mussels, good writing and karaoke!

I met up with some friends for dinner at the Hopleaf before the Bookslut reading last night. I had forgotten how great the food is there! We shared two orders of the always delectable mussels and fries, the brisket sandwich and the CB + J (toasted cashew buttered bread, fig spread, and morbier cheese). The two sandwiches and two orders of mussels were more than enough! After stuffing our faces we headed upstairs for the reading which didn't end up starting until 7:45 because Rolf Potts had a delayed flight. He came rushing in straight from the airport but had time to breath while the other two writers read ahead of him.

Peter Ferry, a lifelong teacher decided to finally sit down and write a novel. At age 61, his (first) truth based novel (he called this "walking the fine line between fiction and non-fiction by jabbing the reader in the eye a few times") Travel Writing was published. He read an excerpt from his book and you can definitely hear the maturity and grace in his writing. His excerpt was based on his travels to Mexico and reminded me of John Updike's short stories. His stories were extremely personal and almost too nostalgic - but he used "boob" twice - I mean, it doesn't get better than that.

Next Dubravka Ugresic read from her latest book Nobody's Home. Ugresic is already a highly acclaimed writer and has over 8 books to her name. A native of Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia) Ugresic's writing reminded me of Orhan Palmuk's writing. They follow a long line of classic novelists like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, etc who have lived under oppressive heads of state and governmental systems. They both came from countries in constant turmoil whether it be religious, political, or philosophical wars. She bring a different kind of perspective to the table - she much more aware of her surroundings, of the little cultural quirks that cause misunderstanding between people of different ethnicities, and of her own insufficiencies. Her sentences are crisp; her words sharp; and her accent beautiful. All her books have been translated into English which makes me wish I could read it in Croatian because it must be 10 times more powerful.

Finally, Rolf Potts shared one of his more famous short stories - Tantric Sex for Dilettantes. He got a lot of light hearted laughs. After reading that piece he read us some endnotes from his latest book, Marco Polo Didn't go There. This book compiles his last 10 years of travel. He actually expands his already published pieces and added the endnotes as a sort of commentary to fill in any holes. He admitted that he had to omit many direct quotes and character sketches of people that he encountered because they were so odd that they seemed unbelievable. He finds as a travel writer, he actually has to tone down stories to make them more believable. I can believe that!

After the book reading I headed over to Angels and Kings to hit up live karaoke with Pete Wentz. Last night's event was hosted by AM Vodka/Energy drink which happens to be something a friend of mine is behind. Everyone invited by AM got a complimentary bottle of the drink (which you can get 2-3 glasses out of). I test tasted it back in March and thought it was great - the healthier, tastier version of Red Bull + vodka. This was my first time at Angels and Kings - the space reminded me of Elm Street Liquors but with a LA punk rock vibe. It's a long space with the bar smack dab in the middle. At the furthest end of the bar is the stage which is the most crowded area. There are tables and lush couches at the space near the main entrance and then there is an elevated walkabout parallel to the bar that is lined with benches and more tables. Honestly, it's an uncomfortable space but has an energetic crowd. The live band was excellent and the karaoke singers ranged from professional to...lets just say took a lot of liquid courage.

All in all a fun-filled night.

a wednesday of r + r

Two of my favorite people are coming to Chicago on Wednesday which is great except for the fact that I have to choose between the two...

Rolf Potts will be reading from his latest book, Marco Polo Didn't Go There, at the Bookslut reading at an Andersonville favorite - Hopleaf. He'll be joined by Dubravka Ugresic and Peter Ferry. If you're a big fan of travel writing - this is where you need to be. The book readings are held in the upstairs special events room - usually fills out quickly so grab two pints, and snag your seat early.

Rachel Yamagata will be at the Lakeshore theater. She'll have two performances, one at 7 and one at 10. Tickets are $20. Her mellow Happenstance album would be the perfect soundtrack for today's gloomy weather. Don't get me wrong though, girlfriend gots soul. I think I'll be doing double duty on Wednesday, going to try to hit up both events!

rushdie the enchantress

This afternoon I had the pleasure of sitting in on a Salman Rushdie reading at the Harold Washington Library. I have to admit, his novels are always so long, daunting and intense that I have to put it down for weeks at a time to process what I've just read. Seeing him in person and listening to him read a few pages from his latest novel The Enchantress of Florence, I was a little surprised...has he gone off the deep end? Evidently he did a great deal of historical research for this novel that takes place between two very different worlds - the Mughal Empire and Florence, Italy. He seemed to be in this constant state of glibness. A bit full of himself and highly amused with his own writing. Although historically based, his writings were filled with elements of fantasy and exotic perversion. I guess once you establish yourself as a critically acclaimed novelist, there's nothing else to prove so write as you will...

a reading and talk by pico iyer

I was first introduced to Pico Iyer in a travel writing course that I took my sophomore year at W. Since then, I've followed his career writings and recently was more than overjoyed to find out that he'd be at the Harold Washington library on State Street. He was in town to read from and talk about his latest book, The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. With the current state of affairs between China and Tibet, his timing couldn't have been more perfect. The auditorium was filled with scholars, writers, Tibetan and Chinese students.

When he walked onto stage I was surprised to see how tall and lanky he was. He's got a special sort of intellectual charisma and charm. Iyer started out with a few anecdotes about Chicago and his love for pizza. He's quite funny. Despite being a world traveler, he has a penchant for pizza. He's married to a Japanese woman and together they live in Japan, but he says you can find him at a convenient store eating a slice of pizza instead of at a fancy restaurant dining on sashimi platters. He's a confident and animated speaker and reader which made every minute in the auditorium a pure pleasure.

His book stems from 30 years of personal observation and interaction with the Dalai Lama. Iyer's father is a philosopher and close friend of the D.L. - how many people can say that? Iyer's father took him to meet the D.L.for the first time when he was 17. Since then, he's made many trips to visit the D.L. in Tibet or other locations when he was exiled. The interesting thing about Iyer is that he hasn't written off pop culture and actually uses today's pop cultural references to make various points about the D.L. in his book. The one thing I took away from this lecture was the idea that this is the age of the exile - there are 33 million exiled or displaced people living around the world today. This idea of a homeland or country is becoming more of a dreamland than a reality.

At the end of his reading and lecture he opened up the floor for questions. Everyone had specific questions about what the Dalai Lama thought about the war, China vs. Tibet, globalization, etc...When he finally called on me to ask my question, I apologized to everyone for not having a more specific question on the subject at hand. Instead I asked him for the one key advice you'd give to any aspiring writer. His answer:

"Using your own background, training and interests find something that you have that can unlock a new view of a subject that is unique to every other viewpoint. Write something engaging or in the moment, not passive. Write about what you know."