Here’s something to lift the Monday morning blues, maybe even get you a little high: The New Yorker has just published a new short story by Israeli writer Etgar Keret. (And it’s translated by Nathan Englander, no less—a literary twofer!)

In ‘One Gram Short,’ a nameless, neurotic, curiously passive Keretian protagonist goes on a quest for some weed to impress Shikma, the waitress at his local cafe who is a “fan of recreational drugs.” (Because asking her to a movie would be “too in-your-face,” ‘course.) This quest leads him to the apartment of a lawyer with cancer, a dramatic court appearance, a violent confrontation, and an… interesting ending. Look, no more vague spoilers. You can read the story—and listen to Keret’s lovely lispy reading—right here.

(Image: Martina Kenji)

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Death, then deluge: I couldn’t stop thinking about this while reading cartoonist Roz Chast‘s new memoir, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? An intense, humorous, and frequently painful exercise in catharsis, it closely documents the decline and eventual deaths of Chast’s elderly parents—and it’s not pretty. As any dutiful daughter knows, you are definitely not allowed to write about your parents until they are no longer of this world. And if you have siblings, probably not even then. Chast, however, is an only child, and she here she presents a loving but unsparing examination of her parents, and herself.

The story is told through a combination of comics, handwritten pages, photos, and sketches. Chast’s style is harried, and drawings rarely seem drafted, perfectly channeling both the anxiety of living the events described, and the urgency of wanting to record all of it. The photos show up unexpectedly, and to great effect. Pages describing her hoarding parents’ apartment are followed by stark images of rooms filled with piles of browning and greying stuff, the decrepitude highlighted by the flash-photograph.

Visually, comics can get you to a place that feels, somehow, closer to the truth. People who draw their experiences are attempting to document everything as precisely as possible: this is what was said; this is what everyone was wearing; this is what the weather was like on that day. Chast is deeply observant, and a natural storyteller, and the flood of emotion and memory has a remarkable flow. Several comics (and some truly amazing photos of a young, grumpy, cat-eye bespectacled Chast), serve as flashbacks to her childhood, and these stories aren’t merely anecdotal. With the author now caring for her parents, every incident mentioned takes on a new layer of meaning.

Chast has made her name writing jokes on the themes of worry and disappointment, so it’s no surprise that even the funny parts are quite dark. Bizarre Alzheimer’s moments make for amusing stories, as do strange and horrifying incidents at the aged care facility her parents move to. When her mother insists that her (long-deceased) mother-in-law is trying to poison her, or another resident falls off her chair during mealtime, nobody is dismayed. Laughing is coping, because what else can you do? It’s an informative insight into the origin of Chast’s style, and her general philosophy.

Examined more than anything is the author’s relationship with her mother, a stubborn and often unfriendly woman whose New York home ran on fear–of the outside world, money, death, and disease. Mrs. Chast is equally stubborn in dying; she exists suspended between life and death for an extended period of time, and here, more than anywhere else, the trauma of Chast’s unhappy childhood revisits her. She seeks closure and answers, but rarely looks to her mother for comfort; alas, she has never been its source. The painful resolve in wanting to be a better mother than her own is evident here. She worked hard to leave and change, but here she is, back where it all started. These are the things you cannot escape, and this is what they look like.

Waiting with her newly-deceased mother, Chast writes “I didn’t know what do, so I drew her.” A sketch follows. Pages of similar sketches follow; simple pen drawings of her mother’s comatose, slack-jawed face, drawn in the days leading up to her passing. These are not comics. They are dated drawings documenting precisely what the author was looking at: a dying, elderly woman. Death, as usual, demands to be looked at in the eye. Chast tells us that her parents’ “cremains” live in her closet. They are together, they are quiet, and finally, she can contain them. So: death, then deluge, but then maybe peace.

Esther C. Werdiger writes, makes comics, illustrates, podcasts, and lives in New York. You can read her “League of Ordinary Ladies” series here.

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Forget David Letterman’s boring interviews (yeah, I said it) and Jimmy Fallon’s cutesy lip-synching shtick. If you like your late-night TV a little more cerebral, check out these live re-enactments of New Yorker cartoons on Late Night with Seth Meyers. They are fun and clever and just generally delightful! And New Yorker editor David Remnick (my Dream Seder Guest) is charming as Meyers’ over-explanatory straight-man:

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• 1917: the world first discovers O.M.G.

• At Sammy’s Roumanian Steak House, employees refer to an older Jewish man and his girlfriends as “Mr. Schwartz and his niece” and tables of non-Jewish women as “Shiksas.” Thanks, New York Times!

• Introducing Zohar Sharon, Israel’s blind golf star.

• “This is an original design by somebody,” says the Oded Ezer-designed flag featured on the Ashton Kutcher-approved website, Fancy.

• Mazel Tov to Aly Raisman on winning the bronze medal in the balance beam routine.

• Lena Dunham (and Jon Hamm!) want you to download the New Yorker iphone app.

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• From Seville to Hasidic Williamsburg: the black hat-making industry.

• Artists take on the task of illustrating the great Jewish quotes, from Deuteronomy to Susan Sontag.

• The New Yorker cartoonist behind the New Yorker cartoon episode of Seinfeld.

• Music festival Lollapalooza is heading to Tel Aviv in 2013. Rock on.

• Lena Dunham’s hemp-wearing college kind-of-boyfriend, New Yorker style.

• Also, Lena Dunham wrote a movie and John Krasinski is starring in it.

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From “Not a Creature Was Stirring:”

“Precisely,” Grossnose enthused. “But get this: not all the mice get nuked; just the mean, frustrated ones—the ones that have been run through mazes over and over without ever finding their way to the tasty Gouda. It’s these embittered creatures that absorb the juiced-up isotopes and become super-intelligent, albeit sociopathic.”

Listen to Allen reading it aloud here.

(Photo credit: Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images)

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The Top 10 Podcasts of 2010

There’s so much potential in the still nascent world of podcasting. We’ve seen successful podcasts sprout from the roots of pre-established media outlets as well as scrappy amateur talk shows make it through sheer ingenuity and wit.  For those of us who grew up with the movie Pump Up The Volume, with dreams of being a fleet foot radio radio sex rebel, podacsting has made those dreams easily realizable. Podcasts have the power to become the common thread that organizes and empowers the scattered, sometimes Escher-like world of information that the internet has produced.  2010 was a year where more than ever, the potential of the podcast was realized.

1. Slate Culture Gabfest

Three articulate and seasoned writers from Slate’s roster discuss news stories, TV/films, and books with enough wit to keep it entertaining, while holding back enough on the pretension just enough to keep it palatable.  At the end of every episode, each host, “endorses” a cultural artifact about which they are enthusiastic, be it a book about a TV series, article, or perhaps, an apple pie.  Whether or not you read Slate, The Gabfest hosts make for great company during your walk to work and Dana Steven’s tastes in film and TV tend to be right on the money.  The Slate Culture Gabfest is the perfect podcast for the modern discerning culture-phile.

2. This American Life

During an interview in the book Eating the Dinoasur by Chuck Klosterman, Ira Glass admits that doing his radio show as well as the TV version of TAL made him feel overwhelmed and unfulfilled.  Now, the TV show has been cancelled and Ira is back to focusing solely on the radio version, which seems apparent in the quality of recent episodes of This American Life.  Frankly, TAL is as good as it gets in the world of audio programming.  It isn’t number one on this list, because it’s as much a radio show as it is a podcast.  However, podcast listeners get the show sans commercials, which is, of course, a plus. But don’t let the numbers fool you, we like it so much, we feel the need to review it every week.

3. The New Yorker Fiction Podcast

More than any other media/art experience, when we finish a piece of literature we want to discuss. The New Yorker fiction Podcast gives contemporary fiction writers the opportunity to read some of their favorite short stories that have been published in The New Yorker and then discuss them with the magazines fiction editor.  This year has featured guests like Jennifer Egan, Cynthia Ozick and Joshua Ferris as well as stories by the likes of Donald Barthelme  and Leonard Michaels. Technology has offered few rewards to those of us who still choose to read.  The New Yorker Fiction podcast is one definitely one worth cherishing.

4. The Bugle

Think The Onion, but British.  This hilarious weekly podcast hosted by Andy Zaltzman Show corespondent John Oliver is full of enough revisionist history and wrong information, that Glenn Beck would have to tip his hat.   Check out all the episodes here.

4. Jordan Jesse, Go!

America’s Radio Sweetheart Jesse Thorne, and Boy Detective Jordan Morris, are two buddies who decided after their successful stint as college radio co-hosts, to give it a go in the world of Podcasting.  Thorne, who’s other talk show The Sound of Young America has been adopted by Public Radio, is very successful as anchor/interviewer but when Morris is thrown into the mix, there’s amazing talk radio chemistry that’s thus far unmatched.  Comedy is the thread that connects this show and often, successful comics

appear as guests (recent episodes featured Jen Kirkman and Paul Scheer), but otherwise, there’s not much of a theme, which is what makes the show’s flow and effortlessness all the more impressive.

5. The New Yorker Out Loud

On Out Loud, New Yorker writers discuss one or two stories from the most recent issues of The New Yorker.  It’s short and sweet but always fascinating and informative.  On one recent episode of Out Loud, Calvin Trillin talks for almost ten minutes about the intricacies and nuances of Poutine, enough said.

6. Ted Talks

The TED conference and subsequent podcast is one of the few shows in the podcasting world that has become a media force to be reckoned with in its own right.  Featuring a variety of talk topics in the realm of technology, economics and politics, episodes in the past few months have featured high profile guests like Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg and Julian Assange.  TED is one of those podcasts that you need to listen to in order to be in the know.

7. The Totally Rad Show

On this video podcast, three hosts discuss recent movies, TV shows, video games, and the like, but what really makes TRS notable is the unbridled nerd-passion of its hosts.  From time to time, video games and comic book chat can get a little esoteric for those outside of the geek loop, but usually the passionate discourse and quality production is well worth your attention for the span of your commute.

8. WTF with Marc Maron

Marc Maron is not a only a genuinely dark and funny guy, but a character who represents the gruff and grumpy yet hilarious New Yorker of yesteryear.  Maron’s show has featured a variety of top-notch guests including Zach Galafianakis, Aziz Ansari and Sam Lipsyte and continues to bring the thinking man’s funny to his growing listenership. [Check out our interview with Maron.]

9. Freakanomics Radio

One needn’t really be interested in economics to enjoy this podcast.  Someone who wouldn’t watch Mad Money if it were the last show on earth might still enjoy the witty and sprawling freak philosophy in which Dubner and Levitt specialize.  After all, the very reason we’re listening to a podcast instead of “All of the Lights” for the hundredth time, is expand our intellectual horizons, right?

10. Diggnation

Digg.com was once the perfect refuge for anyone overwhelmed by the vastness of the internet. A Digg reader would be likely to know what Wikileaks or Twitter was, long before the rest of the world, but after loosing a large chunk of it’s community, Digg has become much less reliable on all fronts.  On Diggnation however, there’s still plenty of interesting top stories that land on Digg before the rest, and the dynamic between charismatic yet awkward Digg founder, Kevin Rose, and his more confident and animated co-host, Alex Albrecht, is still a pleasure to watch.

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