Eric Alterman’s List of the Best Stuff of 2022

The year in movies, books, music, and art

by

For most of the week, we have shown you our writers’ favorite stories of the year. But when we asked contributor Eric Alterman for his list, he wanted to highlight the work of others in 2022. So here are his nominations, and a couple of others, for the best of the year.

TV shows

  • Reboot
  • My Brilliant Friend, Season 3
  • The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, Season 2
  • Conversations With Friends
  • The Last Movie Stars
  • The Offer
  • Bad Sisters
  • Life & Beth
  • Slow Horses
  • The White Lotus, Season 2
  • Avenue 5

Specials

  • The Jon Stewart Mark Twain Prize/Kennedy Center Special

Movies

  • Lost Illusions
  • One Fine Morning
  • Decision to Leave
  • Anaïs in Love
  • Tár
  • White Noise
  • Stars at Noon
  • The Menu
  • The Outfit
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once

Books

New Nonfiction

ERIC ALTERMAN, WE ARE NOT ONE: A HISTORY OF AMERICA’S FIGHT OVER ISRAEL

No, really …

  • Jonathan Freedland, The Escape Artist
  • Louis Menand, The Free World
  • Michael Kazin, What It Took to Win
  • Bob Dylan, The Philosophy of Modern Song
  • Jerry Z. Muller, Professor of Apocalypse: The Many Lives of Jacob Taubes
  • China Miéville, A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto
  • Frank Costigliola, Kennan: A Life Between Worlds (January 2023)

New Fiction

  • Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Latecomer
  • Julia May Jonas, Vladimir
  • Elizabeth Strout, Lucy by the Sea
  • The new translation of Manzoni’s The Betrothed
  • Monica Ali, Love Marriage

Classics I “read” for the second time because they were free on Audible and you should “read” them too

  • Sense and Sensibility; Pride and Prejudice
  • The Red and the Black
  • Anna Karenina
  • The Idiot

Non-classics I “read” also on Audible

  • At least half a dozen Ross MacDonald/Lew Archer novels from the ’50s and ’60s

One great book I read free on Kindle

  • Jennifer Egan, Look at Me

Podcasts worth your time

  • Cocaine & Rhinestones, Season 2, on Apple Podcasts
  • The Big Lie on Audible
  • The Miranda Obsession on Audible
  • Heads Will Roll on Audible

Music

Albums, new

  • Bruce Springsteen, Only the Strong Survive
  • Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver

That’s all. This is not really a good category for me, but my friend David Rudd is much better at it than I am, and he suggests:

Also, David’s Christmas CDs were legendary for those of us lucky enough to be on his list. He has now, as a favor to humanity, compiled them on a Spotify playlist. This link takes you to one playlist and he advises: “On the left-hand side of the screen, you will see multiple playlists. Scroll down until you see Chr 2018, Chr 2017, etc.”

New releases of old shows

  • The Rolling Stones, El Mocambo, 1977
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience, L.A. Forum, April 26, 1969
  • Charles Mingus, The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s (1972)
  • Art Blakey, First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings
  • Kris Kristofferson, Live at Gilley’s (1981)
  • Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts (OK, it was last year, but still …)

Expanded albums from the past

  • The Band, Cahoots
  • Elton John, Madman Across the Water
  • Miles Davis, That’s What Happened, 1982-1985

Previously unreleased old albums sitting in the can

  • Neil Young, Toast

Big (Expensive) Box Sets

  • The Beatles, Revolver
  • David Bowie, Divine Symmetry
  • Blondie, Against the Odds
  • Eric Clapton, Nothing but the Blues

Art Exhibitions You Can Still See

  • New York: 1962-1964 at the Jewish Museum
  • Edward Hopper’s New York at the Whitney
  • Vermeer’s Secrets at the National Gallery of Art

So, Laura Hercher and I sort of live together. She is really smart and also funny—just ask her—though she knows virtually nothing about music or movies. Anyway, these are her nominations:

Political performances

  • John Fetterman’s Twitter feed
  • “That woman from Michigan” (she means Mallory McMorrow)
  • Volodymyr Zelensky: “I don’t need a lift”
  • Liz Cheney’s first January 6th speech
  • Brian Sicknick’s brother on why he wouldn’t shake hands with Mitch McConnell
  • The abortion doctor from Indiana who helped the child who was raped
  • Anything Jamie Raskin ever says
  • Obama’s speeches down the stretch

Books

(besides WE ARE NOT ONE: A HISTORY OF AMERICA’S FIGHT OVER ISRAEL)

  • Kathryn Schulz, Lost and Found
  • Ed Yong, An Immense World

TV shows

  • January 6th Committee hearings

Baseball

  • Aaron Judge
  • Shohei Ohtani
  • Edwin Díaz
  • Justin Verlander (at his age)
  • Steve Cohen’s end-of-year spending spree (LGM!)

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