Why Having Enemies Is a Waste of Time

Even though holding a grudge keeps us on our toes, I'm considering letting go. [View in Browser]( [Esquire Sunday Reads]( [I've Relished Having Enemies in My Life. But Am I Wasting My Time?]( I've Relished Having Enemies in My Life. But Am I Wasting My Time? Who doesn’t enjoy the stories they hear about revenge, from friends and others? In my life there’s the person who unscrewed his enemy’s showerhead and silently inserted a chicken-bouillon cube before rescrewing. I have a friend who was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge when he noticed that people were passing him and raising their fists in his direction or extending their middle fingers. He couldn’t figure out why until later. Someone had stuck a bumper sticker on his truck that read: kill the poor. Conversely, I know someone who, every time she walks into a party, searches out the person she suspects dislikes her the most and talks to him or her first. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have given us whole new ways of warring with enemies; one can kill with a subtweet or an errant “like.” This is why I mostly keep off Twitter these days. Life is too short and, as the adage has it, when you wrestle with pigs, you don’t merely get dirty—the pig likes it. [Read the Full Story]( [MORE FROM ESQUIRE]( [Masters of the Air Episode 8 Introduces the Legendary Tuskegee Airmen]( Masters of the Air Episode 8 Introduces the Legendary Tuskegee Airmen In past Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg-produced World War II dramas—like the celebrated Band of Brothers—we'd often see the POV briefly shift from the main characters to see another group's harrowing life on the battlefield. Band of Brothers episode 4 focused almost solely on the crew's replacements, while episode 6 followed Easy Company's medic through a bitter cold winter. In this week's episode of Masters of the Air, we recapture some of that broader storytelling with the Tuskegee Airmen. We kick things off with Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) finally in the cockpit. He plays Tuskegee pilot Robert Daniels, a second lieutenant in the all-Black 301st Fighter Squadron. He's accompanied by Josiah Cross (A Thousand and One) as pilot Richard D. Macon and Branden Cook (Industry) as lieutenant Alexander Jefferson. Jefferson is seemingly the star pilot of the trio, while Macon is the brains. Macon stands up during the briefing and spitfires a ton of numbers, including insanely specific distances. (Fuel ranges of 999.8 miles? Damn.) [Read the Full Story]( [The 125 Best Books About Hollywood]( The 125 Best Books About Hollywood Movie Love goes deeper than just watching movies. Movie Love is something closer to obsession: thinking about films, talking about them, certainly reading about them. While writers have long been under-appreciated in Hollywood, there are scores of fascinating books about one of America’s most famous industries—and defining cultural exports. Works like The Day of the Locust, Nathanial West’s dark satire, or What Makes Sammy Run?, Budd Schulberg’s unforgettable debut novel, are even considered literature. But if Hollywood is rough on screenwriters, novelists had their revenge, as you’ll discover in Carrie Fisher’s hilarious Postcards From the Edge, or I Lost My Girlish Laughter, a lost treasure by Jane Allen. There are also brilliant, detailed histories of the industry—starting, of course, with Kevin Brownlow on the silent era; An Empire of Their Own, by Neal Gabler; and Final Cut, Steven Bach’s whipsmart insider’s look at the Heaven’s Gate disaster. "The making-of" is an appealing sub-genre, starting with Picture, Lillian Ross’s account of the making of The Red Badge of Courage, and its spiritual successor, The Devil’s Candy, Julie Salomon’s blow-by-blow look at the debacle that was Bonfire of the Vanities. There are biographies galore—Chaplin, Stanwyck, Welles; candid, absorbing memoirs from Louise Brooks and Angelica Huston; and an unforgettable cult classic by Barbara Payton. Of course, we give the critics their due—Agee, Kael, Sarris, as well as craftspeople like editor Ralph Rosenblum and cinematographer James Wong Howe. You’ll also find a tasty selection of beautiful coffee table books, highlighting 100 years of Black movie poster art, the glamour photography of George Hurrell, and the genius of animator Tex Avery. There are more than a few surprises, too. And so we offer, for your consideration, our list of 125 essential books about Hollywood and the American movie experience. [Read the Full Story]( [Our Favorite Jeans Are $30 Right Now]( Our Favorite Jeans Are $30 Right Now No matter how much money I get, you won't catch me spending $300 on fashion-y selvedge jeans from Japan or Italy. That's my promise. We're talking about a garment that was made by the American working class, and made legendary by Middle America Silver Screen heroes like Marlon Brando and James Dean. Jeans should be tough, look good, and no one should be worried about making rent if they buy a pair. This is starting to sound like a campaign rally. I'm the John Fetterman of jeans over here. The Huey Long of long denim pants. And I'm about to put forward some legislation: The Jean New Deal. Part of my Jean New Deal is to get a solid pair of jeans on the ass of every American. Luckily, Wrangler's dirt-cheap Cowboy Cut is keeping our great denim tradition alive. If you want a flattering, affordable, and classic pair of jeans—good news, they're on sale for $30 right now. [Read the Full Story]( [Five Fits With: Somsack Sikhounmuong, Creative Director of Alex Mill]( Five Fits With: Somsack Sikhounmuong, Creative Director of Alex Mill Somsack Sikhounmuong, creative director of Alex Mill and this week’s subject, is a true example of climbing the fashion ladder to the top. Born in Toronto, he later found himself in New York to attend Parsons. After graduating in 1999, he took his first job at Diane Von Furstenberg before spending a large chunk of his career at J.Crew. “I started as an assistant accessories designer and by the time I left, I was director of men's and women's design” says Sikhounmuong. Alex Mill was founded by Alex Drexler, son of Mickey Drexler, the menswear legend and former CEO of Gap and J.Crew, who currently serves as the brand’s CEO. “Five years ago, Mickey and I were both out of a job and he suggested we have a call with Alex, and the rest is history” recalls Somsack. When he started working for Alex Mill, the brand only made men’s clothing, but after a year, with his help, it rebranded and relaunched with women’s alongside a fully rounded offering for guys. [Read the Full Story]( [How a Republic Survives]( How a Republic Survives March 4, 1801, dawned unseasonably warm in Washington, D. C. For the first time in the history of the young republic, the presidency was about to change from one political party to another, which wasn’t how it was supposed to work, considering how many of the founders had sworn up and down that political parties were poison to republican government. The previous year’s presidential campaign had been a brutal one. The two candidates and their surrogates, including the hired press, spared no savagery. The challenger’s side referred to the incumbent as “a hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” The incumbent’s campaign made its opponent out to be the American Robespierre, or worse. When he lost, the incumbent declined to attend the new president’s inauguration. Most of the country—and all of its new, highfalutin political establishment—was shaken by the ferocity of the campaign. There was still a real feeling in the land that this radical experiment in government might yet blow up in their powdered wigs. The campaign made it seem all the more fragile. [Read the Full Story]( [LiveIntent Logo]( [AdChoices Logo]( [How satisfied are you with the content of this newsletter?]( Follow Us [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Notice]( | [CA Notice at Collection]( Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2024 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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