{"id":133825,"date":"2019-02-21T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=133825"},"modified":"2019-02-21T11:14:13","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T16:14:13","slug":"revisited-watson-and-the-shark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisited: Watson and the Shark"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark<\/em>, 1778<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

We were brought to the museum, as children often are, to look at ancient things from Egypt. Elsewhere in the galleries were ancient things from Rome and China and Greece, but only in the Egyptian collection was there the threat of seeing a dead body. The promise<\/em>. We were ten. Of course we wanted to see one, even if it was the teachers\u2019 idea. Perhaps they thought: if you satisfy the bloodthirstiness of children in an art museum they will be less likely to stab each other with compasses during math class.<\/p>\n

This was 1975, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It was the era of disaster movies: ships upside down, towering infernos, earthquakes. I liked disasters. The year before, in fourth grade, I had written a paper on the immolation of the Hindenburg. Mummies weren\u2019t a disaster: so many dead, so little interest in how they died.<\/p>\n

On the way to the mummies we happened upon Watson and the Shark. <\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an odd painting, awful and hilarious, charged, inexplicable, literal. A disaster movie, an eighteenth-century one. There\u2019s Watson, a naked figure fallen into a city harbor, hair streaming behind him. There\u2019s the shark, rising up with its awful mouth, getting ready to bite off the swimmer\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time, the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen Jaws. <\/em><\/p>\n

Or at least when I first saw the painting in the mid-\u201970s, it seemed impossible. We, Miss Capuzzo\u2019s fifth-grade class, had not seen Jaws<\/em> ourselves, but somebody\u2019s cousin had, and had related the plot, which had been passed around the fifth-grade class like samizdat. When you\u2019re a child, this can happen: you can know everything about a movie you\u2019ve been forbidden to see, you\u2019ve heard so many awful details you\u2019ve made a new movie out of rumors and nightmares and jokes. We had all seen our own versions of Jaws. <\/em>Now here it was again. We were never going in the water again.<\/p>\n

In the painting, above the man and shark, is a dinghy come for rescue, with a crew of nine men arranged in a pyramid, old and young, reaching into the water or pulling oars or holding onto a shirt to make sure another man doesn\u2019t end up overboard. I didn\u2019t notice them at first, though they take up a lot of room, each man with a slightly different expression on his face. An African man stands nobly at the peak of the pyramid. An old man scowls. One man angles a harpoon down like St. George intent on slaying the dragon, heroic, dull. Every man is dull, when there is a shark in the water.<\/p>\n

We laughed at Watson and the Shark<\/em>, I\u2019m certain: it was startling and terrifying. At first we thought the swimmer was an old woman, because of the streaming hair and because, while we knew very little about the history of art, we were quite sure women and children were regularly naked in paintings but not men\u2014with one notable exception, and even He generally wore a bit of cloth.<\/p>\n

But it was <\/em>a male body, bare-chested and pale in the water, the left leg up at an anatomically impossible angle to keep him modest. In the painting his hair looks gray. A little blood spools off his leg. He\u2019s been bitten. Copley paints the shark angled up, mouth open, ostensibly to bite off Watson\u2019s head, but it\u2019s aimed at the viewer\u2019s head, too. You want to put your head in that maw. I <\/em>wanted to put my head in it. I wanted to be bitten.<\/p>\n

What seemed clear to me was that the shark was in love with Watson. I might have been too young for Jaws<\/em> but I did watch, with terror and pleasure, the Creature Double Feature every weekend on channel 56. Everyone knows that what drives the monster, what makes him ugly and also fatal, what will prove fatal to him, too, in the end, is love.<\/p>\n

In the painting Watson reaches over his head\u2014he\u2019s swimming, or trying to snag the rope that\u2019s been thrown by his rescuers\u2014but his hand is aimed at the shark. Who can blame the shark for thinking he\u2019s being beckoned? Who can blame him for rushing forth toward the blood he himself has raised in the water, the beauty of it? I will devour you<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I was ten. I knew about inexplicable love. I knew about dreams of being the only person naked while everyone around me was clothed.<\/p>\n

We went off to the mummies.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Watson and the Shark <\/em>is a disaster movie, but it\u2019s also a documentary. When he was sixteen years old, Brook Watson went swimming in Havana\u2019s harbor in Cuba\u2014that\u2019s why he was naked\u2014when he was bitten by a shark. The second bite took off his right foot. Watson was rescued, had the leg amputated and replaced by a wooden one, grew up and became Lord Mayor of London. It\u2019s an unusual subject for the time, an actual event painted relatively soon after it occurred, with a character of African descent depicted with compassion and care at the top of the painting\u2019s composition. The painting\u2019s an origin story, in other words, of both a man and his disability. This moment is the making of him. He was the one who had it commissioned.<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019ve come this far, I\u2019m not even sure that I first saw Watson and the Shark<\/em> on a field trip, though that\u2019s how I remember it. My parents did take me to the MFA pretty often. Perhaps my feelings of seeing it were so scalding and emboldening that I have had to mentally surround myself with all of the fifth grade to get at the actual feeling. What was that emotion? Uncanny hilarity, edged with dread and romance. Disbelief cut with overwhelm: there\u2019s too much to understand entirely; the artist is keeping me busy.<\/p>\n

All I can say is that certain art\u2014my favorite sort\u2014strikes a kind of private, glorious, shameful nerve in me, like a homely toy with a music box at its heart which plays my favorite tune.<\/p>\n

My footfall still quickens when I\u2019m in the MFA, approaching Watson and the Shark<\/em>, as with any beloved. Will I feel the same way? Will I even find it? \u00a0The museum has remade itself several times in the past forty years, and I\u2019m never certain where it is.<\/p>\n

I remember stepping back when I first saw the painting, as though if I got too close I would be implicated, even caught. I would step into the painting and the water would close up behind me. It was what I longed for. I fought it. I longed for it again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elizabeth McCracken is the author of six books:\u00a0<\/em>Here\u2019s Your Hat What\u2019s Your Hurry,<\/em>\u00a0The Giant\u2019s House, <\/i>Niagara Falls All Over Again,<\/em>\u00a0An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination,<\/em>\u00a0Thunderstruck & Other Stories, and the recently released\u00a0<\/em>Bowlaway<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen \u2018Jaws.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1697,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22669],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-revisited"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRevisited: Watson and the Shark by Elizabeth McCracken<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen \u2018Jaws.\u2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Revisited: Watson and the Shark by Elizabeth McCracken\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 21, 2019 \u2013 You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen \u2018Jaws.\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-21T16:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-21T16:14:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"952\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth McCracken\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth McCracken\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth McCracken\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b413232a354833497ec6f337c14f686\"},\"headline\":\"Revisited: Watson and the Shark\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-21T16:00:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-21T16:14:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/\"},\"wordCount\":1262,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original-1024x812.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Revisited\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/\",\"name\":\"Revisited: Watson and the Shark by Elizabeth McCracken\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original-1024x812.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-21T16:00:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-21T16:14:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen \u2018Jaws.\u2019\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":952,\"caption\":\"John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, 1778\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Revisited: Watson and the Shark\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b413232a354833497ec6f337c14f686\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth McCracken\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c876500289621e16a0a2cfa12309b9c364bcb9dc4eb4279e37f3279ec8b43454?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c876500289621e16a0a2cfa12309b9c364bcb9dc4eb4279e37f3279ec8b43454?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth McCracken\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/emccracken\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Revisited: Watson and the Shark by Elizabeth McCracken","description":"You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen \u2018Jaws.\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Revisited: Watson and the Shark by Elizabeth McCracken","og_description":"February 21, 2019 \u2013 You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen \u2018Jaws.\u2019","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2019-02-21T16:00:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-21T16:14:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":952,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth McCracken","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth McCracken","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth McCracken","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b413232a354833497ec6f337c14f686"},"headline":"Revisited: Watson and the Shark","datePublished":"2019-02-21T16:00:25+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-21T16:14:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/"},"wordCount":1262,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original-1024x812.jpg","articleSection":["Revisited"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/","name":"Revisited: Watson and the Shark by Elizabeth McCracken","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original-1024x812.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-21T16:00:25+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-21T16:14:13+00:00","description":"You can tell the painter is not overly acquainted with sharks. This one has the sensual lips of a movie villain and slanted, prominent nostrils. At the same time the shark is familiar, iconic, and it seems almost impossible that John Singleton Copley, son of Boston and portraitist of Paul Revere, among others, has not seen \u2018Jaws.\u2019","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1200px-watsonandtheshark-original.jpg","width":1200,"height":952,"caption":"John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, 1778"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/21\/revisited-watson-and-the-shark\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Revisited: Watson and the Shark"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b413232a354833497ec6f337c14f686","name":"Elizabeth McCracken","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c876500289621e16a0a2cfa12309b9c364bcb9dc4eb4279e37f3279ec8b43454?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c876500289621e16a0a2cfa12309b9c364bcb9dc4eb4279e37f3279ec8b43454?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth McCracken"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/emccracken\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1697"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133825"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133835,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133825\/revisions\/133835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}