If there was any question that the season for beach reads is officially over, the release this week of Emma Donoghue’s startling new novel Room removes all doubt. The latest offering from the Irish author is fast becoming one of the most talked-about novels of the year, and it’s easy to see why: The story is told through the voice of Jack, a 5 year old who has spent his entire life living within the confines of a single room with his mother, herself a rape and kidnapping victim who has devoted all her energy to creating a life for her son that resembles normalcy even within their strange captivity. The first half of the novel takes place entirely within those same four walls, and later chapters follow the complicated aftermath of their release. Both surreal in the horrors it chronicles and touching in its empathetic, perceptive view into the nature of family, Room is one of 2010’s biggest must-reads.
Room hits shelves in the U.S. on Monday, September 13.
After endlessly name-dropping the team and even filming his video for “Empire State of Mind” there, it’s only fitting that Jay-Z is the first performer to actually give a concert at Yankee Stadium. Less expected? Hova will be sharing the stage with Eminem for the night. The historic performance will wrap up a week of stadium shows from the two biggest rappers in the game (undoubtedly they’ll remind the audience of this fact repeatedly throughout the night), and fulfill a lifelong dream for Jay, a Yankees superfan. Even if you don’t happen to share his love for the pinstriped team, with a pairing like this, the show is sure to be epic.
Jay-Z and Eminem will perform at
Yankee Stadium on Monday, September 13.
The mysteries behind William Kentridge’s meticulous process of filming his artworks, making erasures and changes, and filming them again for his animated movies will be unveiled this week as his latest show opens at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. The exhibition will showcase the work of the South African artist, who famously staged Shostakovich’s
The Nose at New York’s Metropolitan Opera this year, including everything from his drawings to paper cutouts to film to performance. Those lucky enough to stop by the Hammer’s
William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible exhibit will get a glimpse at his film of the same name, which is slated to make its national prime-time premiere on
PBS in October.
William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible opens at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 14.
Sure, you could just wait for the movie adaptation, but diehard Nicholas Sparks fans already know his latest tearjerker Safe Haven hits stores this week. Set in a small town and centering around a troubled romance that eventually works itself out after various trials and tribulations, the book is standard fare from the author of The Notebook and Dear John. It doesn’t hold the same cultural cachet as Freedom, but it did spark a bidding war over the movie rights, and in the end, isn’t that what matters the most?
Safe Haven comes out on Tuesday, September 14.
If 17-year-old Miley Cyrus is allowed to have a biography, then it’s high time someone chronicled the life and times of Lady Gaga. Maureen Callahan has answered the call with the oh-so-dishy Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady GaGa. The unauthorized bio, based on dozens of interviews, has been making headlines even before it hits stores, thanks to claims that the singer suffers from severe insecurity, self-image problems, and eating disorders that have resulted in hospital stays over the past two years. But wait, there’s more! Gaga has started referring to herself in the third-person and often refuses to be left alone. The jury’s out on whether any of it is true, but here’s hoping we’re still a decade away from a tear-filled Behind the Music special.
Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of lady Gaga hits shelves on Tuesday, September 14.
Creating what may be the geekiest pop-culture combination in recent memory, Weezer decided to name their latest album after Jorge Garcia’s Lost character Hurley, and plastering their cover with a close-up shot of the actor’s face. Why? Well, that’s anybody’s guess. But for the first time in years the actual music is actually solid enough to back up frontman Rivers Cuomo’s antics, and Hurley is a solid collection of catchy anthems that are classic Weezer, particularly the album’s first single “Memories.” Weezer is still reliable for crafting the perfect soundtrack for reminiscing about love, angst, and high school.
Hurley
hits shelves on Tuesday, September 14.
After a widely acclaimed run in London,
The Pitmen Painters comes to Broadway in previews this week. The award-winning play, written by
Billy Elliot scribe Lee Hall, follows a group of British mine workers who become painters (hence the name) and is inspired by a William Feaver novel of the same name. The Broadway production will keep the same London cast as well as director Max Roberts, and opens officially at New York’s Samuel J. Friedman Theater on September 30. It’s enough to give new meaning to the term “underground art.” (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.)
The Pitmen Painters opens in previews on Tuesday, September 14.
For the past decade or so, The Walkmen have been the most reliable indie rock band this side of Pavement. Even while many of their peers have flamed out, the New York-based band has kept up a steady stream of work and their fifth album,
Lisbon, out this week, is no different. Full of tunes that play on all the band’s signature strengths, the album is perfectly designed to get old fans excited while indoctrinating new ones with high-energy singles like “Angela Surf City.” As The
Washington Post put it, “slow and steady has proved to be a winning strategy” for the band.
Lisbon
hits shelves on Tuesday, September 14.
As the mastermind behind Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld’s influence as a designer is unquestionable. But besides the creative medium of fashion, some may not know that Lagerfeld is also an artist with his camera, as a new Parisian exhibit demonstrates. The Maison Européenne de la Photographie will offer a retrospective of his photos this week , Parcours de travail, showcasing his contributions to the photography world. Lagerfeld shoots many of Chanel’s ad campaigns, is the author of several photographic books, and also runs 7L, a Parisian photography bookshop located beneath his photo studio. As the city gears up for its upcoming Fashion Week, those in town should make time to look beyond Lagerfeld’s clothes and signature pompadour.
Karl Lagerfeld's
Parcours de travail opens at the
Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris on Wednesday, September 15.
