Four Things To Read

The Art of Fiction No. 78 - A Paris Review interview with James Baldwin: “I had to go through a time of isolation in order to come to terms with who and what I was, as distinguished from all the things I’d been told I was. Right around 1950 I remember feeling that I’d come through something, shed a dying skin and was naked again. I wasn’t, perhaps, but I certainly felt more at ease with myself. And then I was able to write. Throughout 1948 and 1949 I just tore up paper.”

The rise of voluntary celibacy: ‘Most of the sex I’ve had, I wish I hadn’t bothered, by Ermine Saner - “[Celibacy] has had unintentional benefits. ‘It’s taught me more about what I enjoy in sex, which I wasn’t expecting. I thought it was going to put me at a disadvantage, but I feel a lot more confident in my own sexuality.’”

Harold & the Purple Crayon, by D. Gilson - Harold and The Purple Crayon was one of my favorite books when I was a little boy. This poem in Poetry made me smile.

No, I Will Not Debate You, by Laurie Penny - “If you won’t debate, the argument goes, you’re an enemy of free speech. You’re basically no better than a Nazi, and certainly far worse than any of the actual Nazis muttering about not being allowed to preach racism from prestigious pulpits.” There is real wisdom in this essay.

Four Things To See

I don’t remember where I found these drawings, but I know that they are in the public domain and that they are gorgeous:

Four Things To Listen To

Philip Glass’ The Photographer: Listening to this as an undergraduate, I had my first truly transcendent experience of art.

Pat Metheny’s album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls: Another album that was really important to me during my undergraduate years.

McCoy Tyner’s The Real McCoy: The whole album is worth listening to over and over again.

Two versions of Kol Ha’Olam Kulo (here and here): the words to this song provide the epigraph to T’shuvah, my third book of poems, which is available for pre-order now. If you pre-order, you’ll get access to two of my own piano improvisations on this melody.

Four Things About Me

As I wrote above, if you pre-order T’shuvah, you’ll get access to two of my piano improvisations. I’ve been playing piano more and more lately, which has been a source of real joy. I fell out of the habit for a long time. I usually play only for myself, but the experience of recording these improvisations—and of playing the piano at Azerbiajan Grill, because Saeed, the owner asks me to—has inspired me to start learning some songs, something I never really focused on before since I preferred to play only for myself. Currently, I am learning “All of Me,” by Gerard Marks and Seymour Simon.

The book launch for T’shuvah will be on October 12th at Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights. This is also the venue where First Tuesdays, the reading series I curate and host meets on the first Tuesday of the month, September through June.

The second section of T’shuvah, “Do Not Wish For Any Other Life,” has been set by the Canadian composer, Owen Bloomfield. The piece will have its world premiere on April 24, 2024, performed by The Blank Experiment. More details to follow.

On Friday, September 15th, I officiated at my wife’s nephew’s wedding, something I’ve never done before and that, to be honest, I never imagined myself doing.

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