The Beasts and Children
If you’re planning to go see Beasts of the Southern Wild this weekend I can tell you it is worth it. The things you’ve probably heard already are true: This is a lush, heart-wrenching fable about a...
View ArticleUnderstanding Childhood: Resilience and Sensitivity
That Jason DeParle piece on single motherhood and the marriage class divide pulled together a lot of useful information and suggestive commentary in one place. But to me what was most interesting in...
View ArticleMaking Up Is Hard to Do
A postscript on family structure: One thing children lose when their parents divorce, break up, or fester in an unhappy marriage is the opportunity to learn how fighting leads to reconciliation and...
View ArticleSparrows and Fathers
Spurred by Rod’s post on fatherhood in “Portlandia”, I’ve been thinking about how to talk about the distinction between the work of fathering and the status of father. By “the work of fathering” I mean...
View Article‘What Maisie Knew’: The Sheep from the Goats
There may not be many movies with happy endings more heartless than the one in “What Maisie Knew.” The new adaptation of Henry James’s novel about divorce as seen through the eyes of a small child does...
View ArticleThe Boy Is the Father of Whatever: Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood”
About an hour and a half into Richard Linklater’s memorable new film, my notes say, “This is RIVETING.” Exactly one hour later, as the movie finally ceased (“ended” is too strong, too decisive), I...
View ArticleThe Beasts and Children
If you’re planning to go see Beasts of the Southern Wild this weekend I can tell you it is worth it. The things you’ve probably heard already are true: This is a lush, heart-wrenching fable about a...
View ArticleUnderstanding Childhood: Resilience and Sensitivity
That Jason DeParle piece on single motherhood and the marriage class divide pulled together a lot of useful information and suggestive commentary in one place. But to me what was most interesting in...
View ArticleMaking Up Is Hard to Do
A postscript on family structure: One thing children lose when their parents divorce, break up, or fester in an unhappy marriage is the opportunity to learn how fighting leads to reconciliation and...
View ArticleSparrows and Fathers
Spurred by Rod’s post on fatherhood in “Portlandia”, I’ve been thinking about how to talk about the distinction between the work of fathering and the status of father. By “the work of fathering” I mean...
View Article‘What Maisie Knew’: The Sheep from the Goats
There may not be many movies with happy endings more heartless than the one in “What Maisie Knew.” The new adaptation of Henry James’s novel about divorce as seen through the eyes of a small child does...
View ArticleThe Boy Is the Father of Whatever: Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood”
About an hour and a half into Richard Linklater’s memorable new film, my notes say, “This is RIVETING.” Exactly one hour later, as the movie finally ceased (“ended” is too strong, too decisive), I...
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