{"id":93115,"date":"2015-12-30T17:00:14","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T22:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=93115"},"modified":"2015-12-30T10:19:59","modified_gmt":"2015-12-30T15:19:59","slug":"back-away-slowly-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/30\/back-away-slowly-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Back Away Slowly"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re away until January 4, but we\u2019re re-posting some of our favorite pieces from 2015. Please enjoy, and have a happy New Year!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A woman diagnosed as suffering from hilarious mania. Color lithograph, 1892. Image via Wellcome<\/p><\/div>\n

Contrary to popular wisdom, in my experience many of the best comebacks are not cutting. L\u2019esprit d\u2019escalier is all well and good, but take it from me, zingers aren\u2019t what they\u2019re cracked up to be: when you grow up in a family that fights almost exclusively below the belt, you learn to wound early, and also that the act of attacking leaves you feeling bad, not triumphant. I\u2019ll never forget being snapped at by an angry customer in a deli as a small child. \u201cIgnore her, Sades,\u201d my dad said loudly. \u201cShe\u2019s an unhappy, lonely person with no one in her life who cares about her.\u201d I\u2019ve forgotten her expression of shocked misery; I know that only from my dad\u2019s rueful telling. Read More >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re away until January 4, but we\u2019re re-posting some of our favorite pieces from 2015. Please enjoy, and have a happy New Year! Contrary to popular wisdom, in my experience many of the best comebacks are not cutting. L\u2019esprit d\u2019escalier is all well and good, but take it from me, zingers aren\u2019t what they\u2019re cracked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20653],"tags":[18873,12511,16278,158,12796,19725,16786],"class_list":["post-93115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-2015","tag-antisemitism","tag-city-life","tag-confusion","tag-encounters","tag-insults","tag-meeting-strangers","tag-socializing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWant to Keep People Away? 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