The Wind Cave

Haruki Murakami has a way of telling a story that makes you feel like he's telling it just to you, and maybe that's why I remember his stories more clearly than those of some other authors, as if he's made me personally responsible somehow for retaining them. The New Yorker has published at least twenty of his short stories over the years, and this one, The Wind Cave, which came out at the end of August 2018, is well paced and touching and can be read online here. More recently The New Yorker published Cream (January 2019) by Murakami, which seems to have some profound meaning within that's deeper than I'm able to reach, or I'm not supposed to reach (or digging in search of profound meaning that may or may not be there is the point?) On the topic he's evasive in the follow-up interview, "Haruki Murakami on Asking the Right Questions". Anyway Cream is an interesting read, not as good as The Wind Cave in my opinion, but good, and can also be read online, here.

Hunter S. Thompson’s Obit for Nixon

The Atlantic recently posted this obituary by Hunter S. Thompson, originally published in Rolling Stone on June 16, 1994. Whenever I read Thompson it’s as if he’s in my head, and it's his distinctive voice I hear—rapid, lilting, nasal. In this piece, his voice comes through clear and loud, as does his loathing of Nixon.

Photos by Stanley Kubrick in 1940s New York City

Design blog Design You Trust recently posted a collection of photographs by Stanley Kubrick, taken years before his film-making career started in the 50s. These are remarkable because they reveal more than just single moments in time; they also capture compelling narratives, and show that Kubrick had a keen eye as a visual storyteller in his teenage years as well.