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Diary of a Married Call Girl ~~~ My Next Event: Manhattan Reading/Signing/Reception Sat., May 13, 2006 6:00-8:00 PM at Eyebeam 540 W. 21st Street btw. 10th + 11th Aves. Panel Discussion from 4:00-6:00 pm ~~~ Dip Into Chapter One |
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| Sunday, April 30, 2006 Plagiarism in Chickland or "Be careful what you wish for" I followed last week's chick lit imbroglio in the New York Times, on Amazon.com and in Publisher's Lunch. (For some reason, I couldn't get it up for The Harvard Crimson.) The other day, I noticed Amazon figs for "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed" shooting up to the 60s and 70s. Now it's at 12. Naturally, I ordered books by both writers. I had to see what all the noise was about and decide for myself. I have always intended to read some of Megan McCafferty's work -- now seems as good a time as any. As for the fate of Kaavya Viswanathan's "Opal Mehta," I was intrigued by the prospect of light fiction about an immigrant teen learning to imitate American manners. Initially, that's what people seemed to be talking about --a comedy of manners about overly ambitious migrants. Very quickly, the coverage of this book shifted to another topic -- another author, actually -- and these cultural issues lost our attention. I'm no longer a teenage reader, but still: if this doesn’t sound too grand, I'd like the daughters of 21st century migration to have a place at chick lit's ever-expanding table while they're nubile. And if Kaavya is responsible for slowing down that process, I'm disappointed. We need more stories about girls like Opal Mehta -- about the "clash of civilizations" that occurs when people leave the Commonwealth only to end up in American suburbia. And we need stories that are commercial, accessible, entertaining. Not every reader who relates to this experience is a fan of The New Yorker short story. Kaavya seems to have undermined her own efforts. However, all is not lost. Many accomplished, talented authors have survived accusations of plagiarism. Arianna Huffington, I am told, did the right thing, dealt with it and came back even stronger. (I’ve been following her progress for many years and, long before most American readers had ever heard of her, she was a media star elsewhere.) Whether you're a fan or not, you cannot deny her success or her spirit. All of which is to say: she's a force of nature and has more than survived the kind of embarrassment Kaavya must be feeling right now. According to Meghan Daum, the historian Stephen Ambrose ("a quotation spazz") is one of the many accused of "unconsciously internalizing" work by other writers. Alex Haley and Jack London are also named in her LA Times column. And let's not forget Dan Brown, accused of copyright infringement but, as far as I can tell, exonerated. Last year, while reading a popular Trinidad newspaper, I stumbled across a column on the Women's page, about paying men for sex. A funny piece: informative, sassy, filled with local detail. The columnist herself had lots to say and most of it sounds like her material -- her voice, her ideas, her sources. Oddly enough, in the middle of this, I came upon a passage that echoed in my head like a familiar song. The reporter had lifted a few sentences from a piece I once published about Camille Paglia. She cut a few words, altering the first and last sentence. Basically? It was a simple paste! Strangely audacious. Weirdly creative. I have no idea why she felt compelled to do this. My own authorial ego is too inflated to even consider such shortcuts. Why not just paraphrase in her own words? But this aforementioned ego can also be humble. "A total stranger thinks my stuff is good enough to paste?" Oddly flattering. The irony is that these weren't, strictly speaking, my words or even my ideas. They were Camille Paglia's -- as the interviewer, I had merely organized and presented Camille's comments for other people to appreciate. The whole thing was very strange. I have longed for recognition in the country my parents come from. Most of my Caribbean readers are living in Canada, the US or UK -- anywhere but Trinidad -- and I doubt they have any idea how much I appreciate them. But I want to reach readers in the Caribbean, too. Well, I thought, you got what you wished for. Somebody in Trinidad is reading your stuff. Not the way I had envisioned it, but that's how it goes, and I am, as it happens, grateful for every single one of my readers. Even a plagiarizer on the Women's page. -- And speaking of flattery: "...reading chronologically, you can watch Philip Larkin emerge, not particularly like Aphrodite, from successive waves of Yeats and Auden."" So says Andrew Brown. Here is the latest on the Dan Brown decision. Saturday, April 29, 2006 Free Event: A Reading/Booksigning & More on Saturday, 5-13 in Manhattan I'm delighted to confirm that I'll be joining Norene and others for this fun event on May 13! More news to follow but here are the basics. The Aphrodite Project: Platforms Norene Leddy Technical Lead: Andrew Milmoe www.sexygpsshoes.com May 2-13, 2006 Tues-Sat 12-6pm Eyebeam Art & Technology Center 540 W. 21st Street (between 10th & 11th Aves.) 212.937.6580 www.eyebeam.org ***Panel discussion and closing reception Saturday May 13*** Schedule of Events: 4pm Platforms panel discussion: "Sovereign Whores and Seditious Technology" Moderated by Amanda McDonald Crowley, featuring Krzysztof Wodiczko, Tracy Quan, Natalie Jeremijenko and Melissa Gira 4-6pm Live demo-performance of Platforms shoes 6pm Drinks, music & more: Reading and booksigning by Tracy Quan Melissa Gira presents '30 Second Sex,' a collaborative webcam performance with Anna Voog and Echo Transgression Music by DJ Natural Sphere Thursday, April 27, 2006 Jane Jacobs Oh my god. I was so busy on Wednesday that I missed this news. Jane Jacobs died on Tuesday. First Muriel Spark, now Jane Jacobs! The two (living) female writers I have admired most in recent years, these were my heroines. And they're gone!! The Death and Life of Great American Cities was very much with me while I was writing my first novel. Everybody should read it. What impressed me about "Death and Life" was how much it felt like a novel, actually. Strange but true. I couldn't put it down because I wanted to find out what happened next to the Great City. Just the other day, over cabbage strudel and coffee, I was discussing with a friend Central Park and Jane Jacobs. The conventional wisdom which has turned that park into a kind of religion -- and the amazing thinker whose writing challenges that kind of fundamentalism. Two days later, she died. I was going to blog about plagiarism but that will have to wait. I'm going to lie in bed now and nurse my shocked mind to sleep. It is All Too Much. Jane! Wednesday, April 26, 2006 At Home w/ Sebastian Horsley "I used to have about a hundred suits in my late twenties and early thirties when my stock was riding high and I was rich. But then I was introduced to crack cocaine and I squandered my money on drugs and prostitutes. I've been off drugs for 10 months. There's a romantic myth that drinking and taking drugs engenders creativity - I'm not sure who's responsible for it; me, probably - but it's not true." "Dear John" Horsley also published this politically incorrect ode to the prostitute, which I enjoyed, in the Observer: "In English brothels you shuffle into a seedy room so dim you can only meet the girl by Braille. But in New York last year I sat on a four-poster bed while 10 girls paraded in front of me one by one, like bowls of sushi on a carousel. 'Hi,' they would say, 'I'm Tiffany', 'I'm Harmony', 'I'm Michelle', and I would rise and kiss them. It was so touching, so sweet, so kind. There should always, no matter what, be politeness. It is the way the outside world should work, selfishly but honestly." Friday, April 21, 2006 More Weekend Reading I really want Bridget Jones to be rescued by Mark Darcy. There, I've said it. Everytime he gets close to saving her, my heart leaps into my throat, my pulse begins to race, I go all teary and soft. I am hooked on the current series which, as you may already know, appears each Thursday. It stays live for a week only. If, for some reason, you miss an episode or two, as I did during my book launch, the ONLY way to get caught up is to order back issues of The Independent.. Well, I am THAT obsessed with Bridget's well-being, and the back issues, while pricey, are worth it. Weekend Reading... "The Virgin Queen was a myth created by the Tudor propaganda machine that was copied uncritically by the vast majority of historians in the following centuries." So says Paul Streitz who will be speaking on Tuesday at 6.30pm: Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Malet Street, WC1. Wish I could pop over there and hear his talk but I am stuck in New York just now! "It's the middle of the night. We're in a small tent pitched on the rocky slope of a mountain trail: me, Nick, our trusty guide, three prostitutes we've rescued from a life of sex slavery..." Kinsley goes after the NY Times Opinion machine, and it's good! Friday, April 14, 2006 Vendettas A few weeks ago, I saw The Inside Man and found it strangely pedantic, long, a bit tentative, perhaps even pointless, though I did like the music. Others argue that it was clever but I think cleverness isn't enough -- one must also entertain. The most interesting aspect of Inside Man was the use of masks to make victims and hostages indistinguishable from captors. An accidental prelude to V for Vendetta? I saw that last night. During Inside Man, I felt lectured and found Jodie Foster's character cartoonish. What's wrong with cartoonish though? Last night, I was glued to V for Vendetta (which is a moving picture based on a comic book) and I completely lost track of time. But Vendetta wasn't really cartoonish. Perhaps it's the difference between turning real actors into cartoon characters and bringing comic strip characters to life. (Or trying to. I see that Alan Moore, the author of V, is less than convinced.) I'm not entirely up to speed on the difference between a cartoon and a comic book, or a comic strip and a comic book but they all seem to be related. (Yes, I know -- graphic novel! Fine, whatever.) Alan Moore partisans might regard me as a dimwit, but I thoroughly enjoyed Vendetta. The Guy Fawkes theme is what pulled me in. I now live in New York but have some wistful memories of another city. I remember walking around North London as a teenager, one night in early November. It wasn't very late but the streets were already dark and a small kid walked by pushing a toy pram containing an effigy made of old sweaters and rags, calling out --rather politely --"Penny for the Guy?" I had never seen this before. You could compare it to Halloween but it was more straightforward and mature because these children were not travelling in packs or with adults. I saw others that week, here and there, carrying effigies in their arms with a parental or companionable air. On the 5th, my overly protective (nominally Catholic) boyfriend advised me to stay off the streets due to random firecrackers exploding anywhere at any time. Guy Fawkes Day is a wonderfully ambiguous holiday involving any number of confusing messages... but it seems generally agreed that the anti-Catholic meaning has dissipated. Well, I now read in Lloyd Groves' column that some anarchists will be protesting against various depictions in V for Vendetta on Monday. Curious! For me, this is a thoughtful, sympathetic movie. But if there's one political "depiction" that leaps out, it's the police state gov't which is a super-right religious version of the Conservative Party. A lot of people will be thinking "New Labour" as they watch -- including some longtime Labour supporters -- and I'm not sure where I stand on this. There are days when the post-Thatcher Tories look like a potentially humanizing influence, but I've been wrong before... Thursday, April 13, 2006 Guilty Pleasures His house bulldozed, kidnapped by aliens and possessing only a pair of stripy mud-spattered pyjamas, the bewildered hero of Douglas Adams' Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy bleakly observed: "I seem to be having tremendous difficulties with my lifestyle." Today's Independent features this extremely enjoyable Lifestyle Quiz which I cannot resist. Print it and weep, smirk or shrug: What's your LQ? Thursday, April 06, 2006 After the Conference Thank you for coming to the Sex Work Matters Soiree at the LGBT Center last week! You know who you are... I am still recovering from the conversational and other excesses of that week. It was great fun to meet people who have become friends via email. This always happens to me at conferences and I always forget that I've never really met these people. Spend ten years on a list with someone, and the difference between virtual and flesh seems quite irrelevant. At the Soiree, I was interviewed by Gerry Visco whose gossipy New York Press report has me wondering what "not exactly unfamiliar" with the sex biz really means. "Intent on capturing the right angle during the photo op"? Guilty as pegged! Well, she was trying to convince me that my right side's better -- I don't think so. But the photo didn't appear, so never mind. Later, Scarlot Harlot received an Aphrodite Award during a ceremony involving Mortar Board Pasties (reflecting the room's academic vibe.) Later still, I shared excellent pizza from Lil Frankie's with Andy, manager of a sex worker advocacy list-serve. His pathologically boyish smile was a bright spot throughout the conference. Another bright spot: martinis with Robyn & Co. at Botanica where Robyn was especially tickled by Fine Wine's obscure R&B selections. I made it to the CUNY Graduate Center next day and enjoyed the "Identity & Intimacy" panel. Now this was my kind of panel: boyfriends under the sociological microscope! A very "Allison" experience was listening to Professor Mindy talking about why strippers have such low-quality boyfriends. (L-Q: Mindy's term, not mine. I avoid such harshness as, I think, would our friend Allison.) Mindy assured us that "low-quality" was not a judgement on these guys but an objective assessment. In any case, many are quite unappreciative of their mates, so the L-Q label is not entirely unjustified. However, the boyfriend who DOES appreciate his stripper mate runs the risk of being viewed as less-than-a-catch because it's possible he might work in the clubs as a bouncer, DJ ...or fellow dancer. And men in those jobs often earn less than their dancer girlfriends. Mindy had a lot to say about the stigma strippers deal with, but I left that discussion feeling sympathetic toward the boyfriends in her study. And wondering: do prostitutes find it easier than dancers to lie about their work to their husbands and boyfriends? Are the men in their lives happier as a result? I would love to see a sociologist's take on that question. A big thank you to Rachel from Bluestockings for bringing my books to the Soiree!Please get in touch with me if you're reading this! Signed Books in Manhattan: Downtown If you are seeking an autographed copy of Married Call Girl or Manhattan Call Girl, there are some freshly signed books at Bluestockings on Allen Street! Also, try St Marks Bookshop on East 9th Street. Uptown: Try Barnes & Noble on E. 86th Street between First Avenue & Second. Signed copies of Married Call Girl on the first floor; Manhattan Call Girl is to be found upstairs. There are also a few left at the B&N on Lexington Ave. and 86th Street. And Shakespeare & Co on Lexington Avenue near 69th. Or East 23rd Street. |