Something for Everyone: A Ménage à Trois; Beatlemania Revisited; A Cookbook to Drool Over

It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that besides being an art-lover I’m a book nerd, bibliophile, and publishing world junkie. I cut my literary teeth on Anais Nin and Henry Miller. My décor is books, my furniture--bookcases. To have coffee at my coffee table, stacks of books have to be rearranged. So when a dear friend’s book was recently published and got a great review in the New York Times I was over the moon. Now that it’s being made into a film I can hardly contain myself. The book is Married Sex: A Love Story, the author Jesse Kornbluth.

Divorce lawyer David Greenfield and his wife Blaine, a college dean at Barnard, have a happy marriage, a well-adjusted daughter away at college, an apartment overlooking Central Park, and after 20 years of marriage, an enviable sex life. That is, until David is propositioned by fine-art photographer, Jean Coin, to be her lover for six weeks before she leaves for Timbuktu. David and Blaine, who are deeply in love, had discussed a contingency for just this situation: it’s not cheating if you bring the other person home. What could possibly go wrong?

You’ll have to read Married Sex to find out how this racy ménage à trois plays out. Along the way, there are jaw-dropping anecdotes from David’s divorce practice and banter that almost makes me miss my life as a single woman in New York. Buy this book for the sex, love it for the wit, humor, intimacy and life lessons learned by all.

Click here to purchase from Amazon.com

Click here to purchase the Kindle version

Click here to purchase the MP3 Audio version

A Film and a Book Revisit Beatlemania

Have you seen Eight Days a Week, Ron Howard’s documentary on the Beatles’ touring years? If not, GO! It’s bliss. From their early days at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, to their first tour of America and beyond, the raw energy and high-spirited fun that defined Beatlemania are on display. Director Ron Howard keeps it light and entertaining, while at the same time showing the wear and tear touring had on the Fab Four. One thing for sure: the mop-tops and their music are as engaging now as they were fifty years ago. I dare you not to smile.

The same years are captured in Taschen’s coffee-table photography book, Harry Benson: The Beatles, On the Road 1964-1966. Benson, a Scottish news photographer was on his way to an assignment in Africa when he got a call from his editor telling him he had to go to Paris to cover the Beatles. The resulting photos--the famous pillow fight scene at the George V Hotel--made his career. More Beatles’ assignments followed for Benson: the first American tour, the filming of A Hard Day’s Night, the fall-out over John Lennon’s “we’re bigger than Jesus Christ” comment, and the concert at Shea Stadium. All are vividly captured here in hundreds of black & white photos, many of them never seen before.

Click here to purchase Harry Benson: The Beatles from Amazon.com

A Cookbook to Drool Over

As I write this, the aroma of roasted garlic infused with olive oil, thyme and bay leaves, wafts through our loft, adding a layer of warmth that makes it feel more like home. The recipe I’m working on is for Garlic Confit, the base for several of my favorite dishes in a cookbook from my favorite restaurant, Gjelina: Cooking from Venice, California.

From chef Travis Lett: “At Gjelina we need to turn out a high volume of exciting food, without laboring too much over each plate. Having an arsenal of herb-laced, vinegar-spiked, spicy, sour, and sweet salsas, pestos, aiolis, and herb emulsions on hand makes it easy for us to add flavor to a dish quickly and without much fuss. We aim to keep the spirit of the food relaxed, not too showy, while giving the dish enough contrast to sustain interest. In my world, if food requires an explanation of either what it is or on how to eat it, it is, quite frankly, too complicated or clever.”

Once I figured out I could buy whole peeled garlic at the grocery store instead of spending a tedious hour or so prepping it myself, the garlic confit became a staple in our kitchen, something we throw in eggs, veggies, fried rice – anything that needs a little extra flavor. The same goes for canned peeled tomatoes for the tomato confit. Having the condiments on hand makes Gjelina recipes a snap for a kitchen-challenged person like me. Favorites so far are Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic, Parsley & Vinegar; Seared Okra, Black Olives, Tomato Confit, Pine Nuts & Chile;  and Roasted Yams with Honey, Espelette & Lime Yogurt. Bon appétit!

Click here to purchase from Amazon.com