Quick summary:
Lila and Nino are now engaged in a full-blown affair that grows more brazen each day. Much to Elena's vexation, they quickly move from sneaking around to showing affection in public. As their romance escalates, Elena feels increasingly isolated from them and resentful over how
It's been six weeks since my last missive, so if you signed up for Friday Night Dinner and wondered where the hell it's been, well... here it is. I'm writing this on the summer solstice in utter disbelief that we have three whole months
Quick summary:
After a brief estrangement, Lila (Gaia Girace) and Elena (Margherita Mazzucco) make up at Rino (Gennaro De Stefano) and Pinuccia's (Federica Sollazzo) wedding. In part, the reconciliation is motivated by Elena's sympathy over Lila's can't-keep-a-pregnancy fragility, but
Quick summary:
After Lila's pregnancy announcement, her détente with Elena persists throughout the school year. She throws herself into work at the grocery and designs a controversial avant garde art piece for the shoe store, doing whatever it takes to distract herself from the fact that her cushy
Quick summary:
The post-honeymoon goodwill between Lenù and Lila rapidly dissipates as both girls betray each other in different ways. Lila uses Lenù, and the pretense of Antonio's impending military service, as an excuse to play mind games at the Bar Solara. As a result, Antonio breaks
Once spring is in full swing and summer is on the horizon, all I want to do is reread Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels. How many times have I done this? That's between me and Cat Jesus, but I will say that if I divulged this information,
It's been over one year since I finished S1, so check out those recaps if you need a refresher. From what I recall, S2 is, without a doubt, the series standout. If you finish this season and still aren't invested, it's safe to say
Nina Menkes is one of those filmmakers you'll either love or hate depending on your level of patience and penchant for bleak, plotless imagery. She makes independent, experimental low-budget films that exist far outside the mainstream. Even during the indie film boom of the '90s, she
I'm still not done with my rewatch of "The Sopranos," but I'm now in the homestretch with only seven episodes left. I just watched the one where Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola) dies and Paulie (Tony Sirico), who can't resist making the whole
When I think of Easter, what immediately comes to mind is one of those creepy lamb cakes with dyed coconut grass that everyone's mom made, by law, in the '90s. How did this holiday kitsch begin? A quick internet search tells me several Central European countries — Germany,
One of the best feelings in the world is walking around a city on the first nice day in months. Everyone is in good spirits, shrugging off coats and smiling at their good fortune. For a brief moment, it feels good to be alive even though we're living
The header image this week is from Bill Forsyth's 1987 adaptation of Marilynne Robinson's 1980 novel, "Housekeeping." When I was a freshman in college, I read this book for my introductory English seminar taught by Ben Slote, a professor who exists in my memory
