"She quotes many writers here — Albert Camus, Robert Frost, Nikki Giovanni, James Salter — but the author the book recalled most vividly to me, in its careful catalog of small details, was William Carlos Williams, who in his epic poem 'Paterson' wrote 'no ideas but in things.' This tracks, because Biden acknowledges the help of Ada Calhoun, the author of [a book] about Frank O’Hara. Indeed, Biden’s description of being hustled for security reasons through the service entrance to hotels made my O’Hara stand on end, so cleanly could it be broken into stanzas, if you’ll forgive the liberty: 'right by garbage cans/ reeking of rotting room service leftovers/mixed with discarded mini shampoos/ — an odor so sour and pungent/that it almost knocks you down.'"
So writes Alexandra Jacobs in
"Jill Biden’s New Memoir Shows Off a Sharp Eye, if Not a Sharp Elbow/Beyond a few pointed digs at her husband’s successor, 'View From the East Wing' largely sticks to the head-spinning details of first lady-hood" (NYT).
Speaking of "no ideas but in things," we're told that, in her new memoir, her second, Jill Biden "marvels at the perks of the office, the masses of flowers, attentive staff and fine art, such as 'Morning on the Seine, Good Weather,' the oil painting that Angela Merkel said Trump called 'my Monet.' ('Our Monet,' Biden corrects, meaning the American people’s.)"
I looked it up. Here's "Our Monet":
According to
The White House Historical Association's Facebook page: "On December 4, 1963, the family of John F. Kennedy donated the painting 'A Morning on the Seine; Good Weather' to the White House collection in memory of the late president." That was 2 weeks after the assassination. I'm only noticing this painting now, because I'm reading about Jill and Donald verbalizing possessively about it. And now I feel as though I can see, in that fuzzy image, 2 profiles yelling at each other. And both look like Trump.
Oh! The derangement! An odor so sour and pungent....
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21 comments:
At least mentioned is John O'Hara, a sadly forgotten but amazing author. About the only fiction I'm interested in reading again.
It must be tough being a ghost-writer.
"An odor so sour and pungent,"
Like when Biden soiled himself in public. Now, Jill, err DOCTOR Jill (w/the pathetic doctorate in education), tell us about all the private episodes.
A starry-eyed thumbsucker about how a woman with a PhD has a greater than average understanding of her field…and yet, for all the worshipful coverage, maybe 5 people will pay full price for this “memoir.”
Dr. Biden can likely clear up something I have been wondering for years, then. I have considered this my favorite word to describe the Biden admin, but I have a problem with the spelling.
Is it spelled caddywhompus or cattywhompus? If I'm wrong, it'll be the only thing they talk about.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cattywampus
Are we supposed to be impressed about Dr.Jill Biden?
Who the heck is reading that book?
Not going to bother reading the book. But since it addresses art, what does it say about Hunter’s contributions to the Biden crime family fortunes.
Is being an artsy pretentious twit a requirement to write for the NYT?
speaking of "correct" terms..
the correct term for an instructor at a community college is:
INSTRUCTOR
not "professor"
"doctor" Jill didn't receive her EdD "degree" until 2007,
she retired the next year. For the majority of her "career" she "taught" at high schools, not even starting teaching at the community college until 1993 (at which time she had a MA in el ed.. just like my high school teachers did).
And What did she "teach" at community college?
"remedial writing, with an emphasis on instilling confidence in students"
in other words.. High School English for people that flunked English
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Biden#Education_and_career,_marriages_and_family
One of the reasons that people hate AI is that it makes it hard to tell who is really educated and cultured, and who is heading over to Grok for the right word or quote or historical incident. We should compare this text to the text of the paper she wrote to get her "doctor" title, because, IIRC, it wasn't exactly a literary masterpiece.
but let's give "dr" Jill her credit where the credit is due.
as an attractive high school student, got a job as a cocktail waitress..
as that cocktail waitress, secuced the bar owner..
forced the bar owner to marry her (over fake pregnancy claim?)
babysat for a young politician the bar owner was supporting
seduced the young politician..
causing his wife to commit suicide by truck..
divorced the bar owner, Nearly winning half of the successful bar..
MARRIED the young politician
rode the young politician's career for the next FIFTY years.
pretended to Like the (now old) politician for much of that time
ALL young girls in highschool, should aspire to BECOME "dr" Jill
"Casually..." I bet. That "casually" is doing a lot or work.
The problem with Jill Biden’s book is the fantastic lies made the headlines undermining any credibility the rest of her (did she really write it?) rememoir, my term for a memoir that is constructed of reimagined “memories.”
What a perfect post from Ann: A beautiful picture in which I see a dance of literature and political commentary with a skip and hop of witty insights…
Jill Biden is a complete idiot. While trying to continue the cover story that Joe was sharp as a tack, she reminds the country before the midterms of his disastrous presidency and the insane idea that he could have served another four years. Jill is helping the GOP and that’s why the Dems are so mad.
If Biden would have been re-elected, Iran would have a nuclear weapon today.
Let’s hear a big round of applause for this overcredentialed English instructor who, after 70 years of daily practice, can “casually” use English words in a sentence! As reported by a superfan! Who may or may not know who really wrote the phrase he quoted.
Thanks Douger.
I don’t see Trumps. Instead, I see Bluto and the Grinch. Ugh, thanks for ruining a beautiful painting for me…;)
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