Stefan and I were both booked to read at the WordxWord festival in Pittsfield, MA on Sunday. At the last minute Anya Ulinich invited us to stay a night with her at the house she shares for the summer in Connecticut, so we went up on Saturday, and went for a little hike with her. It was a real joy to see my dog so happy in the woods. He turned into a grinning, filthy little monster.
Then we took off to Pittsfield for the opening night party of the festival, where we got to spend some time with Brendan Matthews, the fiction curator of the festival, and also a very talented writer himself. Brendan’s good people, as nice as they come. Gosh, everyone I met was so kind and generous and sweet. It felt like a relief almost, to talk to such nice people. Really I was just so charmed by the town of Pittsfield. And then we returned to Anya’s, and there was wine and pie and ice cream, a real country party, and we all stayed up late and drank and ate and gabbed. So that was Saturday, and Saturday was great.
Sunday we first went to The Wandering Moose, where we had a breakfast so perfect all conversation broke down completely so focused were we on our food. We hadn’t eaten a complete meal the day before, just bits and pieces here and there. And now here was this meal, the thick, buttery english muffin and the tiny jars of jam and the perfectly charred bacon and crispy little potatoes. It felt real deep and emotional. It was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had.
Then we drove to MASS MoCA, which I have been dying to go to forever, especially because they have the Sol LeWitt building. I wasn’t disappointed at all. I find his work deeply fulfilling and correct. The Nari Ward show was also a favorite. I said of one piece, “Look, it’s like it’s a giant vagina filled with broken furniture,” and Stefan said, “It’s not like, it is a giant vagina filled with broken furniture.” So that was Sunday afternoon, and Sunday afternoon was great.
We made our way back to Pittsfield where we checked into our hotel, and then had a lovely meal at Mission, which is owned by Jim Benson, who is the mastermind behind the entire festival, and also a very energetic and charismatic guy. An hour later we were at Bra and Girl. Yes, that’s right, we read in a lingerie shop and it was awesome. I know I keep saying this, but everyone was just super nice and engaged and present and I just had a blast reading for them. I mean obviously that is the best kind of audience, and everyone gets something out of it. Also Stefan read from his first book, The Story of Forgetting, which he hadn’t read from in years, and it was probably the best I had ever heard him read. (That book is great if you haven’t read it. You should probably buy it now.) Then we had a little discussion about writing in first person versus third person which was pretty nerdy and satisfying. Afterward, the owner of the shop, April, who is tiny and clear-eyed and perfect and her skin looks really soft and obviously I am now totally in love with her, picked out some bras for me and we did a little fitting in the back. First time I’ve ever taken my shirt off in a venue after a reading but HOPEFULLY NOT THE LAST.
Later on we drank more. Did we drink more? Yes we did. Did we talk to great people? Yes. Did we go back to the hotel and have one more drink which we probably did not need? Yes we did. So that was Sunday night, and Sunday night was the best.
A lazy drive back to New York through gorgeous, winding New England roads, rain storms, ice cream in a small town, and then we were home. We listened to this song approximately 8,000 times. The dog did OK on the trip. The car smells terrible now. We went to a fancy book party last night in a penthouse apartment in the city and I drank prosecco and met Jon-Jon Goulian (a very nice man!) and some well-dressed William Morris agents and listened to some really touching speeches and only felt slightly underdressed although I confess I chose to be underdressed because sometimes it is fun to be underdressed.
You know I am right.
