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1. �There are no race relations,� said Chris Rock in his in-depth interview with Frank Rich (�In Conversation With Chris Rock,� December 1�14). �White people were crazy. Now they’re not as �crazy. To say that black people have made progress would be to say that they deserve what happened to them before.� The interview, with its candid discussions of race, politics, online culture, and the art and craft of comedy, ignited the internet, inspiring hundreds of thousands of readers to share, tweet, and post about the story, and making it one of New York’s most popular articles of the year. �Part of what makes Rich’s Q&A so good is that Rock’s speaking the truth about a plethora of subjects,� wrote Flavorwire’s Elisabeth Donnelly. ��Nothing’s off the table.� Many readers echoed the assessment of Slate’s Aisha Harris, who wrote that the interview was �a fascinating read, worth digesting in full for his candor on the difficulties stand-up comedians face today in the age of social media and his deep affection for Nora Ephron. But the most choice bits are found when the subject turns to racial tension in America. Rock’s latest remarks about race may not be as funny as some of the ones he’s made in the past, but they should really be heard, and pondered.� �It’s so good,� wrote Today in Tabs, �that it seems like every person who tweeted it picked a different line to quote.� On Cosby, for instance: �It’s a weird year for comedy. We lost Robin, we lost Joan, and we kind of lost Cosby.� On the president: �It’s not that Obama’s disappointing. It’s just that his best album might have been his first.� On Woody Allen: �I’ve checked into hotels under Alvy Singer.� Wand3erful agreed: �Such an engaging, interesting man. I would love for Vulture to have him on speed dial so he can chime in on every topic that comes across the editor’s lap.� The L.A. Times’s Carolina A. Miranda called the interview �epically wonderful,� and even Jimmy Fallon praised it on his show, Late Night. �The best article I’ve read in a long time on anyone,� said Fallon, holding up the issue on his show while Rock sat next to him. �It was fantastic.�
2. � �Winning the breakup’ may be a petty concept, but everyone who �exits relationships regularly (or maybe just exited one very memorably) knows exactly what it means,� wrote Maureen O’Connor in her column (�Winning the Breakup in the Age of Instagram,� �December 1�14). �If �winning the break�up’ is that important to you,� wrote LGato, �then you were worth breaking up with.� �Let’s put this simply,� added Hare_Wave, �people with this mentality have already lost at life.� Commenter Voguette defended the practice: �People will say this is stupid, but I guarantee most of them have engaged in this type of behavior before. It might be petty, but lots of things about humans are petty and that’s normal. At least you’re self-aware and not pretending to be �above it all.’ � �I’m not saying it isn’t real,� responded MC0325, �but it isn’t healthy. We all do things that are unhealthy but why showcase that?� Commenter Oltiana agreed. �Most grown-up, intelligent, self-assured people would choose to mourn their lost relationship and take the time to process things instead of making it about winning.� �Never said it was healthy,� shot back Voguette. �Just a regular aspect of human nature. We all get jealous. We all have our pride wounded � Anybody who can admit that at times they can be shallow or petty is a decent person who also probably works to better him or herself.�
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3.�Her book’s deepest power might come from a different and even more time-honored journey,� wrote Kathryn Schulz in her profile of the author Cheryl Strayed, whose memoir Wild is now a motion picture (�The Walking Cure,� December 1�14). �That of a daughter becoming a mother�in this case, implicitly, to us all.� The death of Strayed’s mother is central to the narrative of her best-selling memoir, and the piece elicited particularly poignant responses from men and women who faced the same experience. �I’ve also lost my mom,� wrote Johnrvs, �and found that to be one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to deal with. At the time, I had wished I could just get away from everything, so I could have the time and space to properly mourn her. I wonder if a lot of us who have had difficult losses wish we could have done what Strayed actually did.� �I also had a mother die the year I read it,� wrote zidaane. �It inspired me to go do something�I’ve done several solo bike trips since. This book got me out there.� �I lost my mom a year ago, unexpectedly,� wrote eastcoastgypsy. �I cannot wait to see this movie and find some inspiration for dealing with and overcoming the loss.� �I think of my mother every day,� commenter dragenfly wrote, �but I have had a life very different, filled with a very different kind of freedom, than I might have if she hadn’t died when I was 20.�
Correction: An item in our �Gifts� issue (�Thomas Keller Dinner,� November 24�30) misstated the name and website of the foundation affiliated with chef Thomas Keller: It’s ment’or, and the website is mentorbkb.org. The item also mistakenly suggested that Keller would appear at a dinner in exchange for a donation to the foundation.