Later skaters—
Packer: It's Always the Fixer Who Dies -
Read, then pray.
[video]
[video]
One of the things I want to probe in this month of writing is the question of why we see chick lit as an escape. What is it about women who are overscheduled, underappreciated, and who at some point become invariably compromised by an undergarment, that appeals to us? What does it signify, if anything, that men prefer to read about protagonists who slit terrorist throats from the deck of a yacht anchored off the Maldives while sipping a Makers Mark out of the navel of a pole dancer?To answer the question: it signifies that men enjoy reading about awesome characters. (I mean, come on—I would read that book. This from a guy that couldn’t care less about his standing on the masculine scale; but, admittedly, whose preference for flannel and preponderance of chest hair place him in its 99th percentile anyway. My favorite movie is Love Actually? There, 94th percentile.) Dahlia Lithwick, Slate’s Supreme Court correspondent, laying out her project to write a mommy-lit novel within the next month.