Three Fun Things: A Prescient Book, Secret Salads, and an In-Depth Examination of Housing First
1. Doppelgänger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, by Naomi Klein (2023)
Doppelgänger, the 2023 book by Canadian political theorist Naomi Klein, begins with an simple but vexing question: Why were so many people online mistaking her for Naomi Wolf? Despite their divergent political views (Klein is a left-wing social activist; Wolf has morphed from ‘90s feminist into 2020s right-wing conspiracy theorist), the two Naomis have much in common. They’re both Jewish women, born eight years apart, who became the public face of their respective movements on the strength of blockbuster books (The Beauty Myth and No Logo, respectively). But their paths diverged wildly in the COVID era, as Wolf wandered further and further into what Klein calls the “mirror world” of conspiracy theory and pseudoscience.
Klein begins Doppelgänger by interrogating why the author of a book criticizing consumer capitalism and the branding of daily life would be so distraught over the damage Wolf had inadvertently caused to her own personal “brand” She then expands her lens to consider the impact of political and identity confusion, particularly on the left, more broadly, exploring how mistrust in the medical establishment has morphed into blaming vaccines for autism, for instance, and how this movement has very old parallels—for example, in Hans Asperger’s transformation from an avatar of the Red Vienna movement into a doppelganger who advocated murdering autistic children in the name of “scientific” Nazi.
Somehow, Klein manages to thread humorous observations about Wolf’s trajectory into nearly every chapter, concluding with a section on her own Jewishness that quotes at length from Philip Roth’s Operation Shylock, a book that layers doppelgänger upon Doppelgänger. In the book, a Jewish American novelist named Philip Roth confronts an imposter, also named Philip Roth. The “real” Roth is conflicted about his own views on Zionism, while the “fake” Roth advocates for Jews to abandon Israel and move to Europe in anticipation of an Arab-led second Holocaust. In the end, “real” Roth ends up rejecting his double’s anti-Zionism for an undercover assignment to collect intelligence for the Mossad, and the book ends abruptly (and ambiguously). Maybe, Klein writes, “he didn’t want to choose: Maybe he was telling us he was both that and this.”
As for Wolf, she remains in the Mirror World; shortly before Klein’s book went to press, in 2022, Wolf was posting gleefully about buying her first gun, which she believed would give her the power to “resist and deter victimization.”
“Civil war is here, she darkly warns: ‘I am a peaceful person. I do not want war. But war is being waged up on us.’ And like so many others, she is getting ready with more than words.”
2. The salad menu at the Dough Zone
The Dough Zone, a mostly West Coast chain with 15 locations in Washington State, is well known for its springy, sprightly dumplings, including potstickers, xiao long bao, and wontons. You probably know this. But what you may not be aware of is that its salads also slap. I was reminded of this recently when I ordered the kale salad, an enormous pile of lightly blanched kale laced with sesame dressing and topped with a shower of roasted peanuts. Other options include the same kale salad with sweet and spicy garlic dressing and Romaine lettuce mixed with either dressing. I think their salads may change time to time (I still fondly remember a punchy Caesar from a few years ago); after you’ve picked your dumpling, noodles, and pancakes from the lengthy (and affordable) menu, add a check mark to this underrated section of the menu.
3. “Two Years in a Place Where Homelessness Ends,” New York Times
The New York Times spent a long time getting to know the residents of a permanent supportive housing building in the Bronx, and learned firsthand about the benefits and downside of this type of housing, which offers very low-rent housing, with few or no behavioral or work requirements, to formerly homeless people. Permanent supportive housing is a pillar of Housing First, a response to homelessness that addresses the housing needs of people with addiction and mental illness as well as those who have ended up on the street because of financial misfortune. The approach has come under fire from right-wing pundits and the Trump administration, who argue that people should have to get sober, get jobs, and demonstrate they are cooperating with psychiatric treatment before they “qualify” for homes.
Apartments at the Lenninger Residences are reserved for people struggling with mental illness; they provide a permanent home, but this permanence can create a feeling of being “stuck,” several residents told the Times. Their stories are both hopeful and heartbreaking (one resident featured in the story died after failing to go to the hospital for treatment for her addiction and HIV) and put a human face on an issue that can feel both abstract and polarizing.