Welcome to Cherchez La Femme

travel with me to the 1970s

Hello! Ciao! Bonjour!

Welcome to Cherchez La Femme. So glad you found your way here. This is my Substack: a place for exploration and discussion—mostly about crime fiction, feminist thought, and the 1970s.

A word of explanation. I was at my desk, doing research for my forthcoming police procedural set in the late 1970s, looking for a little background color in the form of Norman Lear sitcoms and punk rock and gas-rationing when I became curious about the decade’s social upheavals and fell deep into the rabbit hole that is the internet. I think the trope of being hit by a firehose of information best describes the experience. I eventually emerged with a few thoughts and many questions on two of the era’s great movements; namely, the sexual revolution and second wave feminism. Then I did even more research – peer reviewed articles, dozens of books, a handful of documentaries and two Zoom interviews. Armed with knowledge and opinions that couldn’t possibly fit into my novel, I started writing a longform essay centered on two pivotal issues of Playboy. The spin-off was an unexpected turn.

A word about spin-offs. There are over 6,000 items made from petroleum waste by-products. So says Wikipedia. By-product has a harsh sound, but the refining process gives us more than fertilizer, floor tiles, insecticide, soap, vitamins, and essential amino acids. There are also beautiful things. Perfume and vinyl records.

Here is my hope for this Substack: for the offshoots from my novel to have the warm tones of music spun on a turntable and to be as useful as tile flooring.

A word about the 1970s. Did I mention my crime fiction takes place in the era of Columbo and Kojak and The Rockford Files? The culture and mores were different then, yet the decade keeps echoing into the current moment. It’s a time worth revisiting. The novelist L. P. Hartley calls the past “a foreign country.” The words suggest actual travel.

If setting off on a rickety bus to explore the idiosyncrasies of a new city or asking a cabbie for the best red sauce restaurant is how you adventure. If you’ve ever found a bar that served homemade pierogis or you happened on the world’s largest paintball (which, I’m told, is in Alexandria, Indiana). If your best travel experiences let you peel back the veneer of wherever you were visiting and made you think about the world a little differently, then going back to a time of policing before cell phones and CCTV cameras and DNA evidence might be for you.

Here’s what you can expect in my posts:

• Essays about feminism and the shifting of gender roles that began in 1970s, beginning with my series about two vintage issues of Playboy

• Recommendations for movies and music and books that capture the vibe (oh no, did I actually say that?)

• Writing/thoughts on the time and the place circling around my debut crime novel, a police procedural set in Paterson, NJ circa 1979 (set for release by High Frequency Press in 2024)

In closing, and in keeping with the hard-boiled nature of my chosen genre, my Substack has a signature cocktail, the Sidecar, up with a sugar rim. See Episode Notes, below.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Next Thursday:

Coming up, we’ll begin with a look at how Playboy, the media and second wave feminism closed out the 1970s, starting with the introduction to a longform essay centered on two 1979 issues of Playboy.

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Episode Notes

The Sidecar is a cocktail of endless variety.

Here’s one popular version:

2 ounces VSOP Cognac, Armagnac, or a good California brandy
1 ounce Cointreau
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice, to taste
Superfine sugar, for garnish

Other recipes call for Bourbon instead of Cognac. For anyone who prefers their cocktails without all the fancy additions, no Cointreau or lemon juice, basically straight Bourbon, that’ll be just fine.

This Week’s Recommendation

“Why Is Everyone Watching ‘Columbo’ Right Now?” By Cameron Gorman

This Week’s Music

“We’ve Only Just Begun,” Carpenter’s cover by Grant Lee Buffalo (on Spotify and Amazon Music)