Book rec: Found this for my new (theoretical) coffee table in a California bookstore for $10, marked down from $50, and had to get it—not because I especially glorify or condemn the act of lighting up, but because Luc Sante wrote the copy and I would pretty much pay through the nose to read anything he writes (p.s. you can read his blog here for free).
From the intro: “Healthism in America has sought to make longevity the principal measure of a good life. To be a survivor is to acquire moral distinction. But another view, a dandy’s perhaps, would say that living, as distinct from surviving, acquires its value from risks and sacrifices that tend to shorten life and hasten dying.”
He quit Picayunes ten years ago and is now addicted to Nicorette. But oh, to be a dandy once.
