A Discussion Thread for Swan Songs

[dieworkwear]

Nice handwriting.

 

[comrade]

Henry Ford or Henry Ford II
My guess is the latter, who was not a known anti-semite.

 

[RJman]

Henry Ford or Henry Ford II
My guess is the latter, who was not a known anti-semite.

What were his thoughts about square-dancing?

 

[comrade]

What were his thoughts about square-dancing?

No idea. Unlike his anti semitic grandfather, who held the kind of prejudices
typical of his class and era, Henry Ford II was a product of Hotchkiss and Yale,
an upper class cosmopolitan, at least to follow the stereotype, unlikely to
promote square dancing.

Henry Ford II - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[RJman]

No idea. Unlike his anti semitic grandfather, who held the kind of prejudices
typical of his class and era, Henry Ford II was a product of Hotchkiss and Yale,
an upper class cosmopolitan, at least to follow the stereotype, unlikely to
promote square dancing.

Henry Ford II - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Let's not excuse with class and era what Henry Ford did. If widely amplifying and broadcasting discredited lies that literally have caused genocide are "typical" of a class, that is an indictment of that class, not an excuse.

 

[dieworkwear]

Weren't there some Americans from Henry Ford's generation who fought Nazis?

 

[RJman]

Weren't there some Americans from Henry Ford's generation who fought Nazis?

And I mean, other tycoons like Andrew Carnegie built libraries, they didn't fund making kids do stupid dances out of some paranoid fixation about Jews, jazz and black people. Here's the link for Behind the Bastards, as some of you might find it educational: ‎Behind the Bastards on Apple Podcasts

 

[FlyingMonkey]

his anti semitic grandfather, who held the kind of prejudices typical of his class and era

Adolf Hitler refered to him as the leader of the Nazi Party in American. He was not typical, he was an extremist even for his time.

 

[smittycl]

So we can talk Nazis but not Climate Change?

 

[RJman]

Adolf Hitler refered to him as the leader of the Nazi Party in American. He was not typical, he was an extremist even for his time.

Bringing things back to my book, WWII and the Occupation were turning points in the histories of several of the houses I write about - my Old England and Sulka chapters go into it; I had to dig very hard to find the Sulka stuff; Old England's vanity history has a bit more info about what happened to it during the occupation. Worth mentioning that there's an Alan Furst novel featuring the halls of the sprawling Grand Hotel that shares most of the block that isn't Old England, set during Occupation.

I know other Occupation stories about some of the places I mention, but you'll have to get me drunk and not record me.

 

[RJman]

So we can talk Nazis but not Climate Change?

For you and comrade:
C'est marrant, c'est toujours les nazis qui ont le mauvais rôle. Nous sommes en 1955, herr Bramard, on peut avoir une deuxième chance, merci

 

[pasadena man]

Back to Paris. I had quite a few thoughts upon reading the book:
1. A very involving story. I ingested it in a day.
2. Loved the juxtaposition of Marcel Proust, a Sulka dressing gown, and a peacock on the cover.
3. A very illuminating inside view of Parisian sartorial sensibilities. I admire French style, it is distinctive and seems internally consistent. It is not the most accessible to understand, viewing it from LA, never having spent more than a few days in Paris at one time.

 

[RJman]

Back to Paris. I had quite a few thoughts upon reading the book:
1. A very involving story. I ingested it in a day.
2. Loved the juxtaposition of Marcel Proust, a Sulka dressing gown, and a peacock on the cover.
3. A very illuminating inside view of Parisian sartorial sensibilities. I admire French style, it is distinctive and seems internally consistent. It is not the most accessible to understand, viewing it from LA, never having spent more than a few days in Paris at one time.

Thank you so much. I hope your ingestion did not lead to indigestion.

The French tend to form a circular firing squad when it comes to agreeing on whether French men's style exists, but I hope my book showed that there are still unique things, makers, places there, even if all of us end up feeling like one of Paul Bowles' Western tourists in the Maghreb, uncertain and about to have a date with destiny.

America's leading authoritarian intellectual, who was a guest at my bachelor party, gave me a wonderful pitch line for the book before we fell out of contact: "Proust on clothes." I haven't used that in marketing the book since publication, considering how conflicted its origin makes me feel.

I've only worn the Sulka peacock smoking jacket from my cover once. My kid said, "What are you wearing?" and my spouse didn't even look up.

 

[pasadena man]

Proust on clothes is a very lapidary description. I like it. Swan Songs is a word shorter though.

Peter Benchley's "Jaws" got $100K for the paperback rights, a record for the time. The buyer, asked to comment, said: "If it was a two word title I would have only paid $50K".

 

[ValidusLA]

Back to Paris. I had quite a few thoughts upon reading the book:
1. A very involving story. I ingested it in a day.
2. Loved the juxtaposition of Marcel Proust, a Sulka dressing gown, and a peacock on the cover.
3. A very illuminating inside view of Parisian sartorial sensibilities. I admire French style, it is distinctive and seems internally consistent. It is not the most accessible to understand, viewing it from LA, never having spent more than a few days in Paris at one time.

Still waiting for my copy. This is part of what I want to learn more about. From an LA perspective, I have always found Paris quite stylish. But I've never been in France longer than 3 weeks at a time. My knowledge is effectually 0.