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September 27, 2005 Diary of a Married Call Girl Barnes & Noble 2 E. 18th Street corner 5th Ave. NY, NY 10003 Thursday 9/29/05 Reading/Signing @ 6 PM Dip Into Chapter One |
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| Sunday, September 25, 2005 A Love That Dares Not Broadcast Its Price When the moon so long has been gazing down On the wayward ways of this wayward town That her smile becomes a smirk, I go to work. According to Kitty Carlisle Hart (still going strong at 90-something), Cole Porter's pop classic Love For Sale was banned on the radio when it first came out. Let the poets pipe of love in their childish way, I know every type of love Better far than they. Because of its lyrics! I wonder what Tipper Gore would make of that?? She probably finds it to be a quaint, rather sensitive, and highly literate, song about a lady of the night. But, yeah, it's kind of defiant: Better far than they. And Billie Holiday, who recorded it in 1945, had once worked in a brothel. Whatever the reason, it was shocking then. Something to keep in mind, as newer media evolve and more shock factors emerge. (Cole Porter's witty showtune Anything Goes, has the last word on "shock value.") I love the many versions of Love For Sale, Ella's being a notable one. As a teen hooker, I listened to it night and day because it appealed to my Inner Drama Queen. Bigtime. But my current favorite is by Dianne Reeves -- it really hits the spot. You have to have it. Soooo audacious. I needed it then but have it now. Friday, September 23, 2005 Book Tour Updates This Sunday! Radio date in Philly with Peter Solomon: Sunday morning 9/25 at 6:10 AM Listen live at http://www.610wip.com/ Thursday, September 22, 2005 Sunday 9/25 New Orleans House Party To directly benefit those affected and displaced by Hurricane Katrina: Fundraiser at Frank's Cocktail Lounge starts at 7:00 on Sunday night, and will persist until at least 12 midnight. DJs Jockomo (Jacob Blick) and WFMU Soul Expert Mr. Fine Wine will combine their vinyl resources to deliver a serious dose of real New Orleans Soul and Rhythm 'n' Blues! 100% of door proceeds are going to local Louisiana churches and organizations who have been directly responding to the crisis. For more details: http://www.33-13.com/ Complimentary Creole food provided by Restaurant New Orleans $8 minimum donation Sunday, September 25 7PM – 12AM or later FRANK’S COCKTAIL LOUNGE 660 Fulton Street, Ft. Greene Brooklyn, 11217 1-718-625-9339 http://frankscocktaillounge.com Tuesday, September 20, 2005 Getting Published Do you have a book idea that feels like it's almost there? Come to Barnes and Noble, Fifth Avenue @ 18th Street, Manhattan on Thursday, Sept 22 @ 6:00 pm! Putting Your Passion Into Print with David Sterry and Arielle Eckstut, two brilliant (and widely published) industry insiders: http://www.puttingyourpassionintoprint.com/ How to: * Choose the right idea * Perfect your pitch * Come up with a blockbuster title * Create an airtight book proposal * Locate and land the right agent * Understand your contract * Get P-A-I-D on time! Arielle runs the San Francisco office of the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. David's the best-selling author of Chicken plus three forthcoming books: two young adult novels (to be published by Dutton in 2006 and 2007) and Master of Ceremonies (Grove/Atlantic, 2006). They totally know the score. Saturday, September 17, 2005 Weekend Reading: In Tomorrow's NY Times Book Review I'm enjoying Jennifer Egan's review of "Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture" by Ariel Levy -- and I share some of her dismay. I mean... what's with all the Cardio Striptease classes? Just seems like too much of a gimmick to me. Jenna Jameson made it clear in her memoir that real stripping is hard on the body, neither a cakewalk nor an ideal path to fitness. The strippers I know are doing Pilates, yoga, weight training and martial arts to stay healthy. Not "stripper-cise." Same is true for hookers who also experience physical stress. Sex industry workers spend lots of time and money on physical therapy, relaxation treatments and health care. The suffering of those sex workers who can't afford such antidotes needs our attention. It's absolutely true that women outside the sex trade are being sold a bill of goods about how easy, "empowering" or fun this work is. While it can be fun, there are dues to be paid. Power extracts a price. But Egan seems to think commercial sex is always in league with public displays of raunch culture. It's more complicated. Many women in prostitution view themselves as traditional beings clinging to a subtler, more feminine, aesthetic than we now see in porn, at lapdancing clubs or on MTV. The old world concept of the gentleman is alive and well in the world of prostitution. Respectful admiration is valued. Romantic Cinderella fantasies are still alluring but these tend to bubble below the surface, in the private sphere of the prostitute's mind. A deeply independent streak might render those fantasies moot in the cold light of day but still... prostitution is far less raunchy and brutal than some of the mainstream dating rituals I've witnessed. As a former hooker, I'm shocked by things that happen between college students! Puzzled by the stuff my single male friends continue to get away with -- not with sex workers but with civilians. Perhaps Egan and Levy have been seduced by all the visuals at the carnival. From a distance, the sex industry appears larger than life. Close-up, you will see that it's not just a parade of bigger 'n' better plastic breasts. Or bright new lower organs. In the most traditional areas of the sex trade, where people don't just gawk and stare, there's room for civilized interaction. The problem Levy and Egan are looking at is real: women outside the sex industry don't have much contact with the intimate side of commercial sex. So, they can be conned into embracing the most visible hype -- the superficial sleaziness of "raunch culture." Ironically, men who aren't in the sex industry can more easily sample its intimate, humanizing secrets. Those men are well aware that internet porn, phone sex and lapdancing contain a cartoon component. But they don't tend to discuss their findings with the civilian women in their lives. Prostitution's a zone where people can experience off-the-record intimacy which is uniquely its own thing and quite varied -- illicit, awkward, friendly, disturbing, joyful, tense, kind or even resentful. It's a very mixed bag of emotions. This isn't apparent to people who just glance at the covers of a sex work memoir (without reading), who reduce all sex work to its most recent or blatant manifestations, or see us only as the body parts we use in our daily work. In closing, Egan asks: "Many women can buy their own plane tickets and pay their own rent. Why, then, do they persist in watching themselves through male eyes?" Because men are part of our lives. They're approximately half the human race. In order to relate to them, romantically, sexually, in any capacity, we need to imagine how they see us. Males who are capable of returning this favor we refer to as men. Or even gentlemen. Those who can't may simply remain boys for life. Being able to see yourself through the eyes of an outsider also gives you an advantage. Sometimes, it gives you the upper hand. A zero-sum approach to heterosexuality is a dead end. Yes, okay, the sexes are always at war but every war has its spies, collaborators, informants, scapegoats and, of course, convenient allies. (Oh, and let's not forget the "embeds.") Some people who have yet to figure this out are like the walking wounded, casualties of the mating battle. The real problem with raunch culture as a "way of seeing" isn't that it's male -- it's how infantile or unsubtle it is. Thursday, September 15, 2005 Diary of a Married Call Girl: Upcoming Events New York Thursday, September 29, 2005 6:00 PM Reading/Book-signing Barnes & Noble 2 E. 18th Street (corner Fifth Avenue) New York, NY 10003 212-675-5500 Philadelphia Wednesday, October 5, 2005 7:00 PM Reading/Book-signing Barnes & Noble 1805 Walnut Street (Rittenhouse Square) Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-665-0716 New York Thursday, October 6, 2005 4:00-6:00 pm Meet the Author/Book-signing Come Again Bookstore 353 East 53rd Street (between First & Second) New York, NY 10022 212-308-9394 Please stay tuned for more events...to be announced. Wednesday, September 14, 2005 The Passion of the Penguins, The Ascendance of the Stork Theory and Other Good News These poor penguins. Not only do they trek for who knows how many endless days in the snow just to get their first snack in weeks. Then back to the breeding ground just to ensure that their chicks won't die of starvation. Now they find themselves in bed with... the religious right! Who claim that this film promotes "monogamy." What is this thing called monogamy? If you think monogamy is having a sexual monopoly on one partner for decades at a clip, March of the Penguins doesn't really endorse that. What this film clearly shows is that monogamy's a breeding strategy and, as such, is not terribly permanent. These penguins get together and stay connected for as long as it takes to bring their offpsring into the world. As soon as the smaller penguins become self-sufficient, as I understand it, the parental penguins start moving on. If they are successful, in the Darwinian sense, they will probably hook up with new talent during the next season. Variety is the necessary ingredient, not just the spice, of surviving. As a species. (Though some of you will argue that spice is a necessary ingredient, too, and I won't disagree.) So monogamy is quite a seasonal affair in the South Pole. Does that mean penguins are relativists? Decadent beings? Adulterous heathens? Well, maybe, but that's really up to the individual believer. If there is a message here, it's that creatures like us who yearn to stay connected to a mate for much longer than a season... need to understand what we're up against! And act/plan/get to the gym/take care of business... accordingly! Monogamy's easy for penguins because it's very short-term! What I suspect is that too many of these religious cranks are focusing only on what happens to the penguins during the movie which lasts for about one hour. But a penguin's life span is longer than that. After the movie ends, the penguins "divorce" and "remarry". So much for their family values which were, you could argue, central to the movie. And these viewers must have tuned out some of the narration because the seasonal nature of the pair-bond is mentioned at least once! Were they chewing their popcorn too loudly at that point? This is a case of human beings hearing what we want to hear on the subject of monogamy. In some sense, this movie is really about people, rather than penguins. Which is not surprising, for movies are made by people, not by penguins. As for any bizarre claims that this is a movie about "intelligent design," I think this blurb spotted in my current ish (print version) of Guardian Weekly sums it up nicely: "Intelligent design belongs in a biology class as much as the stork theory belongs in a sex education class." Quite so. Saturday, September 10, 2005 Emotional Bandwidth Today, I saw March of the Penguins. A few thoughts. The narrator, Morgan Freeman, announces right up front that this is a love story. As some of you know, I love a love story, but I don't know if I agree with him. The story of the emperor penguins is any kind of story you want it to be (unless you're a penguin.) My first thoughts upon leaving the movie house: 1. Intelligent De- what? Penguins are not intelligently designed or, rather, their lives aren't. They are, on the surface, quite beautiful. Yes, they have lovely, elegant markings. Inspiring. But: What thinking entity created these critters? What a superficial, inefficient designer. Impressive coat, risky and gruelling lifestyle, high infant mortality rate. (Well, I'm not sure how high the infant mortality rate is but it doesn't look pretty.) If this is intelligent design, then I suppose we have to talk about a punishing god versus a feel-good deity. Okay. I guess that was inevitable. 2. The facts of death were touched upon, then buried quickly. Those adult penguins who cannot make it go to sleep and "disappear" -- but how do they "disappear"? Later, a predatory bird comes along and bullies the baby penguins -- but when things are about to get rough and, perhaps, gory, the audience is spared that particular trauma. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's a commercial vehicle, after all, not an educational ordeal. I don't mean that death was ignored; it was happening throughout the film. But I had the feeling "die" is a dirty verb in this culture. 3. Some have said that March of the Penguins is all about parental love. I think it's about mobility. These penguins, travelling such long distances back and forth, just to get food for themselves and their young, are not hampered by checkpoints or xenophobic officials. They have enough to deal with, and some die before they complete the circuit. (They can also end up being eaten by seals.) It's nearly impossible to comment on animals without projecting some human problem or story onto their lives. Some might see this story as justification for the two-parent family. (As opposed to single or extended.) Others might see it as proof that fathers should help out more in the nursery. For me, it's a story about the transnational family. All this talk of love finding its way in the harshest place on Earth. I was not convinced by that language. But I found myself wondering about the nature of love. Is feeding your biological offspring (while letting a motherless offspring die) a sign of love? The frightening answer (for humans) is that maybe love is that imperfect. Ideally, love is universal and incredibly generous. In reality, love is often intimate and limited. I don't know whether penguins love. But this is the kind of choice human beings make every day. Friday, September 09, 2005 Required Reading Here's some good news for a change! Louisiana State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton reports that “the New Orleans City Archives at the Main Library are not underwater and are dry. The camera took pictures at a weird angle and made it look to staff like it was underwater but they are not. A company called Munter’s has been hired by the library to remove them and get them out of New Orleans. They are safe. Someone broke some windows and was living in the library but they did not hurt anything." And, she adds, "we are all relieved to know that so much of Louisiana’s history has been spared.” Go to the American Library Association page for status reports from libraries all over the affected areas: http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/hurricanekatrinanews/katrinanews.htm There are also requests identifying libraries' greatest needs. For example, the state library of Louisiana really needs printers and computers to help evacuees search for information, and print and file assistance forms! Equipment specifications: Pentium 3, Windows 2000 (prefer XP), laser printers if you can still get toner for them. Send equipment to: State Library of Louisiana, 701 North 4th Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802-5232. If you are sending equipment, send email to let them know what to expect: rhamilton@crt.state.la.us North-->South Stuff Canadians who wish to help out afflicted libraries on the Gulf Coast can visit the Canadian Library Association which has organized a fund: http://www.cla.ca/katrina_relief/index.htm Thursday, September 08, 2005 Displaced and Missing: Do Booksales Pay Your Bills? Borders is seeking information on 11 employees still missing after Hurricane Katrina. They've closed six stores in Mississippi and Louisiana, according to the Detroit News. The American Booksellers Association has created a fund to help booksellers and their families deal with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. PLEASE NOTE: the link I originally used for Bookseller Relief no longer works; this link has been updated on 9/17/05. If you make your living from/through/around books, please consider donating to the ABA's Bookseller Relief Fund. You can learn about it here: http://news.bookweb.org/hurricane/ and read about the impact on people in the local book business -- lots of related links. Many thanks to Publishers Marketplace and Bookselling This Week for these updates. Repairing the Libraries Publishers Lunch kindly informs us that: The Louisiana Library Association can also direct you to multiple shelters in the Baton Rouge area that have asked for book donations [office@llaonline.org]. Additionally, the LLA has set up a Disaster Relief Fund, soliciting cash donations to "assist school, public, and academic library restoration efforts in southeastern Louisiana." The address is listed on their website: http://www.llaonline.org/ Donate Your Extra Books Publisher's Lunch reports: With refugees fanning out across the country, support efforts are underway all over. Two women in Houston have arranged for local Borders and Waldenbooks locations to serve as collection points for book donations for the tens of thousands of people currently housed in the Astrodome, hoping to deliver fresh books to the center every Saturday. Contact/delivery info: Operation Books for Refugees from Katrina c/o Borders Books 3025 Kirby Houston, TX 77098 001.713.524.0200 Saturday, September 03, 2005 Palaverwatch I don't know Dr. Bertrand Bell, but I am grateful for his excellent letter which appears in today's NY Times: Lester M. Crawford, head of the Food and Drug Administration, has decided to delay the over-the-counter sale of the morning-after pill because the agency could not figure out how to prevent girls below the age of 17 from obtaining the pill, apparently because he wonders at what age postpubertal women "have the ability to interpret the instructions." This he identifies as "pure palaver." Thank you, Dr. Bell! Who among the female population is most likely to need morning-after protection, anyway?? Is it safer to tolerate the risks of surgical and second-trimester abortion at 13? Childbirth? As for the ethical implications, the mind really boggles at how this looks from an anti-abortion standpoint. Thanks to "folks" like Lester Crawford, our adolescent abortion rate remains one of the highest among developed countries! http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/opinion/l03pill.html http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/fb_teens.html Thursday, September 01, 2005 Golly. Never thought Sex (19 on the Top 50!) could have as much appeal as Sudoku (see #21). In fact, was pretty much resigned to blameless Sex getting trampled to death by Sudokology's amazing cultural momentum. A publisher I met recently was telling me that humility is over-rated as a virtue!! However, in the face of the Sudoku Juggernaut, I have been feeling that humble gratitude for any book sales at all is EXACTLY what the doctor ordered. I mean, why read novels when you could be studying ...Sudoku??? And getting really good at it. The Gosh Factor emerges. What a happy surprise to see this in the current ish of The Bookseller! I want to thank every single person who made this possible. Especially my mother! |