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In Paperback
Now! Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl: A Nancy Chan Novel by Tracy Quan 0-609-81010-3 In Japanese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Hebrew and... Read an excerpt |
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| Thursday, May 23, 2002 Seeing/Believing In case you think I was hallucinating on Tuesday, Amazon UK did so have this special offer, featuring a deal on the Atkins Bible if paired with "Diary." For some reason, it has disappeared from their site today -- but so have other such two-book bargains. I won't take it personally. Still, there is the intriguing suggestion that people who bought Nancy's Diary are also buying into Atkins. (FWIW, I stuck to Atkins while writing this book but had trouble adhering when I did the Toronto-Ottawa tour. Too many new restaurants.) Tuesday night at the Gershwin was terrific. Neke Carson's two readers did a great job bringing his controversial ideas to life. Neke's daughter Lulu said a few words and Emily Prager (Wuhu Diary) was also present. Veronica Vera, Evert Eden and Les Barany showed up. And Michael Wiener was fabulously handsome in a flower hat. Next Tuesday May 28: Jonathan Ames at the Gershwin! Tuesday, May 21, 2002 Perfect Partners? (or: The Heart of the Matter) Just discovered that Amazon UK has bundled Nancy's Diary with Jasmine's Bible. Now some of you know exactly what this means. Well, I would like to think that this is the first time the Atkins diet has appeared as a subplot in an English-language novel. Every writer has the desire to be first at something. Admittedly, this is not an original theme. Didn't Graham Greene create a character who was obsessed with ridding the world of its social ills through an alkaline vegetarian diet? There are other examples of diet-as-literary-theme and surely there are other books on Amazon which are bundled with the Atkins New Diet Revolution. I don't want to make any preposterous or pretentious claims here. Still, it would be nice if I could be the first to have a novel about a sex worker bundled with the Atkins bible. And yes, it would be even nicer if mine could be the first Atkins subplot. And in case you are wondering about the condition of Dr Atkins' 71-year-old heart, here is the official, low-carb scoop. Friday, May 17, 2002 Coming This Tuesday 5/21...Save the Date! NEKE CARSON presents...in association with MICHAEL WIENER "Live" from the Gershwin Living Room at the Gershwin Hotel 7 East 27th Street, NYC (Between Fifth Ave and Madison Ave) at 8 pm Incredible music -- plus a few tips from artist, writer and curator NEKE CARSON .... Selections of his advice column "Tips" from Night Magazine will be read by downtown's favorite actor and personality EDGAR OLIVER along with Goodie Publisher and Living Room performer ROMY ASHBY... Cajun music to follow: zydeco accordion master JIMMY MACK along with his band Loup Garou in a rare unplugged set. Admission $5 No alcohol at the Gershwin but you can start by having a drink at Mad 28 restaurant located on Madison Ave. between 27th and 28th Street. Showtime at the Gershwin is at 8 pm... See you there! Bangkok by the Book Just back from Miami where I was treated to a restful and happy vacation. While there, I had a chance to meet with Tom Steinfatt, author of Working at the Bar: Sex Work and Health Communication in Thailand. A fascinating study of bar prostitution in particular, Steinfatt's latest is part of a series: Civic Discourse for the Third Millennium. An intriguing context for a topic that is often relegated to "gender studies" (much to my personal chagrin) or, worse yet, "women's studies." Upon my return, I discover email from Dave Walker, co-editor of Hello My Big Big Honey! Coincidence? Honey! is a collection of love letters to Bangkok bar girls -- written by their "farang" clients. A recent rave declares, "At the core of this amazing document are the interviews with the bar girls themselves," and describes the range of feelings a girl can have about her client -- "from the rankest capitalist contempt to the most tender compassion." (And why not? There are 24 hours in a day, after all.) These two books work well as an unmatched set. Steinfatt gets into the history of bar hooking and puts the Thai sex trade in context, arguing that working conditions are safer than those of the average Thai factory. Honey! is an obsessive look at romantic and financial need...The letters from these men to their paid companions are sometimes delusional and sometimes quite practical. I did end up caring (albeit briefly) about the guys who wrote them -- but it's better to have cared briefly than never to have cared at all. (And that might even be the moral of this book.) Wednesday, May 08, 2002 Metrotalks Issue 20 Cathy Hung interviewed me recently for this Chinese-language website. We met at the Starbucks where the fictional Allie met Jack ...and Jason, too, the cause of her falling out with Jack. Cathy asked me which parts of the novel are true, or "how much." Here's the thing -- the most invented stories are the ones that seem true to me. Are any of the characters based on real people? Yes, and sometimes I start thinking those people were invented by me. Until I get email from them, as in the case of Doug Henwood -- who would have to be invented were he not, in fact, real. The Starbucks, however, invented itself and was also in the Sunday Times Style section last fall.... I would love to see a translation of Cathy Hung's piece, or even a summarized translation, as I cannot read Chinese. Cathy was the first Chinese reporter in New York to cover the publication of my book last summer! So this is our "life-after-pub-date?" interview. Monday, May 06, 2002 The Morning After The Soirée was great fun -- a big thank you to the organizers from near and far who made yesterday's event a stimulating success. I especially enjoyed the performance of the Radical Cheerleaders -- emotionally spot-on and funny, too. Thank you to all the people who came! I had a chance to meet some who were "just email addresses" to me until yesterday. Speaking of email: If you exchanged email addresses with me at the event, I promise I will write -- as soon as I empty out my handbag. Sometimes that takes awhile, so if you have a pressing matter, I would love to hear from you via: TQ@tracyquan.net Sexual Scholars This Wednesday, May 8: I wish I could attend the CODE:RED Discussion Evening on Wednesday night! Location: APEX, 291 Church Street, New York City , 7 pm More details to follow but this will be a way nerdy event for people who take sex very very seriously. Topics include "public space and its control"... "parallel economies and marginal communities." Scarlot Harlot of San Francisco will be on the panel, so I recommend this event highly. Scarlot is a national treasure, by the way. This is the girl who invented "sex work." The terminology, not the, you know, thing itself. Thursday, May 02, 2002 Soon: Sunday May 5 I'll be at the Ultimate Sex Worker Conspiracy Soirée in Manhattan from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Speaking on the "Sex Worker Lit" panel at 3:45...signing books after the panel. Schmoozing. Location: True, 28 East 23rd Street (near Madison Avenue) 212.254.6117 Time: Entire event starts at 1 pm and goes 'til 7:00 Cash bar, donation at door (sliding scale, nobody will be turned away for lack of $) Some featured speakers & topics: "The state of sex workers' rights, local and global" (State of the Tart?) with updates on the Philadelphia Sex Workers Action Team, global sex work, anti-trafficking laws and more... Dr Honeypot on duty. Performances by David Sterry, Kim Aires, Mary Xmas and others... Tadej Pogacar, creator of CODE:RED, Director of the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art. If you can't make it to May 5, stay tuned for another CODE:RED event on Wed May 8. Aaron Lawrence, Shamus Outlaw, Shane Luitjens (aka Torque) and Synn Stern The full schedule: Conference & Party... Wednesday, May 01, 2002 The Trinidadian Diaspora Emru Townsend has redesigned his Critical Eye website, where our slightly contentious interview appeared last fall. Townsend and I have never met but I did feel a sibling bond informing our exchange. A Caribbean heritage (something we share) seems to be the cause of some extensive quibbling about sexual morality and infidelity...Townsend is eclectic -- he reviews books, cameras, tech toys, has interviewed Neil Gaiman and is obsessed with animation. Find him at: http://5x5media.com/eye/main/index.shtml |
