What's entertaining Adam this week

Adam on what he’s been doing when he’s not writing in his notebook.

Books: After Colson Whitehead got my mind wandering about Vladimir Nabokov’s index cards, I finally took Andrea Pitzer’s The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov off my bookshelf. It is a biography of Nabokov and an investigation into how he hid the tragedies of 20th century Germany and Russia in his fiction. I think it’s excellent—but I’m a Nabokov obsessive.

I’m also reading Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering which pushes you to be uncomfortable in order to host better events.

Cinema: No Time to Die was good. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The technological weapon was ridiculous but acceptable. Rami Malek was excellent but I can’t shake the weird feeling that Daniel Craig’s final villain was a hipster down to the Japanese fashion.

Streaming: I am always watching Taskmaster, a UK show in which five comedians per season compete in hilarious and complicated tasks. There is no more laugh out loud show in my house. Most past seasons are available on YouTube. They’re all good. You might start with season 4 if you want a couple contestants that may be familiar to a US audience.

I also rewatched House of Games, David Mamet’s 1987 directorial debut, about a woman who enters a world of con artists.

Music: Khruangbin and Víkingur Ólafsson are regulars for me. I keep trying to get my older son into Hello Nasty. And I listened to Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages on Tim Wasem’s recommendation.

House of Games (1987)