January Worthwhile Stuff

 

📚 Books
Beasts of a Little Land, Juhea Kim: This sweeping story encompasses modern Korean history from 1918 to 1965, but mostly focuses on the Colonial Period, when Korea was occupied by Japan. The story follows a small group of characters from various social classes whose stories & lives are linked by love, loss, and fate. Overall, this book tells the story of a country by showing how the tides of history impacted individuals, both at pivotal moments and over longer periods of time. I recommend this one for anyone who likes James Clavell or Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.


🎶 Music
There and Back Again, Eric Nam: This album of pure pop pleasure is like a mix of Nick Jonas and Will Young, with the extra level polish expected from a singer who started his career within the K-Pop system (though Nam is American). "Lost on Me" has just the right R&B inflection, "Any Other Way" brings to the mind the dance-pop of The Weeknd, "What If" feels like a late 90s boy band song in the best way possible, and "One Way Lover" closes out the seven song set with a contemporary slow jam reminiscent of something from Justin Bieber. Clocking in at just under 20 minutes, the only way this album could be better is if it were longer.

🎤 🎭 Performance
Alex Edelman: Just for Us: Of course I am going to like a standup show by a Jewish guy from Boston (see also: Gary Gulman), but this show is not just the usual Jewish shtick, it's built around Edelman's experience of going to a meeting of White Supremacists in Queens. He masterfully weaves key Jewish experiences from his life into the story of this one highly unlikely day, and the result is thought-provoking and empathy inducing. The way Edelman breaks down the levels of whiteness is one of the many things I could relate to, but I hope that gentiles too will find valuable insights throughout this brilliant one-man show.