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☆ The Mad Perfumer of Parma
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Molly Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Parmesan” is, by the way, the correct (Anglicized) way to refer to a person from the city of Parma, which is in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, just below the knee of the boot. Parmesan is also, of course, the name of the province’s most famous edible contribution to humanity. Other contributions include Parma ham, the film director Bernardo Bertolucci, the conductor Arturo Toscanini and Pietro Barilla of Barilla pasta (the dark blue box at your local supermarket, not to be confused with the medium-blue box of De Cecco, which is from Abruzzo). Parma is a city of inventive door knockers and narrow streets that become belligerently slippery after one instant of rain, and racks upon racks of men’s underwear in innovatively bizarre cuts and fabrics. In the city center, it is easier to buy a bottle of scent, high-end or low, than it is to buy a carton of milk.

Persons: “, Bernardo Bertolucci, Arturo Toscanini, Pietro Barilla Locations: Parma, Emilia, Romagna, Italy, Abruzzo, Grasse

☆ He’s Probably in Your House, Lurking on Your Bookshelf
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Molly Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It appears on book covers by everyone from Jane Austen to William Faulkner to Martin Amis, but naming specific examples is a silly exercise. Walk into any bookshop and you’ll find that a good number of book covers feature Bodoni, a typeface created by Giambattista Bodoni in the late 18th century. If you read books, a piece of Bodoni is probably lurking on your shelf in gorgeous silence right now. Brand logos that either are Bodoni or owe a serious debt to it include Valentino, La Mer, Calvin Klein and Brookstone. A graphic designer seeking shorthand for “sophisticated” might reach for Bodoni or one of its relatives.

Persons: Jane Austen, William Faulkner, Martin Amis, Giambattista Bodoni, Valentino, La Mer, Calvin Klein, Brookstone, Bruce Springsteen’s “, Gaga’s “, Bodoni Locations: U.S.A

☆ They Came, They Shaped, They Shredded
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Molly Young | More About Molly Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The coffee table book is the rare genre defined not only by content but by destination. Sure, not all of these oversized tomes wind up marooned beside a scented candle in someone’s living room — some make it all the way to hotel lobbies and the waiting rooms of cosmetic dentistry practices. I’ve seen volumes on Panama hats, rattan and a mall in Dubai — worthy topics of study, surely, but perhaps not majestic enough to merit the heft of the format. Jimmy Metyko’s SHAPING SURF HISTORY (Rizzoli, $55) is, though sneakily. But what a scene to witness.

Persons: Jimmy Metyko’s Locations: Panama, Dubai, California

☆ An Eccentric Victorian, His Book and the Giant Pink Pastry of a House He Inspired
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Molly Young | More About Molly Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just inside the entryway stood a walking stick with a man’s tiny numbered head for a knob. “Do any of you guys know what phrenology is?” asked the tour guide, a young woman named Lila. “By now, of course, we know that connecting the lumps and bumps of a person’s skull to their inner personality traits is a total pseudoscience,” Lila said. The walking stick, she explained, was a reference to, you guessed it, Orson Squire Fowler, the octagon superfan who had inspired the gleaming bauble in which we stood. Not unlike an interior-design version of the game “Telephone”).

Persons: ”, Lila, “, ” Lila, Orson Squire Fowler

☆ Back in the Saddle and Out on the Water
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Molly Young | More About Molly Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I’m back on the horse and ready to gallop through your inbox with regular installments. I’d like to thank my colleagues at the Book Review for — let’s force this metaphor beyond the limits of acceptability — keeping the saddle well-oiled and supple while I was away. From now on, the Book Review crew (including me) will take turns with Read Like the Wind. To protect the Integrity of Recommendation — all killer, no filler — it seemed necessary and good to turn this solo effort into a group show. As an antidote to the summer heat, this week’s recommendations follow a refreshing oceanic theme.

Persons: It’s, Molly —, Read, Molly

☆ Evel Knievel and Minnie Mouse Catch a Wave
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Molly Young | More About Molly Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This is especially true when it comes to specialty materials, like the 6 by 4½-foot sheets of neoprene from which Mr. Jones makes his couture-level surf suits. It would not be unreasonable to call Mr. Jones, 42, the Willy Wonka of wet suits. A self-taught designer and tailor, he has sewn wet suits for surf legends like Gerry Lopez, Mickey Muñoz, Skip Frye and L.J. Under the label Jonesea, he crafts wet suits in colors like goldenrod and merlot, and in cheetah and tie-dye prints. The suit retailed for $3,900 — significantly more than the Jonesea label suits, which start around $300.

Persons: ” Shane Jones, Jones, Willy Wonka, Gerry Lopez, Mickey Muñoz, Skip Frye, L.J, Richards, Evel Knievel, Minnie Mouse, Freddy Krueger’s, Thom Browne Locations: Japan, Brazil, Germany

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