Today, Riverhead Books published their edition of Other People We Married. I could not be more excited–the book still has the same gorgeous cover, designed by my handsome husband, and has some nice new blurbs from Karen Russell, Kelly Link, and Thisbe Nissen, and all the typos have been fixed. Hooray!
Tomorrow night, I’m joining my fellow Sackett Street instructors and alums Ted Thompson, Jessica DuLong, and Keija Parsinnen at BookCourt. I’ve loved all my Sackett Street classes, and I’m really excited to be a part of the community. Come if you’re free! There are secret copies of the Riverhead edition of Other People We Married available, too! Come if you can.
If you live in New York City, you have three more days to get to the Film Forum to see Otto Preminger’s ‘Laura,’ one of the best movies of all time–it’s noir, it’s hysterically funny, it’s got great costumes, and a man who writes his gossip column (on a typewriter) in the bathtub. I went this afternoon, and discovered a heretofore hidden secret truth: if you have Judith Anderson speak the word ‘adored,’ you have a perfect movie. (Note: the above image is a still from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca,’ and features Anderson, on the left, as Mrs. Danvers, a wonderfully evil domestic, which is, of course, the best kind of all, as all lovers of the BBC’s Downton Abbey well know.)
Most Underused Actor: Casey Affleck
Okay, so yes, technically I feel like I’m related to Casey Affleck, which I grant you is weird and kind of creepy, but I feel I can still be objective about this. Casey endeared himself to me forever with the classic song “I had a double burger,” which is the kind of thing I sing all day long. He was the best part of Tower Heist, he got artsy with Joaquin, he’s got a funny shaped mouth and I just love him to pieces.
Best Sax Solo of All Time, Ever: My dear friend Ian Young, playing with M83
Though 2011 was the year the Big Man departed for the astral plane, it was also the year that rock n roll rediscovered the saxophone. The highlight of that trend was M83 hiring my friend Ian to blow people’s minds. Exhibit A.
Best Book I Forgot to Put on My Best Of List: Amor Towles’ Rules of Civility
This first novel made me giggle with delight. I want sixteen more just like it. Rich kids and strivers in New York in the 30s? Doormen? Love triangles? Car wrecks? Yes please!
Best Baked Good that I Didn’t Make: City Bakery‘s Pretzel Croissant
How did no one tell me about these before 2011? It’s like everything I love, all together. If only they made a chocolate pretzel croissant. But this one will do for the foreseeable future.
Best Play: Lynn Nottage’s By The Way, Meet Vera Stark
Okay, yes, so a lot of my Top Picks have to do with the 1930s, and Hollywood, and glamorous ladies. So sue me! I was doing research. Nottage’s play, about a young African-American actress and the woman she works for, had me on the edge of my seat, and it wasn’t just because I was staring at Spike Lee and his wife, who were at the safe performance.
Best Idea We Ever Had: Houseswapping
This July, we spent a month in LA. We swam and ate guacamole and I worked my ass off. I want to do it every year, forever. If you live somewhere else and would like to spend a few weeks in Brooklyn with the two most beautiful cats in the world, holler at me. Places we like: Oregon, Maine, Texas, California, anywhere. Seriously, holler. This is where I live.
Best Restaurants: Gjelina (Los Angeles), Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, NY), the Russian Tea Room (NYC)
My husband took me to Blue Hill at Stone Barns to celebrate the sale of my novel. It was a lovely way to mark a very hectic and exciting and overwhelming period of time. Shockingly expensive, but how many times do you sell your first novel? Only once.
People I’m Going to Miss: Coach Taylor and his crew.
I know a lot of people who don’t watch television, which I suppose is their prerogative, but they’re missing out on some of the best, most heartbreaking narratives of our day. Case in point: Friday Night Lights. Do you know how much I care about football? Not at all. Not at ALL. Do you know how much I cried during the course of this series about high school football in texas? A lot. A LOT. It’s poetry, pure and simple. Ignore the second season. Everyone makes mistakes. The only thing that is mending the hole in my heart is Parenthood, also written by Jason Katims, who is clearly the best person in the world.
2012 is going to be a biggie, and I’m looking forward to it. Clear eyes, full hearts.
I am a bit of a grinch (more on that next week), but this year, I’ll be damned if I didn’t find a little holiday spirit lurking deep within the depths of my soul.
Reason #1:
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe asked me to participate in their Second Annual Christmas Carol Marathon this afternoon, and I read alongside VIP humans such as Ira Glass, Law and Order’s Jill Hennesey, Stringer Bell’s lawyer, Lorin Stein, John Hodgman, and then about 50% of my Twitter friends, including Julie Klam, Ann Leary, Alexander Chee, Elissa Schappell, Kurt Andersen, AND SO MANY MORE. My first “job” in high school was at Housing Works (quotation marks because it was a volunteer position, but still), and I love the whole operation. If being in a giant bookstore filled with people listening to Charles Dickens doesn’t warm the cockles of your heart, well, then, how very sad for you.
Reason #2:
One of my favorite customers came into BookCourt on Friday with a holiday card for me–she is the mother of an extremely cute child, and he and I flirt shamelessly whenever possible. When I finally opened the card, after they had left, what I read made me cry. Here is what it sad: “Just wanted to say thank you for your kindness and warmth though out the first year of xxxx’s life. I know it’s your job to be pleasant, but you’ve gone beyond the call of duty to make us feel welcome every time we visit BookCourt. Best of all, you’ve made the book store a place that xxxx loves and have helped instill a lifelong love of books–the greatest gift of all.”
You see? Just like that, this Scrooge is ready to deck the halls. The world can be such a glorious place.
Question: what do you do when Wesley Stace invites to read with Rosanne Cash, John Hodgman, Eugene Mirman, Hamilton Leithauser, Craig Finn, Paul Harding and John Darnielle?
Answer: you say yes. You wear heels. You double up on the hair poufs. And then, when everyone else is somewhere else, coating their golden throats with whiskey or tea or mini hamburgers, you take a picture of yourself alone in the dressing room, wicked stoked.
Everyone was amazing. And, I must say, though Paul Harding was indeed Pulitzer-worthy, and John Hodgman and Eugene Mirman were both hilarious (HILARIOUS), I was most blown away by my compatriots who opened their mouths and let songs fly out. It is impossible to listen to Rosanne Cash sing ‘Seven Year Ache’ and not feel like you are in the presence of a truly otherworldly talent. Plus, her cowboy boots were the platonic ideal of cowboy boots, which helps on the otherworldly plane, I am told.
Should you not previously have had the pleasure, allow me.
Forget January–for me, the new year always starts in September, with a new batch of pens and notebooks and sweaters in autumnal shades. Even though I’m no longer in school, I still get excited when September arrives.
This year, September means two things: finishing my novel revision and sending it off to my editor, and lots of super, super cool events. Like what, you ask?
September 12th: Franklin Park Reading Series, with Michael Showalter, who I know likes cats and BookCourt and is therefore already my best friend.
September 18th: The Brooklyn Book Festival, which I have been dying to be a part of since its inception.
September 22nd: Reading with Jennifer Egan at Pete’s Candy Store. Order an issue of Girl Crush and see how excited I really am.
See what I mean? It’s time for some major back-to-school shopping. See you at the mall.
Me too! It was so much fun. And now you can listen to the whole thing! Click here to join the party. And you don’t even have to get dressed/drive across town/fly across the country! I like to make things easy for you.
It was hard to leave Los Angeles, but the promise of more delicious food and more gorgeous faces made it a teensy bit easier.
The theme of the trip so far has been this: it's okay to spend more money on a car/hotel if it means the experience will be more pleasant. We are still learning this lesson. The highlight of the car rental experience was picking up a copy of the SF Chronicle, which had this giant picture of my face.
The Booksmith is a fabulous bookstore, with a giant back room where I got to pretend that I was famous. It was kind of like going to the bathroom in a restaurant, which magically makes your food appear. When I came out of the back room, the audience was full. Amazing!
I like to talk with my hands.
My cousins, who now fall into the 'sisters or mother/daughter?' mystery category.
Jessi is getting married tomorrow, AND it's her birthday tomorrow, AND she still came to my reading. Everybody else, your excuses suck.
Nobody tell them there's a story in the book about sisters who hate each other.
This is about as punk rock as I'm ever going to get.
Kate is cute, part one. (Booksmith Edition.)
Caitlin Roper, Dream Date.
I imported Mike and Jenny from New York, and then forced them to sit in the front row.
Joey is the best, and here's why: he brought me a giant box of fancy chocolate AND a DVD cover of Strange Powers for both of us to sign, in addition to my book. What a sweetie. I should mention that another friend brought salted caramels, and a total stranger made lemon bars! Whatever I'm doing, it's working. When I'm 400 pounds, it'll be your fault, people, but I love you for it.
All my friends have cute glasses. This is a truth.
Kevin was my middle school French and Latin teacher. Here's how much French and Latin I know: rien. But isn't he adorable?
Did I mention that the fancy chocolates were golden and shining and beautiful? They were.
Kate is cute, part two. (Tartine Edition.)
Now we’re in Marin County for the weekend, where I plan to stroll around and look at beautiful vistas, drink wine, and watch a friend get married. A lovely end to a month away. California, thank you for having me. It’s been hella good.
