There’s been plenty of visitors this week in New York. Out of towners popping in for short visits and a huge surprise from a San Diego friend. She showed up at my book thing, sitting in the back row, and I had to wait for my head to puzzle out the pieces as to why this person was in New York. Seeing people out of location context is so jarring. “It’s so weird to see you here,” we kept repeating to each other.
After an afternoon visit to the Natural History Museum with Helen and her lawyer turned screenwriter friend, I popped down to a reading event in midtown featuring the work of Wallace Shawn, more famously known as Vizzini from The Princess Bride. Time Out may be the magazine for tourists but it’s got convenient listings of events and I’m not quite sure why it’s got such a crappy reputation. Shawn’s event was free and held at a City University of New York building. A line was forming beforehand and as we sat down, Reena started chatting up the girl in line behind us. I sat off in the distance, trying to charge my phone, which had dipped into life alert territory.
I can already tell this is going to be a consistent problem. My iPhone battery lasts about four hours on casual use and by the end of long day I had completely run out of juice, even as I was trying to find out where my friend was watching Monday Night Football. I slunk into a bar and stood by the bathroom, waiting patiently for the battery to charge.
Shawn's just released a book of essays, and this was what was read, along with selections from his various plays. Awhile ago I had watched Dinner with Andre, a pure conversation movie featuring two old friends catching up over dinner. Credited as the screenwriter on that film, I recognized Shawn’s writing style. Thematically his pieces sounded much like blog posts, as he mused about the costumes actors and actresses wear, his reflections on 9/11, and other events that impacted him and got his brain churning. There were quite a few famous folk reading his work, including Mary-Louise Parker, Bob Balaban, Julianne Moore, the big brain guy from Pulp Fiction, and other very notable minds that I only learned about post-reading, via their Wikipedia bios.
Having other people read your stuff must be quite an experience, and Shawn sat at one end of the stage with a constant grin on his face, either from pride or amusement. His voice is very distinct, with longish sentences, a snappy coda, and a cadence that becomes very recognizable once you hear him speak. The man has the most dramatic and funny pauses in his speech pattern, and that was reflected in his writing style.
When I get big enough one day, I’d like to organize a reading where I make my friends read my stuff. That would please me greatly.
Shawn's just released a book of essays, and this was what was read, along with selections from his various plays. Awhile ago I had watched Dinner with Andre, a pure conversation movie featuring two old friends catching up over dinner. Credited as the screenwriter on that film, I recognized Shawn’s writing style. Thematically his pieces sounded much like blog posts, as he mused about the costumes actors and actresses wear, his reflections on 9/11, and other events that impacted him and got his brain churning. There were quite a few famous folk reading his work, including Mary-Louise Parker, Bob Balaban, Julianne Moore, the big brain guy from Pulp Fiction, and other very notable minds that I only learned about post-reading, via their Wikipedia bios.
Having other people read your stuff must be quite an experience, and Shawn sat at one end of the stage with a constant grin on his face, either from pride or amusement. His voice is very distinct, with longish sentences, a snappy coda, and a cadence that becomes very recognizable once you hear him speak. The man has the most dramatic and funny pauses in his speech pattern, and that was reflected in his writing style.
When I get big enough one day, I’d like to organize a reading where I make my friends read my stuff. That would please me greatly.
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