Mine was “a pile of latkes.”
I wrote a little something for the Village Voice: The 10 Best Things From 2011 To Listen To While Writing, According To Actual Authors
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I’m not going to lie: all I’ve been doing is going to holiday parties. I’ve chipped away a little bit at the new book, and I feel occupied by it in a pleasurable and effective way, but seriously it’s just been party-party-party here.
And boy am I feeling it. I went to get my annual check-up and my doctor was like, “How do you feel?” And I said, “Oh I’m fine except for this sinus infection.” And she was like, “Hey why don’t I take your temperature?” And I said,”That sounds fun.” And then she took it and was like, “Did you know that you have a fever and are totally sick?” And I was like, “I guess?” So then I took a bunch of antibiotics and now I’m fine, still rundown, but not out.
I have been reading a bunch, too. Lauren Groff’s ARCADIA was amazing. I know that book is totally going win an award. (It comes out in March – look for it then!) I read FREEDOM (finally) and gave up my entire weekend to it a few weeks ago, which is not to say I loved it, because it is not necessarily a lovable book, but I felt I should read it, and I was compelled once I started it to finish it immediately. Also I inhaled Hans Keilson’s COMEDY IN A MINOR KEY, which is a flawless Holocaust novella. (You had me with “Holocaust.” And “novella.”) And slowly I am creeping my way through UP IN THE OLD HOTEL, the chapters of which to me read, weirdly, like Deborah Eisenberg short stories in that they are dense and epic and you have to completely commit to a chunk of time to sit down and read them – you can’t flit in and out of writing like that.
If you’re wondering what I’m recommending this holiday season at the bookstore, it is always and forever JUST KIDS. I keep loaning it out to friends, too, and it always comes back to me, which does not usually happen with books I loan out. I got it back from Cinde the other day and she said that she had loved it in a really deep way, and I saw something in her eyes and I knew she had been changed slightly by the book, and that pleased me so much. If you have not read it yet, or if you want to get something special for someone you love, I highly recommend it. (Or you could just buy someone my books!)
In other news, I leave on December 31, and will drive nine hours to Chapel Hill that day. If I stayed here, I would only stay in on New Year’s, so I could get up early to leave the next morning, so I figured why not spend New Year’s somewhere else? (In this case with Joanna Smith Rakoff et famille.) I’ll be there for two days, then off to Florida, and then finally landing in New Orleans, where I will happily collapse in my temporary new home.
I am so ready for this. And I promise to appreciate it.
