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Jeff Weinstein's Cultural Mixology

No. 1 Ladies’ Detective — With Apostrophe, Praise

April 6, 2009 by Jeff Weinstein

no1-ladies-detective04.jpg

Rarely has this writer, even in the guise of critic, thought it wise to promote a product without immersing the recommendation in a cleansing bath of context. A pleasing exhibition? Look at the history, the economy that produced the work. A fine restaurant? Look at the economy, the history that … . 

Yes, I know. But the result need not be hortatory or didactic, and may be at least a bit more defensible than writing long-form blurbs.

Except in this case. I want you to watch a new HBO series, period. It’s rich with detail, tells charming stories — and has all the context anyone would require. Jill Scott stars as Botswana’s Mma Precious Ramotswe, founder of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (she beat Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Queen Latifah and many others for the role).

The first two episodes match the easy pace, heightened sense of place — filmed entirely in Botswana — and deceptive simplicity of the books upon which they are based, an immensely popular series by Alexander McCall Smith. Here’s what I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer when one of those books came out, and so far, the new version confirms my praise:

ladydetective.doc

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Filed Under: main Tagged With: Alexander McCall Smith, books, HBO, No. 1 Ladies Detective, TV

Comments

  1. Nancy says

    April 29, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    I’m loving the series…the cast is just perfect, and the slow pace and the quality of the production is exactly right.

Jeff Weinstein

Based in New York, I've been an editor of arts coverage at New York's "Soho Weekly News" (1977-79); of visual arts and architecture criticism and much else at the "Village Voice" (1981-95, with a stint as managing editor of "Artforum"); of the fine arts at the "Philadelphia Inquirer" (1997-2006); of arts and culture at "Bloomberg News" (2006-07). Until recently... Read More…

Out There

The media make a potentially fatal mistake by dividing arts coverage into high and low, old and young, and by trivializing our passionate attraction to things. In Out There I propose that all creative expression has the potential to be both … [Read More...]

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I wrote and narrated a Daylight Magazine slideshow (click on "Read more" below to access it and the rest), an appreciation of the late photographer Milton Rogovin. Also one about the late photographer Helen Levitt. To go back in time, kindly click … [Read More...]

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