It's past two a.m. and I'm only stopping work on principle. Right now I'm getting the word out about three books that are so brilliant I can't see straight when I think about them:
- Crust by Lawrence Shainberg (Two Dollar Radio, October). See: "No to Kindle, Yes to Object Status: Two small presses argue for books as art", Publishers Weekly
- Correspondences by Ben Greenman (Hotel St. George Press, November). See: "FW Exclusive: The New Yorker’s Ben Greenman Emails Us About Hating Computers," Flavorwire
- The Rowing Lesson by Anne Landsman (Soho Press, November). See: "Anne Landsman on the curse of the second novel," Maud Newton
Once upon a time I had a dream wherein I'd spend the month of December in Venice, preferably in a decrepit palazzo with a maid's room let out by some Marchesa Casati-type, or, more likely Casa de Uscoli, but now I'm much too busy to go. Luckily, "busy" in my metier means an endless stream of parties that you're invited to, of course. I have about a dozen events spanning literature, art, design, architecture, music (including one with PAUL SIMON next week!) and more before the end of the year and all of the latest details can always be found here (and not all of them are even posted, or confirmed, yet).
And if the past can be considered any indication of the future at all, I naturally expect that the very best books I publicized earlier in 2008 will be showing up on lots of lists of favorites, so why not yours? They are: Have You Found Her by Janice Erlbaum, Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee, Cost by Roxana Robinson and The Drop Edge of Yonder by Rudolph Wurlitzer.
"Upstairs at the Square" has concluded for 2008, and all of our blockbuster shows are online for your viewing pleasure. And I've started contributing to Very Short List, so you should sign up for that, although I don't think they've run any of my picks yet.
The real reason for this post, besides all of the above, which is a formidable prelude, is that I was asked not too long ago to expand a piece that I wrote for Lux Lotus for inclusion in a book. So I have to do that. And everything else. And then I'll be back; could be two days, two weeks, two months. If you know one thing about me by now, it's that I am frequently as surprised as anyone else by my, shall we say, mercurial nature. In the meantime, why not sign up for Luxletters? Maybe I'll send you one. XO.
Pictured: a photo of my moleskine notebook (with notes on this show).
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