A Charming Story at the Liars' League

One of my favourite things to do here in London is to attend short story readings by professional actors at the Phoenix Pub in Cavendish Square. Last week I especially enjoyed a story by Steve Wasserman of the Short Story Book Club. I am posting a link to the delightful reading of "Kiss-Kill", a story in epistolary form of a seduction. When done well, like i this piece and also Frobisher's chapters in David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas or the chapters narrated by Eunice Park in Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story epistolary storytelling can be quite effective. I've also seen it done badly, but not this time. What makes it work is the strength of the narrative voice Wasserman employs, which is carried well, indeed, enhanced by Cliff Chapman's reading. Why not experience it for yourself? Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN2XPzyA8mA&list=UUwYoiN_o-hTb6461eHR2Q0w&index=1&feature=plpp_video

Enjoy.

On Returning to Austin for a week

I arrived at the Austin airport, turned the radio to Ko-op 91.7, and was serenaded by the legendary Don Walser (z"l) yodeling like God's favorite angel, welcoming me home. I'm very lucky to have heard him play back in the 1990s, his audience a mix of his family, traditional country western enthusiasts, and tattooed & pierced alternative people. He walked table to table at Jovita's greeting those who came out to see him. In 1994, I watched him with pride as he and Jimmie Dale Gilmore opened for Johnny Cash at the Erwin Center.

What else can I report? I'm making a concentrated effort to arrange a ketubah signing for Bride of the Golem. Will pass along the good news when it is confirmed.

Erinna Mettler's Starlings Revisited

Several months ago at a Liars League event in London, I won a review copy of Erinna Mettler's Starlings. This novel is a set of craftily interwoven stories taking place in Brighton, each chapter following a character. I found it a compelling read--I finished it in two or three days, largely because I enjoyed it and wanted to see what happened next.

I especially enjoyed that the author took risks--narrating one incident from two points of view, and presenting one chapter as a manuscript of a short story, and we're not sure whether we should view this particular chapter in the story as a "real" and thinly veiled account of something which happened to her, or if it is an original work of fiction by the character in the chapter. Fiction within fiction, or a clever new narrative device. In addition to the cleverness of the narrative, and the intricacy of the plot, the characters in this set of stories are well-developed and masterfully depicted.

Mettler is a VERY talented new writer.

The publisher is Revenge Ink. I noted that my review copy was full of typographical errors--numerous instances of hard returns improperly dissecting paragraphs, quotation marks turned the wrong way, and several other errors, which were more than a little distracting. The author informed me that the copy I have is merely a review copy and that these were cleaned up in the final printing. How times have changed for the publishing industry! Twenty years ago, I worked as a proofreader for a small press, and if we had printed a review copy with a quarter of that number of typos, I'd have been fired immediately. I was holding off posting my review until I'd seen the proper printed version of Mettler's Starlings, so that I could verify her claim. Which leads me to problem number 2: Whenever I happen to walk into Daunt or Waterstones or Foyle's or even the public library, I've checked to see if they have a copy of the book, so I can compare it to the review copy, but I've not seen the book anywhere. Which leads me to lament Revenge Ink's distributive capabilities. I hope with her next novel, Mettler signs on with a proper publisher which will give her the editorial attention and the distribution she very richly deserves. I'd truly hate to see this gem of a book linger in obscurity. Mettler is too good a writer to remain unknown and unread.

Short Stories of note

I think the majority of people--at least those who can afford to do so--like to watch certain movies more than once. This is why DVDs sell so well, for repeat viewings. I'm no different, though we don't own very many DVDs.

I never reread novels, as life is short, and there are so many out there I want to read before I draw my last breath. I do sometimes reread short stories I enjoyed. Here are some I have experienced and enjoyed more than once:

1) Allison Amend's "The People You Know Best" in her collection Things that Pass for Love.

2) Shalom Auslander's "Bobo the Self-Hating Chimp," "Somebody Up There Likes You," and "God is a Big Happy Chicken," in his book Beware of God. When I taught Hebrew school at a Reform Synagogue a few years ago, I even had my students read "God is a Big Happy Chicken" --a slightly bowdlerized version of it (minus the cussing and sexual reference) to illustrate the point that there's beauty in the traditions even if the students found parts of the Torah spurious and objectionable.

3) Franz Kafka's "The Bucket Rider".

4) Agnon's "That Tzaddiq's Etrog," "To Father's House," and "At the Outset of the Day." Best read in the original Hebrew to see his unparalleled use of language. I only have one of these in the Hebrew at present, so I know what I'm buying the next time I visit Steimatzky's.

5) Etgar Keret's אף אחד לא מבין את הקוואנטים in צנורות, translated into English as "Quanta" in The Girl on the Fridge. Keret's story על ערכו התזונתי של החלום (translated as "On the Nutritional Value of Dreams") is my absolute favourite short story. Keret is even more superbly and surreally imaginative than Kafka and Agnon.

6) Miranda July's "This Person" in Nobody Belongs Here More Than You.

7) Ingeborg Bachmann's "Undine Goes." I've blathered about this story before. I think it would make a supreme oratorio for a single soprano, and I hope someday a composer more skilled than myself will match its poetic eloquence with rich musical accompaniment.

8)Borges' "Library of Babel," "The Secret Miracle," and "Averroes' Search." His stories are for those who love history, literature, and the history of knowledge.

9) Jonathan Lethem's "Access Fantasy."

I've recently encountered a few remarkable short stories in Best British Short Stories 2011. I especially enjoyed "Love Silk Food" by Leone Ross and "So Much Time in a Life" by Heather Leach. I look forward to reading more of their work.

Bride of Ginsburg

Here's a pic of my partner and best friend.

Kinky Friedman's story to be included in Bride of the Golem

Earlier this afternoon, I received the story Kinky Friedman said he would send to Bride of the Golem. I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's funny and charming and a little scary, in other words, a perfect addition to the anthology.

On Kinky Friedman and the best salsa in Britain

I am very pleased to report that comedy-mystery writer and performer Kinky Friedman will be submitting a story to Bride of the Golem. That's right, the author of Road Kill and Armadillos and Old Lace is sending in a story! If you haven't read him yet, you should. He's very entertaining.

In honor of the occasion, and in line with my recent rants about the dearth of good Tex-Mex in London, I am sharing my salsa recipe (which is modeled largely on Wheatsville Food Co-op's Salsa Casera, the best in Austin, Texas). All the ingredients are available at London Waitrose supermarkets.

Needed: 4 large tomatoes, 1 red chilli pepper, 1 heaping spoonful of Mexican Discovery Chipotle Paste, a tablespoon of cumin powder, a teaspoon of salt, three cloves of garlic, 1.5 tablespoons of fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, the fresh squeezed juice of half of a large orange and the juice of an entire juicy lime (add another half-lime's juice if the first one is dry). Cut the stem off the chilli, peel the garlic, then combine the above listed ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Although all the salsa ingredients are to be found at Waitrose, you'd best go elsewhere for the tortilla chips to accompany your salsa. Whole Foods and hippie health food stores are more apt to have palatable corn chips.

cheers, as they say here.

A few good eats in the London area

Having lived seven months in London, I can heartily endorse the following restaurants and cafes:

Mestizo. Mexican food. Just south of Camden Town. The mole brought tears of joy to our nostalgic eyes.
www.mestizomx.com

Sufi Restaurant (Persian) on Askew Road, south of Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush. Their fresh-made bread, Persian rice and vegetarian appetizers were amazing.
www.sufirestaurant.com

Hell (pizzeria). Corner of Askew and Uxbridge, Shepherd's Bush. Reminded me of my favorite pizzeria in Austin, Texas--the Parlor, though this one is based on a pizzeria in Wellington, New Zealand. If you want great pizza, go to Hell.
http://hellpizza.com/uk/about

Flamingo Restaurant (Ethiopian). Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush. Had the vegetarian combo and it was delightful.
http://www.flamingo-restaurant.com/

Punjab Restaurant on Neal near Shaftesbury Avenue, near Covent Garden. Recommended dishes: Granddad's dal (made with black lentils) and the curried pumpkin.
www.punjab.co.uk

Cafe Blah Blah Blah. Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush. Don't let the name put you off. This completely vegetarian cafe (byob) offers a wide range of delicious fare.
http://www.blahvegetarian.com/

The Green Note, Camden Town. Great salads and appetizers, fantastic wines, and enjoyable live music.
http://www.greennote.co.uk/

A spectacularly bad restaurant in Ealing

As a former Austinite, I'm quite fond of Mexican and Tex-Mex food. During my seven-year sojourn in New York, I found that there was good Mexican food, but one had to travel far from where we lived to get it--a few places on the lower East side, Centrico, and Taco Chulo in Williamsburg. And in NYC, good Mexican food can be surprisingly expensive. I learned to make my own salsa (using Wheatsville Food Co-op's Salsa Casera recipe) and my own tortilla soup like Austin's Kerbey Lane Cafe. In London, most of the Mexican we've had was utterly forgettable--though Mestizo's south of Camden Town is a delightful exception to that rule.

Recently my wife and I experienced quite possibly the worst Mexican food in London, possibly the worst restaurant in London. We were initially excited to see a Mexican Restaurant near us in Ealing--Chico Mexico. So we went. The menu is peculiar--they offer Cajun lamb among other things--I've spent time in Louisiana and never saw it on the menu there. The music was the same four songs over and over--one of them the dreaded Macarena. They initially brought us an appetizer we didn't order--feta and olives--in addition to our ordered appetizer. Then after we had eaten a few olives and a little feta, they whisked it away and took it to the people who ordered it. I inquired whether the chimichanga could be ordered without onions, and the waitress informed me that they were made that morning (it was about 8:30 pm. at this point), and that it was impossible to unmake them. My mango margarita tasted as though it were mango Snapple tea with no tequila in it. My wife's lime margarita tasted like gatorade mixed with a little third rate tequila. My enchiladas were delivered with french fries (???) which tasted like they had been fried in oil which was well overdue for a changing. My beloved could not eat her fajitas. They could use some serious help, Gordon Ramsey or another of his ilk.

Bride of the Golem Update

I suppose it's time for an update on the status of the anthology.

I am presently soliciting stories from a group of superstars of Jewish comedy and literature to enhance the book's appeal to publishers and the reading public. I sent out a small group of invitations last month, and both Etgar Keret and Aimee Bender have agreed to submit stories to the project. Today, I am sending a much larger group of invitations to luminaries of literature, some Hollywood and New York giants of comedy, and a comedy-mystery writing Jewish cowboy in Central Texas who wears a big hat, sings country music and smokes good cigars.