Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2024 i Esquire

IT WAS A FRIDAY NIGHT IN EARLY MARCH, AND THE LATE-WINTER air was heavy with an approaching rainstorm. We were inside the Dead Rabbit, an upscale Irish pub in lower Manhattan, next door to where General George Washington once toasted his troops. Two hundred and fifty years ago, they had a clear view of the harbor. Today, new construction blocks your view of the water. My phone buzzed. It was a work text that ended with “This is not good.” I felt my blood pressure spike, considered pouring my attention into the phone, then slid it back into my pocket and returned to the conversation. We were somewhere between discussing our marriages and dissecting a theory about the final decades of Mao’s 100 Year Plan and what it means for…

IT JUST FEELS SO WRONG. YOU take a single, gorgeous amaro—which probably has a semisecret recipe perfected and handed down through generations—and shake the absolute hell out of it with ice in a cocktail tin. Isn’t that a sin against the liqueur gods? These bittersweet liqueurs, primarily from Italy, should be sipped room temperature or slightly chilled following an epic dinner and used in fancy aperitivo cocktails, right? But after you strain it into an elegant coupe, an exquisite crema forms—that white, foamy layer on the surface, like the one on a perfectly made espresso or the head of a Guinness. Crema always elicits the same reaction: I. Must. Drink. You do, and it’s a revelation: This single ingredient is capable of producing a libation of complexity and depth. The…

FRAN DRESCHER The former sitcom star was perhaps underestimated when she won election to head the Screen Actors Guild in 2021, but when push came to shove, she didn’t hesitate to lead actors off sets last summer in what became the longest strike in SAG-AFTRA history. Drescher won wage increases, protections against AI, and residuals for streaming. LIZ SHULER The first woman ever to head the AFL-CIO was a protégé of Richard Trumka’s and succeeded him as president of the 12-million-member labor federation after his sudden death in 2021. Shuler has called on unions to lead a fight against AI and its potential to replace human labor. SEAN O’BRIEN Since taking over the Teamsters from Jimmy Hoffa Jr. in early 2022, O’Brien has been savvy about using social media to…

A FOUNTAIN PEN IS LIKE A tie these days. It’s not a necessity but an expression of taste—and a chance to snatch a little extra joy from the grip of everyday existence. Given the choice, would you rather scratch out a note with a cheap plastic ballpoint or glide a finely tuned 18k-gold nib over a sheet of paper? No contest. This brings us to Montblanc. Founded in 1906 with the catchy name Simplizissiumus-Füllhalter, the company pioneered modern, easy-to-use fountain pens. And the Meisterstück—German for “masterpiece”—has been the pinnacle of its lineup since it was introduced in 1924. It’s the fountain pen elevated to an art form. Combining superior engineering and materials, the century-old Meisterstück takes the writing experience to another level by ensuring that the ink flows in an…

THE FASHION WORLD USED TO BE a place where watch hounds would venture with trepidation—if at all. With so much to choose from by specialist watchmakers, designer labels rarely offered collectible appeal. That’s changed in a big way. The past 15 years or so have seen blue-chip labels invest heavily in watchmaking as previously skeptical collectors become enthusiastic converts. Dior was early to the trend. Very early. The French maison started making watches in the 1970s but really ramped things up in 2004 with the introduction of the Chiffre Rouge, a sporty steel watch that offered both credible watchmaking and design chops. It was around for several years before fading from the brand’s roster. But now the Chiffre Rouge—so named for the red digits, or chiffres in French, that appeared…

I WAS 25 YEARS OLD, SITTING CROSS-LEGGED ON A COUCH, UNABLE TO STOP my foot from wagging. My new therapist sat ten feet across from me, his middle-aged girth swallowed up in a high-backed leather chair, masculine: thick wrists, the wide beige band of his watch, receding silver hair, pale, freckled skin. Tortoiseshell glasses obscured the blue in his close-set eyes. In one of those weird associations the mind makes, when I looked at his face I thought immediately of Bert Lahr, the way his thin lips curled into what might be a smile. Outside that office on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, barely audible over the low rattle of a window AC unit and the whir of the requisite white-noise machine, I heard snatches of sidewalk conversation, the din of…

__ I HAVE BEEN A MUSICIAN since I was old enough to reach the keys on a piano. __ THERE WAS A MOMENT where I realized that what I was meant to be doing was not only reflecting but documenting the human experience. __ IT’S VERY HARD for me to understand why I’ve had the colossal success I’ve had when I’m not the greatest singer, I’m not the greatest songwriter, I’m not the greatest bass player, guitar player, or producer. __ EVERYTHING IS ABOUT the voice in my head that tells me that I’m not enough. __ MY CAREER HAS BEEN largely propelled by my need to not just be liked but to be great. I have really come to terms with that. Cancer put that all into perspective—and several…

For DAVID COGGINS (01), size matters. Fish size, that is. And he journeyed to Patagonia in search of an elusive prize. “I’m setting out to catch a trout worthy of the surroundings,” he writes in an excerpt from his forthcoming book on page 76. The Believer: A Year in the Fly Fishing Life (out April 9), the follow-up to 2021’s The Optimist: A Case for the Fly Fishing Life, sees him traveling across the world, meditating on his fly-fishing adventures. Coggins, who lives in New York, writes about style, drinking, and travel for outlets including the Financial Times, Condé Nast Traveler, and his own newsletter, The Contender. He is also the author of Men and Manners and the best-selling Men and Style. You’ve heard of a Disney cruise. But a…

BRAULIO When it comes to a foamy head, nothing beats this juniper-forward Alpine-style amaro. AMARO DELL’ETNA Citrusy and herbaceous deliciousness with a touch of smoke. AMARICANO This Seattle-made amaro captures the region with Rainier cherries and local truffles. Make Your Shakerato Technique Impeccable There is no one way to make a shakerato, but there are some guidelines you can use to get the aeration and emulsification right. I find that the simplest thing to do is to shake the amaro with just a few cubes. This makes it easier for the air to mix into the drink. Use a Boston shaker or a martini shaker. And shake it hard. Like as hard as you can, for about ten seconds. Do it enough and you’ll know when it’s got the right…

IN JANUARY, WHEN PACKING MY BAGS FOR A “READING RETREAT” IN the Dominican Republic, I agonized about which books to bring. A few days later, bellied up to the beachside bar at the all-inclusive Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana resort (where, in place of barstools, swings are suspended from the thatched ceiling), I sipped a mojito, cracked open James Salter’s Light Years, a novel I reread annually, and knew that I’d chosen well. But if I’d had any regrets, summoning a new paperback would’ve been as easy as ringing for a book butler. I was down in the DR to experience Pages in Paradise, a collaboration between the publisher Penguin Random House, Belletrist Book Club (the brainchild of actress Emma Roberts), and Apple Vacations (no relation to the iPhone maker).…

BELLS AND WHISTLES CAN BE fun, but it’s tough to beat perfectly calibrated simplicity. Case in point: the mac coat. Pared down to just the essentials, the mac—short for mackintosh, the style introduced in the 1820s as a utilitarian raincoat made of rubberized fabric—has exactly what you need in a spring-ready piece of outerwear and nothing more. You’ve got a collar to turn up against the wind and rain, a couple of pockets to shove your hands into when they’re chilly, and enough length to keep you dry in a sudden shower. And that’s about it. Which is exactly what makes the mac so damn great. It’s a blank slate onto which you can project any kind of vibe you’d like. Underpin it with a slim suit, a skinny tie,…

AS PART OF HIS ELOQUENT—IF EVENTUALLY FUTILE—SUMMATION in defense of the wrongly accused Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, the hero of the film To Kill a Mockingbird, tells the jury to put aside its ingrained cultural and social racism in order to look the plain facts dead in the face: “Now, gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal. I’m no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That’s no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality.” We have spent a year wondering whether or not anyone believes this anymore. Senator Mitch McConnell leaves office with his life’s political mission fulfilled. He remade the federal judiciary in his ideological image. He…

BACK IN COLLEGE, JOEL KIM BOOSTER WROTE A one-act play called Layover, about a guy passing through Chicago who gets snowed in after his ex-girlfriend has died by suicide. The guy bunks for a while with the ex’s estranged sister, who is desperate to figure out who the dead woman really was. Booster was striving for emotional seriousness—depth à la “a nineteen-year-old’s version of what fucked-up is.” And sure enough, after the show a young woman came up to him so moved that she was in tears. Booster had been performing his whole life, but until that moment he hadn’t clicked into the power of dramatic writing. Nearly two decades later, with pride still plain in his voice, the thirty-six-year-old actor, comedian, and screenwriter clarifies: By the way, that serious…

STORE INFORMATION For the items featured in Esquire, please consult the website or call the phone number provided. Blueprint, p. 39: Montblanc pen, montblanc.com. P. 40: Versace coat, jacket, and trousers, versace.com. LRS shirt, lrs-studio.com. Manolo Blahnik loafers, manoloblahnik.com. Stance socks, stance.com. P. 41: Fendi Men’s coat and shirt, fendi.com. Ambush polo, ambushdesign.com. Sandro trousers, sandro-paris.com. Skechers sneakers, skechers.com. FoundRae ring, foundrae.com. Banana Republic coat, bananarepublic.com. Boss shirt and tie, boss.com. Nili Lotan jeans, nililotan.com. Paul Smith loafers, paulsmith.com. P. 42: Dior Timepieces watch, available by special order at 800-929-3467. Dior Men jacket, shirt, and trousers, dior.com. The Undeniable Joel Kim Booster, p. 84: Louis Vuitton Men’s jacket, jeans, and shoes, louisvuitton.com. Tiffany & Co. necklace and earring, tiffany.com. P. 85: Gucci cardigan and trousers, gucci.com. Bulgari watch, bulgari.com. P.…

IT IS GENERALLY BAD PRACTICE TO TAKE sitcom theme songs at their word. But ever since Cheers debuted, our culture has normalized the idea that sometimes we want to go where everybody knows our name. As a lifelong extrovert in his 50s, I must be clear: Your general outlook about wanting to go where everybody knows your name will change once they know your name at Walgreens. My pharmacist and I have known each other by name for some time, but now whenever I approach the counter, she just says, “The usual?” (Statins, for the record. Neat.) Sometimes you want to go where there is zero chance anyone will even ask your name, and if there is Skee-Ball at this place, all the better. This is why in the year…

FOR THE FAN The Gone Girl cruise is over, but Avalon Waterways isn’t slowing down anytime soon: Its upcoming slate of Storyteller Cruises includes actor Graham McTavish (sailing down the Rhine River) and Outlander phenom Diana Gabaldon (voyaging down the Danube). FOR THE R&R CHASER Looking for a more relaxed experience? At the Reeds at Shelter Haven, an upscale resort on the Jersey shore, guests can participate in Reeds’ Reads, a seasonal book club featuring guided discussions, with authors sometimes joining via Zoom for Q&A sessions. FOR THE ASPIRING WRITER Chances are, your favorite author is side-hustling by leading retreats in pastoral Europe. To get in on the action, pay close attention to their social-media feeds, or search for guided trips through an experiential-tourism outlet like TrovaTrip.…

I GOT THESE SHOES IN PARIS ABOUT a decade ago, during my first work trip to Europe. I was part of the team at the New York men’s store Carson Street Clothiers, which is sadly now closed. The two owners loved to shop, and we hit a lot of different stores between appointments. I had wanted a pair of Rick Owens shoes for ages. I didn’t know that much about Rick, but he had that high-fashion cachet. When I went into his store in Paris, I was transported into a world that was like nothing I’d experienced. I’m a size 13; shoes can be difficult to find. But they had the Island Dunks in my size, and they were on sale for around half off, so I got them for…

THE HOMIE KEV WAS KIND, SMILED EASY, AND SPOKE SO soft sometimes I had to lean in to hear him. The homie Kev was cock-diesel and fearless on the football field. The homie Kev took the rap for me without a blink when my grandmother caught me packaging bunk weed in my bedroom. The fall after we graduated, my homie Kevan Hai Miller was found shot to death on an apartment doorstep. What I remember is feeling my response should be governed by my manhood, that I’d be weak if I wept, whether someone saw my eyes leak or not. I’d had practice in not grieving. Going into my senior year, our fireplug point guard had beef with my cousin—not my blood, but our mothers were super close—and shot him.…