The Buzzcut Best (2023)
Picking favorites from a year’s worth of reading, listening, shopping, and more
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Buzzcut is a newsletter of close-cropped commentary on travel, style, history, and nature by writer and strategist Zander Abranowicz. Read our previous endorsements of libraries, rainwear, the Star of David, electric bikes, Rachel Carson’s first novel, and more. Our latest book is Country Life: Homes of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley.
Uncompensated Endorsement
A paean to what moves me
The Buzzcut Best (2023)
Reading
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (1936)
“Pan” by Jean Giono (1932)
Means of Ascent by Robert Caro (1982)
Eating
Rabbit from The Commerce Inn (New York, NY)
Bolognese from Lost Letter (Richmond, VA)
Ceviche from Pescadería El Charalito (Chicxulub Puerto, MX)
Shopping
John Pawson (El Croquis) from Diamond Hollow Books (Andes, NY)
Canasta Henequén from Taller Maya (Izamal, MX)
Heaven Can Wait from Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle (New York, NY)
Wearing
Barth moccasin by Paraboot
Mock neck wool “Ghost Piece” sweater by Stone Island
Field Cap by Abbreviated Products
Podcasting
Gatecrashers by Mark Oppenheimer (Tablet)
The New Gurus by Helen Lewis (BBC4)
Tetragrammaton by Rick Rubin
Watching
Splendor in the Grass (film) by Elia Kazan (1961)
Ghosts of Beirut (miniseries) by Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz (2023)
Morning of the Earth (documentary) by Albert Falzon (1972)
Sleeping
Doah House (Front Royal, VA)
The Fifth Avenue Hotel (New York, NY)
The Marlton Hotel (New York, NY)
Listening
Blowout by John Carroll Kirby (2023)
Surround by Hiroshi Yoshimura (1986)
An Ever Changing View by Matthew Halsall (2023)
Something You Should Know
A sharp fact for your cocktail party quiver
The “Great American Biotic Interchange” refers to the migration of land and freshwater fauna from North America to South America and vice versa, as the volcanic isthmus of Panama rose up from the sea floor and bridged the formerly separated continents
As close as I could get to the Malle fragrance was clicking on the link: i was swept up but what sounds like an almost but ? not quite Ennio Morricone. That was enough to feel the depth of the fragrance! Hearing those notes always leads to a most nostalgic tear of two. And thanks for the Faulkner recommend: never heard of that one -- appreciate it. Thanks for the gifts of 2023 and sending the best.
love the "best sleep" category