Rec. #889: Convenience Store Woman

What: Nearly every review of Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman mentions that it's difficult to describe, so I won't. I will say that your mileage may vary with this one. 

For example, they say: "uncanny and depraved" (The New Yorker) and "sublimely weird" (The Guardian). I say: very relatable, richly distilled slice of one woman's interior life.

Representative quote: "Before me now was a human male, mindlessly hoping that one of the same species was going to breed."

How to get it: This slim novel, the first of Murata's to be translated into English, is everywhere. It is both popular and critically acclaimed.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Convenience Store Woman was part of List #96: Things to Read from 2020 That You Might Have Missed While Sitting in the Abyss.

Rec. #888: The Basic Ball (A Black Lady Sketch Show)

 

What: A Black Lady Sketch Show is very descriptively and accurately named, with glorious series regulars Robin Thede, Quinta Brunson, Gabrielle Dennis, and Ashley Nicole Black. This sketch, also accurately named, is one of the show's best.

Representative quote: "I'm looking for sadness. I'm looking for Eeyore in Dior. Oh, she is serving you a whole nap!"

How to get it: If you, like me, are someone whose budget does not run to HBO dollars, rest assured that much of the show's content is currently up on YouTube.

Connection to previous Wreckage: See more of Ashley Nicole Black, as featured on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Rec. #417.

Rec. #887/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #50: Murder, She Wrote

 

Stream what: Ah, Murder, She Wrote. Angela Lansbury in small-town Maine is as close as the U.S. has come to delivering the Golden Age-style murder mystery coziness usually seen in English villages.

Stream why: Did you realize that, especially in season 1, every single male character vaguely over the age of 45 spends the episode thirsting after our heroine? This is exactly as it should be.

Stream where: Peacock

Image source: https://mythirdparent.tumblr.com/post/173527130987/only-a-few-left-of-this-incredible-murder-she

Rec. #886/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #49: Never Have I Ever

 

Stream what: Never Have I Ever is about Devi, a high school girl determined to come back swinging after a couple of truly awful years. 

Stream why: It's exactly the sort of coming-of-age story we've been missing. These characters (wildly interesting nerd girls!) actually remind me of real-life teenagers I knew from my real-life teenage life.

Representative quotes: 

"We are smart. And idiots are banging all the time. We can learn how to do it, too."

"I'm a goddamn delight! I should punch you in the Adam's apple for saying that."

"No cocaine for me, thanks. I'm good."

Stream where: Netflix

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #48: Away We Go

 

Stream what: Soon-to-be new parents Verona (Maya Rudolph) and Burt (John Krasinski) embark on a road trip, looking for somewhere to settle.

Stream why: The cast is bonkers. Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Messina, Paul Schneider, etc. etc.

The performances from Rudolph and Lynskey are particularly jaw-dropping standouts.

Stream where: Peacock (another one, I know -- but it's free)

Connection to previous Wreckage: Away We Go was Rec. #83.