by JANINE JACKSON
A cruise along the Bosphorus in Istanbul, made more festive by a classical trio and an open bar PHOTO/Thibault Montamat/The New York Times
David Brooks’ November 13 piece for the New York Times style magazine (11/13/15) reads like a joke. Is the Times columnist seriously regaling readers with talk of his “spectacularly expensive hopscotch” on a “self-contained luxury caravan”?
The piece, titled “My $120,000 Vacation,” details Brooks time flying around the world on a Four Seasons-branded private jet; and, yes, the paper paid for it. (Public editor Margaret Sullivan noted that the paper paid for “the portion of that trip for which Mr. Brooks was present”—which works out to about $35,000.)
So is the Times seriously asking for our interest in the “merits and demerits of such pampered high-end travel,” in how much Brooks enjoyed his “superfluous” second bottle of champagne, and how he “wished there had been a little more pretense and a little more intellectual and spiritual ambition” among his fellow travelers from the “lower end of the upper class”?
Are we meant to chuckle at his closing line: “Of course, we all have a responsibility to reduce inequality in our society. But maybe not every day”?
It’s almost a “no comment.” Almost.
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(Thanks to reader)