajokem ostofthetim e,play­ two years earlier, and his father said thistenetwaschallengedbytheIndus­
ing in class, because they feltlike they thathe had enrolled hisson in an on­ trialR evolution, as children w entto
were athom e and they could do that.” lineacademy,becausetheirhousingsit­ workin themills.A fterM assachusetts

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 21

instituted com pulsory-schooling poli­
ciesin the eighteen-forties and fifties,
enforcem entwas spotty. B ut, in 18 7 3,
the statepassed alaw requiring atten­
dance between the ages ofeightand
twelve,foratleasttwentyweeksayear.
The law wasenforced by agentsofthe
schoolcom m ittee— truantofficers—
withfinesofup to fivedollarsperweek.
Sixteen years later, the age range was
expanded to fourteen, and ayearafter
thatthe required term becam e thirty
weeksayear.W . E .B .D u B ois,reflect­
ing on hisupbringing inwesternM as­
sachusetts in the eighteen-seventies
and eighties, em phasized his school
routine. “I wasbroughtup from earli­
estyearswith theideaofregularatten­
dance atschool,”he wrote. “This was
partly because the schools ofG reat
B arrington were nearathand, simple
b utgood,well-taught, and truantlaws
were enforced.”
B y the 18 90-91 schoolyear, m ore
than two hundred ofM assachusetts’ s said, during herrun forstate attorney
threehundred and fifty-onetownshad
an average daily attendance ofninety
percent, and only eleven were below
eighty percent. D uring the following
decades, m andatory schooling spread
nationwide.W illiam R eese,aprofessor
ofhistoryattheUniversityofW iscon-
sin, found thatjustsix percentofad­
olescentswere in high schoolin 18 90
b utthatby 1930 halfofthem were. B y
195 0, attendance was so universalthat
thosewhoweren’ tin schoolwerecalled
dropouts. “B y the early twentieth cen­
tury, the truth isthatyou’ re supposed
to be in school, and, in the long reach
ofhistory,that’ saremarkablefact,”R eese
told me. “Itbecam e auniversalnorm .
O therE uropean nationssortofcaught
up eventually, b utA m erica was in the
vanguard ofthis.”
C ities often em ployed truantoffi­
cers,who roam ed the streetssearching
forchildren to corral, and repeatof­
fenders risked being broughtto juve­
nile court. B utin recentdecadesm any
areashavemoved awayfrom legalrem ­
edies, following ageneralshifttoward
lesspunitivejuvenilejustice. In addi­
tion, experts— citing psychology liter­
atureand evidencefrom statesthatstill
m eted outconsequences— argued that
threats were unlikely to be effective.
“P unitiveratherthan positiveisnotthe
bestapproach,”M ichaelG ottfried, an
22 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
economistattheUniversityofP ennsylva­
niaG raduateSchoolofE ducation,said.
E nforcem entofstate truancy laws
hasgrown rarer.In A ugust,M issouri’s
highestcourtaffirm ed the sentencing
oftwo parentsto atleastaweekinjail
fortheiryoung children’ sabsences,b ut
m ostofthe m ovem enthasbeen in the
otherdirection. In 2019, forinstance,
N ew M exico rem oved the role ofdis­
trictattorneysin enforcing attendance.
(Thestate,which had someofthelon­
gestschoolclosures, saw its chronic
absenteeism rates m ore than double
afterthe pandem ic, to forty percent,
the second-highestrate am ong states,
afterA laska.)
The case ofKam ala H arris is in­
structive.A sthe San F rancisco district
attorneyinthem id-two-thousands,she
m adeheadlinesforprosecutingparents
ofextremelytruantstudents.“I believe
thata child going w ithoutan educa­
tion istantam ountto a crim e,”H arris
general, in 2010. “So, I decided I was
going to startprosecuting parents for
truancy.”D uring thatcam paign, she
pushed fora statewide law thatm ade
ita m isdem eanorforparents iftheir
kidswere chronically absent, punish­
able by a fine ofup to two thousand
dollarsorayearinjail.In 2013,thestate
am ended the law, giving schoolprin­
cipalsm ore leewayto excuseabsences.
W hen H arrisranforthe2020D em ­
ocratic nom ination forP resident, she
received heavy criticism forherefforts.
She expressed contrition, saying that
she had hoped the law would sim ply
prod districtsto offerm oreresourcesto
aid truantstudents. “M y regretisthat
I havenow heardstorieswhere,in some
jurisdictions, D .A .s have crim inalized
theparents,”shesaid.“A nd I regretthat
thathashappened.”
In recentyears, however, efforts to
fightabsenteeism havetendedtoinvolve
nudges,notthreats.In 2015 ,Todd R og­
ers,abehavioralscientistatH arvard,co­
foundedE veryD ayLabs,whichsentlet­
ters and textmessagesto familieswith
rem inders ab outthe im portance of
school, and statistics abouthow their
children’sattendance com pared with
classmates’.P arents could also respond
to achatbotaboutchallengesthatthey
werefacingingettingtheirkidstoschool.
The com pany washired by some fifty
schooldistricts, b utits approach was
m osteffectivewith mildercasesofab­
senteeism,lesssowithmoresevereones.
avidH eiber,C oncentric’sfounder,
D isan advocate ofdirectinterven­
tion,perhapsbecausehewisheshehad
received itwhen hewasyoung. H eiber,
who isforty-seven, wasbroughtup in
D elawarebyhism aternalgrandparents.
H e had some contactwith hism other,
awhite wom an who suffered from al­
coholism, buthe did notknow hisfa­
ther, who was B lack, untilhe was an
adult. H isgrandfather,whom hecalled
D ad,wasatruckdriver,andheandH ei­
bersgrandm other— M om — provided
him with astablemiddle-classupbring­
ing. In high school, hewasatrack star
who attracted scholarship offers.
In hissenioryear,hisgrandfatherhad
afatalheartattackwhileC hristmasshop­
ping. H eiberwentback to schooljust
two dayslaterand, receiving no social­
worksupport— although agym teacher
lethim play P ing-P ong forhours on
end— he “spun outofcontrol,”he told
me. H e wasexpelled from school, con­
victedofburglary,andsentencedto some
fiveyearsinprison.W hilehewasincar­
cerated, hisgrandm otherdied ofcan­
cer. “I justdecided, Som ething has to
happen,”hesaid.“I gottodosomething.”
H e earned his G .E .D . behind bars
and ajudge released him aftertwenty­
seven m onths, on the condition thathe
enrollin college. H e attended Lincoln
University, ahistorically B lack institu­
tioninP ennsylvania,andgotajob teach­
ing high schoolin B altimore,which he
did forayearbefore taking an adm in­
istrativepositionatadifferentlocalhigh
school. B ut, in 2006, he faced one set
ofm isdem eanorcharges related to a
breakup,whichwerelaterdropped, and
anotherset, he told me, forhisrole in­
tercedingin afightbetween studentsat
a high schoolin W ashington, D .C .,
which he had been visiting as an ob­
server.Thatcase resulted in fouryears
ofprobation. “Itwas a rough period,”
H eibersaid. “V ery few people go in a
straighttrajectory.”
In 2007 , he m oved to W ashington,
D .C .,tobecom ethedirectorofstudent
services fora sm allgroup ofcharter
schools.O neday,H eiberand somecol­
leagues were w ondering w hatto do
abouttruantstudents, and itoccurred
to him thatone lived justacross the
streetfrom the school. H e suggested
goingto the student’ shom e.There,his
grandm othersaid thathe was attend­
ing a differentschool. F orH eiber, it
was an epiphany: to getthe rightin­
formation,youneededtogoto students’
hom es, b oth to show familiesthatthe
system cared aboutthem and to gain
a b etter understanding ofw hatwas
keepingthestudentsaway— unreliable
transportation, depression, lack of
clothes,ormyriad otherfactors.“There
wasalistofmaybetwo hundred orso,
and wejustthought, A sk them ques­
tions,”he said.
H eibercametorealizethattherewas
an artto conductingvisitsin waysthat
didn’ tmakefamiliesfeeljudged.In one
hom e, acockroach fellonto hisshoul­
der, and he m anaged to keep him self
from recoiling, “because itwould have
m adethewholeconversationgo differ­
ent,”he said.
In 2010, he was approached by the
N ewSchools V enture F und, a philan­
thropylookingto investin B lackentre­
preneurs. H e received a hundred and
fiftythousanddollarstohelpcreateC on­
centric,with the initialaim ofadvising
districtson how to improve hom evis­
itsby teachers. B utitbecame apparent
thatm anydistrictswerehavingtrouble
getting teachersto do hom evisitsatall
and, instead, were interested in having
C oncentric do them .
H eiberem braced the new mission,
becom inganevangelistforwhathesaw
asanunderappreciatedaspectoftheed­
ucation system. M ostschoolsystems
“paytheleastam ountofm oneyforthe
m ostim portantjob,”he said. “I’m not
saying thatteaching isnotavery im ­
portantjob.B uttheygottobein school
to be taught.”
H is initialcontractswere prim arily
in D etroit. H e m etseveraladm inistra­
torsin the schoolsystem there, m ostly
B lack m en roughly his own age, who
then leftto lead districts in the city’s
working-classinnersuburbs.Theyhired
C oncentricandrecomm endedittooth­
ersin the region.
The frequenttravelto D etroitwasa
strain on H eiberand hisfamily, aswas
thescramblefornew clients.H eincurred
billsforunpaidtaxesandhomeimprove­
m ents, leading to courtproceedingsin
P rinceG eorge’ sC ounty,aM arylandsub-
<Thereci
perequiresonlyonepot,buttheprep requiressix spoons, nine
bowlsofvaryingsizes, andtheneighborsimmersion blender.=
urb ofW ashingtonwherehelived.Then
camethepost-pandemicboom,withnew
businessinM arylanddistricts.C ontracts
ranged from fifty thousand dollars for
hom evisitsin asmalldistrictto several
milliondollarsforhomevisits,plusm en­
toring and tutoring, in somelargeones.
In 2021and2022,C oncentrichired doz­
ensofemployees, many ofthem young
B lackcollegegraduates.Itgavethem two
weeks oftraining, which included in­
struction asbasic ashow to knock on
doors. “I telleveryone, ‘Knock a little
harder,butdon’ tknocklikethepolice,”’
a C oncentric m anager said. The job
mostlypaid on an hourlybasis,asmuch
asthirty-fivedollarsperhour.The“pro­
fessionalstudentadvocates”dressedwell,
in black polo shirtswith the com pany
logoor,sometimes,insuits.“I didn’
twant
peopletogointoabuildingandnotknow
thattheywereourP .S.A .S,”H eibersaid.
Thecompany’ srapidexpansion,with
revenue reaching eightm illion dollars
lastacademicyear,broughtgrowingpains.
Som e employeeswentweekswithout
getting paid, asincome from new con­
tractsarrivedtoolateforpayroll,andthe
companyhad to turn to lenders, several
ofwhom laterfiledsuitfornonpayment.
(M ostofthelegalactionsagainstC on­
centric and H eiberhave been settled.)
C oncentric’
sgrowthonlyaccelerated
asthenew schoolyearbegan.F orm any
districts, tracking down m issing stu­
dents was existential. Severalm illion
children had leftpublicschoolsforpri­
vate and parochialones orforhom e­
schooling; severalhundred thousand
weresimplyunaccountedfor.W ith fewer
students, some districts faced teacher
layoffsand schoolclosures.
To bring m ore orderto the expan­
sion,H eiberhired experienced m anag­
ers.In earlyO ctobercameanannounce­
m entthata firm called N ew M arkets
V entureP artnerswasinvestingfivem il­
lion dollarsin C oncentric.
O ne ofthe firm’ spartners,who was
in charge ofthe investm ent, told H ei­
berthatC oncentric wasworth fifteen
m illion dollars. The federalpandem ic
funding thatsome districtswereusing
to pay C oncentricwould fade in 2024 ,
b utm any districts were using state
m oney, w hich would continue. “H e
thinkswecouldbeahundred-and-fifty-
m illion-dollarbusinessin fiveto seven
years,”H eibersaid.
veryfew weeks,C oncentricreceived
E a fresh listofab sentkids from
each district, often aboutfifty names.
ShepriaJohnson’ slistbroughthertotiny
bungalows,ramshackleapartm ents,and
public-housing complexes. Sometimes
THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 23

A
< nd then on ab daytheyrollon theirbacks,flail,
and mimic usin thethroesofdeath.=
shearrivedathomesthatappearedaban­
doned. “I pullup and am,like, N o way,
nobodyli veshere,”shesaid.“A ndI would
knockonthedoor,andI seepeoplepeek­
ingout,andI think,O h,myG od,some­
one doeslivehere.”
She was able to stave offdem oral­
ization by feeling apurpose fargreater
than she’ d had atherpreviousjobs—
she’d worked as a m anagerata shoe
storeand ataV erizonstore,whilem ak­
ing effortsto complete hercollege de­
gree. “Y ou don’t know w hatyou’ll
go and see, b utifyou’re notdoing it
thenyoucan’ thelp,”shesaid.“Itdoesn’ t
m ake m e sad anym ore, it’sjust, ‘H ow
can I help?”’
She took pride in herability to get
parentsto open up to her.“They go off
ofyourenergy.Ifyou’ reatthedoor,and
you’re upsetwith me, I’ m notgoing to
getupsetwithyou,”shesaid.“W eshould
allconsidertheperson ontheotherside
ofthe door. W eknow whatwe’ retrying
to do— we’ re trying to m ake a differ­
ence— b utthey don’ tknow thatwhen
were knocking atthe door.”
The conversation wasonly the first
halfofthejob; nextwasrelayingwhat
24 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
inform ation she had learned to school
officialsorto C oncentricemployeessta­
tionedatschools.A m otherinamobile-
hom e park said thatherson,who was
inhigh school,neededtutoring;another
m other said thatherson was always
lateto schoolbecausehehated algebra,
his firstperiod, and suggested chang­
ing his schedule. E ven when Johnson
found an address uninhab ited, w ith
nothing b utacan ofairfreshenervisi­
ble in the em pty living room , she con­
sidered ituseful, because italerted the
schoolthatitneeded updated contact
inform ation forastudent.
Thesesortsofhom evisitsaresonew
thatthere hasbeen little chance to as­
sessthem .A JohnsH opkinsUniversity
evaluation ofC oncentric in the B alti­
m ore schooldistrict— itslargestcon­
tract— during the 2021-22 schoolyear
reported thatam ajority ofhom evisits
found nobody there. The evaluators
struggled to judge the im pacteven of
the visits thatdid reach family m em ­
bers, because there was no attendance
data from the pandem ic yearof2020-
21to com pare the new num berswith.
The Johns H opkins study found,
however, thatschooladm inistrators
praisedthecom pany’ sefforts. Superin­
tendentsinM ichiganechoedthispraise.
“Thenum berofcompaniesthatpledge
orprom ise to address inequities or
deficits thatare experienced in urban
schools— it’sexhausting,’’D errickC ole­
m an,the superintendentofM ichigan’ s
R iverR ouge schooldistrict, told me.
B utC oncentric, he said, is“able to go
into placesthatm any educatorsarere­
luctantto go into, forsafety reasons,
and m ake fam ilies feelcom fortable.
Theycreatepsychologicalsafetytoshare
whateverthosechallengesare.A nd that
then givesus data and inform ation to
make adjustm ents.”
C onnecticut, which haslaunched a
hom e-visitinitiativein fifteen districts,
hastaken aslightlydifferentapproach:
outreach workers callahead to sched­
ule visitswith families, which can last
longerthan anhour.A studyfoundthat
the program — which iscarried outby
schoolemployeesorcom m unitym em ­
bers and which has costtwenty-four
million dollars— resultedin anincrease
in attendance offifteen to twenty per
centam ong m iddle and high school­
ersnine m onths afterthe firstvisit.
B utJohnson preferred arriving un­
scheduled, believing thatitgave hera
clearerpicture ofthe household con­
text.“W henyou’ reonthespot,youhave
thepureparent,”shesaid.“Ifyousched­
ule it, they’re prepared, they already
know why you’ re coming, they already
know theirstory,b utyou’ renotgetting
the raw reason.”
n a couple ofoccasions, visitsby
O m em bersofM ichigan’ sC oncen­
tricteam uncovered situationssotrou­
blingthattheyprom pted callsto child-
protective services. M ore often, the
team found adifferentrecourse.M ich­
igan isone ofthe few states thatstill
enforcelegalrepercussionsfortruancy:
aschoolpoliceofficeroradm inistrator
oraC oncentricP .S.A .can send aJC 01
form to the prosecutor’s office for
W ayneC ounty,wherem ostoftheC on­
centric districts are.
Ifthe prosecutor’soffice finds suf­
ficientevidence,ittypically offersstu­
dentswho are ten orolderadiversion
program — the chance to im prove at­
tendanceand havetheirrecordswiped
clean. Ifthatfails, students m ay be
b rought b efore a judge. (C ases of
youngerkids are referred to the adult
division, and charges m ay be brought
againsttheirparents.)
Johnson, hercolleagues,and the su­
perintendents in the C oncentric dis­
trictsinW ayneC ountyallsaidthatthe
JC 01 form s have been avaluable tool
in the m ostextremecases— sometimes
the courtwould even threaten to block
parents’welfare payments. “Itwasvery
powerful,’’JoshaTalison, the superin­
tendentin E corse, said.
B utduringthepandemic,thesuper­
intendents said, the process b roke
down— ittook m uch longerto hear
from theprosecutor’ sofficeaboutforms
thathad been filed. “W hen the pan­
demic started, theyjuststopped doing
it,”Talisontoldme.StilesSim m ons,his
counterpartin the W estwood district,
whichisnearby,told methesame.“The
courthouseprettym uch shutdown,”he
said. “A nd then there was a backlog.”
(R obertH eim buch, the chiefofthe
juvenile division atthe prosecutor’sof­
fice, said thathis team had continued
to handleJC 01 forms, shifting m eet­
ings and hearings to Z oom , b utthat
some steps in the process m ighthave
taken longer. H e didn’ tknow ifrefer­
ralsforchronicallyabsentstudentshad
fallen off,becauseJC 01swerefiled for
allm annerofu jvenile-delinquencycases,
and his office did notkeep a tally of
how m anywere fortruancy.)
A fteram orning ofhom evisitswith
Johnson, I m etwith Sarah Lenhoff, a
professorofeducationpolicyatW ayne
StateUniversity,who started studying
absenteeism in 2016. Shejoined a co­
alition to tackle the problem in D e­
troitand becam e convinced thatthe
crisis is now so severe thatitrequires
a greater response. “W e’re thinking
aboutschoolattendanceallwrong,”she
said. “It’ssocietal.”
SeveraloftheW ayneC ountysuper­
intendents working w ith C oncentric
agreed.“Theissueofchronicabsentee­
ism is m uch b roader than w hatthe
schooland its partners can handle,”
Simmonssaid.“Thereneedstobesome­
thing else done.”Itwas a com pelling
argument:throughoutthecountry,local
and state governm entofficials, school
boards, and others had decided thatit
wasinthepublicinterestto closeschool
buildings forayearormore, and now
itwas going to take a group effortto
rebuild the norm s. The issue couldn’ t
belefttoindividualschoolsordistricts—
orto asingle company.
Society, asawhole, needed to rein­
force— asithad inM assachusettsmore
than acenturyago— theim portanceof
school.Itwaswherechildrenawakened
to theworld’ sopportunities,wherethey
learned how to be productive citizens,
and,forsome,wheretheyfound adaily
routine and regularmeals.
Instead, asLenhoffnoted, families
often gotthe oppositemessage.Inade­
quate infrastructure had led D etroitto
cancelschoolforseveraldayslastyear,
because ofexcessive heat. Schools had
also closed in the face offorecasts of
snow which b roughtno actualsnow.
D istricts getpenalized by the state’s
funding form ula ifattendance drops
below seventy-fivepercenton anyday,
and so they m ay close schools when
theyfearthattoo few kidswillshow up.
“Ifyouhavethathappen often enough,
itdoeserodeyourfeeling thatthe sys­
tem isthere forus, and notjustwhen
it’
sconvenientforthem ,”Lenhoffsaid.
O ne day, shortly afternoon, I en­
countered severalfifteen- and sixteen-
year-old boyswho had recently arrived
from Latin A m ericaand werewalking
adoginthequietstreetsofR iverR ouge.
B uttheyweren’ tplayinghooky. School
had b een closed thatday, owing to
plum bing problems.
A shortdrive away, amiddle-school
girlwasplayinginafrontyard,whileher
oldersisterand some ofherfriends, in
theirlate teensand earlytwenties,were
hanging outin anearby car, onewith a
baby on herlap.The youngersisterwas
alsonotmissingschool:ithadbeenonly
ahalfdayinherdistrict,to allow forpro­
fessional-developmentcourses.
A skedwhyabsenteeism hadincreased,
theyoungwomendidn’ thesitate.“That’
s the two ofthem and theiroldersister
whatthe corona did,”Serenity, who is
twenty-one,toldme.N ow “they’ resend­
ing the kids back to school, and they
don’twantto no m ore. They wantto
stayhom eandplayontheircomputers.”
hen D ecem b er arrived, the
W weatherbecam eanotherobsta­
cle:leavinghom ewasevenlessappeal­
ingwhen itwasdarkand coldout.O ne
m othertoldJohnson thatherson had
been missingschoolbecauseshehadn’ t
been able to buy him awinterjacket.
A notherm othertold Johnson that
she had justbeen crying on the toilet:
herrenthaddoubled,soshewasn’ tgoing
to be ableto afford C hristm aspresents
forherkids.Therentincreasehadforced
herto pick up a second job, ata fast­
food restaurant, which had disrupted
herschooldrop-offandpickuproutines.
Johnson alerted the children’sschool
and suggested thatitputthe familyon
itslistforgiftdonations.
In E corse,KuantickaP rudewaswor­
riedaboutmoney,too.Shehadlesscom­
ingin now than ayearearlier,when she
hadbeenworkingasecondjob,ataW en­
dy’s.The reason hernanny cam wasn’ t
working, she told me,wasnotthe cats,
asshehad saidtoJohnson,butbecause
shecouldn’ taffordthemonthlypayments.
B utshetold m ethatshem ightquit
hersecurityjob, too, to betterm onitor
the schooling ofherkids,who also in­
cluded agirlin ninth grade, twin girls
abouttoturneight(whowereinspecial­
education programs), and afour-year-
old girlin preschool. “I’m going to
getittogether,”she said. W ith Jisa-
iah and King,“it’ sgoing to take me to
sitthem down and talk to them really
good andletthem know,to understand
whatthey’ redoingandcausing.B ecause
this isnotagam e orajoke. N otonly
can you getpeople in trouble b utyou
need an education.”
The nextm orning, itwasjustget­
ting lightasJisaiah and King were
scheduledto bringtheirlittlesistertwo
blocks away forherpreschoolbus. A
catpawed atthe frontdoor, asifto re­
m ind them . A nd then they em erged.
They were a few m inutes late, which
m eantthatKing needed to waveatthe
bus asJisaiah hustled hersisterdown
the sidewalk, a hand on hershoulder.
Then P rude’ sm otherem erged to load
intohercar.O n thisday,theyweregoing
to m ake it. ♦
THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 25

THE LIF E OF THE M OTHER
A high-riskpregnancyin a climateofe
egal nam e of deceased
L
Y enii
ferA lvarez-E stradaG li
ck
DATE OF DEATH— ACTUAL OR PRESUM ED
July 10, 2022
M ARITAL STATUS AT TIM E OF DEATH
0 M arried
IF DEATH OCCURRED IN A HOSPITAL
E R /O utpatient
IF FEM ALE
Z P regnantattimeofdeath
LOCATION (CITY/TOW N AND STATE)
Luli
ng,TX
M ANNER OF DEATH
0 P ending Investigat
ion
Y eniiferA lvarez arrived in central
Texasfrom San Luis P otosi, M exico,
in1998 .A tthree,shewasjustoldenough
to have asenseofaworld leftbehind:
the firethatwarmed the house in the
evening,the meathung to dry outside
the door, and la bisabuela, heradored
great-grandm other, who had died
shortlybeforeY eniand hermom went
north.InLuling,yeni,herparents,aunts,
andgrandmothersetdedintoacramped
house with atin roofthatwas down
the streetfrom hergreat-uncles, the
firstmembersofthefamilyto discover
thetown’ sdecentjobs,in theoilfields.
B lack gold had been gushing there
sincethe nineteen-twenties,and asul-
fiirousodorhungintheair.To thisday,
when thesmelldriftsfiftymilesnorth,
peoplein A ustin callit“theLuling ef­
fect.”Y eni’sfatherworked in oil, too,
butitwasn’tlong before he was de­
ported. Y eni’smother, Leticia, stayed
and gotajob in the kitchen ofalocal
M exican restaurant,wherethepaywas
m odestbutno one was asking about
papers. E very m orning, Y eniand her
litdebrotherM ichaelrodetoaredbrick
schoolhouse in a caroverstuffed with
otherkids. A tthe wheelwasaneigh­
26 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
LETTER.F ROM TEXA5
faraboutabortion.
BY S TEPHANIA TALADRID
borwho,foradollaraday,took careof
childrenwhoseparents’workdaysstarted
wellbefore classdid.
Leticiadivorced,remarried,andtook
asecondjob,atapoultryplant.Shehad
two more sons, and she relied on Y eni
to help raise them . P edro, born when
Y eniwasten,receivedadiagnosisofau­
tism; hewasso sensitiveto sound that
raindropson the roofcould makehim
spiral, and on the rare occasion when
hespokeyeniunderstoodthathe’ dgiven
each word seriousthought. F rancisco,
whoarrivedwhenshewasthirteen,was
vulnerable, too— bullied in elementary
school,heretreated to studying online.
B ythetimeY eniwenttohighschool,
she’d become the nerve centerofher
extended-familyoperation.Shewasthe
onewho fretted overamortgage pay­
ment; followed up on the applications
fordisabilitythatshefiledforhercousin,
who’ d had astroke atsixteen; warned
familymemberswhenpoliticianswere
stokingrageagainsttheundocumented;
and made the delicate decision about
whetherto callthepolicewhen P edro,
alarmed by something he couldn’ tar­
ticulate, ran away. O nly atschooldid
the pressure easeup.
W hereasotherteen-agegirlsinLu­
ling dream ed ofbeing crowned W a­
termelonThum p Q ueen attheannual
farmers’festival,Y eni’shopewastobe­
comeascientist.O neday,sheimagined,
she’d have a college degree— chemis­
tryorbiology,shehadn’ tdecided— and
buyahomeinW imberley,aprettyH ill
C ountrytown fortymileswestofLu­
ling. She could almostsee the ranch
house,nestledinthewoods,with extra
bedroom s forLeticia and the boys.
She could stillalm ostsee the place
yearslater,herm othersaid,afterschol­
arships had been turned down for
lack ofa SocialSecurity num berand
she was a certified nursing aide cut­
ting toenails atH illcrestM anor, a
nursing hom e near one where her
brotherM ichaelworked asajanitor.
“Lifeistoo shortfortearsandhate,”
she alwayssaid, and comfortcould be
foundinblastingQ ueen B eyinthecar
onthewayhomefrom work,inlaugh­
ingwithfriendsatanover-the-topbur­
lesquecabaret,andinherboyfriend,an
A rm y R eserve specialistnam ed A n­
drew G lick. H ewasn’ tasliberalasshe
was,butthey shared askewed senseof
hum orand alonging forexperiences
more vibrantthan those afforded by
ruralTexas. A ndrew loved anim e,
wanted to go toTokyo,and didn’ tbalk
when Y enimade itclearthat, should
thetwoofthem staytogetherandleave
Luling, heryoungersiblingswould be
com ing along. She called them her
ninos— the children she’d had without
getting pregnant.
TheweddingwasinN ovember,2021,
andontheprecedingeveningsA ndrew
receivedacrashcourseinranchera.The
mariachiswere driving si x hoursfora
singlenight— therecouldbeno disap­
pointm ents on the dance floor. A fter
theceremony,in abarn flankedbyoak
trees,Y eni,twenty-six,swayedinatulle
ballgown, a silvertiara, and the lon­
gestveilshecould find.The following
m onth, Y eniannounced with joy that
shewaspregnant.The only downside,
she told herm om , was thatshe and
A ndrew, who had moved in with the
family,wouldbedeferringtheirplanto
leave Luling. W here else butin this
stinkerofa town would there be so
manyauntsandcousinsexcitedtomeet
anewborn, and to help?
uling’ssole generalhospital, A s­
L cension Seton E dgarB . D avis, i
namedfortheG od-fearingshoemaker
s
who discovered thatthe town wassit­
ting on oil.The hospital’
shelipad has
acanary-yellow signalthatreads“LO W
flying Ai RCRAFT.Tn C aldwellC ounty,
where Luling issituated, more than a
quarterofthe people undersixty-five
Y eni'sfamily and r
fiendscommemorateherbirthdayathergravesite.<L ife istooshortor
f tearsandhate,=sheusedtosay.

P HOTOG RAP HS BY CARLOS JARAM ILLO THE NEW YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 27
are uninsured, according to a recent
censusestimate;forsomeofthem , de­
layingmedicalcareuntilitbecomesur­
gentisaway oflife. C ritically illpeo­
ple,includingwomenwhoarepregnant,
often arrive atthe hospitalonly to be
rushed to b etter-equipped facilities
somewhere el se.
The hospital’slabor-and-delivery
unitclosed years ago, and there isno
ob-gyn on site.The wom en in Y eni’
family,likemostwomeninLuling,were
used to travelling to Kyle,
thirty miles northwest, or
to A ustin, forroutine care.
B utsometimesapregnancy-
related crisisistoo urgent
to allow fortraveltime,and
the Luling em ergency
room— with fourbedsand
one doctor— is the only
placeto go.
B y 2022, two hospital
em ployees told m e, the
num berofwomen giving birth in the
LulingE .R .wassurging.Theyrecalled
seeing only five orsix b irths in the
previousdecade. N ow itfeltlike“un­
controlled chaos,”one ofthem said.
B abieswerebeingdeliveredinthewait­
ing room, orcrowning on a stretcher
in the hallway, the fourbeds being
occupied.
Thetwoemployeeswereaccustomed
to seeingearlymiscarriagesortheswift
deliveryofsomeone’ sfourth child.B ut
latelywomenwerecominginwithmore
varied and complex conditions, and at
timesthe E .R . feltlike aneonatalin-
tensive-careunit— butonelackingthe
equipm entto properlyhandlesickba­
bies.Thehospital’ ssinglebaby-warm­
ingcrib wasdiscovered,during abirth,
to be missing awheel; anurse had to
prop itup with herfeetto preventthe
newborn from falling outwhile the
doctorreceivedobstetricscounselover
the phone from aspecialistin A ustin.
“A nythingthatfailsin society,any­
thing that’sbroken,endsup being the
emergencyroom’ sproblem,”oneofthe
employeestold me.B oth ofthem sus­
pectedthatthesurgewasbeingdriven
bydiminished accessto abortions,fol­
lowing the enactm ent, in 2021, ofa
state law know n as S.B . 8 , w hich
banned the procedure afterthe sixth
week ofpregnancy in nearly allcases.
A Johns H opkins B loomberg School
28 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
ofP ublicH ealth studyrecentlyshowed
that, in anine-m onth period follow­
ing the passage ofS.B . 8 , nearly ten
thousand additionalbabieswereborn
in Texas.
W hatconservativelawmakershailed
asthe saving ofinfantlives, medical
professionals I interviewed in rural
Texassaw asabeleagueringchallenge.
A ccording to state data, even before
s S.B . 8 halfthe countiesin Texaswere
unequipped to treatpregnantwomen,
lacking a single specialist
inwomen’ shealth,such as
an ob-gyn or a certified
midwife.M ultipledoctors
told methattheoverturn­
ingofR oev.W ade,inJune
of2022, exacerbated the
crisis, aspractitioners re­
tired early or m oved to
states where they’ d have
morelibertytomakem ed­
icaljudgments.Sowho,ex­
actly,wassupposedto handletheextra
deliveries in wom en’s-health deserts
suchasC aldwellC ounty?W hatwould
become ofwom en in rem ote locales
who experienced a hem orrhage ora
ruptured fallopian tube?
A lthough itwasillegalfortheE .R .
to turn awaypatientswho needed ur­
gentcare, hospitalworkers in Luling
couldn’ thide theirreservations. “This
isnotthe place you wantto be,”one
ofthem toldpregnantpatients.“Itcould
end up tragic.”There wouldn’ tbe an
anesthesiologiston hand to numb the
pain with an epidural, m uch less an
expertin maternal-fetalmedicine.N ot
everypatientwasinapositiontotravel
elsewhere, however. If a pregnant
woman visited the Luling E .R . three
tim es in a row, staffcame to assume
thatshe’ d end up delivering there,
whetherthey wereprepared ornot.
eniwasamongtheuninsured,and
Y when herteeth hurtordrug-store
creamsweren’ tcuringarash,sheturned
to theLuling E .R .O vertime,thestaff
came to know herand herailments.
In herm id-twenties, shelearned that
she had hypertension, orhigh blood
pressure, and diabetes. B oth condi­
tions ran in herfamily; Y enibegan
storing herinsulin nextto herm oth­
er’sin the fridge.
A fterCO V ID -19 peaked in Luling,
Y enifellill, and shewashospitalized
with pulm onary edema, a condition,
in which the lungsfillwith fluid,that
strainsthe heartand canbefatal.A n­
otherlong-term complicationwasher
weight,whichrarelydippedbelow two
hundredandsixtypounds.F orallthese
reasons, when Y enibecame pregnant
shewasahigh-risk patient.
Sevenweeksinto herpregnancy,in
lateJanuary, 2022,Y enimessagedA n­
drew:“Slightbreathing problems.”A
few dayslater, she woke up bleeding.
H erfirstinstinctwastocallhermother.
‘D oesithurt?,’Leticiaasked.Itdidn’ t,
b utY eniwas too scared to trusther
m other’ stheorythatmiscarriageswere
accompaniedbypain. Sheracedto the
E .R ., where her case was term ed a
“threatened m iscarriage.”A n ultra­
sound showed norm alfetalgrowth;
herbloodpressure,however,hadspiked
to aworrisome 18 5 /98 .
A lthough some wom en with the
same conditions asY eni— hyperten­
sion, diabetes, ahistory ofpulm onary
edema, severe obesity— end up safely
delivering healthy babies, others be­
come so unwellthata difficultques­
tion arises:Isthisapregnancythatthe
patientcansafelycontinue?Somestud­
ies show thatcardiovasculardiseases
accountformorethan athird ofpreg­
nancy-relateddeathsintheU.S.“W hen
apregnantpatientcomesto youwith
ahistoryofpulmonaryedema,theques­
tion is:W hatisthe cause, and can it
bemanagedorreversed?,”UriE lkayam,
the directorofthe m aternal-cardiol­
ogyprogram attheUniversityofSouth­
ernC alifornia,toldme.“P regnancyin­
creasesbloodvolume,andwithlimited
cardiacreservesthe pressurefrom the
heartmay be reflected into the lungs,
causing pulm onary edema and heart
failure.”H isrule ofthum b isthat, ifa
patientisfairlysickearlyon,“oneneeds
to assumethataspregnancyprogresses
things only willgetworse.”In those
cases, he said, term ination lowers the
risk ofdeath.
A ccordingtoY eni’ smedicalrecords,
doctorsdidn’ traisethepossibilityofa
therapeuticterm ination with her.A s­
cension Seton, a network ofC atholic
hospitalswhose mission is“rooted in
the loving m inistry ofJesus,”isaverse
to abortions.B ut,assomemedicalpro­
fessionalsfamiliarwithY eni’ scaretold
me, the hospitalscan make an excep­
tionwhen awoman’ slifeisatrisk.The
field ofobstetricsisreplete with gray
areas, and in thepastaphysician with
aborderline case could directthe pa­
tientto anotherfacility,with fewerre­
strictionson abortion.B utthatoption
effectively disappeared in the m onths
beforeY enigotpregnant.
W hen S.B .8 banned abortionspast
the six-week limit, itincluded an ex­
ceptionincasesof“medicalemergency.”
A tthesametime,thelaw madeittricky
forhealth-care workers to raise the
emergency flag, by enabling citizens
to initiatelawsuitsagainstpeoplewho
“aid orabet”banned abortions,incen­
tivizing them with thepossibilityofa
ten-thousand-dollarreward.A person
involvedwithY eni’ smedicalcasetold
me,“O neofthethingsthatS.B . 8 does
isunderm ineasenseofcom m on m is­
sion and trust,evenwithin acare-giv­
ing team — you know, who’sgoing to
go behind yourback and sueyoube­
causetheywatchedyoudoyourcare?”
A fter the bleeding episode, Y eni
leftthe E .R . with areferraltoJessica
M ueller, an ob-gyn who ispartofthe
A scension Seton netw ork in Kyle.
A fterm aking the appointm ent, Y eni
had to find someoneto coverhershift
atahom e-carejob thatshe’ d recently
started:attendingto amanwith quad-
riplegia, whose ability to eat, drink,
andbathe depended on her. O nceshe
madeitto Kyle,M uellerinform edher
thatherhypertension rem ained se­
vere, and she needed to be adm itted
to the hospital.
ThiswasnewsthatY enicould not
afford to hear. A s itwas, she could
barely keep up with herm edicalex­
penses— this visitalone was costing
hertwo hundred and fiftydollars,out
ofpocket. Undocum ented pregnant
wom en can be eligible forgovern­
m ent-funded health coverage, and
Y enihad applied foritb uthadn’tre­
ceived aresponse.“I don’tknow what
to do,”she’ d texted A ndrew shortly
before the appointm entwith M uel­
ler. “I justdropped 5 00 plus m y car
paym entto getitoutofthe way so
I’m leftw ith 200 that’s not even
enoughto covercostandI’ m justdone
I don’ tknow whatto do.They won’
help me unless I getinsurance b utI
cantgetinsurance.
M uellercould notconvince Y eni,
now ten weekspregnant, to be hospi­
talized, b utshe did herbestto warn
herpatientaboutthe dangersofskip­
ping dosesofblood-pressure medica­
tion,whichY enisometimesdidbecause
thedrugscouldmakehernauseated or
sleepy, inhibiting herability to do her
job. Ifshe did notgetherblood pres­
sureand glucoseundercontrol,M uel­
lersaid, shewouldbeatriskofhaving
aheartattack,astroke,oramiscarriage.
M edicalrecordsdonotsuggestanydis­
cussion ofthe factthatan abortion
could have alleviated the additional
strainthatthepregnancyplacedonher
heart. (M uellerdid notrespond to re­
questsforcomment.)
D eciding whetherto end a m uch
wanted pregnancy because ofserious
health risksisan excruciating process
formany women, and itisalso diffi­
cultterrain fordoctors.Inform ed con­
sentisafundamentalprincipleofmed­
icine— apatientcan basicallydo what
shechooseswithherbody,andcantake
orleavemedicaladvice,butdoctorsare
ethically b ound to give the patient
enough information to grasp the pos­
siblecostsand benefitsofherchoices.
In stateswithabortionbans,whichem­
phasize the rights ofthe unborn and
tendtohavethepoorestmaternal-health
t
<Itwouldbeworthtentimesthatwith l
outcomes, adoctor’ sadviceto apreg­
nantwoman canbeespeciallyfraught.
Two weeksbeforeY enisaw M uel­
ler, Lorie H arper, the directorofm a­
ternal-fetalmedicineattheUniversity
ofTexas atA ustin, who practices at
A scension Seton, had told colleagues
ataconferencehow S.B . 8 wasaffect­
ing herwork:“Somewom enjustcan­
nottake the stress ofpregnancy, so
they m ay basically die ordevelop a
life-threatening condition. In those
cases, I have to recom m end an abor­
tion in orderto preventa m aternal
death.A ndthatisgettingmuchharder.”
She added, “P hysicians are having to
choose between their own personal
well-being and, attim es, a patient’s
well-being.”
A notherdoctorin the A scension
Seton system told me, “O ne ofthe
greatchallenges and rewarding fea­
turesofobstetricsisthatyouhavetwo
patients. They sometimes have com ­
peting interests,and oneisdependent
on the other. Y ourjob isto getboth
throughthepregnancysafely,butthat’ s
notalwayspossible.A nd it’ sveryfrus­
tratingto haveyourhandstiedbecause
the patientwho you need to save is
notthe one that’sprotected by law.”
Y eni’sfirstvisitto M uellerwasfol­
lowed byfivemore. B ythe third visit,
egs.
 was credentialled to treathigh-risk-
pregnancy cases.B uthervitalshad to
be stabilized first. W ith a nasalcan­
nula, he broughtup heroxygen lev­
els.H erbloodpressure,though,wasn’ t
responding to treatm ent: itdropped
to 17 5 /108 , wentback up to 219/126,
then soared to 233/133. A n X -ray re­
vealed thatY enihad once again de­
veloped pulm onary edema. The lon­
gershe stayed in Luling, the greater
the danger.
Thehospitalcalledahelicopter,but
bad weathersetin. Y eniwould have
to go byambulanceto abiggerhospi­
tal.A n ob-gyn in KyleadvisedW illis
notto transferY enithere.Instead,she
wouldbesentto theA scension Seton
M edicalC enterA ustin, twenty miles
fartheraway.In thepaperwork,hyper­
tension and pulm onary edem a were
listed asreasonsforthetransfer,along
with suspected preeclampsia, a com ­
plication ofpregnancy thatischarac­
terizedbyhighbloodpressureandcan
damageorgans.D octorsoften recom­
m end thatpreeclam ptic wom en de­
liverearly.
Shortlyaftereightin them orning,
an am bulance waswhisking Y enito
theA ustin hospital— el r gande,asY eni
describedittohermother.Thebreath­
ing difficulty was m aking herpanic,
as ithad in the past— this was the
third tim e she’ dbeen given adiagno­
Y emsmother, L eticia, reliedonherdaughterto hel pcarefortherestofthefamily. sis ofpulm onary edem a. She m es­
saged A ndrew:
shewastakinghermedicationsaspre­ dos, uno? atwhichpointpinkballoons “I’m alone and scared.”
scribed, butshe had missed avirtual roseintothesky.Itwasagirl,forwhom “W here ismy m om .”
appointm entwith a m aternal-fetal Y eniand A ndrew had already chosen Leticia was also terrified. That
specialistbecausethehousewhereher aname: Selene. m orning, she had rushed to the Lu­
clientlivedhadterriblecell-phoneser­ ling E .R ., and, as she’d watched the
vice. M ueller’
snotescatalogued what hreeweekslater,intheearlyhours ambulancedoorsclose,ithad occurred
doctors callsocialdeterm inants of
health— structuralfactors thatshape T
ofM ay9th,A ndrew W illis,adoc­ to herthatherdaughterm ightdiein­
tor atthe Luling E .R ., was halfwasy
idethevehicle— -Yenihadneverlooked
apersonswelfare,beyondherindivid­ through his shiftwhen Y eniarrived so sick. O n arrivalin A ustin, records
ualchoices ortreatm ents. “Unable to with herhusband. She had woken in show,Y eniwas at“high risk forclini­
getlantus rx be was $4 00,”M ueller the middle ofthe night, struggling to caldecompensation/death.”
wrote, ofY eni’sprescription forlong- breathe. F orabouta m onth, she had Y eni’sfetus, atnearly twenty-three
actinginsulin.“B P elevatedtoday,was been coughing persistently and gasp­ weeks,wasonthecuspofviability.A c­
20 m in late forapptso was stressed ingforai r,especiallywhenlyingdown, cording to a2022 study in theJournal
aboutthis.”O n Y eni’ ssixth visit, her butnow she could feelherheartrac­ oftheAmerican M edicalAssociation, a
blood pressure was norm al. She had ing asheroxygen levelsdropped. She baby delivered attwenty-three weeks
askedM uellertowritedownherbaby’ s couldn’twalkwithoutbecoming short has aless-than-fifty-per-centchance
sex on apieceofpaper.Theunopened ofbreath.H erbloodpressurewasdan­ ofsurvival, and a significantnum ber
notewaspassed to aflorist,who pre­ gerouslyhigh:205 /129.Shewastwenty- ofthe babieswho do survivehave se­
pared abox ofballoons.In m id-A pril, two weeksand si x dayspregnant. veredisabilities.W hen consideringan
a smallcrowd assembled in Leticia’s W illis’sinstinctwastotransferY eni early delivery, adoctorm ustcarefully
backyard chanting,<C i nco, cuat
ro, tres, to afacility in Kyle orA ustin which weighthebenefittothem otheragainst
30 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
the costto the fetus. A second, more
controversialapproachincaseslikeY e­
ni’sisalate-term abortion.In 2021,ac­
cording to data obtained by the C en­
tersforD iseaseC ontrolandP revention,
lessthan onepercentofabortionsoc­
curred atoraftertwenty-one weeks.
W hen anabortionisperformed atthis
stage ofpregnancy, itisoften to pro­
tectthe life ofthe mother.
Y eniwas so unw ell on adm is­
sion— “stupid sick,”in the words of
oneperson involved in hercare— that
shewasimmediatelytransferredto the
intensive-care unitand placed on as­
sisted breathing.Though shewasun­
able to speak, she could stilltext. “I
wantto live,”she told A ndrew, dis­
tressed. A little later, she tried to col­
lectherself.W hen Leticia asked how
shewasfeelingshereplied,“F ine,”add­
ing athum bs-up emoji.
Leticia recognized herdaughter’s
habitofdownplayingfears.H ow many
dozens ofmessages had she received
overtheyearsthatsaid“I loveyoumom
and everything willbe O .K.”?So she
persisted:<G orda, tellme the truth.”
Y eniletthis message go unanswered.
In the following days, underthe
care ofC eleste Sheppard, a specialist
in m aternal-fetalmedicine, and oth­
ers,Y eni’
spulm onaryedemaimproved
withblood-pressuremedications.H er
supplementaloxygenwasdialledback,
and testsshowed thatshe m ostlikely
didn’ thavepreeclampsia.Itwasam o­
m entofseem ing stability, in which
m edicalprofessionals m ighthave
started aconversationwithY eniabout
the progressiveburden thatthe preg­
nancy placed on heralready vulnera­
bleheartandlungs,andabouttherisks
thatcontinuing itm ightpose to her
life.Thisdidn’ thappen.F ourdaysafter
admission, Y eniwas discharged with
anadjusteddoseofhypertensionm ed­
ication and apotentdiuretic. (Shep­
pard declined to answer questions
aboutY eni’scare.)
W hen Y enireturned to Luling,ex­
hausted, herfam ily wondered ifshe
would have been keptin the hospital
longerhad she been insured. (Some
ob-gyns I spoke with also raised this
question.) Leticia urged herto quit
herjob andstayhomeuntilSelenewas
bom.B utY enineededthemoney.H ow
elsewould Selene’ sneedsbe covered?
“I’m fine,”sheinsisted.Leticia,though,param edics puther on oxygen and
could hearhow Y enidragged herfeet started heron an I.V .Y ou’llbe going
when shecamehom efrom work.W as to Kyleviahelicopter,theytold her—
thisnormalforthefifthm onthofpreg­ she was too faralong into herpreg­
nancy?A lthoughtherewerefewerthan nancy, and too hypertensive,to adm it
ten stepsbetween whereY eniparked to the Luling hospital.
hercarand the stoop,thejourneyleft A cute pulm onary edem a often
herspent. She started departing fam ­ causes patients to panic, and, before
ilygatheringsbeforeeveryoneelse,in­ the drivercould startthe engine,Y eni
cluding the elders. (“W here are you unfastened her safety b elts— she
going, mijdY =} E ven employees atthe couldn’ tbreathe, she said. The para­
localsuperm arket, who had come to medics struggled to calm herdown.
know Y enioverthe years as a lively A ccordingtothreemedicalprofession­
customer, had started worrying about alsfamiliarwith Y eni’ scase, itis ap­
herpallor. propriatein such situationsto provide
In late M ay, Y enitexted Tuesday ahypertension medicine,likeLabeta-
C oe,thenursewho caredforherquad­ lol,immediately.Instead,theparamed­
riplegicclientatnight, sayingthatthe icsinterpreted some ofhersymptoms
shortnessofbreath had returned. She assignsofanxiety.
wentto see M ueller, the ob-gyn in A ndrew W illis, the Luling E .R .
Kyle, and wasasked to return the fol­ doctor,recom m ended sedationwhen
lowingdaywith aurinesample,which they called him . They gaveY enithe
would be tested forexcessprotein, a firstoftwomilligramsofA tivan,m ed­
sign ofpreeclampsia. W hen Y enigot icalrecords show, and then a hun­
back from the appointm ent, she felt dred m icrogramsoffentanyl.Labeta-
defeated. Shetold C oe thatshe knew lolwas am ong the lastm edications
som ethingwaswrongbutthe doctors adm inistered.
didn’tseem to be getting to the b ot­ B ythistime, neighborshadjoined
tom ofit.“Itwasalwaysthesamething, adistraughtA ndrew outside the am ­
thatthey couldn’ tfind anything,”C oebulance,andwerewonderingwhypara­
told me. “A nd every tim e she had to medicscalled to rushY enito ahospi­
go,itwassoexpensive,becauseshehad talfiveminutesawayhadbeen parked
no insurance, so she stopped going.” foralmosttwo hours. (Thedirectorof
Y eni’
sbreathing problems continued, Luling E m ergency M edicalServices,
butrecords indicate thatshe did not R ichard Slaughter, did notrespond to
visitthe ob-gyn again. questionsaboutthe medicationsY eni
received oraboutthe delayed depar­
ustafter5 A .M .onJuly10th,Y eni’s ture;W illisdidnotrespondtorequests
J chronic sym ptom s intensified. A forcomment.)
cityambulancearrived,andparam ed­ M inutesafter7 A .M.,whenthepara­
ics found her sitting on the side of medics finally pulled up to the E .R .,
herbed, feelingweak. She told them thehelicopterm eantto transportY eni
shewasanxious, and they found that was stillen route, b utW illis and a
her b lood pressure was perilously smallteam werewaiting atoneofthe
high— 213/14 6.A ndrew said thatshe hospitaldoors. They had I.V . bags of
wastaking only halfthe blood-pres­ magnesium sulfate, which helps pre­
suremedication she’ dbeenprescribed. ventseizuresin preeclampticwomen,
Y eniexplained thatherdose was al­ and medicationsthatwouldlowerY e­
wayschanging. ni’sblood pressure. W hen the am bu­
Y eni’soxygen levels were falling, lance stopped, though, the param ed­
and the param edics concluded that icsdidn’ tgetout.Thehospitalworkers
she needed to go to the hospital. She looked atone another. F inally, one of
took twenty m inutes to getdressed, them flung open thevehicle’sdoors—
and when she finally leftthe house Y enihad no pulse.
she stum bled before recovering her The param edics had been giving
footing and m aking itto a stretcher herC P R . W illis took over, and with
inside the ambulance. She needed to each compression adoctortrained in
catch herbreath, she said; then her emergencymedicinewasm aking one
breathing turned into a cough. The ofthe m ostdifficultcalculations in
THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 31
the field ofobstetrics:when to turn to speak to me, he decided to share, easeandcausehypertensivecrises,”the
from working on a m otherto work­ via e-m ail, a single docum ent:Y eni’s m edicalexam inerwrote, in nam ing
ingonherbaby.Theconsensusamong autopsy report. pregnancy asa factorin Y eni’ sdeath.
specialists isthatinitiating a C -sec- Y eni’spassing came asa shock to
tion within roughly fourm inutes of AUSE OF DEATH herfamily. “W ewere scheduled to do
the m other’sdeath improves the in­
fant’schances ofsurvival; delivering C H ypertensive cardiovascular disease herbaby showert
associatedwith morbid obesity
hatweekend,”A n­
drew’ssisterLisa B ozem an told me.
thebabyalso improveschancesofre­ “B utweweren’ thaving ababyshower.
OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
suscitatingthemother.W illisworked W ewerehaving afuneral.”E versince
P regnancy
on Y enipastthe four-m inute m ark, Y eni’sdeath,someofthemedicalpro­
then m ade an incision in herabdo­ fessionalsinvolvedinandbriefedabout
m en. W hen Selene, now thirty-one Theautopsycappedmorethanthree her care have been haunted by the
weeks, came to reston the old baby thousand pages ofm edicalrecords question ofwhethersinsofomission
warmer, she, too, wasdead. chronicling the shortlife ofY eniifer were com m itted. They have asked
A fterA ndrew G lick,who hadbeen A lvarez-E strada G lick. N one ofthe them selves ifresponsibility forher
in the waiting room, heard thatY eni recordsfrom when Y eniwas alive ac­ death resided in partwith the new
and the baby were gone, he fled the knowledgethat,givenhermultipleun­ laws thatsuppress free discussion—
E .R . N ot long afterw ard, he left derlyingconditions,anabortionwould b oth am ong doctors and w ith pa­
Luling forgood in hiswife’sold car, haveincreasedherchancesofsurvival. tients— abouttherapeutic abortion.
where he’ d keptone ofherlastcans O nly the autopsyputitplainly.“P reg­ H adfearoflegalrepercussionstrumped
ofsoda in the cup holder. A lthough nancy creates stress on the heartand compassionate care?
he declined through family members can exacerbate underlying heartdis­ Y eni’
sdeathoccurredtwoweeksafter
theoverturningofR oe,whichtriggered
abortionrestrictionsinstatesacrossthe
country.In Idaho,Texas,andM issouri,
THE REAL-FEEL™ G W forinstance,performinganabortionin
almostallcircumstancesbecame clas­
sified as a felony forwhich a doctor
could faceyearsin prison and the loss
ofa medicallicense. E ven before the
Supreme C ourtruling, the U.S. (the
rarewealthy nation withoutuniversal
health care) wasone ofthe few coun­
tries where m aternaldeaths had in­
creasedsignificantlyinthepasttwode­
cades. A study by the University of
C olorado B oulderpredicted asurgein
maternaldeathsafterR oefell, dispro­
portionately am ong wom en ofcolor;
analysts atTheL ancetand H arvard
M edicalSchoolvoicedsimilarworries.
The task ofdeterm ining whether
thatprediction has come to pass in
Texasbelongsto the state’ sM aternal
M ortalityandM orbidityR eview C om ­
mittee.Texas’ sm aternal-deathratehas
more than doubled since1999, driven
bytheincreaseinmaternal-caredeserts
andbyalackofprenatalcare,ofhealth
insurance, and ofaccessto contracep­
tion. The review com m ittee has, for
thepastdecade,attem pted to conduct
close analyses ofthese deaths, draw­
ing on medicalrecords,policereports,
and otherdocum entation. Its reports
serve both asroad maps foraverting
futuredeaths(thevastm ajorityofthe
<Thirty-two? Feelsmoreliketwenty-nine examined deathswerelikelyprevent­
to me.Y eah, I’
dsaytwenty-nine.= able, the com m ittee’slatestfindings
show) and associalindictm ents, un­ C harlesE .B rown,am aternal-fetal
derscoring how m uch awoman’ srace, expertwho used toworkatA scension
econom ic status, and location factor SetoninA ustin,notedthatY eni’ sprob­
intoherlikelihoodofdyingwhilepreg­ lemswereheightenedbytheinconsis­
nant.M em bersofthe com m itteetold tencywith which shetook herhyper­
methatthereview processiscum ber­ tension m edications. H owever, he
some,and thattheywon’ tstartassess­
ing 2022 casesuntillaterthisyear, at
concurred with the otherexpertsthat
the threatto herlife was sufficiently
the earliest. highthatattenweeksalongsheshould
G iventhatprocedurallagtime, The havebeenasked,“D oyouwantto con­
N ew Y orkeraskedfouroutsideexperts tinuethispregnancy?”B rownalsosaid
toreview Y eni’ smedicalfile,whichher that,inA ustin,Y enishould
m other obtained. A llfoursaid that havebeen carefullym oni­
Y eni’sdeathwaspreventable;thatshe’ d tored untilaviable deliv­
beendischargedprematurelyfrom the ery was likely, instead of
A ustin hospital; and thatatherapeu­ b eing discharged into a
tic abortion, ifoffered and accepted, care desert. H e considers
would probably have saved herlife. herdeath a consequence
JoanneStone,thechairoftheob-gyn ofboth S.B . 8 and acrisis
departm entatthe Icahn Schoolof long predating it:Texas’s
M edicineatM ountSinaiandthefor­ inadequatefunding ofthe
m erpresidentofthe Society forM a­ medicalneedsofthepoor.
ternal-F etalM edicine, said flatly, “If To Tony O gb urn, an
sheweren’ tpregnant,shelikelywouldn’ t ob-gynwho hasspenthiscareerserv­
bedead.”W hen Y eniwaswellenough ing wom en ofcolorin low-incom e
to bemoved outofthe I.C .U. in A us­ communities,m ostrecentlyaschairof
tin, Stone wenton, “the discussion the departm entofobstetrics and gy­
would be, ‘D o you wantto continue necology atthe University ofTexas
thispregnancynow,knowingthat,be­ R io G rande V alley, “Y eniwas atick­
causeyoualreadyhad thesevere-range ing tim e bom b— one thatexploded.”
blood pressureand pulm onaryedema, H e acknowledged thatsome people
yourlikelihood ofgetting reallysicki s would say she was noncom pliant—
super-high?’”In such cases, she ex­ “thatthis isherfault.”B ut, he noted,
plained, “you have aconsultation, you ifthat’ sthe attitude A mericans have,
have the neonatologists come talk to the U nited States willneverfix its
her,youhavethem aternal-fetal-m ed­ m aternal-m ortality problem. A m ong
icine specialistscome talk to her, and the aspects ofY eni’scase thatpartic­
then sometimesthepatientneedsaday ularlytroubled him werethebreaches
ortwo to come to a decision. B utin ofinform ed consentand shared deci­
the legallandscape ofTexasyou can’ t sion-m aking. IfY enihad been made
even startthatdiscussion.” fully aware that she m ight die at
Thom asTraill, the directorofthe twenty-seven,andhadlearnedhow an
E . C owlesA ndrus C ardiac C linic, at abortion m ightincrease herchances
JohnsH opkins,and anexpertinpreg­ ofsurvival, and then had chosen to
nanciesofwomenwith cardiaccondi­ continuethepregnancy, O gburn said,
tions,agreedwithStoneaboutthegrav­ thatwould be O .K. Instead, she and
ity ofY eni’
srisk.H e told methat, had herfamilyhad seeminglybeen denied
Y enihad accessto propercareforher crucialmedicalinform ation thatthey
serious underlying conditions, she had arightto know.
would have been advised notto get A spokesperson for A scension
pregnantin the firstplace, and that Setondeclinedtoanswerspecificques­
when she saw an ob-gyn ten weeks tions aboutY eni’scare and any role
aftersheconceivedanabortion should thatTexas’ sabortionrestrictionsm ight
have been discussed. H e contended have played in it. (The spokesperson
that, with the law apparently stifling cited legalreasons and the rightto
such aconversation, E .R . doctorsand privacy, although Y eni’sm otherhad
paramedicswereplaced in an“im pos­ signed awaiverofprivacy rights in
sible situation”thatended in “avery orderto allow thehospitalto respond
preventable m aternaldeath.” to myquestions.) “W e arecom m itted
to providing high-quality care to all
individuals,”the spokesperson said,
“with specialattention to thepoorand
vulnerable.”
narecentmorning,whenI joined
O Leticia and hersisterE lizabeth
ata dinerin downtown Luling, the
wom en gestured uneasily toward the
booth behind us:fourparamedics in
uniform eating breakfasttacos, their
radios hanging offtheir
belts. In a com m unity of
onlyfivethousand people,
itisdifficultto ask ques­
tions ab outthe choices
m ade by institutions on
whichyourownlifem ight
one day depend. SoY eni’ s
family and friends talked
quietlyamongthemselves,
w ondering w hat Y eni
wouldhavechosenhadshe
known how imperilled shewas.
O ne ofherclosestfriends,D olores
F avela, said, “She and A ndrew were
so young, and ifgiven a choice they
probablywouldhavethoughttothem ­
selves, W e’llhave so m uch tim e to­
gether, we can have a child lateron.”
Leticiawasn’ tassure,recalling some­
thing Y enisaid in passing afterher
im provem entin the A ustin I.C .U .:
thatifadoctorhad to choosebetween
savingherorsavingSelene,herdaugh­
tershould come first. Leticia had re­
sponded,halfinjest,“A ndwho exactly
isgoingto takecareofSelene?”“W ell,
you, M am i!”Y enisaid. “M e?”Leticia
teased. “Ifyou leave, you bettertake
Selenewithyou!”Laughing,thewomen
laid the subjectto rest, neverto dis­
cussitagain.
N ow thatb oth Y eniand Selene
weregone, Leticiatried to find com ­
fortin the idea thatithad allbeen
G od’ swill.B utwhatifithadn’ tbeen?
W hatifthe catastrophe could have
been prevented? She thoughtthat
Y eniwouldhavepursued answershad
such a thing happened to som eone
she loved. Leaving the diner, Leticia
and E lizabeth headed to the cem e­
tery,astheyoften did,to shoo theliz­
ards from the grave, tidy the m ari­
golds,andtestthesolar-poweredlights
thatthey’ ddrapedoverthetom bstone
to insure thatY eniand Selenewould
notbe leftin the dark. ♦
THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 33

S HAMELES S LY DRAM ATIC
In theplaysofBrandenJacobs-Jenkins, uglyfeelingsfindsophisticatedforms.
randen Jacobs-Jenkins has en­
B dured his share ofm ortifying
m om ents in hisjourney to the
A m erican stage.Therewasthenightin
his early twenties when he m etTony
Kushneratabirthday party and stood
forso long in awestruck silence, pre­
tending to text,thatKushnerpityingly
encouraged him to have a good tim e.
O rthe day he misspelled “heifer”in a
spellingbee, earning so m uch m ockery
from friendsofhism other’ s,hetoldme,
that“I alm osthad m y race card taken
away.’’Two ofhis firstplays stum bled
into scandalsbefore they even opened,
with one ofthem leaked to and subse­
quently eviscerated in the Times.B ut
thecake-takingincidentoccurredduring
ab riefflirtation with perform ance art,
when Jacobs-Jenkins appeared before
hisfamily in blackface.
“M y m om wasthere,”hetold mere­
cently. “M y kindergarten teacherwas
there.M ybrotherand sisterwerethere.”
H e closed hiseyesand laughed into his
steepledhands.Thehappeningwaspart
ofanexperimental-artfestivalinhishome
town ofW ashington, D .C ., and took
place in a form erbathroom ata shut­
tered school. H is m otherhad caught
wordofitonline,andbythetimeherec­
ognized hervoice am ong the dozen or
so spectatorsitwastoo late to stop the
show.Jacobs-Jenkinsspentthenexthalf
hourperformingmimelikeroutinesface-
to-facewith each m em berofthe audi­
ence, lip-synching asmachines spewed
fogandasamplefrom B eyonce’ s“C razy
in Love”played on aloop:“Uh-oh, uh-
oh,uh-oh, oh-no-no.”
H e rem em bersitasone ofthe m o­
m entsthatledhim to chooseplaywrit­
ing overperform ance. H aving recently
graduated from a m aster’ sprogram at
N .Y .U.,Jacobs-Jenkinswasattem pting
toexcavatethelegacyofstigmaattached
to B lackness onstage. H e saw him self
in the lineage ofartistswho explored
the afterlife ofracistimagery, and of
34 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
PROF ILES
BY JU LIAN LUCAS
avant-garde perform erswho dissected bating to the ghastly heirloom — orat
the construction ofidentity by defa­
m iliarizing theirown. Y ethis brother
laughed.H isform erteacherlookedter­
leastsoitseemsto hisuncle,areform ed
alcoholicpedophiledeterm inedto make
amends.P residingoverthecircusisP aul­
rified. H is m otherneverspoke ofthe son in the role ofToniLafayette, an
dayagain.O nlytheprincipalofhisA f­ em b attled and em b ittered m atriarch
rocentric elem entary school— where com m itted to defending herfather’s
he’ d once appeared in a B lack-history goodname.“E njoyforgivingeachother,”
pageantasM artin LutherKing,Jr.— sheseethed athersiblingsin onem ike-
m anaged to find words forthe occa­ drop exit.“I hopeyouforgiveeachother
sion.“F irst,I wanttosaywearesoproud allnightlong!”
ofyou,”she toldJacobs-Jenkins.Then I caughtup withJacobs-Jenkinsaf­
she asked a question:“W hen willwe terward in the lobby, where he fielded
seeyou on B roadway?” com plim entsfrom mem bersofthe au­
dience. “This could be m y family,”an
he answerhasfinally arrived,with olderwhite m an volunteered, adding
T the recentopening of“A ppropri­ thathisgrandfatherhad been a“racist
ate,”atSecond Stage’ sH ayesTheatrp
ei,eceofshit.”“O h,r o<?
//”Jacobs-Jenkins
onF orty-fourth Street.D irectedbyLila replied. A wom an in red said thatshe
N eugebauer,andmarkingtheB roadway wasstillprocessingtheshow.“Y ouare?”
return ofSarah P aulson, it’sa raucous heresponded. “I likethat. Itmakesm e
family drama setataformerplantation feelgood.”Jacob s-Jenkins is a soft-
inA rkansas,wheretheLafayettesiblings featuredm anwithwatchfuleyes,restless
havegatheredto dividetheirlatefather’ s fingers,andachinstrapbeardthatwould
estate.They find an album oflynching flattera top hat. (Thatnight, he wore
photoswhilecleaningoutthehouse,and ablackbeanie.) H e speaksatlightning
whatfollowsisafeverishreckoningwith speed in a densely allusive dialectof
sin, secrecy, and the dubious dream of H igh M illennial,chasingitscustom ary
suppressing an inappropriatepastwhile hyperbole— “incredible,’’“hilarious,’’“ob­
continuingto appropriateitsspoils.“Y ou sessed,’’“psychotic”— withdraftsofirony
wantme to go back in tim e and spank and singsong warm th. Y ou can never
my great-great-grandparents?”one sib­ quite tellwhetherhe’ sm aking fun of
ling says,raging againstwhiteguilt.“O r himselforotherpeople,blesstheirhearts.
should I lynch myself?” “M an, I’m finally a touristtrap,”he
A tadressrehearsal,I watched from m used as a few stragglers filed out. “I
the m ezzanine as C orey Stoll, in the waspassingpeoplegoingto‘Spam alot,’
roleofB o Lafayette,snarledtheselines and I was, like, ‘O h, this isdifferent!=’
atE lie F anning, who plays hisb roth­ The production isperhaps m ore of
er’sconscientiousvegan fiancee, R iver. a belated achievem entforB roadway
Theyfacedoffacrossaneloquentlyclut­ than itisforJacobs-Jenkins.A tthirty-
teredlivingroom whereapressurecooker nine, the playwrightcan boastoftwo
winked from the edge ofthe stagelike P ulitzernominations,aM acA rthurF el­
C hekhov’ sgun.Scenesflew byinawhirl lowship,and aculturalpresencethatex­
ofabjectdysfunction.Somefamilym em ­ tends from H ollywood writers’room s
bers are anxiousto destroy the album, to collegesyllabi.N otlong ago,he cre­
othersto sellitasacollector’ sitem ,and ated an F X miniseriesbased on O cta­
stillothersto concoctan excuse forits via B utler’ s“Kindred,”and alsojoined
dam ningpresencein thehom e.A surly the Theatre and P erform ance Studies
teen grandchild m ightevenbem astur­ program atY ale. W hy should he be
Thedramatistcan boastoftwo P ulitz ernominations, a M acArthur, and a culturalpresencefrom TV screensto syllabi.

P HOTOG RAP H BY M ACIEK JASIK THE NEW YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 35
bowled overto have reached, in his D avid in searchofhisG oliaths,”thedi­
icanP lays,inLouisville,Kentuckywhere
words, “a little postage stam p ofthe rectorE ricTing told me. “E ach play i s
“A ppropriate”prem iered. N eugebauer
country owned by three landlords,” aboutfinding anew G oliath.” was im m ediately taken with the work
where, before becom ing aTony voter, There’ anditsauthor.“B randen isinterested in
sagenerationalvalenceto his
he rarely attended shows because he whatwelearn aboutourselveswhenwe
fixation on the em barrassm entofliv­
couldn’ tafford tickets?“I see allthese ing— amillennialcom plaintaboutthe find ourselvesin am om entofveryspe­
sweetlittle notesfrom people thatare, awkwardness ofhaving been groom ed cificallycalibrateddiscomfort,”she’ dtold
like,‘F inally, B randen’
son B roadway!”’ forplum rolesin anend-of-historypag­me.Theirprofessionalchemistry,which
hetold meon anotheroccasion,insist­ eantthatnevercame to be. In “G loria”
Jacobs-Jenkins characterizes as“im p­
ing that, despite a“strange pressure to (2015 ), setata magazine whose youngish,”wasobvious. B utthatday N euge­
besoexcited,”hefeltnoparticularthrill. staffersblame“post-warglutton babies”
bauerwasallbusiness,bunching up the
N evertheless, he adm itted thatitwas forsquanderingtheirfutures,acopyed­ sleeveendsofhersweaterin herfistsas
fascinatingto see“A ppropriate”— which itorfeelsso disgraced bythe low atten­
shehashed outscenes.
he wrote more than ten yearsago, asa dance atherhousewarm ing party that N ew pageswere eagerly awaited in
wryhomagetothewhitefamilydrama— she shootsup the office. “G irls”(2019),
therehearsalroom,whereactorslounged
realizedsograndlyontheG reatW hite anadaptationof“TheB acchae,”reimag­ byahumidifierandthewindowslooked
W ay:“In somewaysI’ m,like,W hatam ines E uripides’uptightking asan incel
outon the aggressive red signage ofa
I aboutto reencounter?” streamermaddenedbyhisparents’boom- C hick-fil-A .ThisisJacobs-Jenkins’ ssev­
Jacobs-Jenkins has m ade an artof erish decadence.Jacobs-Jenkins’ skeen
enth production of“A ppropriate,”b ut
dramatizingtheC hinesefingertrapthat earfortheanxietiesofourageisequally you’ d hardlyhaveknown itfrom thein­
is“writing aboutrace.”(Say you aren’ t attuned to thoseofagesgoneby;in ad­ tensityofhisrevisions.H e tweakedline
doing itand thesnareonlytightens.) In aptationslike“A n O ctoroon”and “E v­
afterlineonhisrose-goldM acB ookA ir,
hisbreakoutwork,“A n O ctoroon”(2014 ), erybody”(2017 ),basedonamedievalm o­which shared atabletopwith hisformi­
afrustrated B lackplaywrightrevivesan ralitypl dable arsenaloffountain pens.“I’
ay,theshockofself-consciousness m ob­
antebellum m elodram a asa riposte to summonstheghostsoftheatre’ viouslyan incredibletyper,’’Jacobs-Jen­
shistory.
the expectation thathiswork reporton “I cringeatmypast,”hejoked in oneof kinsapologized.“Y ouandD onnaTartt,”
contem porary race relations. R ace, as ourconversations.Y etwhatiscringebutSarah P aulson, in abaggy sweaterand
Jacobs-Jenkinshasmemorablyputit,i s the beginning ofself-knowledge? paint-fleckedjeans,replied. (Tartt, afa­
“the biggest, longest-running theater m ously m eticulous reviser, publishes
gam e in the history ofm ankind.”B ut n early N ovem ber, I accom panied roughly one novelperdecade.)
it’salsojustasubcategory ofhisdeeper
engagem entwith shame, and the ways
I
Jacobs-Jenkins to an early rehearsal “D o you wantto explain the latest
of“A ppropriate,”attheTonyKiserThe­ changes?”N eugebauerasked, once he
itforcespeople to confrontthe selves atre, on F orty-third Street. “W e talked wasdone.
and the stories thatothers foistupon aboutsham ing you,”N eugebauertold “I’m trying to thin outsome ofthe
them likeduncecaps.H e hasdescribed him . (W e’d arrived in the m iddle ofa legalese,”hereplied.N earlyhalfthetext
scene.) A longtim e friend and collabo­ on hisscreen wasred.
theatre asaspace forugly feelings, and
ratorofthe playwright, she m ethim at
in hisplaysugly feelingsfind sophisti­ F orJacobs-Jenkins,aplayi sneverfin­
cated forms. “I think ofB randen as athe2013H um anaF estivalofN ew A m er­ ished, because theatre isalive. O bserv­
ing both actors and audiences, he con­
stantlyaltershiswork,often rightup to
and beyond the deadline. P erhaps the
furthesthe’ severpusheditwaswith“The
C omeuppance”(2023),thestoryofagroup
ofthirtysomethingswhofacedownshad­
owsoftheirformersel vesatapandemic-
haunted high-schoolreunion.The play
culminateswith amonologueaboutsur­
vivor’ sguiltby the character-hopping
spiritofD eath. “Literally, itwasD eath
revealingwhoD eathhadcomefor,’’Ting,
who directed the play’sprem iere, told
me.Y etJacobs-Jenkinsdidn’ tfinish the
m onologue— or even announce who
would bedelivering it— untilthedayof
the “third orfourth preview,”Ting re­
called.N obodycomplained,hewenton,
becausethosein therehearsalroom un­
derstood itasan opportunity to mirror
<W e’
reairshippeople, notmega-airshippeople. theaudience’ sexperience.Jacobs-Jenkins
nevertreatshisplayslike“apaintingthat
he has signed his name to,”Ting said.
“Ifyou’ regoing to invite him back into
therehearsalhallwithascript,hei sgoing
to resurrectit.”
“M y second ' O h, m y G od’isgone,”
P aulson remarked asshe read the new
text. Sheboiled watertorteain asleek
b utslow kettle, lam enting thatattrac­
tive things aren' tnecessarily efficient.
Jacob s-Jenkins teased that the pot
shouldn’ tcallthe kettle black. “H ardy,
hardy, hardy, hardy!”P aulson take-
laughed in his face. The two volleyed
jokesallmorning. Shelatertoldm ethat
theplaywrightwassillierthan she' d ex­
pected, and m entioned thatshe' d been
delighted to discover thatthey b oth
knew allthe lyricsto ' A C horusLine.”
I he“musicality”ofthewriting in 'A p­
propriate”had stunnedher,shesaid,and
she confessed thatshe was excited tor
arolein which “desirabilitJywasnoton
the table atall . "P aulson said in an ap­
pearance on “The V iew”thattwo TV
shows inform ed herinterpretation of
Toni— “C him p E m pire”and“The R eal
H ousewives of SaltLake C ity”— b ut
on B roadway she once played Laura
W ingfieldinTennesseeW illiams’ s“The
G lassM enagerie.”
‘
A ppropriate”roselikeF rankenstein’ s
monsterfrom adissectionofdramas'like
W illiam s’s. In 2011,Jacobs-Jenkins no­
ticedthecontrasting receptionthatm et
two B roadway shows aboutdysfunc­
tionalfamilies:Tracy Letts’ s“A ugust:
O sage C ounty,”which won hosannas
tordelivering the familiarsatisfactions
ofthegenre,andLydiaD iam ond’ s“Stick
F ly
J
,”abouta B lack fami J
ly on M artha's
V ineyard,whichwasdinged forlacking
an originalstatem ent on race. W hy
couldn’ ta B lack playwright’ swork be
appreciatedsimplyforitsmasteryofthe
domestic fracas?A nd whataboutthe
racialsubtextinLetts' swork,nottom en­
tion inplaysbyW illiams, Sam Shepard,
and E ugene O ’N eill?Jacobs-Jenkins
launchedintoamashupoffavoritetropes
from this canon, collecting them in a
W orddocumentandproceedingto“sand
itdown and sand itdown’’untilsome­
thing new emerged.
“1was fully ready to justbe a play­
wrightwho was read,"Jacobs-Jenkins
told me,adecisionthathe attributed to
the “plucky puckishness”ofyouth. 1lis
modelswereA drian P iper,theconcep­
tualartistwho“retired”from B lackness;
A drienne Kennedy,who wrote“F unny­
house ofaN egro,”atuguelike allegory
aboutself-loathing;and,especially,Kerry
JamesM arshall, whose triptych “H eir­
looms & A ccessories”inspiredJacobs-
Jenkinstowriteaplaythatwould make
B lackness invisible butspectrally pres­
ent.The artwork depictsblack-and-
whitephotosofyoungwhitewomen in
bejewelled lockets. They
look like innocuous snap­
shotsfrom afamilyalbum ,
b utturn outto be facesin
thecrowdatalynching— a
revelation that“A ppropri­
ate”reproduces onstage.
A bouthalfway through
therehearsal, E lie F anning
arrived with acup ofm at-
cha.G etting into character
asR iver,shemade“quinoaf-
fles,”cleansed the airwith sage, and
gracefullysnatched the album in am o­
m entworthy ofthe basketballcourt.
The actress isbestknown forherrole
asateen empressinthg.TV series“The
G reat,”and in “A ppropriate,”too, she
portrays an underestim ated ingenue.
R iverisusually played forlaughs, but
she’ salso the only characterwho re­
sponds to the narrative’ sawfuldisclo­
sureswith appositegravity.“1didn’ twant
herto be taken asajoke,”F anning told
me, and herapproach inspired Jacobs-
Jenkins to write herlyricalnew lines
abouthom e and the passage oftim e.
(“It’sreallykeeping me on mytoes,but
1think he’ slearning aboutus,”shesaid
ofdieactor-specificrewrites.“Y ouknow,
thisi shisB roadwaydebut, so hewants
itto be perfect.”) The new textfore­
shadows an elaborate scenic epilogue.
“N ature takesthe houseback,”N euge­
bauertold me,explaining thatanimage
ofa tree growing up through ahouse
had cometo her— “I hatewhen people
saJv this”— in adream.
D uring lunch, Jacobs-Jenkins told
me aboutthe rootsthathe’ sbeen put­
ting down. F ive years ago, he married
theactorand cabaretartistC heo B ourne,
whom he m etby chance ata perfor­
m ance of“B ootycandy”— a B lack gay
com ing-of-age com edy by the play­
wrightR obert0 ’1lara— afterresisting
amutualfriend’ seffortsto setthem up
on a date. N ow they live in P rospect
F leights and have a three-year-old
daughter,Indigo,aJacobs-Jenkinslook-
alikewho enjoyssitting on hislap and
playing with binderclipsashe writes.
R ecently,dieytookheronatriptoJapan,
where, although they stayed neara fa­
mous Kabukitheatre, the only dram a
they saw was atKidZ ania Tokyo, a
sprawlingminiaturecitywherechildren
work“jobs"torfakemoney.Jacobs-Jen­
kinsshowed me avideo ofIndigo sing­
ingonthebalconyofaclock
tower, w hich, alas, didn’ t
earn her enough fora toy
thatshewanted.
N eitherdid Jacobs-Jen­
kinsescapedisappointment.
1le couldn' tfind an inter­
preterintimetotourapaper
factory in Kanazawa,which
he’d soughtoutaspartofa
family quest. Like the La-
fayettes, his people come
from A rkansas— specifically, C am den,
where his m aternalgrandfatherspent
mostofhisl ifeworking atapapermill.
1lesentboxesofnotebookseveryyear,a
memory thatreturned toJacobs-Jenkins
when, early in the pandemic, he devel­
oped apassionforstationery.“I’ dcallmy
motherup,asyoudo,”herecounted,“and
was, like, ‘
Talk me through whatthisis
about.1wanttohearthesymbolic,1want
to getG ecrtzian aboutthis. G ive me
some thickdescription ”— an allusionto
the anthropologistC lifford G eertz. H is
motherexplained thatthegiftsstemmed
from herfather’ spride thatthe family
could read and write, no smallachieve­
m entforamanwith littleformalschool­
ing.Jacobs-Jenkinsseesa“deep irony in
thetactthatheparticipated in the mak­
ing ofthe thing that1sully.”
There m ightbe aplay in the story,
he thinks, though he’ sbeen repeatedly
Stymied in researching it. A few years
ago, during a road trip to A ustin with
hishusband,J acobs-Jenkinsinsisted on
stopping in C am den to see hisgrand­
father’sold house.B utdiepropertywas
so overgrown diattheirsedan couldn’ t
make itup the driveway, asthough na­
turewereguarding the family’ ssecrets.
“1alwaysgetsuperjealousofwriters
who are,like,‘I grew up listening to sto­
riesaround my grandm am a’ stab le.... I
came from afamilyofstorytellers, "Ja­
cobs-Jenkins told me, because his own
family was killof“so m uch crazy mys-
tery.”W hen hewasthirteen, hisfather,
THE NEW YOKKER.JANUARY 15.2024 37
believing thathe was dying, revealed
thathehad three otherchildren. (H e is
stillalive.) O ne ofthe playw right’s
great-grandm others ab andoned her
husband and children atthebehestofa
talking spider,which shesaw atabarin
them idstofanervousbreakdown.“I’m
stillcom pensating forthis absence of
sharing,’’Jacobs-Jenkinstold me— fora
failureto“overcomehow shameworked.”
acobs-Jenkinswasborn in 198 4 and
J grew up inTakom a,araciallymixed
neighborhoodinW ashington,D .C .H is
m other,P atriciaJacobs,wasagraduate
ofH arvard Law Schoolwho ran am i­
crofilm company,andwasonceprofiled
in BlackE nterprise.H is father, B enja­
m inJenkins,wasaprison dentist.The
two m etatan auction for“B lackm em ­
orabilia”from theJim C row era,which
clutteredthehousewhereJacobsraised
theirson and histwo adopted siblings.
(Jenkins often visited b utneverlived
with thefamily.) In m anyways,Jacobs-
Jenkins’ schildhoodwastypical:Legos,
“G oosebumps,”N ickelodeon,and,even­
tually, M TV . B utthere were also vin­
tage“W hitesO nly”and“C oloredO nly”
signsabovethe entrance to the dining
room . C ast-iron m am m ies held doors
open, and theirspectreschased the fu­
tureplaywrightthrough hisdreams.F ar
from causing traum a, he m aintains,
growing up in thisB etye Saardioram a
preparedhim to thinkdetachedlyabout
race and artifice in hiswork.
H eattendedschoolattheR ootsA c­
tivity Learning C enter, where the all­
B lackliteraturecurriculum featuredwork
byToniC adeB ambaraandA ugustW il­
son.H issummerswerespentinA rkan­
sas w ith his m aternalgrandm other,
H elen Jacobs, a schoolteacherand an
am ateurdram atistwhom , asJacobs-
Jenkins told m e, “everyone kind of
blamesforwhatI do.”She casthim as
the E asterB unnyin ashow atherlocal
church, and also took him to his first
theatricalperform ance. “I guessitwas
somekind ofP assion play,”herecalled,
speculatingthatshemayhavebeenspy­
ing on the com petition. “The end was,
like,Jesusascending on thistrash-bag-
wrappedplatform .”H ewonderedifthe
m an was really C hrist, and a lifelong
fascination with the mechanicsofthe­
atricalillusion wasbom .
H is firstonstage trium phs were at
38 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
THO U G HT EX P ERIM ENT
W hatwould itbe like to be a m antis shrim p,
poorly understood, territorial, com bative,
w ith partofyourb rain housed
in each eyestalk?
I don’tthink it’sexactly love, b utsom e species
are m onogam ous, sharing a patch ofsea grass
orunderw aterb urrow fortw enty years.
M y place isprob ab ly a hundred and fifty feet
above sea level, and w hen m y son com es b ack hom e
he sleeps in a captain’
sb ed above his old T-shirts.
Som etim es he brings his dog,
a rescue, and calls m e D ogm a,
then they’ re gone again
and I rattle around again, m indlessly,
listening to m y neighb orsing.
F rom the farend ofthe galley kitchen
I can w atch the H udson tides rise and fall,
can im agine b eing dredged in a net
dropped by the sloop m y son and his classm ates
sailed, long ago, w hen they were stillchildren.
spellingbees.Jacobs-Jenkinsbeganpar­ afterhisgrandm other’ sdeath.“I would
ticipating in fourth grade, devoting so rip through them because I had noth­
m uch energy to the pursuitthathis ing to do allday,”Jacobs-Jenkins said
m otherworried aboutthe im pacton ofthe series, an introduction to genre
hispsyche.“I didn’thaveacoachorany­ fiction thatwasalso,appealingly,“alit­
thing,”he told me. “I was, like, a ten- tle queer.”H e developed an obsession
year-old going H A M .”A tthirteen, he with shortfiction through R ay B rad­
reached the finals ofthe Scripps N a­ bury and J. D . Salinger. Soon, he was
tionalSpellingB ee,dispatching“benef- devouringbackissuesofTheN ew Y orker,
icent, inaugural, apiculture, and which he purchased atD .C .’ sm ain li­
“quasquicentennial”beforesuccumbing braryforadim e apiece.Jacobs-Jenkins
to “pinyin.”(H e could have passed by was so taken with Zadie Sm ith’ sstory
spelling its hom onym “pinion,”ifonly “Stuart”thathe swiped arecording of
he hadn’ tasked foradefinition.) G lo­ herreadingitwiththefile-sharingpro­
rious asitwas, the all-consum ing ex­ gram N apster,which m ostofhispeers
tracurricularlefthim with subparm ath used formusicpiracy.
scores on high-schoolentrance tests. A nd then therewasdrama. E nvy of
H e eventually gotinto St.John’ sC ol­ afriendwho appearedin aprofessional
legeH igh School,wherehefeltsocially production of“W aiting for G odot,”
overwhelm ed before em bracing two alongwiththeencouragementofacamp
passions:fiction and theatre. counsellorwho noticedhisaptitudefor
“N ancyD rew”enteredhislifeduring performance,m orphed,byhigh school,
a sum m erwithoutcable in A rkansas, into full-blown theatre-kid syndrome.
where he stayed with hisgrandfather M usicalswere his entree into the his­
 titymoredirectly,andhewasfascinated
by the use ofarchetypes in genreslike
I rem em b erlooking outthe w indow then, too, comm edia dell’arte. H e ended up writ­
w atching the C learw ater ing and directing a senior-thesis play
thatdoubled asan anthropologicalhis­
m ake its leisurely way up and back. tory ofrace, genre, and A m erican the­
W as m y m ind already housed here in m y eyes, atre.B lain-C ruz,whoworkedon sound
forthe production, remembersitasan
w hich, like allhum an eyes, like to close— earlysignofhistalentforendowingab­
to rest, dream , recalla face, a child’
svoice stractions with visceralscenic life. A t
onepoint, agirlwith cancerwasvisited
w ho isno longera child?W ho knows by herlosthair,played by an actorin a
w hatelse they’
re thinking ab outnow. fullhairsuitwho danced aballet.Itwas
characteristic Jacobs-Jenkins, B lain-
True story ab outthe m antis shrim p C ruz told me, abig theatricalgesture
w ho shattered heraquarium walls. thatinterrupted“chaosanddestruction”
with a“tender, unexpected m om entof
B ecause she was alone? surrealhope.”
O rbecause she was notalone enough? A ftercollege,Jacobs-Jenkinsmoved
to N ew Y ork, b utdidn’ tim m ediately
Stories I cannottellbecause I don’
tknow pursueacareerin drama.H ebegan the
how they end and m ightneverunderstand. m aster’sprogram atN .Y .U., studying
withthequeertheoristandperformance­
W ho would b uy a m antis shrim p, studies scholarJose M unoz. H e also
lifted from the sea grass, took ajob in the fiction departm entof
TheN ew Y orker,wherehe’ dalreadyspent
sentby express m ailto be dropped two sum m ers asan intern. “H e’ d been
into a thousand distantaquarium s readingitsincehewasfourteen,and he
rememberedeverystory,’’D eborahTreis-
where she swivels hercom pound eyes m an,thefiction editor,told me.Jacobs-
and takes everything in. Jenkinsassessedsubmissions,excerpted
novels, and introduced the m agazine’ s
— C atherineBarnett theatre critic H ilton A ls to work by
em erging playwrights such asA nnie
B aker, D avid A djm i, and Y oungJean
tory ofA m erican dram a, especially classmateand perennialcollaboratorof Lee. (A lsbecam e a m entor.) H is col­
Kanderand E bb’ s“C hicago,”aproduc­ Jacobs-Jenkins,recalled,describinghim leaguescame to know acharm ing, so­
tion ofwhich he directed. H is friend asam em berofP rinceton’ s“theatre il- ciableyoungm anwhowasslightlyneu­
M aryW isem an,who laterappeared in lum inati.”A scholarnam ed D aphne rotic b utprecociously assured in his
“A n O ctoroon,”playedR oxieH art,and B rooks changed his life w ith “The tastes, and so polite thathis m adcap
nostalgically described the production D ram a of‘ B lackness,’”a survey ofA f­ playscame asasurprise.
as“way too sexy forayouth theatre.” ricanA m ericantheatrethattaughthim “G loria”used histim e atthe maga­
She andJacobs-Jenkinshad m etatan how performance and history were in­ zine to devastating effect, evoking the
acting cam p in theirteens. W isem an tertwined. H e declared a m ajorin an­ desperationofcompetitiveyoungeditors
remembershim asaskinnykidinultra­ thropology, aspiring to reconstructthe reducedto kneecappingandhumiliating
wide JN C O jeanswho used big words socialcontextsofvanishedperformance oneanotherforlackofpromotionalop­
and tradedjokeswith heron A IM .“H e traditions,anddevelopingscholarlyam ­ portunities. They sneak peeks attheir
was really, really funny,”she told me, bitionsthatviedwithhisliterarydreams. colleagues’m anuscripts, sabotage their
with a penchantfor“elaborate setups ItwastheplaywrightB ob Sandberg stories, and then, in thewake ofthe of­
and pretty underwhelm ing payoffs.” who convincedJacobs-Jenkins thathe fice shooting, bickeroverwho’ sentitled
In 2002,Jacobs-Jenkins arrived at wasbom towriteforthestage.“I’ dnever to write abest-selleraboutsurviving it.
P rinceton. H e threw him selfinto fic­ had a studentlike B randen and really A sin so many playsbyJacobs-Jenkins,
tion writing, taking workshops w ith haven’ tsince,”he told me.Jacobs-Jen­ the cruelcom edy alternates with m o­
C hang-rae Lee and E dm und W hite, kins came to Sandberg’sintroductory ments ofpiercing introspection. “W hy
butalso directed and acted, often par­ playwritingclassaftersouringonshort­ arewelike this?”afactcheckercriesin
ticipating in multiple playspersemes­ fiction workshops, where peersfixated the m idstofadeadline-induced break­
ter. “H e could sing, he could dance, he on sussing outthe raceofhisnarrators. down.“W hatisa profile’actuallydoing
could act, he could philosophize,”the D ram a’sem bodim entforced people to besidesthrowingonehum anbeingafter
directorLileana B lain-C ruz, a form er confronttheirassumptionsaboutiden­ anothertothewolvesofhistory,rendering

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 39

entire livesflatand uncomplicated and tended a fashion show there.) Jacobs-
eightthousand wordslong?” J enkins hasbeen asked to dream up a
The globalfinancialcrisis provided commission,butstillfindsthehall’ sgran­
the joltthatJacobs-Jenkins needed to deurintimidating.
embrace hisvocation. A s publications W e settled back atthe table. D esk
shrank and shuttered, he made apact lam ps shone on a scattering ofbooks,
with severalotheryoung staffersto plan papers, and periodicals, including the
theirescapes: “W e gotdrunk ata din­ latestN ew Y orkR eview of B ooks;Jacobs-
nerpartyand were,like,' Let’sjustapply Jenkins,who studied G erman, i swork­
forF ulbrights!'”1lisapplicationto study ingon an essayforthepublicationabout
in B erlin wasaccepted around the same the controversialA ustrian N obellaure­
time thatthe P ublic1 heatre expressed ateP eterI landke,whom hefondlycom­
interestin staging one ofhis plays, lie pared to a“grandpa blogger.”H e has
deferred the fellowship, signed on for spentalotoftime studying the careers
theproduction,andquitthejob.C o-work­ ofhis favorite writers. ToniM orrison,
erswished him well,butasaneditorwho whosenovelshe reread in chronological
knew him reminded me,“O ne docsnot orderafterherdeath,started lat e,hesaid,
expectone’ sjuniorcolleaguetoovernight b ut after “Song of Solom on”itwas
become the sensation ofthe N ew Y ork “banger,banger,banger,banger,banger.”
theatre world.” E dward A lbee suffered a m id-career
slump afterhisacclaimedearlyplays,but
acobs-Jenkinsgetsalotofhiswiiting recovered towardtheendofhisli fe.“1 he
ofB lack leadership, inspired by the end
ofthe O bam a era, the M arxistscholar
A dolph R eed’ scritiqueofJesseJackson’ s
198 4 P residentialcampaign,and hisown
childhoodinD .C .,wherehismotherad­
visedtheR eaganA dministrationon sup­
porting minority-owned businessesand
mixedwithmembersoftheC ongressional
B lackC aucus.A notherforthcomingpl ay,
“G rass,”isaboutam other-son mad trip
to civil-rights museums, and pokes fun
atW altW hitm an’ sdeification in queer
literary circles. G iven W hitm an’sracist
views,Jacobs-Jenkins explained, he was
exasperatedby“thisnotionofawhitesub­
jectbeing,like,' 1am everything,1canbe
everything, I' m the slave,P m thegrass.'”
1le showed me aphoto ofhimselfand
C armelitaTropicana— aC uban A m eri­
canperformanceartistwhotaughthim at
N .Y .U.— atamarathonreadingof“Leaves
ofG rass’in theirbestW hitm an drag.

J doneattheP arkA venueA rmory,the pleasure i

■r
sbeing surprised by how the
nineteenth-century arsenalturned artsform comestoward you and goesaway
venue on the UpperE astSide. H isstu­ from you,”Jacobs-Jenkins said, before
“A H ofour students now are going
into drag,”he observed. “It’ scheap, it’
gig economy. Y ou justbring yourself.”
s

dio istucked awav on the second floor wondering ifhe really m eantit. “I’m 1le speculated thatperformance trends
ofthe brick behem oth, and used to be talking like a teacher. M aybe I’m just cyclegenerationally. W hen he came to
the quarterstoracompany ofN ational trying to convince myself.” N ew Y ork,in2006,everyoneseemedtobe
G uardsmen. In 2017 ,he moved into the 1leaspirestowritean“epic”like“The founding aD .I.Y . theatre company. B ut
space forayearlong residency and was C rucible,”a synthesis ofthe personal, he wasdrawn to the downtown perfor­
neverasked to leave. N ow he serves on historical, and allegoricalthatcould be manceartistsoftheeighties,who’ dturned
the A rm orwy’sboard, b uthisstudio still created onlybysomeonewhosecreative theirownbodiesintocanvases.Themid-
has the allure ofasecrethideout. O n a muscles are “toned to fucking death.” two-thousandswerethedaysoftheblack­
visitlastm onth, 1followedJacobs-J en­ B utteachingaseminaronA rthurM iller face incident, and anotherperformance
kinsdownalonghallwaylined withpor­ made him keenlJy aware ofhow fleet- in which he nearly drained agoldfish
traitsofmilitarJymen.Then ing such m astery could be. bowl— with agoldfish in it— through a
he opened the doors to a “H e’d done his bestwork KrazyStraw whiledeliveringamonologue
shadowy cham ber where in die firsttwo decades of aboutprivilege.(The goldfish survived.)
decorativeswordshungover his career, b uthe had no “A H 1knew isthat1wanted towriteand
the wainscoting, sighing as idea,”Jacobs-Jenkins said. thatwhat1waswiiting wasn’ tmaking
he declared the room “the “Y oujustdon’ tknow what’ s sense,”hesaid ofhissearch forthe right
only joyin my life.” going to happen, and that medium. To find hisway back to the­
7 here was a red vinyl alwaysmovesm e.”H e pre­ atre,heneeded awaytoexorcisehimself.
■■

couch undera chandelier; fersnotto think aboutthe

in a fireplace, lightbulbs shapeofhisownoeuvre:“It’ s a A n O ctoroon’wasthe firstshow 1
glowedthroughtissue-paper play by play, and ideally X I . saw afterm oving to N ew Y ork.
flames.A tthe centerofthe every play opens up anew A hallucinatoryadaptationoftheIrish-
room was along writing table, butwe door.”1agreed thatsome thingswere born playwrightD ionysius(D ion) B ou-
continuedpastitand into adusty closet bestleftto biographersand journalists. cicault’s18 5 9 m elodram a “The O cto­
cram m ed with statues and moldering Jacobs-Jenkins laughed, then— taking roon,”the playarrived atthe beginning
taxidermy. W hile teaching at1lunter advantage of the echoey acoustics— ofarenaissance i n reimagining the leg­
C ollege, Jacobs-Jenkins would som e­ threw back his head and screamed. “1 acyofslavery.1rem em berseeing,in the
times take hisM .F .A . students to the justsaw the future,”he said. span ofjustafew years, KaraW alker' s
space forasurprise. “W e’ d be worldng R ecently, he's been putting the fin­ enorm oussugarsphinx, “A Subtlety,”a
and I’d be, like,'
G uys, come on, let’
ssee ishing touches on “P urpose,”a family m onum entto plantationworkers,atthe
what’ sgoing on!”he said, pulling back dram a abouta B lack politicaldynasty D om ino SugarR efinery, in W illiam s­
acurtain to revealdie building’ sthree- thatP hyliciaR ashad willdirectatC hi-
r
burg; reading Jam es M cB ride’ s“The
hundred-foot-long drillhall. “A nd it’ d cage’ sSteppenwolf T ireatreinM arch.It's G ood Lord B ird," which won die 2013
be, you know, N ickiM inaj.”(She at­ an autopsy ofthe civil-rights-era model N ationalB ook A ward torfiction; and

40 THE N EV YORKER. JANUARY 15,2024

watching as a steam boatexploded at
the clim ax of“A n O ctoroon,”which
Sarah B enson directed atSoH o R ep in
2014 .A heavywallcrashed to the stage
in an hom age to B usterKeaton, pro­
pelling cotton ballsinto the audience.I
took someofthem hom e askeepsakes.
The m om entwas tailor-m ade for
Jacobs-Jenkins,astudentofnineteenth­
centurytheatrewithapreternaturalsen­
sitivityto contem porary neurosesabout
identity.H isplaybeganwith B JJ,anau­
thorsurrogate, stepping outin hisun­
derwearto deliverajerem iad on play­
writing while B lack:
I can’tevenwipemyasswithoutsomeone
tryingto accusemeofdeconstructingtherace
problem in A merica. I even tried writing a
playabouttalking farm animalsonce— justto
avoid talking aboutpeople— and this artistic
directorwaslike, “O h my god!Y ou’ re totally
deconstructing A frican folktales, aren’tyou?”
<M y scientificopinion? Thatisonebig-asspieceofbacon.
A m erica dem ands a “conversation
on race,”in otherwords— and B JJ is
going to give itto them . D uring the
m onologue, he puts on whiteface and
self-administers awedgie. Soon, ares­ Jenkins’ sability to “hold present, past, dercurrents,butthisescapedmany,ifnot
urrected B oucicaultjoinshim , enraged and future feelings in the same space.” all, ofthose who saw the production:
thathe’ sbeen forgotten by a theatre­ P erhapsthe show’ sgreatestsurprisewas Jacobs-Jenkinshadaimedbothovertheir
goingpublicthathismelodramasonce thattheartificeitselfwasmoving:anin­ headsand below theirbelts.The Times
heldin thrall.B othplaywrightsassume finite regressofcharacters confined by reported on a leaked scriptbefore the
m ultiple rolesin arevivalof“The O c­ socialscripts,from theoctoroon tangled show opened,sentreporterstointerview
toroon,”a dam sel-in-distress narrative in the legalfictionsofaslavesociety to peoplewho walked out, and published
abouta m ixed-race wom an who dis­ thepigeonholedandmisunderstoodB JJ. apan thatcalledit“overheated and un­
covers,when herlatefather’ splantation N ew Y ork audiences understood well dercooked.”W hen Jacobs-Jenkins left
goesbankrupt,thatsheislegallyaslave. enough.“Therewerelinesdowntheblock forB erlin, itwas asthough he’ d been
She becom es the objectofa struggle everynight,”B enson told me.The show run outoftown.
between two white men: agentlem an won an O bie A ward jointly with “A p­ H ecamebackjustafew m onthslater
who lovesherdespite hercomplexion, propriate.”“Some people are paralyzed foranotherrotisserie turn in the foot­
and a m ustache-twirling ruffian who byself-consciousness,”B enB rantleywrote lights.Thistim eitwasforan earlyver­
wantsto buy heratauction,lustily de­ in the Times.“Jacobs-Jenkinsisinspired, sionofA“ nO ctoroon,”atastoriedavant-
claring,“I’llown thatoctoroon!” energizedandperhapsevensetfreebyit.” garde perform ance venue in the E ast
The play revelsin the hall-of-m ir- “A n O ctoroon”wasatrium ph,butit V illage then called P .S. 122. Jacob s-
rors absurdity involved in the perfor­ originatedwithtwohumiliations.Jacobs- Jenkinshadbeendrawnto B oucicaults
manceofrace.B JJ,expectedto excavate Jenkins’ sdebutplay, “N eighbors,”pre­ ideathatthesolepurposeofdram awas
hisracialconsciousness, respondswith miered atthe P ublicTheatre in 2010.A to create powerfulcatharsis, and loved
aworkbyanIrishm anwhousedB lack­ continuation ofhis minstrelsy studies, the idea ofplaying with ahighly con-
nessto dram atize the psychodramasof it’satale ofwarring families setin the vention-boundmelodrama.B utcreative
hiswhiteA m erican audience.In oneof suburbs. O ne exem plifies post-racial differences em erged between him and
the m ostm em orably ludicrous scenes, A m erica— a B lack professor, hiswhite the director, G avin Q uinn.A fteradis­
theoctoroon’ stwosuitorsengageinfist­ wife, and theirbiracialdaughter— and pute,Q uinn andseveralactorsdeparted,
icuffs.Y etboth m en areplayed by B JJ, the otheris a troupe ofcaricatures in leavingJacobs-Jenkins in a directorial
who staggersaround receivinghisown blackface.The play,whichJacobs-Jen­ role.Then oneoftheleads,who played
blowslikeacartooncharacter.Thepunch kinswroteassumingthatnobodywould the octoroon’ swhiteparamour,charac­
line isthathe couldn’ tfind any white everproduce it,waswild asallget-out, terized the show asa“trainwreck”in a
m en willing to play slaveholders. withdreamlikeinterludesinvolvingwa­ masse-m ailthatwasleaked to the Vil­
M elodram a ismocked butalso ear­ termelons,enormousphalluses,andm u­ lageVoi ce,and ghosted the project.
nestly resurrected, atestam entto what sicalflatulence.The sceneswere based Jacobs-Jenkinstold afriendthatthe
B enson describ ed to m e asJacob s- oncarefulstudyofminstrelsy’ seroticun­ production was“spiralling.”Y ethe also

THE N EV YORKER, JAN UARY 15, 2024 41


<Jeremy? Areyou in there? =
recognized thatchaoswasan opportu­
nity. “There’sareason D ionysusisthe
god oftheatre,”he told me. “Y ou can­
notcontrolthe audience. Y ou cannot
controlthe daysthatthese artistshave,
thattheybringto thisspacewherethey
rearrange theirem otionalapparatusto
induce a collective hallucination.”A t
the premiere, he decided to transm ute
sham e into spectacle, distrib uting a
prim eron the controversy and taking
the stage to respond with a dram atic
m onologue. Like D ionysus sum m on­
ing the maenads, he then gathered the
wom en in the cast— in petticoats and
antique underwear— to join him in a
frenzied dance to M ary J. B lige’
s“N o
M ore D ram a,”which ended with him
crawling offstage. R itescompleted, the
lightswentdown and the show began.
“W hen you headbang in a corset,
you don’tforgetit,”W isem an, who
played aditzy belle in both versionsof
theplay,reminisced.Shethoughtitwas
“badass”thatJacobs-Jenkinsdidn’ ttreat
the projectas“salted earth”afterthe fi­
asco atP .S. 122:“O ne ofhisgreatgifts
isto dealwith big conflictand m isun­
derstandingandgetcurious.”B utittook
him afew yearsto reembrace his“O c­
toroon.”H e returned to B erlinto nurse
42 THE NEW YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024
his twice-b ruised ego, swearing that
therewouldbeno m oredram aforhim .
H e lived with room m ateswho spoke
m inim alE nglish and rented astudio in
aform ergarm entfactory,whereheen­
teredinto acreativeisolationthat,inhis
words,“rearranged m y neurons.”
Ideasforplaysburstin on hisseclu­
sion. “G loria”arose because he missed
life atthe office; “A ppropriate,”which
alreadyexistedin concept,began to co­
here. H e even found the courageto re­
visitthe “nightm are hellscape”of“A n
O ctoroon,’’whichheconsideredrecon­
ceivingasan“auto-ethnography.”Then,
in the depths ofB erlin’ sharsh winter,
a strange nostosbeckoned.Jacobs-Jen­
kinsmoved in with hisfather,aretiree,
in N orth C arolina,intending to recon­
nectwithhim whilereadinggreat“patre-
m em oirs,”orbooks aboutfather-son
relationships. C abin feverstruck, and
he drifted back to N ew Y ork. H e told
him selfthathe’ d soon return to B erlin.
B uthekeptfindingreasonstostayState­
side: aworkshop of“A ppropriate,”an
opportunitytostudywiththeplaywright
M arshaN orm an atJuilliard,gigswrit­
ingfortelevisionandteachingatN .Y .U.
The excuses detained him long
enough forsuccess to arrive. In 2013,
“A ppropriate”prem iered, and B enson
gotintouch toproduce“A n O ctoroon.”
The founderofSignatureTheatre,Jim
H oughton, who became an im portant
championof a Jcobs-Jenkins,offeredhim
athree-play residency. “H e wasone of
theplaywrightswho reallychangedthe
culture ofthese m idtown nonprofits,”
A nnieB aker,afriendandafellow-play­
wrightatSignature,told me.“B randen
broughta daring politicalquestioning,
a form alexperim entation, and a m is­
chievousnessto these institutions that
theywerereallylacking.”H isO biewas
followed by a P ulitzernom ination for
“G loria,”in 2016. Thatsam e year, he
wonboth aW indham -C am pbellP rize
forliterature and the M acA rthurF el­
lowship. A nd so,justm onths afterthe
quasquicentennialofhis m use D ion
B oucicault’sdeath,thealliterativelysur-
nam ed form erspelling-beecham p had
the attentions ofa once skepticalthe­
atreworld com fortably pinioned.
H isworkinthesevenyearssincehas
been daringlyrestless,from an acrobat­
icallyludicrousvision ofD ionysusand
his m aenads as m essy bitches atthe
“clurb”(“G irls”) to the bold fusion of
naturalism and supernaturalallegoryin
“The C om euppance.”M ore than one
critic hascalledJacobs-Jenkins a“cha­
meleon,”aslightlybackhandedcompli­
m entthatseesin the playwright’ sver­
satility a reluctance to open his own
veins.W ould atrulyoriginalartistwrite
som anyadaptations,orspend so m uch
tim e dwelling on theatre’sconventions
and rules?Y eteven his m ost“abstract”
plays dem onstrate thatplaying w ith
form can be away to express feeling,
especiallywhen confining socialscripts
inspireusto trace theiranatomy.
“E verybody”(2017 ),Jacobs-Jenkins’ s
moving rewrite ofthe medievalm oral­
ityplay“E veryman,”i saboutfacingdown
the m ostm ortifying ofnarrative tem ­
plates:death.Theplaycallsforactorsto
be assigned theirrolesrandom ly atthe
startofeach performance, asthough to
dram atize its centralquestion:“W hy
me?”The protagonist, E verybody, begs
F riendship,F amily,andLoveto accom­
panythem beyondthegrave.Loveeven­
tuallyagrees,butthereisaprice.E very­
body m uststrip offtheirclothes, run
around in acircle, and repeatahum ili­
atingformulathatinitiallysoundsfunny,
then kinky, then scary, and, finally, like
itm ightbe the only knowable truth in Jenkins’ s“ethos ofsubversion”i sconso­ It’saway oftidyingupthefilm’ sgen­
the universe:“This body i sjustmeat! I nantwith P rince’ scrusade againstthe derpoliticsthatalsodovetailswithJacobs-
surrender! 1have no control!” music industry on questions ofgenre Jenkins’ scareer-longinvestigationofhu­
boundaries,appropriateness,andself-defi­ miliation and rebirth.A crucialm om ent
n a rainy day in Septem ber, with nition. W hatbettercandidatethan the in the movie arriveswhen the Kid’ sfa­
O the subway system paralyzed by queerauthorof“A n O ctoroon”to chan­
record-breakingH oods,1foughtmyway nelthe voice of“C ontroversy”(“A m 1
ther,afailedpianist,attemptssuicide.1lis
sonintegratesoneofhisunfinished com­
from B rooklyn to B alletH ispanico, on black orwhite?A m 1straightorgay?”), positions into anew work, parlaying a
the UpperW estSide, foraworkshop who fam ously protested his contract traum atic inheritance into a radically
ofJacobs-Jenkins’sfirstm usical. H e with W arnerB ros,byscrawlingtheword transformedidentity.Jacobs-Jenkins,too,
shelledpistachiosand annotated ascript “slave”on hischeek? isrum m aging around in the archives,
ata table in a m irror-lined rehearsal Theuniversemade itclearthatitwas doingrestorationworkonanarrativethat
room,whereactorsatetakeoutand chat­ time to sign hisnameon thedotted line may J
nothaveturnedoutexact!vasP rince
s

ted by agrand piano.A stage manager and starttogrind.W henJacobs-Jenkins, hoped.T feelhim tellingthestory i nthe
stopped by,likeakindlyteacher,to stick then livinginA ustin,toldhisnatural-hair songsthatthescriptcan’ tfigureout,”he
avioletstaron the cornerofmv J
note- stylistthathewasup forthejob,shere­ told me. B y studying the screenplay, as
book; I began to notice thatadispro­ vealed a huge neck tattoo ofP rince' s wellasP rince' sbreakup with the singer
portionate numberofthepens,binders, iconic Love Symbol, which he’ d never V anity— who wasinitially castin A pol­
andevenarticlesofclothingin theroom noticedbefore.1lethen saw P rince’ sface lonian role— he aspires to write a“P ur­
werein shadesoflilac,mauve,and egg­ staring down from one ofthe walls. “It ple R ain”more originalthan the origi­
plant. A taround tour, the director, Li- wasasthough thescaleshad fallen from nal, faithfiilnotto the film butto the
leana B lain-C ruz, called us allto our myeyes,”hesaid.Jacobs-Jenkinsagreed songsand their“spiritualautobiography.
feet, leading the room i n postprandial to write the musical, and his old friend 1le attempted asimilartrickwith “Kin­
stom p-dap-dance. Soon, a tiny young B lain-C ruz,whom he’ drecentlyworked dred,”O ctavia B utler’ stim e-travelling
m an with apowerfulvoice wasbelting with on “G irls,”waschosen to directit. neo-slavenarrative,addingcharactersin­
lyrics aboutsorrow, rem orse, and the She told me thatshewasexcited to see spiredbyearly manuscriptsofthenovel.
longingfortransformation,plunging us him applyhisformidable intelligenceto The reimagining displeased morethan a
into the surrealA m erican m elodram a amusical.“W hati ssomebodywho deals few ofherdevotees, but“P urple R ain,”
ofP rinces“P urple R ain.’ with the heftoflite going to do with in al litssplendid excess, may beabetter
“In some ways, 1m usthave m ani­ som ething thatby necessity has to l ive fitforhismethod.
fested this,”Jacobs-Jenkinshad told me in a more effervescentlane?”she said. W eslipped outearl y,afterasongthat
afew days earlier. In 2020, he posed for “B randen’ slike, ‘The two can coexist!’ P rincewroteforM orrisD aycalled“G ig­
aphotowiththeplaywrightsD ominique A nd that’ swhatI’ m excited about.” olosG etLonelyToo.”Itwasdate night
M orisseauand KatoriH all,and realized The protagonistof“P urple R ain”i sa forJacobs-Jenkins,who planned to at­
thathewastheonlyoneindiegroupwho young musician called the Kid (P rince), tendtheN ew Y orkF ilm F estivalwith his
hadn’ twritten amusicalaboutahom e­ who drives apurple motorcycle, writes husband,and 1offeredtowalkhim down
town hero. “Katori1[allwrote theTina strange and passionate songs, and vies C olumbusA venuetoLincoln C enter.A s
musical, D ominiquewrote theTem pta­ with the pim plike bandleaderM orris wepassed theM useum ofN aturalH is­
tionsmusical,”herecalled thinking.“N o D aytortheaffectionsofabeautifulyoung tory,hetold methatthelyricsto“W hen
onewilleveraskmeto do ajukebox m u­ singernamed A pollonia.The version of D ovesC ry”werewritten foramontage
sical, because I'
m from D .C ., and, like, Jacobs-Jenkins' sadaptationthat1saw re­ cutfrom themovie,inwhichanimalsre­
noonecaresaboutR obertaF lack.That’ s tained mostofthisstory butgaveitsex­ allydid strikecuriousposesasloversem ­
allwehave,youknow?”(Y ourcorrespon­ travagantcharactersatwenty-first-cen­ braced in acourtyard ofvioletsinbloom.
dent,whosefatherco-wrote“The C loser turymakeover.D ay,whenhemadeapass “W erenotevenindraftthree,”hesaid,
1G ettoY ou,’’wasaghast.) Shortlythere­ atA pollonia, called hera“sophisticated excitedly puzzling outthe dilemmasin­
after, aproducercontacted Jacobs-Jen­ m ultihyphenate m am ajam a”and sug­ volvedinrenovatingtherecalcitrantwork.
kinsto commissionastageadaptation of gested thatshe m ighthave afuture fo­ 1le invoked the culturaltheoristW alter
“P urple R ain,”which, like him, willbe cussingonwomen’ sempowermentathis B enjamin,whosevision oftranslation as
turning forty laterthisyear. media company. A pollonia had evolved aform ofcreativeechoinghasshapedhis
Jacobs-Jenkins was ambivalent. A l­ from feistybutpliantG alatea to confi­ “adaptive impulse”asaplaywright. “I’ m
thoughhe’ dgrownupwithP rince’ smusic, dentcreative force. The Kid changed justgoing to write untilthe lastminute,
hethoughtthatthemoviewas“bad,”and mostofal l, from aseductively
Tinscruta-
S always,”hewenton. “I used to feelalot
said asmuch on an exploratory Zoom ble and mercurialfigure to amore vul­ ofshameaboutthis,butnow 1justdon’ t.”
call.B utheagreed toconsidertheidea— nerableyoungartist.In “D arling N ikki,” Subwaysremained suspended across
ifonlyforhisoldmentorD aphneB rooks, asongabouta“sex fiend,”thefilm char­ the city, and a sea lion was atlarge in
aP rincesuperfanwho thoughtthathe’ d acterslut-shamesA polloniafordefecting dieC entralP arkZoo.B utdieskieswere
be an idealinterpreterofthe musician’ s toM orrisD ay.Y etthe stuntbackfired in clearby the time we reached die the­
defiantsingularity.“1t’
sthephilosophyof the adaptation, triggering a deluge of atre, whereJacobs-Jenkinsdisappeared
thesl y,”shetold me.hihercdew,Jacobs- textsthatheralded theKid' scancellation. into somebody else' sshow. ♦

THE NEW YORKER.JANUARY 15.2024 43

 F ICTION

44 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 ILLU STRATION BY M IA BERG ERON
 he was hoping he would leave M aybe she could argue his incom pe­ forawhile,”shesaidfrom thekitchen.

S herthe b each house, counting tencyin court,ifitcameto that,buthe

on this actually, though he had was actually pretty com petent, though
told herhe wasn’tgoing to. H e’ d sa
hi
ednolongerreadordrove.Ithadn’
he would be leaving itto an organi­ so long since he’
tbeen
d enjoyed swanning
“D o you w ant any help preparing
forbed?”
“N o, no, no,”herfathersaid.
“W ell, it’sallready foryou. I’llsee
zation thatoffered sanctuary to aban­ aroundinhisjacked-up’92B ronco,which you tom orrow.
doned G erm an shepherds, b utthat was now swaddled in the garage. She O utside,W alterstood,gazing atthe
had to be ajoke, right?The G erm an wished thatsomeonewould stealit. contrail-striped sky. H e was barefoot
shepherdswouldn’ tbequartered in the “Y ou’re thinking aboutthe B ronco, and w earing a w ork apron over his
beach house; rather, the shabby b ut aren’ tyou,”hesaid.“W ell,I’m bequeath­ shorts and T-shirt.
invaluablepropertywould besold,the ing thatto W alter.” “Thatlooksuncom fortable,”A m ber
proceedsgoingto an organization that “W alteristen yearsold.” said.
had to befraudulent,unlicensed,afig­ “H e’llbefine.Justthe otherdayhe “It’sfire-retardant.”
m entofherfather’sim agination. H er said, I t’ sperfect, sir.’” “I don’tbelieve that’s acceptable
fathersaid thathe loved her— hejust “I wasnotthinking aboutthatstu­ usage anymore.
wasn’tgoing to leave her the beach pid truck. Y ou can sellitforparts, as “Itresistsignition,”he said, undis­
house, which to him had becom e not farasI’m concerned.” turbed. “Italso haspockets.”
the beach house atallb ut, in truth, “P arts,”herfatherm urm ured. “N o, “W hatareyougoing to dowith the
som ething else entirely. H e believed no, no. B ronco,W alter?”she dem anded.
hewasgoing to passsoon, and he had “Thatkid’ sunreal.” “C herish it.”
been thinking aboutm ighty m atters. “Unreal!”H e looked incredulous, “It’svery nice ofm y father to be
There wasm uch to learn. H e wasex­ b utshe feltitwas an act. giving itto you, b utregistration and
ploring m any teachings, and one ave­ “I asked him whathewanted to be insurancewillcostyourparents afor­
nueofthoughthad som ehow led him when he grew up, and he said,1 want tune. A lso, the governm entwillprob­
to disinherithis only child— A m ber, to know, to dare, to will, and to keep ably ban vehicleslike thatsoon.”
hernam e was, a nam e she quite rea­ silence.’” W altershrugged. “I have five cavi­
sonably detested. “A dm irable, so adm irable,”herfa­ ties,”he announced.
“I grew up there,”she said. “I have thersaid. A fteram om ent, she said,“A reyou
• »
m em ories. “W hatkind ofansweristhat?H e going to getthem filled?”
“Y oucollected conchs, putthem in probably read itsom ewhere.” W altershrugged again.
boilingwater,gouged them outwith a H erfatherhad swallowed the last “Y ou prob ab ly should get them
fork and spoon, then displayed their ofthe green liquid b utcontinued to fiUed.”
em ptyhom eson ashelfinyourroom ,” hold the glass. W ith that, they parted ways, and
herfathersaid. “W hen I wasaboyaroundW alter’ s shedroveten milesto oneofthepark­
“N otallthe tim e,”she protested. age, therewasadoctorwho suspected ing lots that served the b each. She
“Y ou alwaysm ention that. It’ sm ean.” I wasschizophrenic. D on’ tknow what paid the fee, then walked fortwenty
H erfatherwas sipping som ething I’ d done, probablyjustgoing through m inutesto the house. Itwassecurely
green from a scratched plastic glass, aphase, b utthey had atestback then. fenced in w ith stoutchain link, inac­
which m usthavenegated m uch ofthe Y ouhad to pretend to drinkwaterfrom cessible from the tallcondom inium s
good thebeveragem ighthaveto offer. a glass thathad nothing in it. Ifyou thatflanked it. She’ d alm ostbeen ar­
Ithad been prescribed forhis blood. could do that,they’ d sayyouwereO .K. rested oncetrying to saunterthrough
There was som ething notrightabout That’ swhattheywant.Theywantyou theirlobbies to the sand. She gazed
his blood. O rwas itthatsom ething to pretend untilyou don’ tknow you’re atthe hum b le structure, attem pting
thathad to m ove through his blood pretending anym ore.” to establish achannelofrecognition.
wasn’ tthe rightshape? She hadn’theard thatone before, W ere those conch shells stillinside?
“W e’ve nevereven known a G er­ either,b utsheand herfatherhad never She shuddered. Sheturned and faced
m an shepherd,”A m bersaid. talked m uch in thebestoftimes.Itwas theocean,assum ing aposition ofcon­
“I had oneasayoungman.I brought hard to conversewith sickpeople. She tem plation and petition.
him into m arriage with yourm other. realized she didn’ thave the knack. A turtle staggered from the waves,
Y ouwere around,b utI guessyoucan’ t “G im m e thatthing. It’llstain ifI wearily dug a shallow hole, and com ­
rem em berhim .Titus.” don’ trinse itrightaway.” m encedto drop herlovelyeggs.A m ber
“I was around?” A pelican woven outofsom ething had no wish to witnessthis; she could
“W ell, you were. Itpains m e that residedintheglass,perm anentlysealed no longerbearto watch strugglingna­
you don’ trecallhim .” in alayerofairwithin itsdouble wall ture. Sheshuthereyes,feelingthatthe
“D o you have aphotograph?” ofinsulated plastic. The pelican was veryactofnotlookingwashelping the
“N o. H e didn’tphotograph well.” small, ofcourse, two inches atm ost. turtle outin som e way. She becam e
She couldn’ trem em berany Titus. “Lastofa setoftwelve,”herfather aware, however, ofa crowd gathering,
Shesuspected he’ d invented thism em ­ called afterherasshe carried itoff. form ing acirclearound the event. She
ory justnow. B utthatwas allright. “I’m going overto thebeach house heard som eone say, “It’lltake a few

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 45

hours, you know.”A n A .T.V . swung “To welcome us to the neighbor­ butitwassomeotherindividualbeing
down the beach to disperse the mob, hood. Itwasjustawful.” addressed and notA m beratall,anin­
afterwhichvariousprotestsbrokeout. “W ere talking aboutfudge?” dividualwhowasn’ tevenpayingforthe
Less than a m onth ago, she and “I saw W alterlastevening. H e was information.The astrologerhad agoi­
herfriend Janine had been here, the affecting oneofthoseworkeraprons.” teronherneck.E veryweek,shecharged
weekend ofthedolphin-pod ground­ “Y es, I ordered one forhim . It’sa alittlemore— shewasprobablysaving
ing.P eoplehad tried to shovethedol­ little large,buthe likesit.” foranoperationto removethatfright­
phinsback into the water, b utthey’d “D oes W alter know we have a fulgoiter.
justfloated in again. Sleek and smil­ beach house?” “D on’ tthink she’ sunaware ofthe
ing, they would notswim away.This “W hy would he know that?That’ s situation you’ve putherin,”herfa­
had gone on through the evening. nothing to know.” therwassaying.“Y ourbehavioriscom­
P eople littikitorches; they linked “D ad, I’m going to look into this prom ising herintegrity. She has no
arms; they sang “H allelujah.” organization you’re giving the house intention ofrem oving thatgrowth,
“IfI hear thatfrigging Leonard to. D o due diligence. I fearyou’ re the and ifyougo to hertoday you’llfind
C ohen song onemoretime,I’m going victim ofascam.” she’sno longeravailable. She won’t
to strangle somebody,”Janine said. “O pen thatdraweroverthere.Take be there. B usiness closed. C olorful
• J?
H ow hopeless everything was, outthatlarge folder. E verything vet­ sign gone.
A m berthought. ted and done. E xamineitclosely.Take “She took down the sign?”
acopy. “Y oushouldtrytothinkmoreclearly,
he bed denied him entry.W here Sheflipped through abound sheaf. A m ber,”herfathersaid.
T had she learned to m ake a bed A salegaldocument,itcertainlylooked
likethis?H e pulled weakly atthe toupnassailable,butthatwasthewaylaw­
F orhim,watchingherm ind inm o­
tion waslikegoing to the movies. She
sheet,noticing thatthedoghad taken yers always m ade these things look. didn’ tknow how he did it.
up residence in the corneragain to­ The deed to the housewasin herfa­ “Y ou scared m e, D ad. Y ou yelled
night. Its dark face was aboutayard ther’ snameonly.The organization for atme.
in length. Itwatched him impassively abandoned G erm an shepherdswasre­ “I’m sorry,dear.I’
m notatmybestin
ashewrestled with the linens. ferredto asIn P assage,which sounded themorning.G ivemeamoment.W ould
so sinisterand culty. W hatwere they youliketo talkaboutthebeachhouse?”
he nextm orning, she said, “H i, up to?They didn’ thave to say, appar­ “Y es.”
T D ad,how wasyournight?,”aquery ently.Somehow they’
thatnaturally warranted no responsaen
dbeenaccredited
.yway.“I’lltake acopy,”she said,but
“B readth, length, depth, height.”
“W hat?”
H erfatherwasbathed and shaved shutthedrawerwithoutremovingone. “D epth, breadth, height, length.”
andwearinghisstylishblacklounging “H ow old areyou,dear?”herfather “Those arejustmeasurements. It’ s
gown.H e did notappearill .In herex­ asked. sixteen hundred square feet, plus
perience, illpeople appeared agreat H ewason thevergeofnotknow­ screened-in porch, now boarded up,
dealmoreillthan hedid.H ewaslook­ ingwho shewasatall.Itwassadwhat two bedrooms, one bath, shower-tub
ing outthewindow atbirdsfluttering happened to the aging m ind. combination,notmyfavorite,smallby
aroundanemptyfeeder.Thebirdswere “I’llbethirtysoon,”shesaidquietly. today’ sstandards, butits meaning, its
always more interested in itwhen it “Y ou’re thirty-four!”he thundered. significance, lieselsewhere.”
wasempty. “Y ouwillnotbe thirty!Y oueven give “W here?”
“A reyougoingtopayto fix W alter’ s “W hy don’twe go back, D ad?It’ s
teeth?”sheasked— casually,shehoped. stilllivable,thoughitwon’ tbeformuch
“W hat’ swrong with histeeth?” longer.Itneedstobelivedin!W hypay
“C avities.” renton thisplace?Y ou’ vebeen paying
“I do notknow whatconstitutes rentforyears.W hy did we even leave
paym entforwhatI have done ornot and come here?I rem em berI cried.”
done, and neitherdo you, b utatthe “These aremy finalweeks,A mber.
m om ent,which we know isfleeting,I Y ou don’tseem to be taking them
have no plans in thatregard. H e’sa seriously.”
nicelittlefellow.W hen I firstm ethim, If she could justgetthem back
he barely spoke. I determ ined thathe thewrongyearto theastrologersyou’ re in the beach house. G etthe utilities
liked words b utin isolation, asindi­ foreverseeing.D oyourealizehow fool­ turned on, clean the windows, open
viduals. H e didn’tlike them gathered ish thatis!” the windows, greetthe sunrise, setup
together. H e seemed to feelthey got H ewasright.Sheprobablyshouldn’ t hisb ed....
dum bergathered together.” beseekingoutastrologersandprovid­ “D eath doesn’ tcoexistwith life in
“I waswithyouwhenwemovedin, ing them with thewrong coordinates. the pastorthe future,”he wassaying,
D ad. H is m otherbroughtoverthat The latestone had told herthather “only in the present.”
awfulfudge.” anxieties concerning herfuture desti­ “Y ourpresentcouldjustaswellbe
“C an’trecallthe fudge.” tution were more orlessunfounded, happening there. M ine, too.”

46 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024

 tended services atSt. B oniface, until
shehad suddenlyfixatedonthesacrar-
P IA N O LE5 5 O N ium , the specialsink connected to a
pipethatshe’ dhearddeliveredtheleft­
W hen I was ten, I had an im aginary friend. H e lived on pork overbread andwineofthe Sacrament
and beansand played theviola.P eoplewould look atusand hear to thelycheetreein thecourtyard,the
sad music,turn away.That’ spretty m uch how itwas,whatitwas largestlychee tree on the peninsula.
like, form ostof197 7 -A viola is slightly largerthan aviolin. It Shehad inexplicablyfreaked outover
makesadeepersound.The cello and the double-bass:largerand thissimpledrain,orperhapsitwasthe
deeper still. A ll, like P inocchio, have hollow wooden bodies, idea ofit, the idea ofitm ostofall.
thoughP inocchiohasmorestringsandishollow onlymetaphorically. “Thatlychee tree told me ajoke
G uitarshavestrings.H arpsalso.Ifaharp laydown and fellasleep once,”herfathersaid.“Itwasn’ torigi­
and you bludgeoned its dream swith felted ham m ers, then you nal. Itwasthe one aboutthree E pis­
would have a piano. Ifyou were wearing a tuxedo, you would copalianschanging alightbulb.”
have agrand piano. Ifyou knocked aclock to the floorand left Theywerebackin thelivingroom.
itthere, on itsback, staring atthe ceiling, spinning slowly to its “I havealuncheondatetoday,D ad.”
own sadmusic,thenyouwouldhavearecordplayer.O racarrousel, “Luncheon.Tim e flies.”
ifyou had horses, orluggage. A table turns into a barricade, a “Let’stalk m ore aboutthe beach
vaseinto abroken vase.The lazy Susan becom estheplacewhere housebeforeI leave.I feltwewereget­
the lazy Susan used to be. P inocchio wantsto be arealboy.The ting somewhere.I’llbehomelesswith­
realboy wants to be a robot. The dream ofbecom ing. B y 1699, outit, D ad.”
although there were no pianos, som e com posers were already Ifshe had to share itwith death,
anticipating theirarrival. Sheetm usicfrom thetim e showsnotes shewould. M aybe itwouldn’ tbe that
too high orlow to play on the harpsichord. B y 18 37 ,with some much ofaproblem.
refinem entofthe pedals, a playercould sustain the notes even “O ne day you painted yourroom
aftertheirhands had m oved away. B y the tim e I was eleven, I black.Thosebeautifulcypressboards.”
stopped being sad and started to be afraid. “Y oualwaysmentionthat,D ad.I’ ve
apologized, b utyou’ d told me itwas
— R ichardSiken mine to decorate asI wished. W e can
fliptheboardsaround— nothing could
beeasier.That’ sthefirstthingwe’lldo.”
“Y ouwantto coexistwith death in “Sometimesthedaysareworsethan “The beach house isworth agreat
the beach house?” the nights,”he said. deal, isn’tit?”
“N otparticularly, notifyou putit O ccasionally,theygotalittleback- “Y es,yes,”she said.
thatway, no. W hy are you putting it and-forth going, b utitwas seldom H er fatherwas silent. Slowly, he
thatway?” productive. passedhishandoverhishair.Thisusu­
“Y oureally can’trememberTitus?” “I saw yourm otherin adream the ally m eantthathe wastravelling to a
D ideverythingdependonthis,then? othernight. Shewassitting atatable placeim m une to herpresence, aplace
ThisTitus, an animalthatdidn’ tpho­ in whatused to be St. B oniface. U n­ thatindeed contradicted herpresence.
tograph well? deniablyher. D ark healthyhairpulled She m ightaswellgo to lunch.
“I’d liketo havebreakfastnow,”her back. B anglesup to herarmpits. B ig
fathersaid. whiteteeth.G esturingto meurgently.” utside,itwasstillF lorida. Smoke
B uttherewasno milk. G oingto the
storewasoutofthe question; the day
“That’ stooobvioustobesignificant.”
“Y es,it’
sembarrassing.”H e studied
O from the burning cane fieldsin­
land seasonedthe air.H e stepped into
hadjustbegun. She had some milk at the bowlfullofsog before him. the yard clutching abook— ithardly
herownplace,rightnextdoor,anapart­ “O rmaybe she waswaving some­ m attered now which one.The dog did
mentoverthegarage,withtheannoying one else over, som eone b ehind you. notaccom pany him . N o reason was
B roncobeneathher.Ithadmoretoiletries Thathappens som etim es— I’ve w it­ provided. B utitwaspossiblethathe’ d
thanshedid.Spraysandpolishes.Scents. nessed ithappening.” been given otherassignments, once it
She returned with the milk.There “There’ sneveranyone behind you was clearthatthe hoped-foridealin
reallywasn’ tvery much ofit. in adream,A m ber.” thiscasewould notbe realized.
H er father was standing atthe St.B onifaceE piscopalwasarestau­
kitchen counter, abowlofshredded rantnow.Ithadbeendecommissioned. mberandJaninewereseated in a
wheatbefore him. N otdecommissioned— thatwaswhat
“Shredded wheat,”he pronounced. they did with battleships. D esancti­
A b ooth ata divey establishm ent
calledtheLorelei.A tthebarweretwo
A fterafew spoonfuls,hesaid,“Thismilk fied. Shecouldn’ tafford to go in there menwhoseconversationcouldbeheard
isdelicious. H as an interesting finish.” unlessshefound ahundred-dollarbill from where theywere sitting.
“I wasafraid itm ightbealittleoff, on the street. F or a tim e, after her “D id Ted Kaczynskihave a deck
justslightly.” m otherleft,sheandherfatherhad at­ oftarotcardsin his cell?”

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 47

 “Y ou asking me?I’ d say he did.”
“D id he know how to useit?”
“P robably more than m ostunim ­
prisoned people do.”
“I betthey didn’tlethim keep it. I
betthey taunted him and threatened
to take itaway and then they did.”
“Y ou’reprobablyright,thebastards.”
Thewomenlistenedattentively,but
the barhounds said nothing more.
“I am stilljustso upset,”Janine
began, as she usually did. H ersitua­
tion was even graverthan A m b er’s,
having already com e to pass. H er
mother, unbeknownstto allsave a fi­
nancialadviser,hadtakenoutareverse
mortgage and exhausted itsreturnsin
notime. She’ dthen died.“O n thedot,”
asJaninehad putit.Janinehad inher­
ited nothing.
“Thatwas a nice house,”A m ber
said.
“I shouldhavebeenmoresuspicious.
I thoughtshewasbeing carefulwith
money. I told you, she’
d take acouple
ofsquaresoftoiletpaperandfoldthem
up fordinnernapkins. I thoughtshe
was living within a budget. I hated
going overthere fordinner.”
“B utshe was a wonderfulcook,
wasn’ tshe?”A m bersaid.
“Shewas,butthoselittlesquaresof
toilerpaper...”
“Y oucouldhavebroughtoversome
cloth napkins,”A m bersaid, b utshe
wasthinking ofTed Kaczynski’ starot
deck. W hat could itpossibly have
shown him, excepttheTen ofSwords
overand over?Thejailershad proba­
bly done him afavor.
“W hatdo you mean?”Janine said.
“H ow would thathave helped?”
A tthe Lorelei, they lim ited them ­
selvesto asingle carafe ofwine and a
plate ofF rench fries, now consumed.
“I wouldjustsoloveto getsoaked,”
Janine said, “and remain soaked until
somebodybecomesconcernedand ar­
rangesastayin oneofthoserestfulre­
habilitation facilities.”
“B utwho would do thatforyou?
Those placesare expensive.”
“I have an auntwho som etim es
helpsmeout.It’ smoreaboutherthan
aboutme, though. It’ salwayson her
terms. She’ sbeen inrehab afew times.
She’seven had electric-shock treat­
m ents, w hich she said helped her
alot.”
“I’veheard thosethingsareveryhit
ormiss,”A m bersaid earnestly.
“Y es. N o, I’
d passon that.”
O ne ofthe barhoundsleft.
“I don’ tthinktheyknew eachother,”
A m bersaid.
“W e didn’ twantto accrue,”Janine
said. “O urparents accrued, and when
they died, which is sad b uteveryone
has to, itwould allpass down to us,
and wewould turn itinto something
betterforusthan accruing.”
A m beragreed.“A llwewantistobe
ableto fi veourfives.”
“B uttim es have changed. They’ re
using everything up them selves, or
they’re giving itto som ething wacky
likeyourfather’ sdoing.N obody’ spro­
vidingforusanymore,that’ safact.W e
are ofthatage.W e didn’ tsee itcom­
ing. It’slike aplague orsomething—
itmay eventuallypassbutnotin time
forus.”She sighed. “It’syourturn to
spring forthis swill, isn’
tit?”
F rom herjacketpocket,A m berre­
moved a smallnotebook with a tiny
eraserless pencilattached to itby a
dirty ribbon. The pencilalwaysgave
herthe creeps, butitwas handy. She
peered atapage. Itwas on record:it
washerturn.

alterhad noteven been born

W whentheyhadmovedoutofthe
beach house and into the undistin­
guished rental. Thatwas how long it
had been. Itwasappalling.In no time,
thechildwouldhavehisdriver’ slicense.
The firstyear, the rule would be no
drivingatnight.Thishewouldignore.
M eanwhile,herfatherwouldbegone,
and she’d bewithoutshelter,crouched
on the street, fortunate to be in pos­
session ofaday-old sandwich.
H erfatherwassitting outside ata
picnictablemadeofplasticbottlesthat
would otherwisehaveendedup in the
ocean. B encheshad been affixed to it
by bolts. The color, an unlikely tulip
red, had been imposed on itthrough­
<W ow, two hundreddryersheet
s.W ho willIeven outbysomemethod.H ewasstillwear­
betwo hundreddryersheetsfrom now? = ing the stylish gown.
 “Y oujustmissedW alter,”herfather
said.“O urword ofthe dayis noum e-
non.’Thatisathing asitisin itself...
an examplebeing ... G od.”
She was almostcertain that“nou-
menon”had been the word ofthe day
CURRENT OPDS OF
morethanonce.H ewasprobablyshow­
ing offforW alter. LOSING YOUR TEMPER I
“Y oushouldn’ tbeouthere,D ad.It’s
too hot. Y ou’re noteven sweating—
thatmeansyou’ retoo hot.”
“W altertold m ehisparentswould
liketo takepossession ofthe B ronco
now.Theyknow someonewho’ sready
to purchase it, asis, forareasonable
• n
price.
“A sis?”
“I said that, too, in precisely the
same m anner. I’m quite aware what
those words imply, butin the case of
the B ronco they’re irrelevant. The
moneywouldbeplacedinW alter’ sed­
ucation fund.”
“Y ou’rekidding.A neducationfund?”
“R idiculous, ofcourse, butW alter
assuredmethattheB roncowould not
passinto another’ shands.”
“That’ sgood, I guess, butperhaps
you m ightwantto question some of
the decisionsyou’ vebeen m aking re­
cently, like perhapsyou’ve been put­ “I didn’t hear anything snap. I had to be som ething to do in there.
ting yourfaith in the wrong people.” had putmy head in the freezercom­ She felta little shaky, considerably
“M y faith in people isvery small.” partm entforabit. Itfeltso good.” shaky. H er father seem ed calm. H e
H e had untangled hislong legsfrom “Y oumustn’ tdo thatwhen youfeel wasspeaking nonsense, ofcourse,but
theapparatusthatwasthepicnictable hot. It’sbad foryou, and itmessesup he didn’tseem agitated. H e looked
and was standing, swaying slightly. the ice-maker.” prettymuchthesameashealwaysdid.
“I’d like to have W alter’s parents “I took a tum ble, b utI feelquite She wondered ifshe should ask him
rubbed out.W ould yoube ableto do conscious. M ore conscious, possibly. ifshe could go into the nextroom or
thatforme?” N othing isbeforeorafter.Im portant tellhim thatshe was going into the
“R ubbedout?Y oumeanmurdered? to realize, E m ber.” nextroom.
I don’tthink so, D ad. W hy don’twe “A mber, D ad,A m ber.” “E mber, would you getme ablan­
justmove away from them , move to “W hatwere your m other and I ket?A lightweightone. The striped
the beach house....” thinking, right?A name likethat...” onethe dog chewed.”
H e had struck offacrossthe lawn, “D ad,I’m takingyoutothehospital.” Thereweren’ tanydog-chewedblan­
inquick,erraticsteps.Sherealizedthat “C ertainly notthere.” kets in there, ofthatshe was certain,
som ething was happening, thatthis “I’llcalltheambulance.Ifyoucome but, “Y es,”she said. “Y es.”
waswhen whathappensbegins. Still, by ambulance, they seeyou sooner.”
she couldn’tseem to hurry afterhim “I, too, wantto geton with it, but e closed his eyes. H is head felt
fora m om ent. The dooropened and
settled shut.
let’
sjustremain here fornow.Y oure­
ally do feelincapable ofrubbing out
H refreshed from the freezerstill,
his thoughts m oving in an orderly
In the kitchen, she exclaim ed, W alter’sparents?It’sim portantto help fashion,likechildrenin asnakingline,
“W hen did you fall! H ow long have the nextgeneration along.” holding hands and following their
youbeen lying there!” “I’m yournextgeneration, D ad.” teacheroutofabuildingwheresome
“N otlong, though that’shardly re­ “Sometimesit’ sforthe bestto skip dangerous eventwas com m encing.
assuring.I’m justjarred.Jarred,”hesaid onenow andthen....W ell,maybeW al­ Like little children, his thoughts,
doubtfully. terwilldo it. H e hasgoodjudgm ent.” innocent, trusting, and afraid. B ut
She pulled him upright, and he Thetim ewascoming,thetim ehad who was this teacher? She was new
m anaged to access the ugly chairhe already com e. A m b er desperately to him . H e was a transfer. This was
so favored. wantedtogointothenextroom.There hisfirstday. ♦

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 49

 THE CRITICS

M AKE IT HURT
Am id the ebbing ofempire, Frantz Fanon andIan Fleming agreedon onething.

BY DANIEL IM M ERW AHR

orethanfiftyyearslater,Zohra thized with the A lgeriansbutcould no isterA nthony E den, already frazzled

M D rifcould stillpicture the longersupportthem .Theirattacks, he

M ilk B arin A lgierson Sep­ noted, m ightkillhismother:“Ifthatis
tem ber30,195 6. Itwaswhite an
ing,sherecalled,awashinlaughter,young
ju
dst
si
ce
h ,­then I prefermy m other.”
in
N earlytheonlyF renchwriterto de­
and taking am phetam ines, had a ner­
vousbreakdown.
E denfledtoJamaica,acalmercorner
oftheE mpire,wherehecouldsunbathe,
voices,“summercolors,thesmellofpas­ fendthebombswastheM artinicanpsy­ swim, and paddle arubberboataround
tries, and even the distanttwittering of chiatristF rantz F anon, who directed a areef.“I do notthink thereisanyother
birds.”D rif, awell-coiffed law student hospitalnearA lgiers. A ttacks on civil­ placeanywherethatcouldhavegivenme
in a stylish lavenderdress, ordered a ianswere the “logicalconsequence”of the restI had to have,”E den wrote to
peach-M elbaicecream andwedgedher F rance’ s“systematicdehumanization”of hishost.Thathost,theauthorIanF lem ­
beachbag againstthecounter. Shepaid, A lgerians,heargued.F anonhad already ing, knew Jam aica’srestorative power,
tipped, and leftwithoutherbag. The beensecretlyaidingtherebels,butshortly too.Itwasathisestatethere,G oldeneye,
bom b insideitexplodedsoonafterward. aftertheM ilkB arbom bingheresigned thathewroteallofhisJamesB ondnovels.
Looking back, D riffeltlittle regret hispostandjoined them .The authori­ JustasA lgiers shone a spotlighton
ab out the three w ho died and the tiesraided hishospital,killed oneofhis F anon,Suez shoneoneonF leming.H is
twelve— including children— who lost co-workers,andthrew thebatteredbody firstfourB ondbookshad nothad spec­
limbsfrom herbom b andfrom asecond ofanotherinto apigsty forthe hogsto tacularsales, and F lem ing considered
thatdetonated in anothercafe minutes devour. (Thatm an survived,barely.) killing offthe character. B utthe head­
later.TheE uropeancafegoersweren’ tci­ F anon did notback down. H e b e­ linesbroughtattentiontoF leming’ shero,
vilians,inherview,butcolonizers.Their came,hisbiographerD avidM aceywrote, whocomparedfavorablywithhisnervous
“offensivecarefreeattitudes”madeapain­ the “m ostfamous spokesman”ofThird wreckofahouseguest.H erewasaman
fulcontrastto thoseoftheeightythou­ W orldism andastaunchdefenderofan­ who,facedwithB ritain’ simperialcollapse,
sandM uslims,herselfincluded,penned ticolonialviolence. “E very F renchm an did notcowerb utdashed around the
by barbed wire and checkpointswithin inA lgeriai satthepresenttimeanenemy world with adinnerjacketand apistol.
w hatshe described as the “open-air soldier,”F anon insisted. Killing F rench E den’ sfallwasB ond’ srise,andF lem ing
prison”ofA lgiers’ sC asbah.The m onth people wasn’ tonly tactically necessary becameacelebrity— the“oldestB eade,”
before, E uropean settlers had bom bed and morallyjustified;itwastherapeutic. hisirritated wife,A nn, latercalled him.
an apartm entbuilding in the C asbah, In hisview, violence was a “cleansing F lem ing’
sfameisundimmed,inlarge
killing seventy. force”(pl aviolencedesintox ique') that“rids partowing to the twenty-seven Jam es
A lgerianshad been waging an inde­ thecolonizedoftheirinferioritycomplex.” B ondfilms.F anonl iveson,too,asamain­
pendencewarfornearly two years, and P erhapsitcould even induce one in stayofthe collegesyllabusand the reb­
theF renchhadbeenfightingbackfi ercel
y, the colonizers.A m onth aftertheM ilk el’sbookshelf.Today, they are probably
including with widespread torture and B arbombing,F rancejoinedB ritain and them ostenduringauthorson decoloni­
indiscrim inate killings. The Septem ­ Israelin an invasion ofE gypt.The aim zation, F anon forand F lem ing against.
ber30th bom bings, however, m arked was to reverse E gypt’ snationalization The pairnevermet, and they would T
E
L
whatD rifcalleda“turningpoint,’’bring­ oftheSuez C analbutalso,F anonwrote, havehated each other.Y et,asim portant U
O
R
-
ing the war“to the heartofthe enemy “to striketheA lgerianrevolution,’’given new biographiesreveal, they had much T
I
T
E
districts.”Y eteventheC om m unistwho E gypt’ssupportforthe rebels. E ither in common.A dam Shatz’ s“The R ebel’s P
E
P
had builtthe rebels’explosiveslabora­ way, itwas afiasco.The United States C linic”(F arrar, Straus & G iroux) and P
I
L
I
H
torybalked atbom bing crowded public madetheinvadersretreat— ashattering N icholas Shakespeare’ s“Ian F lem ing” P
:
E
places.The philosopherA lbertC amus, hum iliation forthe form erly suprem e (recendypublishedintheU.K.andforth­ V
O
B
an A lgerian-born F renchm an, sympa- B ritishE mpire.TheB ritishP rimeM in­ comingintheU.S.from H arper) present A

50 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024

Secretidentities, coverst
ories, cunning ruses:thereweretimeswhen FanorisliferesembledthatofFlemingshero,JamesBond.

P HOTO ILLU STRATION BY M ARK HARRIS THE NEW YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 51
two C aribbean-connected authorswho outthisintervention,hispsychiatristfelt, m onthsinG eorgetown,oftenwithW il­
becam e entangled in espionage. They F lemingwouldhavebecomeapsychopath. liam J. D onovan, the future O .S.S. di­
saw the end ofempire asawrenching W ithit,hewasstillarake,butawell-read, rector, outlining the B ritish system and
psychologicalevent.H ealingitswounds, stableone. (F lem ing gratefully inserted m aking suggestions. In fact, F lem ing
b oth believed, would require violence. an A dlerreference into aB ond novel.) claim ed to have w ritten the original
A fterfaring poorly on the F oreign O .S.S. charterwith D onovan.
hatIanF lemingshouldhavethought Sendeeexam,F lem ingtriedjournalism, The waralso took F lem ing to the
T aboutdecolonizationatallwassur­ then finance (he ranked “am ong the
prising.A champagnecorkbobbingalon g rld’
wo sworststockbrokers,”afriendsaid).
C aribbean. W hen itwas over, he de­
clared,hewould“justliveinJamaicaand
ontheseaoflife,hedidnotinitiallyseem N othing in these endeavors suggested lap itup.”F lem ingboughtabeachfront
overburdenedwithprofundity.F leming’ s m ilitary greatness, butin 1939 B ritain’ s estate (G oldeneye),hired servants(they
grandfatherwas awealthy financier— D irector ofN avalIntelligence, John addressedhim asC ommander),andtook
Shakespeare com pares him to Logan H enry G odfrey, tapped F lem ing to be amistress(“Ian’ sblackwife,”A nn called
R oy,from H B O ’ s“Succession”— andIan his assistant. This odd choice, Shake­ her,though shewasneither). H e stayed
sufferedthesymptomsofaffluenza.“E v­ speare explains, had A dlerian grounds. there every winter, relishing the “un­
eryonefeltthathewasjustarich,rather G odfreyalsohadatoweringolderbrother, bounded drink”and the “infinite cigars
bored, ratheraloofyoung m an,”a con­ and hisresentm entofthat“tyranny,”as rolled onJamaican thighs.”
temporaryrecalled.F inethingsandheed­ G odfrey called it, drew him to the un­ “W ould thesebookshavebeen born
lesswom en dropped easily into F lem ­ derqualified F leming. ifI had notbeen living in the gorgeous
ing’soutstretched arms. The usualthing to say aboutF lem ­ vacuum ofaJamaican holiday?”F lem ­
Tooeasi y,perhaps.F leming,whowas ing’
l sintelligencework isthathe was a inglaterwrote.“I doubtit.”H edreamed
born in 1908 , drifted through E ton and deskbound underling— a“microscopic up B ond while swim m ing atG olden­
the R oyalM ilitary C ollege, bastionsof butperkycog,’’thewriterSimonW inder eye, in 195 2, and wrote the B ond books
the B ritish elite,withoutearning diplo­ calledhim — who turned hisdaydreams there, one perwinter. F ourofthe four­
mas.H eseemedfarlessimpressivethan intospynovels.B utShakespearepresents teen featureJamaican settings, and two
hisfather, V ai,who died ahero’ sdeath evidenceofF leming’ scentrality.“I shared more send B ond to nearby N assau and
in the F irstW orld W ar, orhis older allsecretswithhim ,”G odfreyexplained, M iami.Inthefirstnovel,“C asinoR oyale,”
brother,P eter,agiftedwriter.H ism other sothatifG odfreywere“knockedout”his B ond arrivesatthe eponymousF rench
sentthe aimlessyouth to achaletin the subordinatecouldstepup.O neofficerfelt casinoposingasa“Jamaicanplantocrat”
A ustrianA lpswhich servedasacombi­ thatitwas F lem ing, notG odfrey, who andscanshissurroundingsthroughW est
nation university and sanatorium. effectivelydirectednavalintelligencefor Indian eyes: a card player’shands are
F lem ing’ stutorsthere,E m an F orbes mostoftheSecondW orldW ar.IfF lem ­ “two pink crabs,”the table’ sbaize is a
D ennisand P hyllisB ottome,weredev­ ing wasn’ tB ond, he bore some resem ­ “green lagoon,”and B ond’senemy, Le
oteesofA lfredA dler,theV iennesepsy­ blanceto B ond’ schief,thespymasterM . C hiffre, watches him “like an octopus
chotherapist.A dlerhadcoinedtheterm Shakespeare’ sm oststriking claim is underarock.”
“inferiority complex”and placed great thatF leminghelpedtofoundtheUnited D espite hisC aribbean ties, F lem ing
;
importanceonbirthorder.Ian,overshad­ States’O ffice ofStrategic Services, the remained,to useF anon’ sphrase,“sealed Y
T
T
owed byhisbrother, seemed atextbook precursorto the C entralIntelligence in hiswhiteness.”H isnovelsteem with E
G
/
case. D ennis and B ottom e treated him A gency.W hen thewarstarted,U.S. in­ outrageousstereotypes:B lacksare“apes,” Y
T
T
E
asalaboratorysubjectforA dlerianther­ telligencecapabilitieswerefeeble,soB rit­ Koreans are“lowerthan apes,”and the R
R
E
apy,withA dlerhelpingfrom afar.W ith­ ainsentF lem ingover.H estayedfortwo Japanese are abarely civilized “separate B Y
T
E T
humanspedes.’Thethoughtofsuchpeo­ U E
Q
I G/
N
I N
plecomingintotheirownwas,forF lem ­ M O
O S
ing,alarming.Thegreatpowerswill“reap D
Y
N
E
B B
thefatherandm otherofawhirlwindby )
T
Y
R
H R
quoteliberatingunquotethecolonialpeo­ GI A
H
R ;
ples,”oneofB ond’ sallieswarns.“G ive’em O
T
Y
T
T T
athousand years, yes. B utgive’ em ten, F E
E G/
L
( S
no.Y ou’ re only taking awaytheirblow­ S
H
E
VI
P
pipes and giving them m achine guns.” A
R
H
C
G R
It’safearthathauntsF lem ing’ snov­ O
T
A
S
O H
els. Supervillainsofcomplex huesm en­ H
P
C
O
E L
acetheworldfrom breakawayspaces:is­ C E
R A
U H
lands,largeships,secretfortresses,newly O C
I
S M
:
independentcountries. “M isterB ond, D
A
;
Y
E M
powerissovereignty,”D octorN o,ahalf­ R
P
A
L
S A
/
C hinese criminalwith a C aribbean is­ S
U
T
T
O
I E
land,explains.Itfallsto B ond to restore V
E
R
E
R V
<Don’
tbemadwe brokeyourwindow playing baseball— orel
se. N o’sisland to B ritish rule. P E
 Thiswasimperialistescapism,andthe ogy”fellshortforthecolonizedbecause, authoritiescaughtwind ofhisactivities,
moreterritoryB ritainlostthemoreF lem­ underim perialism , whole populations hemovedto neighboringTunisia,where
ing’ssalesgrew. B utF lem ing struggled, could become neurotic, with the colo­ he continued treating com batants and
amid success,to stayupbeat.In thefinal nizersplaying the role ofA dler’ solder writing. F anon wasneveratthe revolu­
B ond novel,“TheM anwiththeG olden brother. Looking back on his F ranco- tion’shelm, Shatz explains,buthe m at­
G un”(1965 ),written in the wake ofJa­ philicupbringing inM artinique,F anon tered enough to requireabodyguard,an
maicanindependence,thevillainsallude recognized an inferiority complex in­ alias,and afalsepassport. H ischieftask
to alooming“bigblackuprising,”which duced by empire. waspropaganda:explaining the F .L.N .
B ond doesnothing to forestall. H e kills H esaw worsewhen hetookapostin to outsiders.Ifthisrequiredcleaningup
a R astafarian (“H e smelled quite horri­ A lgeria,in195 3.UnlikeM artinique,A lge­ the facts— aswhen the F .L.N . massa­
ble”) and forcessomeJamaican women riahadrecentlybeenscarred cred hundredsofA lgerians
to dance naked. Y ethe ends the book byviolence,mostnotablyin connectedto arivalnation­
hospitalized,recoveringfrom poisonand, 194 5 ,when,afteraclashwith alistgroup— F anon stood
likeE den, “acutenervousexhaustion.” nationalists,theF renchmas­ readywith amop. R evolu­
sacred thousands ofA lge­ tionariescould nevercom­
yallrights,itwasthediligentF rantz rians. In 195 4 , nationalists m itsuchcrimes,heinsisted;

B F anon, notthe dissoluteIan F lem ­ launchedawarofliberation.

ing, who should have passed easily F anon’ spatientsincludedthe
itmusthavebeentheF rench.
Secretidentities, cover
throughlife’sopendoors.F anonfollowed lone survivorofamassacre, stories,cunningruses:there
the rules assiduously. W asM artinique a police torturer, and two weretimeswhenF anon’ slife
F rench?Then sowashe.<Jesuisfran^ais= M uslim youths who had resembled B ond’ s. In 195 9,
were the firstwordsF anon couldwrite, killedtheirE uropeanfriend. when he visited R om e for
and his F rench was exquisite. H e had Individualtraumascouldbehandled medicaltreatm ent,thecarslatedto col­
b oth A frican and E uropean forebears clinically,butwhataboutsocietalones? lecthim exploded. Shatz suggeststhat
(hence the nam e F rantz, apparently a F anon believed thatthe actofdefying thiswas the work ofF rench terrorists.
nodtohisG ermanicheritage),but,when em pire could cure A lgerian neuroses. W orried aboutanotherattem pt, F anon
hewatched“Tarzan,”heidentifiedwith “Thecolonizedm anliberateshim selfin quietly changed his hospitalroom . A
Tarzan, nottheA fricans. and through violence,”F anon wrote. gunm an b urstinto his originalroom
IntheSecondW orldW ar,F rancesur­ Shatz, eagerto presentapalatablever­ shortly afterward.
rendered butF rantz stood firm; in 194 3, sion ofhis subject, hastensto add that, The nextyear, F anonjoined an un­
atseventeen, he fled M artinique, m ak­ forF anon,vengeancewasonlyastep on dercovercom m ando to establish a Sa­
ingaclandestine,treacherousseajourney the liberation ladder. Still, itwasacru­ haranrouteintoA lgeria.O pening“great
to D ominicatojoin C harlesdeG aulle’ s cialstep. A s F anon insisted, whatthe lines”between the independentcoun­
F reeF rench F orces.F ightingwith them colonized needed wasn’tconcessions triessouthoftheSaharaandthestillun­
inE urope,hewonamedalandsustained grantedbythemasterbut“quiteliterally freeA lgeria,hehoped,would allow him
ashrapnelwound. A worseblow, how­ the death ofthismaster.” to smuggleweaponsand march armies
ever,cametoF anon’ spsyche.F orthefirst It’stem ptingto hearthisasthevoice acrossthevastdesert— to “hurlaconti­
time,hesaw thescorninwhichhe,aB lack ofthedowntrodden,finallyfreeto speak nentagainstthe lastram parts ofcolo­
man,washeldbythe E uropeanshehad harsh truths. B utF anonwasawkwardly nialpower.”
helpedliberate.“H ewastom ,quartered,” positionedvis-a-visthosetruths.H isfirst
hisbrotherJobyrecalled. book,“B lackSkin,W hiteM asks”(195 2), heJamesB ondfilmsbrim with so­
A fterthewar,F anonreturnedto E u­ criticized B lackm enwho desiredwhite
rope,moreseriousyetlesscontrolled.H e women,yetF anon’ smain partnerswere
T phisticatedgadgets,generouslysup­
plied by B ond’scolleague ChThe nov­
wrotethreeabsurdistplaysthatvibrated white. H is second, “A D ying C olonial­ els, however, arelow-tech and m ention
withfrustratedmeaning.(“I wanttospat­ ism”(195 9),wasan insider’ sview ofA l­ Q pnlyobliquely.Instead,B ondrelieson
terthispregnantskywith avertiginous gerian nationalism by an outsiderwho the assistance ofSirJamesM olony, the
act!”one characterannounces.) A ftera spoke neitherA rabic norB erber. H is “greatestneurologistin E ngland.’’M ol­
briefattem ptatdentistry (“I willteach third,“TheW retchedoftheE arth”(1961), onysservicesarerepeatedlyrequiredbe­
youto biteinto the mammariesoflife,” enjoinednativesto attacksettlers,though causeB ondisamess.H ehasnightmares,
anothercharacterdeclares),F anonturned inA lgeriaF anonwasbestclassifiedasa wobbles understress, suffers“psycho­
to psychiatry (“I fragm entthe hypote­ settlerhimself. Shatz describesF anon’ s neurosis,’’requireselectroconvulsivether­
nuse thatredoubles the W orld”— it extremism asthe “zealofaconvert”— apy,and despiseshisown reflection.
soundsbetterin F rench). justasF anon spokebetterF rench than F lem ing had his own maladies. H e
H e never stopped w riting dram a, the F rench, hebecame, asarevolution­ wroteofhis“constantdepression”when
though. H is theoreticaltextsdescribed ary,“moreA lgerianthan theA lgerians.” contem plating “the fantastically rapid
socialtypes— theW estIndian, the col­ F anonconsideredtakinguparms.In­ contraction ofourinfluence, com m er­
onist, the colonized intellectual— asif stead, he aided the N ationalLiberation cialand cultural,overhalftheglobe.”In
theywerecharactersinaplay.F anonfelt F ront(F .L.N .) byfurtivelytreatingreb­ the novels, B ond’spersonalwoes and
thatA lfred A dler’s“individualpsychol­ elsin hispsychiatrichospital. A fterthe B ritain’ spoliticalonesarelinked.They

THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 53

are resolved only when B ond,with his
licenseto kill,rouseshimselfto dispatch
the E m pire’ senemies. 1hiswas F anon
in reverse:bloodshedasbalm notforthe
colonized butthe colonizer.
This com m itm entto carnage was, it
should be said, unusualin the era. In
m ostcases, E uropean leadersfacing ris­
ing nationalism relented before reach­
ingthebattlefield.N ationalists,too,were
generallycautiousaboutusingforce."W e
have chosen justone weapon forour
struggle, and thatweapon i s non-vio­
lence,’ ’P atrice Lum umba, one ofdecol­
onizingA frica’ sleadinglights,explained.
A lgeria was aspecialcase. Ithad a
million white settlers, who were largely
hellbentonkeepingA lgeriaF rench.Some
even tried to assassinate F iances P resi­
dentdeG aulle, afterhe proved am ena­
bletoA lgerianindependence.O therA f­
rican countrieswith E uropean settlers,
like South A frica, Southern R hodesia,
Kenya,andM ozambique,would seehigh
levelsofviolence,too.(M ozambiquenow
hasan A K-4 7 on itsH ag.) E ven so,war
was notthe norm. B etween the Second
W orld W arand A lgeria’ sindependence,
in 1962, twenty-eightA frican colonies
became free,vetonl
T J Jv foursaw anticolo-
nialfighting atanyscale— and noneap­
proached A lgeria’ s. Lum um ba gained
powerin the formerB elgian C ongo by
election, notviolence.
F orF anon, peacefulliberation wasa
fool’ sparadise. In a telling passage in
"B lackSkin,W hiteM asks,”hedescribes
theF renchC aribbean,whereslaveryhad
been abolished and rights extended by
F renchdecree,as"unbearable.”1leprefers
theUnited States,where"theN egrobat­
tlesand i sbattled.”O n that"fieldofbat­
tle, itsfourcoinersmarked by thescores
ofN egroes hanged by theirtesticles,’ ’ O ne could, andF lem ing frequentlydid.the U.K. in O ctober, 1962, two weeks
banon envisionsa majestic m onum ent
arising.A titstop stands,fi nal
ly,“awhite
man and ablack man handin hand''
1 hesebloody visionsturned realfor
F anon in A lgeria. F rench interrogators
thereregularlyused torture;soldiershad
applied electric shocks to the vagina of
one ofZ ohra D rif’ scomradesand vio­
lated anotherwith abeerbottle. W hen
F rench intellectuals expressed horror,
F anon rolled hiseves. C ouldn’ tthey see
t ' r'
thattheirwholeempirewasbuiltonsuch
acts?Torture, atleast, clarified things.
"W ith hisback to thewall, the knife at
histhroat, orto be more exactthe elec­
54 THE NEV YORKER.JANUARY 15,2024
trode on hisgenitals,the colonized sub­States. A nd neitherauthorquite knew"
jectisboundtostop tellingstories,”F anon
whatto make ofthat.
wrote.In such moments,"the colonized F orsomeone obsessed with empire,
subjectdiscoversreality.” F anonhad surprisinglylittletosayabout
In"C asinoR oyale,”B ondhashisown
t
the world' sgreatestpower.' 1he United
encounterwith real it
y"when Le C hifireStates was a "country oflynchers,”he
captures and sadistically interrogates felt,yetalso apotentialally— he touted
him,assailinghisexposedtesticles.B ond John F . Kennedy’ s“decisive and impla­
tearsentering a"sexualtwilight”where cable”opposition to F rench colonialism.
he' llfeelpleasure and develop a"mas­ F anon' sopennessto U.S.powermayhelp
ochisticinfatuation”with histormentor. explain his disastrous alliance with the
(F lagellationwasan im portantelem ent C .l.A .-backed A ngolan leader1lolden
ofF lem ing’ R oberto,whofoughtboth colonizersand
sown sexualdiet.) Y etafter
a stum ble into relativism — perhaps A ngolan leftists. Shatz revealsthatR o­
C om m unism isn’ tsobad?— B ond rightsberto inform ed F anon ofa secretplot
himself. The torm entofhis "sensitive againstLum um ba (there were several,
including one involving aC .LA . assas­
parts, "plus a rom antic betrayal, steels
hisresolve, and he dedicates hislife tosin). R oberto regarded Lum um ba as"a
hunting B ritain’sfoes. puppetinthehandsofinternationalcom­
Thiswasdirectviolence:notthe im­ munism”and believed that"blood must
personality'ofa cate bom bing b utthe flow.”W hen Lum um ba’ senemieskilled
intimacyoftheinterrogationroom.A id, and dismembered him, in January, 1961,
asthetesticlessuggest,itwasfundamen­ F anon blamed himself.
tallymale.F lem ingwroteaterribleB ond F anon had hoped to diein battle,but
novelfrom awoman’ instead hegrew sickwith leukemia. I le
sperspective (“The
Spy W ho Loved M e”), and F anon dis­ flew to M oscow tortreatm ent, without
cussed M uslim wom en who infiltrated success.A ling,hedictated hismostim ­
settler spaces (though he understated passioned and im portantbook, “The
theirimportance, hisbiographerM acey W retched ofdie E arth.”Then, accept­
shows). Y et, mostly, theirprotagonistsing thehelp oftheC .I.A .,F anon moved
were men, with wom en serving occa­ with hisfamilyto B ethesda, M aryland,
sionally aspropsin men’ forcare(R obertovisited him in thehos­
spsychological
journey’ s. "W hen my restlesshands ca­pitalthere). F anon died in D ecember,
ress those white breasts,”F anon wrote,1961,attheageofthirty-six; the U.S.A ir
"they grasp white civilization.”Surely F orce carried hisbodv back to A frica.
B ond knew the feeling. F lem ing, too, tellinto the United
B oth authorsredirectedviolenceontoStates’widening gyre. A fter Suez, his
theirpartners:F anon publiclystruckhis books sold well, b utitwasn’tuntil
wife and F lem ing practiced sadomas­ John F . Kennedy came outasaF lem ­
ochism .A nd both saw women ascom­ ing tan, in 1961,that“diegusherburst,”
as F lem ing’
plicit. "Justasthere are facesthatask to sN ew Y ork agentputit.
be slapped,”F anon asked, "can one not U.S. salesgrew frenzied, and the films
speak ofwomen who ask to be raped?” followed.Thefirst,“D r. N o,”opened in
"A llwom en lovesemi-rape,”hislonefe­ before the C uban missile crisis. W ith
male narratorexplained. "1 hey love to diefreeworld menaced bynucleararms
be taken.”A terB ond killsD octorN o, on a C aribbean island, lite seemed to
his dark-skinned (yetwhite) Jamaican be im itating B ond, and B ondm ania
com panion throws herselfathim, de­ m ounted furdier.
m anding"slave-time.”Suchpassagesare F lem ing played along butregarded
cringeworthy, butthey weren’ the United States— "E ldollarado,”he
tmisfires.
R ape,torture,subjugation— thiswasem­ called it— warily.A n affableC .LA .offi-
J
pire, red in tooth and claw. cerin the novels,F elix Leiter, seems to
existonlvto be diminished:he i sburst-
twas allleading, F anon thought, to ingwith cash and warm feelings,buthe
I
the "greatshowdown.”Y etthe col­ defersconstantlyto B ond and soongets
lapse ofE urope’ sem pires didn’
tonlyhorribly maimed.F lem ing also inserted
m ean therise ofThird W orld national­ referencesto the real-life C .LA . direc­
ism; italso m eanttheriseofthe United torA llenD ulles,aknownB ondadmirer,
into three ofthebooks.Y etthisflash of
reality only highlights how m uch of
B ond— the shark tanks, the loquacious
villains,theendlesslyup-for-itwomen—
isconsoling fantasy. P erhapsthe largest
consolationistheideathat,intheactual
C oldW ar,aB ritishspywouldbeallowed
atthe adults’table.
In the end, F lem ing couldn’ tkeep
pacewith the insatiableU.S. market.A
lifetime offrankly heroic excess(bour­
bon counterbalanced the harmsofcig­
arettes,hemaintained) hadwreckedhim.
“I smellthe undertaker’ swind,”F lem ­
ingtold hisniece.H e died soon after,in
A ugust, 1964 ,ofaheartattack.
F anon and F lem ing envisioned em ­
pire ending, b utneitherlived to see it
fullyhappen.InA geria,decolonization
snaggedontheissueofsettlersandpro­
vided exactlythe “murderousand deci­
sive confrontation”thatF anon hoped
for. Y etwasthis, in the end, therapeu­
tic?The eight-yearwarnotonly killed
hundredsofthousands; itelevated m en
ofviolence to power, with predictable
consequences. Three years afterinde­
pendence,A geria’ sP residentwasover­
thrown in an A m y coup, and theways
ofwar— torture, surveillance, dictator­
ship— continuedinto thetim eofpeace.
H ad F anon survived leukemia, he may
nothave survivedA geria.
A m onth aftertheexhaustedF rench
abandoned A geria, in 1962,the B ritish,
inaflurryofself-congratulation,allowed
Jam aica to go free peacefully. F lem ing
insisted thatJamaicans stillcarried the
Q ueenintheirhearts,butthegin-soaked
rulingcl asstowhichhebelongedwashed
outwith the tide. In 197 6, G oldeneye
wasbought, sightunseen,byB ob M ar­
ley, the bard ofThird W orld rebellion,
whohadovertakenF lem ingasJamaica’ s diation aslightthat“stream ed outofevery object; itshone
leading culturalexport.M arleydeemed
the estatetoo posh,though, and signed
itoverto hisproducer.
Itwasan aptsymbol. E m pirewasn’ t Cro ss-Stitc h, byJ az mi
simplyagladiatorialcontest;itwasalso
a com plex business ofcurrency areas,
tariffs, and property rights. E nding it
required morethan achievingcatharsis.
There’ ssom ething undeniably satisfy­
ingaboutthedramaticscenesthatF anon
and F lem ing conjured:youwantto see
the villain geteaten by an octopusand
hisbase blown up. B uthistory doesn’ t have you done foraworld that’
alwaysofferthatrelease. Som e things
dienotwithabangbutwithawhimper.♦
BRIEF LY NO TED
n E .P ark (N orton).P ark, ahisto­
Am e ric a n Zio n , byBenjami
rian, tracesM orm onism from itsinception in N ew Y ork, in
AMERI
CAN 18 30, to itsstruggle amid persecution in the m id-nineteenth
ZI
ON century, to itspresentstatusasaglobalempire ofmore than
seventeen m illion adherents. H e posits thatchanges in the
decade ofM orm onism ’sem ergence— such as the vibrant
growth ofthe A m erican marketplace— eliminated elite edu­
cation asarequirementfordivine calling, creating an oppor­
i < tfl m t10n Ofn o 1ito in M tunity foram an likeJoseph Smith,Jr., to found the C hurch
ofJesusC hristofLatter-day Saints.Throughout,P arkdelves
into M orm on history and loreto produceapictureofthe in­
stitution asone thatisboth marginalized and marginalizing.
eM anne (C rown).F atphobia, asdefined
U n shrin kin g , byK at
by the authorofthis polemic, a C ornellphilosophy profes­
sor, isa“setoffalse beliefs and inflated theories”aboutfat
people which inform b oth health care and culture atlarge.
M annesargum entdraws on personalexperiences— she re­
lateshaving gone on drastic dietsand engaging in “danger­
ous, exploitative”relationshipsasateen-ager— and on tren­
chantanalysesofthewaysinwhichfatnesshasbeenregarded
throughouthistory. Sheproposes,forinstance,thathatred of
fatnessisaconsequence ofracistideasem bedded in A m er­
ican culture in the era ofslavery. M anne identifies“beauty
and dietculture”asan additionalculprit,and argues,“W e are
wronged bodies, notwrong ones.”
Te rm ush, bySven Hol
m, translatedfrom theDanish bySylvia
TERM U SH
I il l l l C layton (FSG O riginals).Thishypnoticnovella,written inthe
SVEN HO LM nineteen-sixtiesbutappearingonlynow intheU.S.,takesplace
afteranuclearcataclysm, and isnarrated by am an livingin a
luxuryresortthathasbeen converted into asanctuaryforthe
rich. “W e boughtthe com m odity called survival,”he dryly
notes,but, asthe storyunfoldsand refugeesstricken byradi­
ation sicknesspourin,thedelusionalnatureofthatnotionbe­
comesclear.D espiteitsbrevity,thebookisrichlytexturedwith
insights abouthow money shapesone’ sconception ofsafety,
andhow graspingtheinterconnectednessofthephysicalworld
isalsoto grasp one’smortality.A resortguestimaginesthera­
through robes and skin and the flesh on the bones ... sud­
denly to revealthe innermost,vulnerable marrow.”
na Barrera, translated r
fom theSpanish
byC hristinaM acSweeney(Two L ines).Thewords“text”and
“textile”contain a com m on Latin root, ateachertellsM ila,
the narratorofthisskillfuldebutnovelaboutfemalefriend­
ship.M ilaand C itlalim eetasschoolchildren inM exico C ity,
and bond overa love ofembroidery. F orM ila, em broider­
ing isb oth an aestheticpursuitand an actofpoliticalresis­
tance.Y earslater,C itlali’ssudden death leadsM ilato reflect
on theirpast, and to rem em berC itlaliasking, “Justwhat
sfalling apartaround you?
W rite?”The novelserves as a response, conjuring C itlali,
“like a spell,”into life again.
THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 55
 purplecolorofwine-stainedlips.The
ON AND OF F THE M ENU shelli sstiffand leathery, requiring a
bitofsawing to open. W hat’ sinside
seemsalmostnotmeantto beseen:a
F RES H DIRECT geometrical, otherworldly clusterof
smallblackseeds(edible,delicate,and
A passion-fruitdevoteespilgrimagewest. pleasingly crunchy), each suspended
inanorb ofgl ossy,sunset-coloredpulp,
BY H AN N AH G OLDF IELD surrounded by fragrantjuice ofthe
same golden hue, asobscenely slur­
pable as an oyster. I find the flavor,
perhapsmy singlefavorite, intoxicat­
ing.It’scitrus-adjacent,butmorecom­
plex: sweet, bright, savory, sour, and
even a touch sulfuric. M y husband,
wholovesitlessthanI do,haslikened
itto body odor.
A ftermy trip to B razil, I searched
forfresh passion fruitobsessively in
N ew Y ork and rarely found it.W hen
I did,itwasoftenpricedprohibitively
high,asmuch asfivedollarsforasin­
glepiece.A nd then, aboutayearinto
the pandemic, I hitupon something
enviablewhilescrollingthroughInsta­
gram:avideo ofan influencerwith a
chicly appointed kitchen, unboxing a
shipm entofpassion fruit. I learned
thatacompany called R incon Trop­
ics,in C alifornia,would mailitacross
the country, quite affordably, ifyou
werewilling to purchase aminimum
offivepounds.A few daysafterI placed
myfirstorder,alargeU.S.P .S.box ar­
rived,filled to thebrim with fragrant
purpleglobes,sturdyenoughthatthey
needed minimalcushioning. I piled
them in abowltowrinkle— themore
shrivelled they get, the sweeter— and
worked mywaythrough severaladay.
bouta decade ago, a friend of ing atitin delightawaiterappeared. A few weeksago,I shookthehand
A m ine and herhusband moved “W ordlessly,”shesaid,“hecutthefruit
from B rooklyn to LosA ngeles. A ftertotwohemispheresandhandedeach
in
ofthe m an who grew them . N ick
B rown, a slight, bearded thirty-two-
landing atLA X , they wentstraight ofusatiny dessertspoon.” year-old who wore awide-brim m ed
to G jelina, arestaurantin V enicethat Thestorysoundslikeitwasplucked hatatop atuftofdark hair, m etme
exemplifiesacertain image oflife in outofa tourism cam paign, orthe atthebottom ofadustyroad thatled
Southern C alifornia:seasonal,sensual, depthsofmysubconscious.I firsttried up to hisfamily’ sranch in C arpinte­
wood-fired cooking; a sun-dappled freshpassionfruitfifteenyearsago,in ria,someseventymilesnorth ofL.A .,
patio nearthe beach. “W e had this B razil, and in the years since ithas on a hillside with a glorious ocean
long,exquisitelunch,”sherecalledre­ captured my appetite and my imagi­ view. A swebumped around the six-
cently. “A nd justaswe were getting nation in equalmeasure. A passion hundred-acrepropertyin hisSubaru,
readytopaythebill,feelinglike‘ W ow, fruitisasenclosed and mysteriousas B rown, a sixth-generation farm er,
we’re C alifornians now!,’something ahen’segg, though acommon com­ pointed outgrovesoftreesdrooping
dropped outofthe skyand landed in mercialvarietycalledF rederick’ slooks with the weightofunripe avocados
the m iddle ofthe table.”A passion like itwaslaid by a dragon:when it and scaly green cherim oya (“like a
fruithad fallen from one ofthevines fallsoffthevine,itsexteriori ssmooth, mango, apineapple, and abanana all
overhead, and asthey satthere star­ firm, and slightly speckled, the deep puttogether,”he said),which hisfa­
thercommercializedintheU.S.more
P assionfruittakescenterstagein someofL .A.smostinventive cooking. than forty yearsago.
56 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 P HOTO ILLU STRATION BY JASON FU LFORD AND TAMARA SHOP SIN
 A round the sametime,the family
also planted passion-fruitvines, but
found thattherewasno steady m ar­
ketfortheiryield. “A ttim es, they
couldn’tgive itaway,”B rown said.
A boutsix yearsago,hedecidedto try
again. H e had noticed, as I have, a
gradualinfiltrationofpassionfruit— a
mainstayofLatinA mericanandA sian
cuisines, and huge in H awaii— into
the broaderA merican palate. Itfla­
vors big-brand seltzer, yogurt, and
lip balm; I’ve seen iton the menu at
trendy N ew Y ork restaurants and in
buzzycookbookssuchas“M oreThan
C ake,”bythedowntown-darlingpas­
try chefN atasha P ickowicz, which
includes recipes forjellied passion­
fruitcandiesand passion-fruitolive­
oilcurd. P ickowicz told me recently
thatwheneversheincorporateditinto
amenuitem atF loraB ar, theUpper
E astSiderestaurantwheresheworked
untilitclosed,in 2020,“peoplewould
go crazyforit,”jum ping to orderthe
dessertbasedonthatingredientalone.
The passion fruitwas ahitatthe
SantaM onica farmers’marketwhere
B rown had a stand. In 2020, afterhe
stopped driving down because ofthe
pandemic,hebeganto shipitto afew
ofhis regulars, some ofwhom hap­
penedtobe influencers.B rown’ sInsta­
gram account,wherehepostsE denic
landscapesandstill-lifesofhalvedfruit,
gained anew crowd ofadmirers.
Thesedays,heshipsaboutathou­
sandpoundsofpassionfruitaweek—
roughlyfi vethousandpieces— directly
to consumers, and to restaurants. A s
westoodbesideathickhedgeofvines,
growing horizontally, he bentover
to pickup fallen fruit,balancing half
a dozen piecesin one hand, asifhe
wereaboutto perform ajuggling act.
Instead,hecarried them to apatio in
thecenterofasunnystretch ofgrass,
rimm ed by succulentsand flowering
rosem ary bushes. “I didn’t b ring
spoons,”he said, ashe sliced a few
fruitsopenwith aserratedknife,“but
there’shosesherewherewecan rinse
off.”I squeezedhalfashellinmypalm
to loosentheseedsand scrapedthem
outwithmyteeth,juicerunningdown
my chin.
“W e can’tgrow enough,”B rown
toldme— inpartbecausetheweather
hasbeen unpredictable. Lastspring,
when he would have expected the returnedtohishomestate.“I sincerely
vinesto flower,readytobepollinated mean itwhen I saythe fruiti swhy I
bybees, awetfogrolled in and didn’t movedback,”hetoldme,tossingtrans­
liftforweeks. O nce the crop had fi­ lucentcubesofraw shrimpinpassion­
nally dried out, B rown stillhad to fruitpulpandsatsuma-mandarinjuice.
contend with another issue: deer. The satsumasgrew on atree that
“They reallylovepassion-fruitvines, we could see through the window.
butthey’ rekind ofjerksaboutit,”he P artofthepromiseofSouthern C al­
explained.“I haveavideoonmyphone iforniaistheimpeccableproduce,and
ofa herd justpicking offthe green, thatyoudon’ tneed six hundred acres
im m ature passion fruits and eating to grow ityourself. To raise money
them like an apple. A nd then look­ foracustom surfboard, anine-year-
ingup atme,like,‘W hatareyougoing oldI know soldmeseveralpoundsof
to do aboutit?’” passionfruitforagedfrom hisgarden
in E cho P ark.F orsomeyears,G justa,
ofollow thescentofpassionfruit amore casualsisterestablishmentto
T around L.A . isto discoversome G jelina, boughtpassion fruitfrom a
ofthe city’s m ostinteresting and V enice native named ThorE vensen,
quintessentially C alifornia cooking. a self-described “hippie kid,”artist,
Isla, anew restaurantin SantaM on­ and schoolteacher, who had aback­
ica,offersapassion-fruit-glazedolive­ yard vine so productive thathe’ d
oilmuffin,plusaTiki-inspired cock­ approached a few localrestaurants,
tailcalledanE arlyR etirement,which hawking his surplus. “O ne person
isgarnished with aflaming passion­ growseighthundredpassionfruitand
fruitshell. A tthe beloved Los F eliz youcan’teatthose, soyougo to your
restaurantKismet, the chef-owners, neighborwho haschicken and eggs,
Sarah H ym anson and Sara Kramer, andthenyoutrade,”hetoldme,sum­
servereducedpassion-fruitpulp over marizing apodcastabouteconomics
asilkychicken-livermousse,thesyrup thathe’ dlistened to recently.“O ryou
brightening the liver’ screamy rich­ go to afancy restaurantand they’re,
ness and tem pering its clang ofio­ like, ‘O h, seven bucks a pound, no
dine.TheV enezuelan-bornchefKarla problem.’It’ salong and complicated
Subero P ittolruns a pop-up called story,butthat’ skind ofhow hum an­
C hainsaw outofherhom e in H is­ ityworks.”
toricF ilipinotown,offering,everyfew O n mylastmorning in L.A ., I re­
weeks, dessert“drops”— aterm pop­ turnedtoF ilipinotown,toacafecalled
ularized by streetwearculturewhich D oubtingThomas,knownforitspas­
isalso, in this case, literal. O ne eve­ sion-fruitpie— made with produce
ninginD ecember,while“F eliz N avi­ from B rown’sfarm — and ordered a
dad”twinkledoutofadistantspeaker, slice to go. O n the plane home, asI
I stood beneath Subero P ittol’ sopen watched “O nce Upon aTim e ... in
window,framedbypalm trees, asshe H ollywood,”!opened thesmallcard­
lowered abasketby rope and pulley. board box to revealawedge ofvivid
Insidewasoneofhersignatureoffer­ custard, aslusciousasmelted gelato,
ings:apassion-fruit-lime icebox pie, topped with whipped creme fraiche
capped with frozen whipped cream. andaspoonfulofseeds.Thefruit’ sfa­
A couple ofdayslater, in the liv­ miliarbracing tartnesswasmellowed
ingroom ofamid-centuryhousehigh onlyslightlywithsweetenedcondensed
in the hillsofSilverLake, I satwith milk, which was in turn offsetby a
thechefG erardoG onzalez ashemade sal t
y,crispgraham-cracker-macadamia
apassion-fruitaguachile, “my favor­ crust. A tmy feet, in a carry-on bag,
ite way to use itrecently,”he said. satseveralpoundsofpassionfruit,des­
G onzalez,whogrew up in SanD iego, tined foryogurt, smoothies, and the
cookedforyearsin N ew Y ork,adding jelliesfrom N atashaP ickowicz’ scook­
aninventiveinterpretationofC alifor­ book. Lastsummer, P ickowicz told
nian-M exican cuisine to the down­ me, she planted avine in herB rook­
town scenearoundwhat’ snow called lynbackyard.Itflowered,butdid not
D im es Square, afterthe restaurant fruit. I willtrade herallmy chickens
D imes. A boutayearago, G onzalez and theireggswhen itdoes. ♦
THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 57
 a celebratory reception. O dissigained
DANCING officialrecognition two yearslaterand
hassincebeenjoinedbyothernewlyde­
fined forms.
B ROKEN AN D REBUILT Thedancestheseguruscameupwith
mostlyprivileged H indu traditionsand
BijayiniSatpathyanda new understandingofn
Idian cl
assi
caldance. texts, even though, historically, dance
acrossIndia was shaped by m any reli­
B Y JENNIF ER.H O M A N 5 giousandphilosophicalcontexts.(O dissi,
forinstance,alsohasJain,B uddhist,M us­
lim,animist,andseculartheatricalroots.)
E verythingwastightlyregulated.There
wererulesforpostures,steps,and musi­
calstructures; fortextualand sculptural
sources;forperformance,includingwhat
orderparticularpieces should be per­
formedin.Thenew nationaldanceswere
also cleaned up, following the lead of
purity-m inded B ritish socialreformers
who had stigmatized temple dancersas
prostitutes and tried in some casesto
banthem.O therstriedtostripthedances
ofovertsexuality— afool’ serrand,asone
glance atthe erotic S-curved body in
O dissiproves. C aste played arole, too.
Insometraditions,suchasbharatanatyam,
from Tam ilN adu, temple dancerswere
typicallyoflow caste,but,intheremade,
classicizedversion oftheform,bharata­
natyam became largely the province of
bourgeois B rahm in wom en. Today, a
few lower-castedancers,suchasN rithya
P illai, are trying to take back theirart.
M eanwhile, some H indu nationalists
havemademovesto linkO dissito their
cause,in disregard ofM uslim and other
historicalinfluenceson the artform. In
2018 ,N arendraM odi’ sgovernmenteven
nom inated the O dissidancer Sonal
M ansingh to the parliament.
very artistconfrontsherpast, and, ingnationitsownindigenoustheatrical Satpathy,who isfifty,isno stranger
E in the case ofthe Indian dancer arts, and gurus and dancers from vari­
B ijayiniSatpathy, thatpastisb oth o ausregionsbeganassemblingstandard­
totheironiesofherart.Shebegandanc­
ing as a child and laterstudied in the
country and acoloniallegacy Satpathy ized forms outofadizzying variety of styleofKelucharan M ohapatra,oneof
perform sO dissi,adancestylefrom the localpractices and traditions. B y 195 2, the maleguruswho codified O dissi,in
eastern stateofO dishawhich isoneof four ofthese freshly codified dance the fifties. A m ong the techniques she
India’seightclassicaldance forms. A l­ styles— bharatanatyam , kathak, katha- absorbed was the virtuosic “gotipua”
though Indian classicaldance iscom ­ kali, and m anipuri— had been formally style,whichemergedduringtheM ughal
m only assumed to be ancientand rev­ recognizedbythegovernment,andgiven E m pire and was traditionally danced
erential— and there is a docum ented aneliteW esternstamp,“classical,”aword by young boys cross-dressing to per­
history ofdevotionaldancing extend­ that, asA nurim a B aneijipoints outin form female roles. In 1993, shejoined
ingbackm orethan two m illennia— all herbook“D ancing O dissi,”had no true N rityagram , a female troupe based in
eightofthesedesignatedclassicalstyles equivalentinIndianlanguagesuntilB rit­ B angalore.A tN rityagram,whichmeans
are m odern, post-colonialinventions. ishrule.E xponentsofO dissipushedfor “dancevillage”in Sanskrit,dancersand
E venbeforetheB ritish formallyde­ inclusion and exhibited the form at students live, b reathe, eat, and sleep
parted the country, in 194 7 , Indian au­ a landm ark m eeting in N ew D elhiin O dissiin ways thatrecallthe im m er­
thoritieshad setouttogivetheiremerg­ 195 8 ,with N ehruhim selfpresidingover sionofpastdevotionalandtempleprac­
tices, exceptthathere the devotion
TrainedintheO dissidancetradition, Satpathyi
snow ex ploringotherinfl
uences. isaesthetic, notreligious. (Satpathy is

58 THE NEW ' YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 P HOTOG RAP H BY BALARAM A HELLER
agnostic.) In a furtherspiritofinde­
pendence, N rityagram avoids having
m ale gurus; instead, the wom en are
theirown collectiveguru,and,overthe
years, theirarthas drawn on avariety
ofsources outside ofthose prescribed
by the officialO dissiform.
Satpathy herselfhas neverbeen or­
thodox in herapproach. A s the direc­
torofeducation and alead perform er
atN rityagram , she supplem ented es­
tablished O dissiexercisesw ith yoga,
m artialarts,ballet,P ilates,andjogging,
and even m adeup herown exercisesto
stretchthecapacitiesofherdancersand
the lim its ofherart. A day with Sat­
pathy m ightbeginwith arun and then
move to O dissi’ scodified isolations of
the eyes,neck,torso,palms,fingers,an­
kles, toes, heels— each body partmov­
ing alone and in opposition to other
body parts. (There are dozensofexer­
cisesfortheeyesalone.) Shealsoworked
closelywith N rityagram ’ sartisticdirec­
tor, Surupa Sen, to bring avariety of
ancienttextstobearonnew dances.Y et,
forallthe innovations N rityagram in­
troduced, the troupe’sperform ances
maintainedatraditionalO dissilookand
feel,andin2018 ,aftertwenty-fiveyears,
Satpathy leftthisvillagehom e to cho­
reograph and perform herown dances.
atpathy’sm uchanticipatedfirstpiece
S ofsolochoreography,“A B H IP SA A —
aseeking”{abhi psaaisSanskritfor“seek­
ing”),wasdelayedbythepandem ic,b ut
finallyhad itsN ew Y orkpremiereatthe
B aryshnikov A rts C enter, where I saw
itthisfall. Itwillgo on tourto various
U.S.citiesinthespring.(F ulldisclosure:
Satpathy and B aneijihavebeen in res­
idenceatN .Y .U.’sC enterforB alletand
the A rts, which I founded and direct.)
The work is m ade up offourdances,
with originalcom positionsby a team
ofmusicians, including the extraordi­
nary singerand com poserB indhum a-
liniN arayanaswamy,who istrained in
b oth H industaniand C arnatic music.
Thefourdancesunfoldwith acleartra-
jectory, m oving from youth to death,
from form to formlessness.The firstis
anarrativedanceinspiredbyan odeat­
tributed to the eighth-century philos­
opherandpoetShriA diShankaracha-
raya,which Satpathyinterpretsasbeing
aboutthe“oneness”ofmaleand female
sexualorgansandthepresenceinayoung
girl’sbody ofboth masculine and fem ­
inine, hum an and divine.W e continue
w ith two m ovem ents thatrevealthe
“seeking”ofthetitle(“V ibhanga— bro­
ken and rebuilt”and“ V irahi— in long­
ing”) and conclude with “V im ukthi—
the finaldance.”
The perform ance begins in sem i­
darkness, and we see Satpathy planted
in adeep lunge,low to the floor,hands
andarmsundulating,asifsearchingthe
airaround her. B indhum alini’ saching,
chantlikevoiceseemsto movethrough
jaggedhalftonesinveering exploration
ofrhythm and tone. Satpathy is calm
and clad in O dissidress— elegantsilks
in deep m auve and b rightblue, with
wristand ankle bracelets, hairpinned
back, heavy m akeup, and a large red
bindion herforehead. Shedeepensthe
lungeand eventuallymovesinto astan­
dard O dissiposition, on one leg, the
spine curved in thatdistinctive erotic
S shape. She’ sbeen standing here for
decadesand herbody seemstotallyre­
solved,but— andthisiswhereherseek­
ing takes her— she doesn’ tstay. E ven
when Satpathyisrooted, som ething in
herbody— arms, fingers, back, shoul­
ders, neck, eyes, eyebrows— is always
moving.W hen sheturnsand standsto
show usherback,forexample,herstill­
nessisdisruptedbywavesofm ovem ent
travelling up, down, sideways, through
muscle and bone.
I kepttrying to pinpointthe m otor
orsourceofhermovement,whichseems
to come from everywhere atonce, and
to circulatethroughherbodylikeblood.
H erabdominalcore— acom m onm otor
in dance— ishidden in folds offabric
and in the extreme O dissiarch ofthe
spine,whichthrowsherpelvisbackand
chestforward. She latertold m e that
the m otoristhe foot. N otthe muscles
b utthe way the foothits the ground,
whichsendsenergyupthroughthebody
and outthrough the head, lim bs, and
eyes.This isphysicalb utalso am atter
ofmind— themovementendsonlywhen
the intention driving ithas exited the
eyesandreachesus.Thejourneycanbe
slow orfast, even instantaneous: this
constantcycling ofenergythrough the
body iswhy herm ovem entneverap­
pears static ordoll-like, asO dissican.
H erlyricism even hasafamiliarW est­
ern m odern-dance flow, which seems
surprisinglynaturalin herO dissibody.
There are H indu stories in these
dances,b utthey arehard to follow un­
lessyou areversed in the meaningsas­
signedto eachpose.D ancersmem orize
thesemeaningsintheirtraining,butpart
ofwhatSatpathyisup to,I think,isab­
stractingfeelingsofe jalousyandloveso
thatwefeelthem withoutanynarrative
orreligiousgrounding. Itisenough to
watchherbodyandbeingslidebetween
male and female, objectand subject, to
becomefullyabsorbedinthedance.R up­
turesin tradition and additionsto itare
interwoven, asifform were notsetor
rule-bound b utmalleable and absorp­
tive.The second dance in “A B H IP SA A ,”
forexam ple, uses a C arnatic m usical
genre, the thillana, thatiscom m on in
bharatanatyam b utnotin O dissi.M ov­
ing to it, shebreaksfurtherfrom O dis­
si’sformalposes:ahand losesitsshape
and fallsto the floor; aP ilates-stylere­
cliningposition isheld insistentlylong.
The finaldance isbased on apoem
by the medievalN orth Indian mystic
Kabiraboutdeathfreeingthesoulfrom
the confines oflife. Itisanotherquiet
Satpathy acknowledgm entofthe var­
ied non-H indu sources ofherart. W e
don’ tknow m uch aboutKabir’ slife,b ut
we do know thatthere is a lotofIs­
lamicthoughtin Kabir’ sworkand alot
ofKabir’ sthoughtin Islamicwritings.
H is poem s, claim ed by H indus, M us­
lims,and Sikhsalike,turn apointedwit
onworldlyhierarchiesofcaste,gender,
and religion. They belong to an oral
and sung tradition that, like dance, is
passed on bythosewho perform them ,
from Kabir’ sday to ours.
In thisspirit, Satpathy’sdancetakes
fullflight,spirallingalongO dissicurves
and diagonalsofspace,body,and tim e,
until, in asharp m ovem ent, shebreaks
the fourth walland we find herm o­
mentarilyflungbeforeus,armsandeyes
open, as ifto say, “H ere I am!”She is
pulled back into herdance, only to be
thrown forward again,thistim eon her
knees, asthe musicendsand the lights
go out. Shehasarrivedattheliberation
thatdeath brings— and also, perhaps,
athernewly conceived O dissilife.
The ending, I venture, isalso polit­
ical.Undercoverofafeltdevotion,Sat­
pathyhasgiventhefinalgesturein this
perform ance ofan invented classical
H induform to apoetwhoseworkcan­
notbe separated from Islam . ♦
THE N EV YORK ER, JANU ARY 15, 2024 59

M US ICAL EV ENTS
MIND I
N F LUX
Theviscerallycomplex musicofG eorgeL ewis.
BY ALEX ROSS
L ewisprizescollaboration, improvisation, andculturalcross-pollination.
eorge Lewis is one ofthe m ost roundofapplause.A ttheageofseventy-
G form idable figures in m odern
music:acomposerofinternationalre­
one, he isatthe heightofhisproduc­
tivity; he had seven premieresin 2023,
nown, alegendary improvising trom ­ inN ew Y ork,V ienna,andpointsinbe­
bonist,acomputer-musicpioneer,apro­ tween. In aD ecem berconcertatthe
fessoratC olum bia, a stalwartofthe P arkA venueA rmory,theInternational
B lack avant-garde collectiveknown as C ontem porary E nsem ble, ofwhich
the A ssociation forthe A dvancement Lewisistheartisticdirector,playedhis
ofC reativeM usicians.Y etaroutineen­ music on adouble billwith aperfor­
comium to Lewis’ sachievements and mancebythecomposer-pianistA m ina
influence would ignore the im portof C laudine M yers, anotherA .A .C .M .
hisscholarlywritings,which resistthe veteran.Theensemblehasalsorecorded
usualnarratives ofindividualgenius. “A fterword,”Lewis’sfirstopera. H is
H is2008 book,“A P owerStrongerThan second,“C omet/P oppea,”arrivesinJune,
Itself:The A A C M and A merican E x­ in LosA ngeles.
perimentalM usic,”isarivetingportrait Lewisgrew up in C hicago, the son
ofcommunaloriginality, with the au­ ofSouthernerswho had come N orth
thorassumingabackgroundrole.Let’ s aspartofthe G reatM igration. A s a
simply say,then, thatthisgenially au­ third graderatthe University ofC hi­
thoritativefiguredeservesan extended cago Laboratory Schools, he took up
60 THE NEV YORKER,JANUARY 15,2024
thetrombone,which,helaterwrote,ap­
pealedtohim as“big,shiny,andweird.”
H e wenton to Y al e,where he studied
music theory and majored in philoso­
phy.O n abreakfrom college,hejoined
the A .A .C .M ., which had formed on
theSouth SideofC hicagoin1965 ,with
M uhalR ichardA brams,A nthonyB rax­
ton,Joseph Jarm an, R oscoe M itchell,
W adadaLeoSmith,andH enryThread­
gillam ong its early m em bers. Their
m usic com bined A frican A m erican
traditionswith insightsgleaned from
classicalmodernism andvariousworld
cultures.The A .A .C .M . tended to be
categorized as avant-garde jazz, al­
though, as Lewis’s scholarship has
shown, itshould have been incorpo­
ratedintoacanonofexperimentalcom­
positionthathasalonghistoryofshut­
ting outB lack artists.
The trom bone was the vehicle of
Lewis’ sinitialbreakthrough.H isaston­
ishing technique ran the gam utfrom
delicatefiligreetounearthlyhowling.In
197 7 ,W hitney B alliett, thismagazine’s
longtimejazz critic,reportedthatatone
A .A .C .M . eventLewishad unleashed
“fourconsecut ive— almostoverlapping—
ascending arpeggios played in sixty­
fourth notesand in differentkeys,”and
thatalittlelaterhehad“mumbledfunny
gibberishthrough hisinstrument.”The
A .A .C .M .S experimentalism oftenhad
astreak ofthe carnivalesque. M yers, in
hersetattheA rmory, maintained that
traditionwithanuproariouspiecetitled
“Stay in the Light,”in which she and
hercollaborators— the bassistJerome
H arris,thedrummerR eggieN icholson,
andthevocalistanddramatistR icharda
A brams— enactedamini-operaatonce
satirizingandcelebratingthesearchfor
spiritualenlightenment.
In1982,LewismovedtoP aristowork
atircam ,P ierreB oulez’ slavishlyfunded Y
T
T
electronic-musicstudio.D efyingaprev­ E
G
/
alenthigh-modernistmentality, Lewis S
N
E
programmedA pplecomputersto react K
E
L
L
to livesonicinputand deliverimprovi­ E
H
C
satory responses. (“R ainbow F amily,” S
S
N
hismajorprojectatircam ,canbeheard A
R
F
on C arrierR ecords; the saxophonist Y
B
Steve Lacy, the m ulti-instrum entalist H
P
A
D ouglas E wart, the guitaristD erek R
G
O
B ailey, and the bassistJoelle Leandre T
O
H
took part.) Lewislaterintroduced an P
E
C
interactive hum an-and-m achine soft­ R
U
O
ware platform called V oyager. H e has S
ILLUS TRATION BY BEN PEARCE
therefore had long experiencecontem­ conceptofagencement— “contingency, has, in otherwords, made an operatic
plating the philosophicalissuesaround heterogeneity, nonlinearity, and emer­ adaptation ofthescholarlyhistorythat
artificialintelligence. 1lisconclusion is gence,’’in Lewis’ sparaphrase— and to hewrote aboutthe collectiveto which
thatthe behaviorofthe machine de­ the artistic practice ofreworking junk hebelongs.W e’ vecomealongwayfrom
pendsheavily on who i sprogramming objects. A tthe beginning, eruptive theF lorentine C amerata— yetnotim ­
it.In anessayaboutV oyager, heargues full-ensem ble gestures give way to a measurably far, since severalfounders
thathis system enactsthe density and gentlypurringharpfigureandtosnappy oftheoperagenremythologizedthem­
multiplicity thathave long character­ rhythms on agogo bells.These incipi­ selves asO rpheus, the originalcom­
ized A tro-diasporic music-making. entgroovesarealmostimmediatelyway­ poser. In “A fterword,”new mythsare
In the nineties, Lewis took up his laidb Jyfreshalarmsandexcursions.The afoot.The libretto tendsnotto specify
firstmajoracademicpost,attheUniver­ ensemblehadnotroubleadoptingLew­ individuals, instead assembling acol­
sityofC alifornia, San D iego. H e soon is’sturn-on-a-dim e energy, conveying lage ofoverlapping voices. A s in the
gatheredadmirersindiecontemporary- akind ofhappy exhaustion atthe end. book,diefocusi sondiecoll ecti
vework­
classicalfield, notleastbecause ofdie "B lombosW orkshop,”forsol opiano, ingsofacommunity.“H eroes,gods,and
force ofhis intellect. So many heady written in2020,i sinspired byaseventy- mastersdonotexistinoursight”isone
ideas proliferate in his pieces— titles three-thousand-yrca.r-old abstractde­ crucialline.
such as“Tractatus,”“M nem osis,”and sign found in the B lombos C ave, in The opera’ s musicalidiom has its
“SignifyingR ifts’givetheflavor— that South A frica.' ’
H iepieceseemsto con­ own contrarian magic. Lewis adopts a
one can overlook theirvisceralappeal. jure aprehistoric avant-garde musical fairly severe non-tonallanguage,with
G ranted, Lewis is by no m eans an workshop, a sonic analogue ofdie vif angularvocallinespiercing thicketsof
easy-listening composer: his episodes sualculturethatcanbeglimpsed inthe dissonance. Some listenershave found
ofcontrolled chaoscanrivalthestorm­ cave.F ullynotatedpassages— scamper­ the resultdisconcerting: people raised
iestcreations ofthe E uropean avant- ing runs,precisely hammering chords, on the South Side seem to have been
garde.B uthisacuteearforinstrum en­ ghostly arpeggios— are interspersed possessedbythespiritofA rnold Schoen­
taltimbremeansthatthetexturesnever with opportunities torimprovisation. berg.To myears,it’ saproductive defa­
devolve into murk. O ne signaturede­ The firsttwenty-four bars indicate miliarization effect, banishing stereo­
viceisto pitshrill,birdlike criesin the rhythms, dynamics, and registers but types and signalling cross-cultural
upperwindsagainstsustained, heaving notprecise pitches.The ending, too,i s influences. (Threadgill, in his recent
sonoritiesinthebass.Y ouhearthisoce­ leftopen.C orySmythe,himselfacom­ memoir, “E asily Slip Into A nother
anic, almostW agnerian effectin Lew­ poserand improviserof note, proved W orld,”writtenwith B rent1layesE d­
is’slarge-scale orchestralwork “M inds an idealconduit, making the distinc­ wards, recounts being dum bstruck by
in F lux,”which had itspremiereatthe tion between Lewis’ sideasand hisown his firstencounterwith Schoenberg’ s
P roms, in London, in 2021. (A merican elaborations inconsequential. “P ierrotLunaire.”) T here’ salso an ar­
orchestras should take itup.) A tthe canecomedyatwork.Inascenedepict­
sametime,hehasn' tlosttheimpishwit A fteiword,”which had itspremiere ing theA .A .C .M .’ sinauguralmeeting,
ofhisyouthfuloutings. _ Z l.in 2015 , i
s in some ways Lewis'
s whichincludedast renuousdebateabout
Thetwo scoresthatLewispresented m ostconventionalscore to date. Iti s dienatureoforiginality,onevoicesings,
atdieA rmory embodied adialectic of anoperaineleven scenes,fullynotated. “D o people even know whatoriginal
complexityand pl ay.F irst,theInterna­ Thelibretto,however,isthoroughlyun­ music i s?1don' t.”In response, we hear
tionalC ontem poraryE nsemble,under orthodox. Ittellsthe story ofdie for­ the instrum entalequivalentofawry
thedirection ofR ebekahH eller,litinto mation ofthe A .A .C .M ., mining m a­ smil e:low cellotremolo,somelighttaps
the2013piece“A ssemblage,”whosetitle terialthatLewisgatheredfor“A P ower on cymbals and tam -tam , a quizzical
alludesboth to D eleuze and G uattari’ s StrongerThan Itself’’The composer piano arpeggio. Let’ sstartwith that. ♦

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 CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST

E ach week, weprovidea cartoon in needof acaption.Y ou, thereader, submita caption, wechoosethree
finalists, andyou vote or
f yourfavorite.C aption submissionsforthisweek’scartoon, byP aulK arasik,
mustbereceivedbySunday,January14th.The i f
nalistsin theDecember18th contestappearbelow.W e
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THIS W EEK’S CON TEST

TH E FINALISTS TH E WINNING CAPTION

<J ohn3 :16 stillthetimetobeat!=

D ouglas F inkelstein, R edondo B each, C alif.

<Y eah, Iknow.Hisdadownstheplace. = <O h, no! Thefouremojisoftheapocalypse!=

R ick N ym eyer, P alm H arb or, F la. N aum M ilyavskiy, Los A ngeles, C alif.

<L ookslikegoodform, butwho am Itoj udge? =

R obby Tucker, A lexandria, V a.
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BY ANNA 5HECHTMAN
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 THE

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