Fleishman Is in Trouble
I loved the TV adaptation of Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s brilliant novel. It captures the particular nuances of the story so well and you could tell that as the show runner, TBA micro-managed every detail of production in the best possible way. (Special commendation for authentic Jewish representation!)
I’ve continued to age into the relevant demographic to this story since the book came out in 2019. Fellow late 30s and 40-something friends have commented on how “close to the bone” and “triggering” some of the themes are - abject despair after childbirth, marital malaise, conflicted ambition, middle-class existential angst!
Lizzy Caplan who plays Libby, the TBA proxy and narrator character, gives a note-perfect performance as does Danes (Rachel) who seems to have a god-like ability to cry like a wounded animal and make you feel sick with sympathy for her. I did like Jesse Eisenberg but my one criticism of the show was that I wasn’t convinced that Rachel and Toby were ever that into each other in the first place. I didn’t buy in to how devastating the breakdown of their particular marriage was, just that it’s devastating when a marriage breaks down. Maybe that’s the point though? I’m too far away from the book to remember how compelling their courtship was - time for a revisit.
Couples Therapy
Speaking of broken relationships, I recently started series 3 of this brutally exposing, fly-on-the-wall BBC show. The premise is that you get to watch various hip New York couples sharing the deepest, darkest secrets about their damaged marriages to psychoanalyst, Dr Orna Guralnik. I love Guralnik’s gentle, thoughtful but wry approach and a specific thing she does where she coerces her more reluctant patients by starting their sentences for them: “And that’s painful for you because…?”
Age Gap
And speaking of middle age, I nodded along emphatically to this excellent piece in The Atlantic about the gap between your real age and the age you are in your head. I relate to this theory so hard. After turning 35/36, I started to feel this particular fracture forming in my own head/body and it’s so wonderfully articulated here.
Rom Com Update
Remember how I was moaning about the dearth of Rom Coms the other week? Well, apparently there’s a new Nancy Myers/Netflix film in production. I’m both hopeful and deeply concerned about how it will pan out. More as I get it.
Remember Dead Eyes?
Well, Connor Ratliff has been cast as one of the voices on the audio version of Hanks’ new novel. Nice Karma.
Paris Tips
I’m about to take my daughter to Paris for a birthday trip and have painstakingly planned a 2 day itinerary that ticks off some must-do landmarks while also checking the less touristy boxes that any classy broad would want from 36ish hours in the French capital. If anyone's interested, I will share the best places once I’ve rigorously tested them out. And please do share any that you have for me in le comments, tout suite!
See you next time.
Hannah
haha I also wrote about Claire Danes crying this week.
https://katieclapham.substack.com/p/the-gorgeous-glitch