Esquire articles from September 2007

Esquire archives from September 2007

In a way, the July issue was all about extremes.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In a way, the July issue was all about extremes. Inside was one of the longest original works of fiction we've ever published, a gruesome novella by Stephen King, along with an article about the Radical Honesty...

Just like us, yet not at all.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In his profile of actress and activist Angelina Jolie ("Angelina Jolie Dies for Our Sins," July), writer at large Tam Junod revealed a surprising impetus behind one of the world's most famous--and most...

One reader, many questions.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... First of all, your magazine is indispensable for fashion advice. But I still have a number of questions: When are striped shirts going away? Are they already dead? Are pinstripe suits still in? What's with the faded goth-wing prints on the top...

We'll concede everything but the altruism.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... A July article on park our (Man at His Best), a burgeoning and visually arresting French sport of running and jumping, upset quite a few practitioners. I was disgusted to read the disrespectful and ill-informed article recently printed...

The future of cameras. (This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY).(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... As a fan of Barry Sonnenfeld's Digital Man column (Man at His Best) in your ordinarily impeccable magazine, I must take exception to his July offering of point-and-shoot digital cameras. Of the four devices recommended by B. S., not a single...

Tell us how you feel. And be honest.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Editor at large A.J. Jacobs's experiment with Radical Honesty ("I Think You're Fat," July), a movement started by psychotherapist Brad Blanton in which adherents practice absolute truthfulness in their daily lives, regardless of consequence,...

120 issues later...(This Way In: EDITOR'S LETTER)(Editorial)
September 1, 2007... I PLANNED TO GET to the office particularly early this morning and finish flipping through the last decade of Esquire's tables of contents. I'd been trying to figure out how to write about how it's been ten years and 120 issues since my name...

Esquire fashion: almost as benevolent as Angie.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Now that I'm making enough dough to improve the quality and style of my clothing, each month I eagerly await the next item in the $5,000 wardrobe. To my chagrin, however, I noticed there is no part of the budget allotted to pants that...

We'd be glad to raise you. How are you at moving lawns?(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I am fifteen, and my father is an ass. He's never taught me the essential things about being a man. Since I started reading your magazine a year ago, I have become a much better man, and your articles, along with my desire to avoid the complete...

This month's shameless inclusion of praise.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... About four months ago, I was cruising by the magazine section in a Santa Rosa bookstore and Esquire beckoned. I was awed, astonished, dumbfounded. This publication that I thought served an elite market of snobs and egocentric people had...

Elsewhere in the bin.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... After a recent breakfast in bed, I am still basking in the afterglow of chef Daniel Boulud's recipe for scrambled eggs in the July issue (Man at His Best). The eggs were light and silky, fresh with lemon and the richness of butter. Thanks for...

Win stuff, get in esquire. Maybe.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)
September 1, 2007... EVERY MONTH, we show a lot of things in this magazine. Suits. Shoes. Watches. Hair gel. And every month, we keep it all for ourselves. Well, but for this buzz kill known as journalistic integrity, we would; we actually send it back to the...

Dedications & acknowledgements.
September 1, 2007... To Elena Temple, communications director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, for her inexhaustible optimism and indispensable assistance as we put together "Hizzoner" (page 216). To Keith Nowak at Nokia, not only for knowing every...

The best dressed men in the history of the world: this month, we honor the best dressed real men in America (page 175) and the best dressed men in the world (page 169). and we couldn't stop there. our fashion director, Nick Sullivan, offered this addendum.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Gary Cooper, actor, 1901-1961 This tall, taciturn cowboy spent several gears at a posh private school in southern England before returning to his English father's Montana ranch. A cowboy onscreen, he was a snappy dresser off-an...

Funny * joke from a beautiful woman.(THE FRONT: MAN AT HIS BEST)(Maggie Q)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... As told by MAGGIE Q [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Two men are adrift in a lifeboat for days. While rummaging through the boat's provisions, one of the men stumbles across an old lamp. When he touches it, a genie comes forth. This...

The leisure meter: how to allocate your free time this month.(THE FRONT)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Reading Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, Vincent Lam's book of short stories about young doctors, their patients, and a misplaced half of a cadaver's head. 4 hours, Reliving history with In the Shadow of the Moon (out September 7), a...

It's not TV. It's not HBO. Suddenly showtime is the non-network to watch.(THE FRONT: THE SCREEN)(Showtime Networks Inc.)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT MUST BE ROUGH being the overshadowed younger sibling of the cable world--the Kevin Dillon to HBO's Matt, the Casey Affleck to its Ben. I can only imagine the consternation over at Showtime some years ago, when it...

Q&A: Jeff Garlin.(THE FRONT: THE SCREEN)(Interview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... FOR A GUY who once spent evenings alone, depressed, and sitting on the hood of his car eating Ho Hos, Jeff Gar[in tells a great fat joke. Garlin, who most know as Larry David's portly manager on Curb Your Enthusiasm, has even managed to write...

The TV report: what won't suck this fall.(THE FRONT: THE SCREEN)(television programs )(Calendar)
September 1, 2007... WATCH 20 HOURS of TV pilots back-to-back and you'll get an idea of what we like. I don't mean trends, like superheroes. I mean things we obviously like watching, like men relieving themselves--lots of shots of the back of someone (preferably in...

A few candid words on Ethan Hawke's new movie.(THE FRONT: THE SCREEN)(The Hottest State)(Movie review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... SINCE ETHAN HAWKE wrote, directed, and acts in The Hottest State (out August 24), a movie about the complicated love between two young New Yorkers based an Hawke's semi-autobiographical book. it seemed fit that we let him review it. too. ...

Denis Johnson Killed the Sixties: with tree of smoke, the author of angels' long-awaited big book finally arrives. forty years late.(Tree of Smoke )(Book review)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN IT COMES TO THE PAST, give it to me distant and pale. Herodotus, for instance. You can't really argue with the guy. City-states, swinging militarily from one end of the Aegean to the other, shapes of cultural...

The Oracle of Opelousas.(It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JOHN ED BRADLEY has written a love poem to football, to his coach (Charlie Mac), to his daddy, to the LSU Tigers, to his teammates, to the idea of being a member of a team, to grabbing your coach with one of those...

Gerhard Hookerdicker.(Forbidden Common Knowledge )(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GERHARD HOOKERDICKER was one of Boston's most reviled high-tech consultants, a bullshit artist whose crowning achievement was driving Prognosticon, the celebrated start-up company that used information systems to...

We're All Fuku'd: so we may as well take a cue from Junot Diaz: embrace the craziness, order a few drinks, and enjoy the ride.(The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Woo )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JUNOT DIAZ isn't messing around. I Yunior--the narrator of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Woo (Riverhead, $25)--he is messing around. With women, with drugs, with his future, something both uncertain and fated. ...

John Coltrane, the Book.(Coltrone: The Story of a Sound )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SAXOPHONE NERD, heroin junkie. psychedelic warrior, holy man. mild-mannered suburban dad--John Coltrane didn't just reinvent what we think of as jazz. he constantly reinvented himself in the process. And so in...

The soul of Sharon Jones.(MAN AT HIS BEST)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JAMES BROWN IS DEAD; your other options for classic funk and soul aren't much better. With all due respect to those faded greats still humping it at Indian-casino gigs, the problem is the due respect, which reduces...

Q&A: Steve Earle.(THE FRONT: MUSIC)(Interview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AT 52, STEVE EARLE is threatening to become more "important" than ever. Along with touring behind his new album, Washington Square Serenade, he's a prickly drug counselor on the new season of The Wire, finishing his...

That stuff on your face.(MAN AT HIS BEST: The Bewildered Man)(actresses' grooming)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SORRY, I GOTTA TELL YOU: You are one of the most beautiful, young, and vaguely identifiable actresses in the world, but there's this stuff on your face. It's whipped cream or something. Schmutz. I know: A lot of...

Plan romantic getaway in 20 minutes.(The Hurried Man)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... LOGISTICS: Search lastminute.com. which bundles unsold inventory from airlines. hotels, and car-rental companies into last-minute discounted packages. You can book tickets up until three hours before takeoff. Before selecting a hotel, look...

Renew your vows (without newing your vows).(THE FRONT: WOMEN)(marital communication)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SHE WANTS TO DO IT. That's okay, that's good. She still digs you. But trust me, you do not want to do this to your friends. Attending a vow-renewal ceremony is the adult equivalent of watching your high school buddy...

The Dent Chrono.(THE WATCH)(Stainless-steel Ministry Chrono)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4: the day after Labor Day and a dark day for fans of light-weight suits, linen shirts, backyard barbecues, seventh-inning stretches, and sweaty pitchers of margaritas. Going. going, almost gone,...

The classic upgrade: dressing up (and down) for a conservative workplace.(BACK TO THE OFFICE: Special Edition)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... LOOK NO. 1 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DRESSED UP Every fall, buy a half dozen dress shirts in white or blue and at least one new suit, preferably a solid or pinstripe two-piece in navy blue or black. You can wear it anywhere, and you...

The modern upgrade: looking sharp in the laid-back workplace.(BACK TO THE OFFICE: Special Edition)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... LOOK NO. 1 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DRESSED UP Though you're probably not required to wear a suit every day, invest in a well-tailored, slim-fit-ting two-piece and some versatile ties for special meetings. Try not to wear them only...

An oversimplified guide to mixing patterns: how to pair shirts and ties without incident or injury.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE STYLE)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1 FINE-STRIPED SHIRT Best bet: textured knit tie. Shirt ($80) bg BCBG Max Azria; tie ($68) by Banana Republic. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 CHECKERED SHIRT Best bet: dark solid tie with subtle pattern. Shirt...

The well-dressed shark: how did these guys get to the top of the food chain? By dressing like they belonged there.(THE VISUAL ARGUMENT)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GEKKO, G. (Wall Street) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BLAKE (Glengarry Glen Ross) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DUKE, M. & R. (Trading Places) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BURNS, C.M. (The Simpsons)

The $5,000 wardrobe: part 7 (of 10), pocket square.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE STYLE)(Brooks Brothers)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... IT'S EASY TO DISMISS pocket squares as trendy and just a little bit twee, but the fact is that a certain kind of Man--the well-dressed kind--has always had one at the ready to complement or even sub in for a necktie. White goes with everything,...

How to seal the deal: with a good-lookin' handshake.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE * GROOMING)(nail care)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... DON'T CUT YOUR CUTICLE, that thin layer of skin that grows over the base of each nail. It's not sanitary, and it's not safe. Push it back after you shower, hen your skin is softest. SMOOTH THE EDGES. Nail files are just as important as they...

Casino wins again: an update (more pork!) on Rhode Island's classic clams.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE * FOOD)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHETHER THE TALE that maitre d' Julius Keller invented them at the original Casino at Narragansett Pier is true or not, clams casino still reeks of Rhode Island. Slightly sweet and smoky with a briny touch, the short...

How not to starve in London.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE * FOOD)(Tom's Kitchen, Arbutus)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE POUND STERLING is now valued at two American dollars, which means a meal in a top London place like Gordon Ramsay, the Square, or Tom Aikens will easily run you $150 per person--without booze. Fortunately, many...

The recipe that keeps on giving.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE * FOOD)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... MY BROTHER can walk into any kitchen and cook up something good-really delicious-using whatever ingredients he finds. No cookbook, no grocery-store run. Somehow, he comes up with a bouillabaisse or risotto or creme caramel. [ILLUSTRATION...

Los viejos: the old ones: for a pretty bottle or extra-aged tequila, you'll pay at least $200. Sometimes it's even worth it.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE [right arrow] DRINKING)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] AGED TEQUILA ISN'T EXACTLY a new thing: Preserved in our archives here at the Esquire Institute for Advanced Research in Mixology is a label for "Tequila Sauza Anejo" from way back in 1924, claiming that the stuff...

Annals of creative tippling.(THE GUIDE: DRINKING)(One-Eyed Mike's)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... MIKE MARAZITI was mugged twice. He had to wear an eye patch while he recovered, which explains the name of his Baltimore bar, One-Eyed Mike's (705 South Bond Street; 410-327-9823). Less obvious is the place's devotion to Grand Marnier. It's...

The first sunrise.(tequila drink)(Recipe)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... As Adam Smith posited in his Wealth of Nations and Adam Sandier proved in his remake of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, given two versions of anything, the bad will drive out the good. As further proof, we otter the tequila sunrise, a drink known today...

One phone to rule them all: hint: it's not the iPHONE.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE THE DIGITAL MAN)(Verizon Blackberry 8830)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LIVE IN FEAR." My philosophy of life can be summed up by this motto. Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly optimistic, I will swing my life view to the happier "Cling to the Wreckage," but mainly it's "Live in...

The rules.
September 1, 2007... Rule No. 343: Breakfast always tastes better in the country. Rule No. 344: Especially if any part of it is apple-wood smoked. Rule No. 498: Your wife is pregnant, not "preggers" or "pregs". Rule No. 589: Umpires will never call or resume a...

Which animal has the greatest sex drive? Is it us?(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE GUIDE SEX)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Most people think that animals have sex only for procreation or, in the case of certain donkeys, profit. While some legends are in Fact valid {for example, all swans are indeed rapists), it's just not that easy to...

Spine-chilling sounds, the war over spitting & the ubiquity of horses.(MAN AT THIS BEST: THE GUIDE ANSWER FELLA)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ESQUIRE'S ANSWER FELLA believes that there are no stupid questions, just stupid people who don't ask questions, fearing they'll look stupid. So ask Answer Fella anything. If he doesn't know the answer, he'll find out...

Futurama! time capsules tell us a lot about what people in the past thought the future would be like. If you happen to be putting together a time capsule right now, please do not include this column.(Chuck Klosterman's AMERICA)(travel in Tulsa, Oklahoma)(Column)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ALL MY LIFE, I have wanted to stop time. I see almost no value in the future, and I suspect that virtually every technological advance since the advent of the gramophone has been--on balance--detrimental to the human...

How to own the room: getting your way doesn't call far lying, really-just convincing the world you are correct. Or, acting.(INFLUENCE)(the psychology of control)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LAST MONTH, I was sitting at the corner of the bar in a restaurant in Yonkers with a friend of mine when, out of the blue, up walked Bill Murray. My friend knows him--they play golf together--but I had never met the...

10 things you don't know about women.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1. We know men think breasts are like Barstow: just a short stop on the way to Vegas. But sometimes lingering a little longer at the places along the way can make for a more pleasant trip. 2. We'd much rather try...

Too crazy, too sexy: how BMW's Z4 is like Angelina Jolie.(CARS)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BMW IS THE ANGELINA JOLIE of the car industry: It gets away with doing whatever it wants, regardless of how crazy it may seem at the time, because on the whole, no other mainstream carmaker has a more lust-inducing...

The last boxer: it was to be "the night that saves boxing." But the light in May between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather has turned out to be something much scarier.(THE GAME)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NEITHER MAN NEEDED sunglasses to hide the damage. Only the ring at the center of the MGM Grand Garden Arena was blocked from view, behind a tall black curtain. In front of it, Floyd Mayweather Jr. bounced around the...

The sexiest woman alive 2007 part 3: one month closer to full disclosure and another informant emerges to drop a few hints on her identity. This time, its an Oscar-winning director who recently collaborated with our SWA on an intense little drama--an experience that may explain the moment of well-earned repose caught at right.(Lift here for PART 3)
September 1, 2007... WHAT WAS [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] LIKE TO WORK WITH? She has a very interesting process. She likes to screw around right up until you say "Action." I would go to her trailer with thoughts on an upcoming scene, and she'd be playing...

The turn around is at hand.(Short story)
September 1, 2007... FOR ALONG TIME, Hook made a fine living as a business magician, sailing around in planes and taxis. He hadn't been on a subway train in ages--he'd nearly forgotten that Boston had a subway--and apparently this had caused him to lose touch with...

The best dressed men in the world 2007.
September 1, 2007... Following months of rigorous debate and consultation with style hawks, zeitgeist monitors, and a few of our wives and mothers, the results are in. These are the best-dressed men in the world, twenty-three in all and ranked according to...

The best dressed real men in America *.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In years past, we packed our bags and visited America's biggest cities in search of the country's best-dressed real men. It was fun and all, and we love ourselves a nice hotel-lobby bar, but there's a lot more to...

Penn the screening room on the Sony Lotin Culver City is much: ten years ago, he was done with acting ten years ago, he was done with politics, too. Now he acts with abandon and is the most vilified political figure in Hollywood since Hanoi Jane. Sean Penn has aged pretty good.(Sean Penn )
September 1, 2007... The screening room on the Sony Lotin culver city is much larger than the crowd, maybe a couple dozen industry types, gabbing behind me, waiting for the movie to unreel. I'm down in front, hissing into my cell, getting one last update from the...

Angry young men.(Esquire Style)
September 1, 2007... There was a time when visionaries in the worlds of music, the arts, and entertainment announced their rebellion riot by wearing torn T-shirts and jeans but by embracing an aggressively formal style of dress. On the pages that follow seven...

"God's not watching Baghdad": its September. Four and a half years in, the author, a former infantryman, went back to Iraq to profile the presidents surge. Here's what he found ...
September 1, 2007... Watching soldiers on a mission can be poignant. [paragraph] Watching soldiers on a mission spiraling toward failure is devastating. [paragraph] Outside a house in western Baghdad's once-upscale Ghazaliya neighborhood, next to a broken, Iraqi...

Alison Lohman is not from this world.(A Woman We Love)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Not from the Hollywood world of solipsism and excess, certainly. She lives in Venice, a town leashed to Hollywood by a few miles of Venice Boulevard that feels farther away than that. It has its own little scene--at...

Hizzoner: at the mayors convention, esquire rubs elbows with the hardest working men in politics, and discovers we're not so screwed after all.(Conference of Mayors)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The U.S. Conference of Mayors is more or less an association, and their annual meeting is more or less a convention. About two hundred of them stay in the same hotel. They listen to speeches, have small group...

Merle haggard.(What I've Learned)(country singers)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... >> SINGER, 70, REDDING, CALIFORNIA > I've lived at the very end of what must have been a wonderful country. > They've left the redwoods up alongside the highway so we'll think they're all there. But go up in an airplane and you'll see...

Tonight on dateline this man will die: nine months ago, NBC's "To Catch a Predator" arrived in Murphy, Texas, to conduct a sting operation. The only honest thing that followed was the gunshot.
September 1, 2007... A cop guards the open gateway that leads from the house's driveway to the side yard, in case the man inside attempts to flee. At first the camera is static and the shot is simple: the cop, the gateway, vertical red fence planks, a right...

The really dangerous book for boys: (a supplement to runaway best-seller by Conn Iggulden).(This Way Out)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HOW TO READ AN AYN RAND NOVEL 1. Buy Atlas Shrugged. 2. Pore over every word. 3. Accept it all as gospel. 4. Realize the individual's rights are of paramount importance and there is no such thing as "collective...