, July 5, 2016
Daily Bafflements
Gay Talese, loans after death, “Pounded by the Pound”
Brexit erotica promises "sizzling human-on-monetary-unit action." / tom_bullock
• When Gay Talese’s newest book, about motelier and voyeur Gerald Foos, was preemptively excerpted in a certain bastion of liberalism (and, more relevantly, fact-checking), he probably didn’t expect to have to disown it before the publication date even arrived. Though Chris Lehmann pointed out on the Baffler blog, Talese’s method of reporting used not so much “moral reasoning . . . as a code of honor among voyeurs.”
• The very same Chris Lehmann was on a Slate podcast discussing money-cultery. Listen along.
• Over at ProPublica, Annie Waldman reports that the state of New Jersey encourages “students to buy life insurance in case they die to help co-signers repay.”
• Pounded by the Pound, the only erotic book inspired by Brexit (that we know of), is available in e-book format for £2.08. Buy it now while said currency falls to historic lows!