Perhaps one picks up all newspapers in anticipation and puts them down in disappointment. But the New York Times, at no extra charge, also leaves one feeling one lives in immitigably dreary times, and it does so daily. I don’t need it.
America's Montaigne*, Joseph Epstein, gives the Gray Lady New York Times a full length mirror.
However, like the murderous egomanical Norma Desmond of Sunset Boulevard, the New York Times will merely demand "All right, Mr. Pulitzer, I'm ready for my close-up."
Gray Lady! Didn't You Used to Be Someone?
The New York Times used to be called the Gray Lady of American newspapers. The sobriquet implied a certain stateliness, a sense of responsibility, the possession of high virtue. But the Gray Lady is far from the grande dame she once was. For years now she has been going heavy on the rouge, lipstick, and eyeliner, using a push-up bra, and gadding about in stiletto heels. She’s become a bit—perhaps more than a bit—of a slut, whoring after youth through pretending to be with-it. I’ve had it with the old broad; after nearly 50 years together, I’ve determined to cut her loose. I have decided, that is, to cancel my subscription to the New York Times. For so many decades the paper has been part of my morning mental hygiene. Yet in recent years I’ve been reading less and less of each day’s paper. Most days now I do no more than scan the headlines on the front page, check the sports pages for the pitchers in that day’s White Sox and Cubs games, then flip over to the Irish sports pages, as the obits have been called, to see if anyone I know has pegged out.
Chicago has given us so many great prose writers -Joseph Epstein, John Kass, Dan McGrath & etc - we are blessed.
Joseph Epstein's full essay is linked - click my post title.
*http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/montaigne/m-essays_contents.html
Essayist Francois Quesnel (1533-1592) "Montaigne" - "The question is not who will hit the ring, but who will make the best runs at it."
No comments:
Post a Comment