Chronic City and A Big Ol' Burger

Phew.  Getting through this week’s book, Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem was tough.  So tough that I really deserved this massive burger at the end!  While I certainly appreciate Lethem’s wit and imagination , which was in full display in this book, it was still difficult to get through.  The book is filled with dense dialogue,  either in the characters heads or with each other.  The book is seemingly about nothing but perhaps also about everything - i.e. the search for "truth."  At the center of the book is the friendship between Chase Insteadman (there is that wit with the name), a handsome former child actor, now somewhere in his thirties, living on the upper east side of NY, party hopping, and living off of residuals from the family TV show he starred in, and Perkus Tooth, a strange former rock critic/provocative poster maker, who smokes a lot of pot and watches a lot of obscure movies, but it is unclear what else he does.  Perkus also lives on the upper east side, in a rent control apartment.  Perkus is the type of guy everyone knows - a bit homely looking, not good at personal interaction necessarily, has the most extensive, random, obscure taste in books, music and movies, and is always anxious to tell you about these books, movies and music and is shocked and appalled when you admit to not having a clue of what he is talking about.  Surrounding Perkus and Chase are a few other eccentric characters but most importantly the City of New York.  In Lethem's book New York is surreal, but also not so far from reality (for example, the Mayor, Arnheim, is a short Jewish billionaire).  The surreal part comes from an escaped tiger that is terrorizing the city, knocking buildings down, from the City's obsession with Chase's girlfriend, an astronaut, Janice Turnbull, stuck in a Russian space station and unable to return to earth, and with newspapers that come in war-free versions.  There is a lot to take in here, and it is difficult to know what details matter and what don't.  There is not much a plot, and what I found missing from this book as opposed to the others I have liked of Lethem's (Fortress of Solitude, Motherless Brooklyn) is a heart.  None of the characters are likable and none of them, except maybe Perkus towards the end, are going through anything that makes you care about them.   I am glad I read the book because it does make you think and there are some really funny aspects of it, but it isn't a book I would recommend to many people, except maybe those friends of mine that are into obscure books, music and movies...  The burger was inspired by Perkus, he subsists entirely on lots of pot, lots of coffee, and cheeseburgers from the Western themed restaurant around the corner from his apartment.

I am not sure where Lethem was going with this book and what he wanted me to think/feel at the end.  The book must be meant to needle New Yorkers - the characters here are all so self obsessed and lacking real connection to each other.  Chase is a bland shell of a person.  I never got why he became obsessed with Perkus.  Perkus, although in the end endearing, is the type of guy you would roll your eyes at in class or want to stay away from at a party.  The other characters are even less relatable - Oona, a closed-off, manipulative ghost writer who is sleeping with Chase (and writing a book on the famous artist Laird Noteless, another funny Lethem use of language), Richard Abneg, a former liberal and activist who now works for the Mayor and is most definitely a social climber, and his new girlfriend, a very tell elegent woman name Georgina Hawkmanaji.  As a reader you never quite buy Chase's relationship with Janice, the stranded astronaut.  About midway through the book the characters become obsessed with these vase-like objects called Chaldrons.  Perkus saw a painting of one in the office of Chase's alternative medicine healer.  He then found Chaldrons all over e-bay, and became obsessed with bidding on the Chaldrons, without ever winning one, since some anonymous purchaser always sweeped in at the end and paid an outrageous price.  But just looking at the image of the Chaldron captivated Perkus, and soon Chase and Richard too.  Eventually Perkus finds a real life Chaldron, in the governors mansion.  His attempt to touch and take this Chaldron is what eventually leads to Perkus' downfall and with his downfall the entire story up to that point falls down too.  What the point of all of it was I still don't know.  This is a book that certainly makes you think, but for me, I still have no clue what it is supposed to make me think about.   If anyone out there has read it I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.  Now onto the burger.

Brioche Hamburger Buns and a Basic Burger

These brioche buns from the NY Times are both pretty easy and totally yummy.  I think you could use this dough to make really awesome sweet buns too.  Making your own hamburger buns may seem a little over the top but I swear try these, they are worth it!

Buns, adapted from NY Times Recipe

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened.

Directions: Combine yeast, sugar, milk and 1 cup warm water.  Let stand till foamy, about five minutes.

Meanwhile, mix flours and salt in large bowl.  Add butter and rub flour and butter together till mixture is like a course meal.  Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and 1 beaten egg until a dough forms.

Gather dough in a ball and put on an unfloured work surface.  Kneed for 8 minutes or so till elastic.

Put dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let dry in a warm dry place for 2 hours, until doubled in size.  Cut dough into 8 pieces, roll each into a ball and put on a cookie sheet.  Cover with a damp towel and let rise another 2 hours.

Brush the buns with another beaten egg, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top if you have them and want it.

Bake in 400 degree over for about 15 minutes. Till tops are golden.

Yum!

To make the burgers, I just used a mixture of ground sirloin and ground chuck, added salt and pepper and a few good glugs of Worcestershire sauce.  The rest you can just follow the pictorial instructions!  Pretty basic burger making!