Do you have a birthday song? Something that encapsulates your feelings about another loop around the sun?
Guided By Voices’ “He’s the Uncle” is my birthday tune. The lyrics, “And I am getting old, aren't I?.” The noise (added by Jim O’Rourke). The misplaced nostalgia, “And the mosh pit is filled with memorabilia.” This could be my everyday theme song.
Kimya Dawson’s “Jest’s Birthday” gets an honorable mention. Sweet and ridiculous and a bit dark, just like life itself. The children in the background singing “Happy Birthday” makes the perfect counterpoint. I once saw Dawson sing it to a waitress in a restaurant during SXSW Music, accompanied by her tablemate who played the drums with a knife and fork on the table (using a water glass as a cymbal). One of my favorite live musical performances.
With my birthday next week, both these songs will be running through my head on repeat.
Largehearted Likes
The Tables of Contents reading series - A series that combines author readings, interviews about the food in their works, and a dish inspired by their book. This, along with the drinks available, makes all my dreams come true. I attended their first several events years ago when the series’ home was Egg in Williamsburg (as well as many others over the years), and am beyond thrilled that the series continues to thrive.
The New York City Marathon - We live on the marathon route in north Brooklyn, and sat on the front stoop cheering on the participants. While the city came together to celebrate the athletes’ efforts, I walked to Peter Pan Bakery for a donut, but the long line (mostly of NYPD police officers) turned me around and sent me home. So much irony.
Idra Novey’s novel Take What You Need - One of the best novels I have read in years. A moving and heartbreaking book about the power of art, connection, and the complex nature of love.
Meet Me in the Bathroom - Inspired by Lizzy Goodman’s book of the same name, this documentary captures the electricity of NYC’s indie scene of the early 2000s.
The Elephant 6 Recording Co. - This documentary of theAthens music collective was more entertaining and informative than I expected.
Hear Hear - I mentioned
in last week’s newsletter as one of my favorite sources of music discovery. The original playlists and music news are great, but I am most fond of the playlist links that Adam Offitzer shares. These links often soundtrack my day.The Lagniappe Sessions - Aquarium Drunkard is one of my favorite music spots online. Its eclectic taste and smart writing make it special, as do these posts where musicians share a handful of cover songs to stream and/or download.
MariNaomi - MariNaomi is a magnificently talented cartoonist and one of our finest storytellers. This week I shared their playlist for their dazzling and moving graphic memoir I Thought You Loved Me on Largehearted Boy, and proceeded to re-devour their previous books.
Coconut Milk Tea - Delicious and not too sweet, TeaMagic’s drinks have become my go-to spot for something refreshing on my way to or from work.
Stereogum’s The Anniversary feature - Covering iconic anniversaries of album releases, this series is enlightening to both the music and to how quickly time flies. A recent entry: the 20th anniversary of the Mountain Goats’ Tallahassee.
Friends who write - I think my memoir-in-progress is 95% written, and am at the point where I am looking at its pieces and trying to see the whole (or the holes). It is easy to be disheartened at this point (or any while writing, to be honest), but I am thankful to have friends who have been down this path and have advice or at least comforting words that propel me forward.
Largehearted Links
Harper Wave & Harper Business editor Rachel Kambury on why HarperCollins employees are striking
Because all we have to show for decades of hard work, in the form of bestsellers, books that have shifted the culture, books that have made iconoclasts out of everyday people, and billions in profits, is a prohibitively exclusive industry, in the country’s most expensive city…
Kevin Wilson’s interview with Entertainment Weekly on reading and writing
I need a little bit of dissonance to focus, so I tend to listen to anything that's super droney and hypnotic.
Sing for Science interviewed Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock about mushrooms
Micro interviewed Ada Calhoun about her recently published memoir and being a ghostwriter
As a ghostwriter, I’ve seen projects in various states of chaos and disorder and implosion. But I always thought of it as something that usually happened to other people. I was often brought in as a fixer on projects; that’s become, in the last few years, something that as a ghostwriter, I do often. Called in when the project seems to be falling apart. And then I come in and I save the day.
Lizzy Goodman’s interview with the directors of the documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom
Amina Cain interviewed about her first nonfiction book
There’s always an element for me in writing where I’m writing back to someone else who’s written something first. I’m writing to the writers I’ve written about or the books I’ve read that I connect most strongly to. But I think I’m also writing to friends who are writers or artists. They’re often in my mind.
Peter Brooks interviewed about his new book, Seduced by Story
I believe that there’s been a mindless proliferation of the notion of story and storytelling in our culture. I think all the battles about statues, for instance, and the naming of buildings, indicates that the story of who we are is very important to us. Storytelling has gotten out of hand—you go on any corporate website, and they tell you “Our Story.” What bothers me about that is the notion that “story” explains and justifies everything. Even in as benign an organization as NPR and their StoryCorps, the notion is story is, in and of itself, self-justifying, beneficent, and something we should all pay attention to. And I think that’s hogwash.
Last Week’s LHB Feature Posts:
Anjali Joseph's Playlist for Her Novel "Keeping in Touch"
Olesya Salnikova Gilmore's Playlist for Her Novel "The Witch and the Tsar"
Sara Lippman's Playlist for Her Novel "Lech"
Stephanie Feldman's Playlist for Her Novel "Saturnalia"
Stephen Policoff's Playlist for His Novel "Dangerous Blues"