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READ

Miss MacIntosh, My Darling


Dalkey Archive, the publisher of out-of-print literary rarities, recently reissued Marguerite Young’s 1,198-page campy cult classic, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling. Referred to as a “quantum novel” in The Paris Review, everything within the book is both true and untrue at the same time. Young lays out each character’s inner psychology in baroque prose, and to Young, that inner reality is the purest form of truth. Dubbed the “longest, least-remembered great American novel” by The New Yorker, Dalkey’s edition may be an extra 122 pages long, but it’s a lush world worth savoring about 10 pages at a time before bed. ($29.95, dalkeyarchive.store) —Andie Blaine

LOOK

Il Dolce Far Niente


In Italian, il dolce far niente translates to “the sweetness of doing nothing.” Nowhere is the concept so wholly adopted as in the coastal cities of Southern Italy. Carrying her father’s old Pentax camera, lifestyle photographer Lucy Laucht traveled from Naples to the Egadi Islands to capture Italian summer on film. These images of signors in Speedos playing cards, stylish young women smoking cigarettes beneath striped umbrellas, and the sparkling Mediterranean shore speckled with tanned, half-naked bodies fill the pages with that delightful summer idleness on film. Also included is an insider’s scoop on each destination, from must-visit hidden pebble beaches to beloved local recipes. ($40, amazon.com) —Paulina Prosnitz

SLEEP

Olivia von Halle x de Gournay


Olivia von Halle’s silk pajamas are so tailored and elegant, the style set has been known to wear them to dinner. Now a new collaboration with de Gournay is making that idea more appealing than ever. The limited-edition, relaxed-fit Casablanca Hyde Park Green set and eye mask, made of 19-momme silk, is inspired by the trees of London’s Royal Parks. (If the print looks familiar, that’s because it’s similar to the hand-painted wallpaper that adorns the highly Instagrammable lobby of the Peninsula London.) Wearing both pieces makes for a striking statement, but we’re also partial to pairing the top with tailored trousers (perhaps the High Sport Kick pants?) or a breezy summer skirt. ($770, oliviavonhalle.com) —Ashley Baker

LISTEN

NTS Radio


Five years ago, “Nuts to Soup” Radio (NTS) was a “cult” Internet-radio station. Founded in 2011 by Femi Adeyemi out of Hackney, East London, with just around $6,000, and inspired by pirate radio and U.S. college-campus stations, by 2020, 50 percent of its music was still too deep-cut to be found on Spotify. These days, however, NTS has become an eclectic, globe-trotting, influential phenomenon, with more than three million monthly listeners tuning in to 500 resident D.J.’s. For the uninitiated, the schedule can seem intimidating, but I’d recommend never missing a show from Floating Points (jazz, soul, rare groove, and disco), Patrick Forge (tropical rhythms, devotional boogie, and soulful shenanigans with a heavy jazz undertone), System Olympia (simply, all sounds romantic and/or sexy), Zakia (spiritual jazz, folk, psychedelia, and other celestial sounds), and Edinburgh-based funk/R&B/soul reissue label Athens of the North. (nts.live) —Spike Carter

SIP

Antica Terra


Those fortunate enough to spend the dog days of summer in the Pacific Northwest are almost required to visit the Willamette Valley. Oregon’s top-notch wine region is full of unexpected delights, and it’s not all just Pinot Noir. Antica Terra, one of the valley’s best loved wineries, co-founded by wine-maker of the moment Maggie Harrison, has opened two new spots for indulging in all sorts of ways. Chef Timothy Wastell has launched new menus, both at Barrel Hall—the winery’s main tasting room—and at Table in the Trees, a dramatic concrete table that runs through the property’s native oak savanna. There, guests can enjoy a tasting of five top-rated wines, along with a well-appointed picnic, sequestered in the woods. The experience comes with a walking map, but those who are tempted to just sit back and admire the treetops while enjoying another bottle of wine shall not be judged. (anticaterra.com) —Ashley Baker

WATCH

For the Love of Kitchens


Home-renovation shows tend to follow the same convention: so-and-so has always wanted a kitchen complete with various extravagant appliances. A generous TV network swoops in to grant them their wish. The interior designer and construction crew face seemingly insurmountable challenges or delays until, in the last three minutes, the dream kitchen is revealed. For the Love of Kitchens with Helen Parker and Paul O’Leary—the creative director and founder, respectively, of deVOL Kitchens—takes a different approach. The show gives little screen time to manufactured drama about project deadlines. Instead, it focuses on the thoughtful craftsmanship and design of the handsome furnishings made at Parker and O’Leary’s 16th-century watermill turned workshop, in Leicestershire, England. The slower pace and the British accents make watching the couple bounce from East London to Litchfield County and beyond to renovate kitchens a very soothing experience. My favorite part? Every episode reliably ends with the narrator remarking that “it’s all for the love of kitchens.” There are two seasons, and it’s streaming on Max. (max.com) —Michael Pescuma

Issue No. 262
July 20, 2024
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Issue No. 262
July 20, 2024