Beach Magazine is running a piece on my fieldwork in the Hamptons and Manhattan in its current (Labor Day) edition. Check out the Brood column, all about the tribe of Manhattan mothers I study (and love) and my upcoming book, Primates of Park Avenue.
August is the laziest month. Dog days of summer. Lemonade and corn on the cob and lobster rolls. Lingerie trunk sales (okay, only in the Hamptons — my friend Blair invited me). Hanging out by the pool. Or on the beach.
Nearly everywhere you go, people have anxiety about what they eat and drink, and restrictions and beliefs that regulate how, what and when they ingest. Food laws are a cultural universal — but they vary widely from place to place.
Authors Night is an annual rite of summer, where readers meet their favorite authors and authors meet their favorite readers and sell their books for a great cause. This year, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dr. Ruth, Robert K. Massie, Robert Caro, Padma Lakshmi, David Margolick, Thomas Maier and many others turned out. I was there selling Stepmonster and talking up my new project, Primates of Park Avenue: an Anthropological Memoir of Uptown Motherhood. Thanks to all who were there!
In East Hampton, there is a store called Cashmere Hampton. For me that says it all. That, and the hedges.
The helloflo.com ad that recently went viral got people talking about a topic that is highly taboo in our culture — menstruation.
Woody Allen is channeling Edith Wharton, and it is delicious. For his latest project, Blue Jasmine, he places the beautiful, pampered Manhattan wife of a successful hedge fund manager under his lens. They are a rich and powerful couple — for a time. Then comes an indictment, a prison sentence, a separation and a fall from grace for Jasmine, brought to life, a Birkin on her wrist, by Cate Blanchett. Jasmine, a modern day Lily Bart, unravels like a threadbare Chanel jacket. Here's the New York Times review.
All of England seems to have a stake and an interest in the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s newborn son. After all, who can resist a baby - especially a royal one? For centuries, babies have had an incredible ability to knit together families, communities and even nations.
My friends are passed along an animated send-up of a couple discussing their summer in the Hamptons. From sex segregation to fitness rituals to rites of conspicuous consumption like jewelry trunk sales and handbag auctions (not to mention the bottle of wine she's clutching) it hits all the right notes and reveals some of the oddest practices that define this funny, foreign and fascinating tribe.