Friday 21 August 2009

Gwyneth Paltrow, Larry King in Vanity Fair


Wonderful words from La Gwyneth, in this month’s Vanity Fair (September).   So funny, unexpected when I read the first para.  Woody Allen meets… who?… Steve Martin, Dave Barry?....
 A taste …
What is it about books that make them so truly great to read? I think it’s the way the words are printed on every page, the right way up and in just the right order.
This means you can start reading on the first page and then continue reading through the middle pages all the way to the last page.
Here are some of my absolute favorite books. War, by Leo Tolstoy. A great read. Bonus: You can get it as part of a two-volume edition which includes Peace by the same great author.
Shakespeare, by Shakespeare. He has so many great lines. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” “I am the Walrus.” “My heart will go on.” They’re part of the language.
Next week, we learn to peel a banana with a world-expert fruit psychologist.
Share her “secrets to happiness” here.
Another line I  liked in this week’s VF:  James Wolcott, in Mourning with Larry [King], on the recent death of Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s longtime sidekick who
“…lobbed Carson setup lines that he could swat into the bleachers with a cool flick of the wit."