...läser jag Anjelica Hustons A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in London, Ireland and New York. Hästar, Irland, otroligt vacker mamma ballerina och berömd filmregissör till pappa. Senare London och New York. A charmed life. Pappa Huston bullrar dock vid ett tillfälle:
"'The worst thing,' he opined one morning behind the curl of smoke from a brown cigarillo, 'is to be a dilettante.' 'What's a dilettante, Dad?' I asked wih some trepidation. I was unfamiliar with the word. It sounded French. 'It means a dabble, an amateur, someone who simply skims the surface of life without commitment,' he replied. I had not considered the dangers of the condition. From his lips, it sounded like a sin, worse than lying or stealing or cowardice." (123)
Men ojdå, för Hustons bok är nästan bara yta. Få insikter, minimal självreflektion. Sällan ser hon sig själv utifrån. Enstaka undantag:
"At this point modelling was much more alluring to me than acting in a movie for dad. It was remarkable how things came so easily to me. In every generation a flock of pretty girls was released into society with the help of their mothers, via the pages of glamour magazines. [...] Often they were the progeny of good bloodlines - rich, clever, famous fathers and the beautiful women who married them. I was no exception to this fortunate rule." (175)
Inte ens Hustons platta prosa förmår dock döda intresset för platser, personer och händelser. Jag ser fram emot nästa del.
