Although I have been there on several occasions, I don't care for the National Arts Club. And, judging from what I've read about the Accompanied Library, it doesn't much sound like my type of place either. Nonetheless, the reading by Akashic Books authors Bee Lavender (based in England) and Miles Marshall Lewis (based in Paris) was enough to get me there this evening, and although I can't say my initial impression seemed too far off the mark when I arrived, I am glad I went.
It was really marvelous to hear Bee Lavender, the first female author on Punk Planet's imprint for Akashic, read in an exquisite salon space that was co-founded by two women my age, Brooke Geahan and Iris Brooks, and offers a residency program for women writers (in New Orleans, LA, and St. Guiraud, France).
Bee's Lessons in Taxidermy is a brutal but honest portrait of her childhood, and Bee, with her gorgeous "cat's eye"-glasses and rich laugh, is the kind of writer who can convey in equal measure the circus-like humor and the outright terror of a scene that depicts a fistfight at a wedding, with young Bee traumatically losing sight of her "glamourously-named" mutt Casper - who hasn't left her side since being found dirty and covered in cigarette burns - and left banished in the yard to console a sobbing bride.
Her perspective in the book is unflinchingly authentic and clear-eyed, even when the subject matter is too painful for a child to fully comprehend: "In my family, women hit back. Sometimes, they hit first." Diagnosed with cancer at 12, she finds solace in having her own television and remote, which she watches all day to glean support and inspiration from the heroines of Dr. Who and The Avengers.
Miles Marshall Lewis, author of the memoir Scars of the Soul Are Why Kids Wear Bandages When They Don't Have Bruises, prefaced the short story he was reading with a few caveats, including the observation that he has written erotica in the past and this is his first foray into "neurotica." Called "What Did I Do To Get So Black and Blue," its hazy crumble of increasingly unfortunate events lent to the hectic, discordant life of its main character - a down-on-her-luck celebrity magazine editor - the depth that most of the denizens of New York's shallow media world so desperately lack. Peppered with references to a fictional fledgling title called "Shine", the antics of talentless and backstabbing editors, and an adulterous escapade known as "The Spice Market Incident", the story is a bristling tale of how easy it is to fail here that ultimately succeeds.
Afterwards, on my way out, I stopped to chat briefly with Akashic publisher Johnny Temple, one of the literary world's few actual rock stars (Girls Against Boys), and managing editor Johanna Ingalls, both of whom are very cool and fabulous. Iris Brooks, with her impossibly soigne up-do, seemed quite charming as well. If it weren't for her, I would have never found my way there (down the stairs, around the corner, turn left, at the end of the hall, take the elevator up to the sixth floor...). Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if I found my way back again.
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