I did the first reading on behalf of Rumpus Women last night at Book Court. The place was packed and all of the readers were seriously so great and talented and smart. I was just blown away. And I was intrigued that I read what I thought was a very depressing, almost humiliating essay and the audience laughed and laughed, which reminded me once again that pathos is universal and it’s all in the (semi-mortified) delivery.
The second Rumpus Women reading I am doing is on January 10 at Greenlight Books, and I believe there are a few others down the line, but I am not participating in them because there are only so many times people want to hear me read the same 7 minutes of text, and I suppose there are only so many times I want to hear myself read the same 7 minutes of text.
I often wonder how bands can play the same songs over and over again and not want to kill themselves, but I have been told by musicians that there is something they gain from the collaborative aspect, and also each performance is a little bit different. I get that last bit, at least from the perspective that each audience is different, and also the venue, and the view from where you are standing, and the day that you’re having, all of that is different, but pretty much nothing is going to change that 7-minute excerpt. I could read it slightly differently I suppose, but I’m not an actress, and giving readings is not my craft. I don’t really know how to mix it up. I always read the same way, super speedy, and it’s over in a flash.
I like doing it though! I try to do a good job, and I get A LOT out of the audience response. (So much, you guys. You will never know.) And it was great to read with all those sharp, brave, honest women last night. But there is nothing worse than hearing a reader who has read the same portion of her story, essay, article, book, too many times and clearly wishes they would be anywhere else but there. So I am doing everyone a favor.
This is also why I am doing only the briefest of readings for The Melting Season paperback party on January 6, and then will hand the microphone off to an amazing group of writers and comic book artists, who will all be performing their own road trip stories. This list is pretty righteous: Emily Flake, Rosie Schaap, Lisa Hanawalt, Emma Straub, Sarah Glidden, Jason Diamond, Renata Espinosa, Maris Kreizman, and Ron Currie, Jr. Riverhead Books is giving us some wine, and Jauntsetter is bringing some totebags. And I will step daintily to the side and let my friends do all the work. You will all be better off for it.
