The Washington Post - 22.08.2019

we’re deep in an epidemic of sleepless-

ness. The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention says a third of us aren’t getting

the recommended seven hours of uncon-

sciousness. Like Wordsworth, we lurch up

each morning lamenting that we “could

not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth.” A

story in The Washington Post noted that a

growing number of scientists are calling

our lack of sleep “an escalating public

health crisis.”

But these doctors and “sleep special-

ists” are only now catching up with what

so many have endured for years. The

evidence of our nightly torment is tucked

between the sheets of countless books. If

that’s not a comfort, at least it’s company.

F. Scott Fitzgerald called it “sleep-con-

SEE NOTEBOOK ON C2

There’s an old, noble family in Italy

cursed with a rare, inherited disease

called fatal familial insomnia. It strikes in

middle age when victims suddenly find

that they cannot sleep. From there, they

have about 15 months left, a horrifying

period of fully conscious degeneration

ending in death.

I think about those doomed Italians

while I lie awake at night staring at the

ceiling. In the dark, my sweaty torment

feels special. I imagine myself like Walt

Whitman in “The Sleepers” wandering

about, admiring everybody else lost in

unconsciousness: “How solemn they look

there, stretch’d and still.”

Sorry, Walt. In reality, lots of us aren’t

sleeping.

Unless you’ve nodded off, you know

BY RON CHARLES

KLMNO

Style

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/STYLE EZ SU C

BY BETHONIE BUTLER

Former White House press sec-

retary Sean Spicer will compete

alongside Christie Brinkley,

James Van Der Beek and other

notables on the upcoming season

of “Dancing With the Stars,” but

show host Tom Bergeron isn’t on

board with the casting decision.

After Spicer and his Season 28

castmates — the usual mix of

athletes, singers, actors and reali-

ty stars — were announced

Wednesday on “Good Morning

America,” Bergeron tweeted an

informal statement that did not

mention Spicer by name but

clearly addressed his addition to

the cast. Bergeron said he met

with the show’s new executive

producer a few months ago, and

he thought they agreed the reality

competition’s upcoming season

should “be a joyful respite from

our exhausting political climate

and free of inevitably divisive

bookings from ANY party affilia-

tions.”

“Subsequently (and rather ob-

viously), a decision was made to,

as we often say in Hollywood, ‘go

in a different direction,’ ” the

veteran host added. “We can

agree to disagree, as we do now,

but ultimately it’s their call.”

Bergeron had hinted at his

displeasure — albeit, in a less

serious tone — on GMA, where he

joked, “The nice thing is that Sean

will be in charge of assessing

audience size.”

Bergeron isn’t alone in his sen-

timents about the former aide.

Exhibit A: the many harsh replies

to Spicer’s tweet celebrating the

announcement. “He danced

around so many questions while

he worked in the White House

that this should be a piece of

cake,” one user wrote.

Spicer began his White House

tenure with the infamous (and

provably false) claim that Presi-

dent Trump’s inauguration drew

the largest crowd ever. He later

said he “absolutely” regretted the

declaration, which resurfaced on

social media following the DWTS

announcement — along with oth-

er blatantly dishonest comments

Spicer made during his six

months in the White House.

Many brought up his troubling

claim that Adolf Hitler “didn’t

even sink to using chemical weap-

ons” while discussing the Trump

administration’s stance on al-

leged chemical weapons use by

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Others referenced his consistent-

ly contemptuous treatment of

journalists tasked with covering

all aspects of the administration.

SEE SPICER ON C4

BY MICHAEL DIRDA

“If you see something, say

something.” But what if you see

something or suspect something

and do nothing. What then?

After every murderous atroci-

ty, the police, news media and,

these days, our White House

tweeter-in-chief reflexively spec-

ulate about the motives and psy-

chology of the perpetrator. Might

there have been warning signs or

red flags? Half the time, he — it is

usually a he — is described as

quiet, a loner, maybe just a bit

odd, not at all the kind of person

to do something horrific. Surely,

though, some family members,

friends or neighbors must have

occasionally felt uneasy or had

their suspicions?

In 1913 Marie Belloc-Lowndes

addressed this haunting question

in the one novel she is remem-

bered for: “The Lodger.” Based on

the Jack the Ripper murders of

1888 — which, incidentally, began

in late August — it remains even

now a brilliant work of psycho-

logical suspense. In its pages,

however, Belloc-Lowndes focuses

less on a Ripper-like killer called

“The Avenger” than on an ordi-

nary, middle-aged woman named

Mrs. Bunting.

Once a devoted, punctilious

maid in various upper-class

households, Ellen Bunting now

misses the security of her old life.

After marrying a widowed butler,

she and Mr. Bunting left service,

hoping to make their way by

leasing a house off London’s

Marylebone Road and renting up-

stairs rooms to lodgers. Things

haven’t worked out and, as the

novel opens, the Buntings are on

the verge of starvation. “Never,

SEE BOOK WORLD ON C2

BY LISA BONOS

Daters often seek out matches
who are carbon copies of them-
selves: Fitness buffs swipe right
on potential running buddies.
Liberals announce in their dating
profiles that supporters of Presi-
dent Trump should swipe left.
Sometimes those with strong
connections to their religious or
ethnic backgrounds prefer some-
one whose upbringing mirrors
their own.
What would happen if singles
sought pairings specifically for
their differences? This is a ques-
tion Tunde Wey, a chef and activ-
ist, is serving up alongside dishes
from his native Nigeria. Earlier
this year in Pittsburgh and this
month in Washington, Wey host-
ed matchmaking dinners where
he’s paired U.S. citizens with non-
naturalized immigrants with the
intention of creating couples in
which one person might share
their citizenship privilege with
the other.
It’s an idea explored on the
popular reality-TV show “90 Day
Fiance,” soon starting its sixth
SEE LOVE ON C3

Can Spicer

sidestep

controversy

on DWTS?

BOOK WORLD

One ripping good yarn

about a nocturnal loner

Matchmaking, with a side of altruism

A D.C. chef hosts dinners in hopes of spurring relationships that lead to fiance visas

MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST

Chef Tunde Wey serves Nigerian dishes during a matchmaking dinner at Thamee in the District. “The

outcome is not as important as the demonstration,” Wey says of his dinners.

THE LODGER

By Marie Belloc-

Lowndes

Chicago Review

Press.

Paperback,

252 pp. $14.95

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK

Woke about insomnia

There’s an array of

books about the lack of

slumber. But they’re

not helping me sleep.

ISTOCK

Former press secretary

will compete, but show’s

host questions the move