The Boston Globe - 05.19.2019

Good Life

THE BOSTON GLOBE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2019

I constantly think about my

old friend and wonder if he

even thinks about me now.

PAGE 3

INSPIRATION

‘Trueisitthatwehave

seenbetterdays.’

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

LOVE LETTERS

Inside

MUSIC

BIGANDBOLD

ATTHEBSO

PianistYujaWangdazzles

withShostakovichconcerto

Page

STYLE

AGOODHARVEST

Velvets,twill,leather,and

woodinautumnalhuesset

thetonefortheseason

Page

By Michael Andor Brodeur
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
Hey, hey Weekenders! There’s a
slight chill and the piquant aroma of
fake pumpkins in the air, the evening
is starting to encroach upon us a little
earlier each day, and as leaves scatter
down the streets in tiny cyclones, so
too does my Facebook feed fill with ads
for deeply stupid Halloween costumes.
(Sexy goldfish? Really?)
It can only mean one thing: Octo-
ber is in full bloom, which is really just
a prettier way of saying that every-
thing around us is on the verge of
death, but never mind that. It’s pretty!
Thus, I’m doing something very un-
predictable this week and suggesting
you go out and experience everything
the weekend has to offer (and no, that
does not mean camping out at the
Pour House waiting for Rihanna to re-
turn).
Oh, and on a quick serious note, the
Weekender would like to raise its cof-
fee to Green Street Studios, which this
week announced its coming closure,
and I’d like to use this sad news as a re-
minder that our vibrant, various, and
vital local arts community relies on all
of us showing up and supporting it.
And if you don’t know where to begin,
that’s my cue to get started:
WILDCARD:OK, so just to get this

out of the way, Globe film critic Ty

Burr went and saw the already-contro-

versial origin story “Joker” for you,

gave it two stars and called it “a slab of

self-important pop-culture masonry

whose only bright spot is the figure

dancing brilliantly along its top.” So

there you go. Meanwhile, the Week-

ender film pick for this week is Japa-

nese director Takashi Miike’s (“13 As-

sassins”) “very deceptively titled” com-

ic thriller, “First Love.” Globe critic

Mark Feeney has 2½ stars for it, as

well as a bunch of questions: “Is ‘First

Love’ a comedy? A crime thriller? A

love story? An advertorial for subscrip-

tions to Guns and Ammo? Yes.” (One

thing it isn’t? “Joker.”)Nowscreening.

REELLIFE:What kind of Boston

Globe newsletter would I be if I didn’t

herd you all toward our annual deep

dive into documentaries? The fifth an-

nual GlobeDocs Film Festival is al-

ready underway and runsthrough

Sundayat Coolidge Corner Theatre,

Brattle Theatre, and Boston Show-

place Icon at the Seaport. If you hap-

pen to be in the market for stories

about healing and hope (for whatever

reason), the 16 features and six shorts

included in this year’s fest may be just

what the doctor ordered.

OUTOFOFFICE:Pumpkin spice isn’t

WEEKENDER,Page

By Jeneé Osterheldt
GLOBE COLUMNIST
The stories we tell ourselves stick
with us, the words and pictures im-
printed on our spirit.
We move through life with these
tales, allowing them to push and pull us
in different directions.
In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s new book, “The
Water Dancer,” storytelling, memory,
and passing on our truths is our power.
A superpower that helps liberate slaves.
In one passage, the character of Har-
riet Tubman says, “For memory is the
chariot, and memory is the way, and
memory is bridge from the curse of slav-
ery to the boon of freedom.”
In his reimagination of the Under-
ground Railroad, there is both the net-
work working to help enslaved people

escape to freedom as well as the magic

of conduction held by a few.

That magic is sparked by stories.

They are literally transported by telling

their stories.

In Boston, more and more groups

are gathering to explore these kinds of

stories and talk about how black litera-

ture moves them in thought, spirit, and

action.

These aren’t your traditional book

clubs. There’s a pop-up shop, a monthly

study hall, and a book nook in a bar,

too.

Clarrissa Egerton, who runs Frugal

Bookstore with her husband and co-

founder Leonard, says there’s been a lit-

tleboomattheRoxburybookstorein

the past couple of years.

BOOKS,Page

By Megan Johnson

GLOBE STAFF

O

ne-fifth of a mile. That’s all that

separates Row House and Row

Republic — two new rowing

studios that have popped onto

Boston’s booming boutique fit-

ness scene in the past few months.

That news came as a shock to Row House

co-owner Gyee O’Malley, who discovered Row

Republic’s proximity to her studio the same

day she signed the lease for the Lovejoy Wharf

location, which opened in September.

“We had just signed the lease when we real-

ized that they were opening,” says Gyee, who

co-owns the studio with her husband, Bob.

The proximity of the two studios shows

how Boston is like catnip for the boutique fit-

ness industry, which finds devoted clients in

young, upwardly-mobile professionals who

have money (and calories) to burn. While in-

door cycling studios have opened (and in some

cases, closed) all over Boston, rowing is now

cruising into the luxury fitness stratosphere,

with entrepreneurs crossing their fingers that

it will prove to be as profitable as the spin

craze.

“We went to SoulCycle and Barry’s Boot-

camp and other really good studios, and were

like, man, why is there not a rowing concept?”

says Row Republic co-owner Joey Tagliente,

who got into the sport after after a concussion

sidelined his college football career. His sister,

Kristina, with whom he co-owns the studio on

North Washington Street in the North End,

suggested he join the school rowing team.

Now, the Tagliente siblings are focused on

creating a hospitality experience around row-

ing. Their luxury studio, which opened in July,

combines rowing with strength training in a

bootcamp-style workout. Luxury amenities are

plentiful at their North End studio, where cli-

ents find everything from spa-style rain show-

er heads to complimentary DryBar products to

three types of water on tap (cold, sparkling, or

ambient).

Classes take place inside a room named

“Deep Blue,” where thumping music booms

overhead as a headset-clad instructor guides

class members while they hop on and off the

rowing machines during 50- or 60-minute

classes. Rowing machine 16 tends to be the

hottest commodity in the room, because users

can watch themselves in the mirror as they

row back and forth.

“We think this is the best indoor rowing

studio in the world,” says Joey. “We don’t think

you can go to any city in the world right now

ROWING,Page

THE WEEKENDER

GlobeDocs, presidential

drama, spooky sounds,

and a love supreme

WELL GO USA ENTERTAINMENT

Sakurako Konishi (left) and Masataka Kubota in “First Love.”

It’s Lit: Black booklovers remix the book club

ARAM BOGHOSIAN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Founded a year ago by Cierra Peters (left) and Arielle Gray, Print

Ain’t Dead is a pop-up shop.

‘We want to build

relationships and have

conversations. Some

of these books are

literally our books

that we’ve lived with

in our homes and

have sentimental

connection [to].’

CIERRA MICHELE PETERS

cofounder of Print Ain’t Dead pop-up

bookstore in Hyde Park

PHOTOS BY DAVID L RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

Rowing coach Julie Schaeffer at Row House at Lovejoy Wharf. Below: Row Republic owners Kristina Tagliente and brother Joey.

R o w, r o w,

row your

workout

Rowing studios are the latest fitness

craze to take over Boston