Brilliant Corners

Most of us, most of the time, live in the world of good enough. On a Saturday, we might drive our Ford Fiesta to pick up a polo shirt at Banana Republic, then dine at Outback Steakhouse, and later get ready for bed with a mug of Celestial Seasonings Caramel Apple Dream tea while watching an episode of Hoarder House Flippers.

Whenever I spend time in Vienna, I never think I'm going to eat schnitzel every day, but somehow it happens anyway. The truth is that when done right, schnitzel is a scientifically perfect dish: unexpectedly light, texturally complete, and oddly comforting.

About a decade ago, The Wall Street Journal posted a short video about Itsushi Hamasaki, a diffident and rather nondescript man living in Tokyo. To free up money for his loudspeakers—a pair of hulking horns costing north of $100,000—Hamasaki lives in a 250 ft² apartment and hasn't bought a stitch of clothing in 15 years.