I have been a busy bee over here, finishing up lots of little freelance pieces until some sort of advertising work surfaces to save the day. Usually I would use time like this to work on a book but I’m pretty much in the meditative state right now. I thought I could dive right into it come the new year but instead I just find myself reading instead.

I just finished David Carr’s The Night of the Gun, which I enjoyed immensely because it was a juicy story, but also he’s got a crackling writing style. His personality just beamed off page. He questions memory a lot in his book, which is something I question in myself as well, especially as I can barely remember yesterday. It felt like a pretty important book for me to be reading, and could not believe I found it just sitting there on the free bookshelf at the cafe. (I know I’m supposed to be buying books and believe me I buy plenty but it was just calling to me.)

Rosie made me dinner on Saturday and we talked some more about writing a personal non-fiction book. She’s just about done with her essay collection, Drinking with Men, and we discussed the difference between a book being billed as an essay collection versus as a memoir. The memoir takedown piece in the NY Times had come out the day before and I agreed with parts of it in terms of my own work, although other parts seemed mean-spirited. He did nail a few things that have made me hesitant to write a book like this, which, I know I keep saying this but, it bears repeating: who cares about me anyway? (I tweeted something recently that my new title for my memoir was: ME AND MY SOB STORIES: BOO HOO HOO.)

But Rosie suggested I think of it as I was just telling some stories, which is what I do all the time. I connected with this line in the Times piece: “If you still must write a memoir, consider making yourself the least important character in it.” I was wondering how I could put myself in the background, at least some of the time. If I think of the book as just some stories I’m telling, that gives me room to move myself in and out of frame.

The other thing I have been thinking about was Girl Talk (inspired by the recent launch of this adorable dance tribute to the album), and how he manages to make his art totally about other people’s art and vision, but somehow his voice is completely present all the way through.

Anyway I’m not writing yet. But my brain’s chewing on it.

(01/31/11) | 2 Comments »