6/21/04
So I got distracted part way through House of Mirth by DV by Diana Vreeland coming in the mail. I’ve wanted to read it ever since I saw To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar. I can definitly see where reading it would change a young Vida’s life, and why you might be tempted to commit whole passages to memory. Her conversational, light tone is so accesible, and the vignettes she shares are sweet and charming. She seems simultaneously grateful for the blessings of her life and completely unaware that her experiences are in any way unusual. I’m only halfway through but loving it.
The connection between it and House of Mirth is so clear, the practice of making one’s self attractive to men. And she refers several times to geishas, which I thought was interesting seeing as I was just talking about them in my last post.
After this I’m going to search out a bio of Conde Nast, the creator of Vogue, House and Garden, and Vanity Fair. He sounds fascinating. And I’d like to read more about Hearst and Marion Davies, I’ve read her autobiography, The Times We Had, but I’d like to read more, and more about him.