Also in The Times, Carlos Lozada reacted to reports that Trump finds the war with Iran boring and that his administration has wondered about the effect of simply declaring victory and moving on: “Trump promised no more forever wars; Iran could be his whatever war.” (Marla Israel, Ottawa, Ontario, and Gregory Payne, Norwalk, Conn.)
Also in The Times, Robin Givhan mulled the meaning of a couture extravaganza with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos as its honorary co-chairs: “The Met Gala is the perfect laundromat for soulless tech money.” Robin also took stock of Sánchez Bezos’ “ostentatious pleasure” in her outrageously expensive wardrobe: “She counts her 10-figure blessings, and wears her windfall on her back for all to see.” (Jenny Abbe, Redding, Calif., and Steven Youra, South Pasadena, Calif., among others)
Amy X. Wang explored a new frontier in self-care: “Every day in New York City, I pass two storefronts named FaceGym and the Tox, both of which offer depuffing sessions via tools that appear designed for grooming horses or hosing down tractor-trailers. I would like to tell you that I have never paid money to either of these businesses, but unfortunately this magazine is fact-checked.” (Heide Estes, Brunswick, Maine, and Sarah Maza, Evanston, Ill.)
Mark Harris approached “John of John,” a new book by Douglas Stuart, with caution: “My alarm bells sounded at a phrase in the jacket copy: ‘As lambing season turns to shearing season…’ Oh, no, I thought. This is going to be one of those novels in which the travails of stoic, simple people of the soil are trudgingly described in prose that smells of damp wool and earnestness.” (Georgia Raysman, Manhattan, and Becky Wood, Anacortes, Wash., among others)
And Neil deGrasse Tyson imagined an alien landing in Los Angeles, assuming that “Earth’s dominant life-form is the automobile” and then noticing an additional detail: “Some of the larger life-forms on the freeway carry multiple automobiles within them. To the aliens, these car haulers are surely pregnant.” (Conrad Macina, Landing, N.J.)
