Holiday Music, Like It or Not

plus Isabel Quintero on marriage, divorce, and tacos; Elizabeth Hand on Katherine Dunn; and me on golden cauliflower

Nov 18, 2022

My bookstore started playing holiday music this week. Then someone would change the stream back to pop. Then holiday tunes would start again. This happened several times, I began to hope for a detente where only the blues were broadcast over the speakers.

In previous years at my old bookstore, the holiday music war was fought over Mariah Carey. You were a diehard fan of the Queen of Christmas (trademark office be damned) who thought her Christmas music should be on repeat forever, or thought her holiday tunes should be banned forever from the workplace. I was surprisingly pro-Mariah. Anything that kept me pepped up during the holiday rush was a plus.

Holiday music is unavoidable, and is prevalent even a week before Thanksgiving this year.

There was a time when I collected holiday music on cassettes, then vinyl, then mp3s, to assemble holiday mixes to send along with end-of-year winter wishes. About 10 years ago, right around the time I stopped mailing holiday cards, the hard drive with most of my digital music crashed. There was no backup, and all those holiday albums, many out-of-print, disappeared. I wasn’t very upset, at least for the loss of the holiday music. It had served its purpose.

The only holiday music that I listen to these days is the new singles that pop up this time of year. My favorite this year so far is Titus Andronicus’s Billy Joel-inspired “Drummer Boy.”

My favorite holiday song is Low’s “Just Like Christmas,” from the band’s magnificent Christmas EP. Mimi Parker’s genius is evident in her vocals and the percussion that moves the song along like a sleigh ride through the warped keyboards. This is my favorite kind of holiday music. Inclusive. winter-themed. Non-religious, but it sounds like a miracle feels.

Do you have a favorite holiday song or album? EP?

Pret A Manger’s Coffee Subscription - For one low price, I can get up to five cold or hot drinks a day. I don’t drink coffee, but have been getting teas and hot chocolates every day at the Pret across from my bookstore. And the first month is free.
Brandon Taylor’s introduction to Wading in Waist-High Water: The Lyrics of Fleet Foxes
Year-end book lists - Every day between now and the end of the year, many “best books of 2022” lists will be announced, and I will be aggregating them at Largehearted Boy.
Alicia Kennedy’s recommended vegan cookbooks - Even before I moved in with my vegan partner, I have always had a fondness for meatless meals. Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s cookbooks are a staple in our house, and her Veganomicon leads off this list that also includes a cookbook from Dirt Candy’s Amanda Cohen.
New York Review Books - I have long been a fan of NYRB Classics, and this year’s NYRB books have been ever-impressive as well, especially Anna Badkhen’s essay collection Bright Unbearable Reality and Amit Chaudhuri’s novel Sojourn, two of my favorite books of the year.
Converse Chuck Taylor low tops - My shoe of choice since high school (once a punk, always a punk, but in a good way). For years I was tied to charcoal Chuck taylors, but recently have stepped out to different colorways as the options have blown up.
My partner’s birthday presents to me - In the eight and a half years we have spent together, my partner has always surprised me with gifts. Eight years ago, her first birthday present to me was a prix fixe dinner in the speakeasy restaurant at the back of the beer bar TØRST. The surprise was that the dinner was for me and one of my best friends, who I hadn’t seen much. This year’s present was slippers so that I can walk in the backyard and feed the birds and squirrels without stepping on acorns. Surprisingly perfect.
Birthdays - There was a time when I avoided my own birthdays. Volunteered for business trips to be away. Took the day off to spend in my own company. I have never enjoyed being the center of attention. In the past couple of years I have grown to see birthdays as celebrations. Of friendship, of love, of family. Birthdays have become opportunities to reconnect and I now realize they are less about me and more about the people I love.
Bissell Brothers Swish Double IPA - The combination of Citra, Mosiac, and Simcoe hops makes this beer refreshing and surprisingly complex for an IPA.
Winter vegetables - Gold and purple cauliflower showed up at the farmers market outside work last week. So good. A warning: these look best before cooking, so eat them raw if you love the bright colors. After steaming or sauteing, they turn greyish and look less appetizing. The metaphors abound.
Oprah Daily’s Books To Gift Your Favorite Bibliophile - Or yourself.

Largehearted Links

Elizabeth Hand on the genius of Katherine Dunn and Dunn’s posthumous novel Toad
For all its sly humor and cool detachment, “Toad” is a deeply melancholy story, not an elegy for lost youth, but an exorcism.
Claire Keegan’s profile at the New York Times
Keegan says her work is often described as pared down, when in fact, she writes stories as they come to her, without giving a thought to length.
“What pleases me,” Keegan said, “is brevity.”
Hannah Gold on Joan Didion’s estate sale
Almost every person I spoke to about the auction believed Didion herself would have written a scathing account of the attendees, and the sale in general. I found myself watching people move through the artificial spaces like an Ikea showroom of the dead writer’s apartment, and I tried to see what Didion would see.
NPR Books’ recommended soccer books
The Washington Post’s Michael Dirda on the importance of reading classics and backlist books.
The great books are great because they speak to us, generation after generation. They are things of beauty, joys forever — most of the time. Of course, some old books will make you angry at the prejudices they take for granted and occasionally endorse. No matter. Read them anyway. Recognizing bigotry and racism doesn’t mean you condone them. What matters is acquiring knowledge, broadening mental horizons, viewing the world through eyes other than your own.
Isabel Quintero on marriage, tacos, and divorce in one of my favorite essays of the year
I love tacos like I love sad Mexican love songs. Boleros, rancheras, al pastor, asada? Soy, como dicen, barrilito sin fondo. Give me everything that’s hot and burning and hurts as it goes down. Give me seconds. I want it sloppy, running down my hand y saladito. That’s how I love my pain—well seasoned.
Tasteful Rude
The website that published Isabel Quintero’s essay features powerful, smart, and surprising writing edited by the brilliant force of nature Myriam Gurba.
BOMB’s interview with author Jonathan Escoffery
Jonathan Escoffery: In terms of cataloging, one thing the book does is trouble the idea of a unified identity that remains consistent throughout a lifetime. Identity fluctuates.
Phoebe Bridgers’ new holiday song
Gladie frontwoman Augusta Koch on the band’s forthcoming album and the inspiration she found in bell hooks’ All About Love
“Especially since I got engaged during the pandemic and I never thought I would get married, I was like, how do I want to love people, and how do I want to be loved?” Koch explains. “After reading that book I was like, I wanna create my own ethic, and especially before I commit to marrying someone. [“Hit The Ground Running”] was me thinking about all these things, and the ways in which we show up for each other in these huge shifts. This is so funny, but I think the most romantic thing that ever happened to me was when I got sick, Matt did all of my injections for me. I really [have been] able to take a look at my relationship and how my partner does show up for me, and how I wanna be better.”
Music Is a Weapon, a 1982 documentary about Fela Kuti (thanks to Aquarium Drunkard)