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Graham and Wasserstein

the breakfast table
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from: Wendy Wasserstein

Thanksgiving Babe

Posted Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1998, at 11:23 AM ET

Dear Stephen--I had no idea Bernard Goetz was running for mayor. Where is David Berkowitz? Would he like to be comptroller? The anti-circumcision ticket could certainly have a real groundswell.

I spoke to a friend in London this morning who said the real question of the day is who is Monica Lewinsky voting for? I think we know who Linda Tripp is voting for. And will Miss Tripp have a press conference after she votes to say she is just like us? I found the stories in the Times about voters apathy very depressing. In many ways I think the end result of this summer's "All Monica All The Time" media frenzy will be a national distrust for government. While I was reading which races to watch I remembered reading the same pages when I was in high school. There was something fascinating about following a race in different parts of the country, but now the apathy seems to be a national culture.

I wasn't as taken by the "New Hope for The Losers in The Battle to Stay Awake" headline as much as the news that Babe the pig will have twelve anchors for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The parade passes by my window and last year we watched that serial killer The Cat in The Hat toppling over street lamps.

Stephen, did you read the piece in the Times about the Holocaust memoir? This memoir Fragments which has won various Jewish Book awards may well be a piece of fiction. Of course this will give a voice to those crazies who will then say the entire Holocaust is a fiction. Terrifying!

Since I seem to have lost my joy this morning, may I mention that the front page item in the Times about Kosovo is unbelievably upsetting. Apparently the entire health system has collapsed. First of all I don't understand why the papers never list agencies where we could send some sort of aid. If Mr. Wilkomirski's memoir is a hoax, the devastation in Serbia is not. I keep thinking we are blithely going about our Monica days while we are living during another era of hideous human degradation. Responsibility must rest somewhere.

Stephen, before I go to vote, take that Doug Bandow, I leave you with the following questions. Why didn't they teach Death Of A Salesman at the Yale School of Drama if it is, as quoted in the New York Times today, such an enduring masterpiece? Why didn't they teach any American drama at Yale? Do you think I should be in charge of the Kosovo Health System? And what do you think of Annette Gordon-Redd's piece about Jefferson and Hemings in the Times?

I am off to vote for Eliot Spitzer for Attorney General. I do everything the weekly Westside Resident tells me to do.

xxxxxxxxWendy

the breakfast table
entries
1234567891011121314151617181920
from: Wendy Wasserstein

Thanksgiving Babe

Posted Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1998, at 11:23 AM ET
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Stephen Graham lives in New York City, where he is pursuing a doctorate in English literature. He is co-publisher of Ecco Press and a contributing editor at Grand Street. Wendy Wasserstein, a playwright, is author of An American Daughter, The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig, and others.
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