annotations: the crane wife
CJ Hauser's "The Crane Wife"; an apple with cosmic levels of hype; and other things I read
This is annotations, a newsletter in which I annotate a story every two weeks, and also read and write other stuff.
annotated: “The Crane Wife” by CJ Hauser, The Paris Review
Illustration: DANIEL GRAY-BARNETT
Last week it felt like everyone was talking about CJ Hauser’s “The Crane Wife” for The Paris Review. It’s a beautiful, well-structured, lyrical piece of writing that rocks back and forth between alternating threads: the past a.k.a. engagement, and the present a.k.a. expedition. There’s a lot of symbolism and parallelism in ways that both subtle and so overt you can’t miss it. The result is an essay with a lot of clarity, as well as emotional resonance (particularly for women, which Hauser accomplishes by deliberately expanding the scope beyond just herself as an individual). All of this explains the reaction that this piece generated.
HERE ARE MY ANNOTATIONS. There aren’t many this time because Hauser is so deft at both subtext and the explicit; but anyway, as always, comments are open, so you can add your own annotations, reply to each other, etc.
you annotated
In the previous annotations issue, “you” annotated so much! And by “you,” I mean: Vox.com writer Rebecca Jennings in the feature she wrote, editor Julia Rubin in the feature she edited, and readers in the feature they read. Truly, what a rare treat to get all of those parties in the margins of a single story. If you missed that newsletter, please do check it out — it’s an eye-opening interview with Rebecca about how her recent longform story about Antelope Canyon came together.
read
The Cosmic Crisp is the apple that promises to disrupt an entire industry. I’ve never been so excited for produce! [California Sunday]
Lean Cuisine doesn’t get to shake its baggage of being a cornerstone of diet culture. [Vox]
Good format, appropriately hot takes for the summer. [NYT Styles]
Max Read on Andrew Yang, the doomer candidate. [Intelligencer]
Has fake meat ushered in the beginning of the end of the beef industry? [Outside]
What it’s like to try running a not-so-successful dropshipping business. [The Outline]
Jia Tolentino’s book promo cycle is in full swing, and it includes a GS Diet that is very satisfying to read. [Grub Street]
Bring back animation already. [Vulture]
Big Little Lies’ big kitchen island is … a big little lie. [Curbed]
Just revisiting this 2016 feature about how New York will eventually be taken by the water :) [NY Mag]
As well as this 2016 essay about the death of a beloved cat :( [The Daily Beast]
noted
There’s some okay-to-good advice in this CJR piece about journalists’ “aha” moments that change how they work, like:
On letting subjects let loose: “I’ve always believed that reporting should dictate a story’s angle rather than the other way around. But I never realized the value of simply listening to subjects talk about what they want to talk about” and “with profiles, you must be willing to invite silences into the work, and have moments where you are not even sure what the story is going to be”
On transition sentences: “You don’t need to do the boring stuff! Just put in the good parts.”
On sending potential sources long, overwrought emails: “My wise editor encouraged me to switch tacks and say as little as possible: Just start by asking if they’d be willing to chat about X.”
Thanks for reading! As always, feel free to reach out (just reply to this email) with greetings, questions, or recommendations! Goodbye!
jgz