Paperback Row

"Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?" and "The Andy Cohen Diaries" -- by the Bravo host kind enough to give my memoir a blurb -- make nice holiday gifts. But my eye's on "The Uncollected David Rakoff," a postumous collection by one of my favorite writers in recent memory. Had no idea this was coming and can't wait to see what's in it. Order HERE.

Other fun ideas:

"Sweet Tooth," Tim Anderson's uprorarious coming-of-age-with-diabetes memoir, available HERE.

"The Pink Marine," Greg Cope White's pre-DADT military memoir, available HERE.

"Starf*cker," Matthew Rettenmund's celebrity-obession memoir, available HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Tinsel and Lights' by Tracey Thorn

Although admitting Christmas is merely weeks away pains me, I must confess I listened to Tracey Thorn's sublime "Tinsel and Lights" holiday album on the plane to Phoenix for Thanksgiving last week. It was then that I realized the title track -- so clever and touching -- was the Christmas song David Rakoff would have written had he been a musician. If you know me or David's work, then you know this is the highest of compliments. Listen for yourself:

"Tinsel and Lights" (Words and music by Tracey Thorn)

We walked down the street as the snow started falling
Stamping our feet all the taxi cabs crawling
You said "I’m so cold I can’t remember my name"
And I said the same

He took her photo and said he adored her
A New York martini, it literally floored her
And we played Miss America over again
And again and again

Oh, and that was a New York Christmas, baby
Oh, that was the way it should be done

Oh, we saw the sights,
Tinsel and lights
Looking down the barrel of a gun

Now years have gone by and we’re all so much older
The winters got warmer then last year's got colder
And we've all learned some things about how the time goes
That we'd rather not know

Oh, but that was a New York Christmas, baby
Snowflakes like diamonds in our hair
We watched them all
Sparkle and fall
Something almost true was in the air

Yeah that, was a New York Christmas, baby
That was the way it was back then
We saw the sights
Tinsel and lights
You kissed me in the snow and that was when
I fell in love with Christmas once again.

LISTEN: David Rakoff's 'Person, Place, Thing'

On March 14, 2012, I had the pleasure of seeing humorist David Rakoff interviewed before a live audience for Randy Cohen's "Person, Place, Thing" radio show/podcast. It was clear that David knew his time on this planet was fading fast -- he would die just five months later -- but he was as sharp and funny as ever, even as he occasionally hinted at his impending fate, a topic that was never directly addressed.

Cohen remembers:

My friend David Rakoff died one year ago. He was smart and funny, caustic and clear-eyed, with the rare ability to make the most scathing comment while conveying a fundamental sense of decency and kindness. Yet talented as he was as a writer and performer, his greatest gift was for friendship. He had more friends, and more intimate and abiding friendships, than anyone I know: he might have been the most beloved man in New York. You’ll get a sense of why in this conversation recorded at 92Y Tribeca on March 14, 2012.

Listen to Part 1 HERE. and Part 2 HERE.

Reading for David Rakoff's Final Work, 'Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish'

The late humorist and essayist's final book will be released July 16. (Pre-order HERE.) For details on upcoming reading at Barnes & Noble in Union Square, click HERE.

Window shopping

BOOK TRAILER: 'Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish' by David Rakoff

   Here's a preview of David Rakoff's final work, the rhyming novel "Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish":

 

From the incomparable David Rakoff comes a poignant, beautiful, witty and wise novel in verse that spans the 20th Century.

Summer Reading: Dan Savage, David Rakoff, Bill Clegg and More

While I don't have any specific beach plans yet -- Montauk two weekends ago was a rain-drenched disaster, and my next vacation is to my birthplace, my first time in the Motor City in about eight years -- but I do have my summer reading list up and running. I'll show you mine if you show me yours, in the comments.

No one is better suited for the fits and starts of summer reading than David Sedaris. His latest, "Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls," is enjoyable enough, although he's more serious and less funny than in the past. The sentimental story, dealing with his childhood realization that he was gay, was a nice change of pace. But some of the political and U.K. stuff left me kind of cold. Easily my least-favorite book of his, although that's still not the biggest put-down given where I was starting from. Get HERE. 

If you're looking for a quickie, might I recommend "Fun as Hell," my friend and former New York Times colleague Luke Kummer's Kindle Singles debut:

A down-on-his-luck reporter sets out to write about a military training facility that has invited tourists to experience war firsthand. But after his girlfriend decides to join him on this madcap daytrip he is forced to unravel a bigger story. This uniquely told narrative—call it truly strange—weaves a fast-paced, humorous and gripping account together with the author’s recollections of writing for newspapers in New York, the Middle East and Washington, falling in love and traveling to places touched by violence. "Fun as Hell" is a captivating ride with sharp turns. What it reveals about war, the media, relationships and our times will shake readers and leave them hungering for more.

Luke deftly weaves a journalistic outing with tales of his floundering relationship and career uncertainities in this fun and frenetic mini-memoir. Download HERE.

I'm a big fan of Dan Savage, dating back to when I worked at PR Newswire in the '90s and one of my editors used to save the most salacious letters from Savage Love to share with me. Still, I've never read any of his books, despite hearing great things about them --  most notably "The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant" -- and even buying a copy of "It Gets Better." (I just used that one to get a pic-with Dan and his hubby, Terry.) That all ends with "American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love and Politics," which I got a review copy of and started the other night. Get HERE.

This one's gonna be bittersweet. The hilarious David Rakoff died last year after finishing his first novel(la), "Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish," a rhythmic, rhyming tale that "captures the lives of several generations of Americans, from a hobo riding the rails during the Great Depression to a man coping with AIDS in 1980s San Francisco."  David shared this preview with me while he was writing: 

Here's a filthy couplet from the Clifford chapters (b. in the 1930's, first cousin to Helen, from the Christmas poem), He loves to draw, gay, moves to SF in the Summer of Love, becomes a minor underground success for his underground comic strip, "The Adventures of Cap'n Cocksure and his sidekick, Throbbin,'" dies of AIDS in 1984): "O, it's true what the song says, my heart's San Francisco's! (Suck on this, dear, while I work out where this goes...)" 

I'm thrilled to have one more work from him -- sure hope there's an audio version, his reading is the best -- but I can't help but wish it were another collection of personal essays, of which there were far too few. Perhaps this was a deliberate distraction when his prognosis turned dire, and writing about himself was no longer something he wanted to do. Like I said, bittersweet. Pre-order HERE.

"Dreadful: The Short Life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns" arrived on my doorstep yesterday, David Margolick's rather substantial biography of the late gay novelist:

American John Horne Burns (1916–1953) led a brief and controversial life, and as a writer, transformed many of his darkest experiences into literature. Burns was born in Massachusetts, graduated from Andover and Harvard, and went on to teach English at the Loomis School, a boarding school for boys in Windsor, Connecticut. During World War II, he was stationed in Africa and Italy, and worked mainly in military intelligence. His first novel, "The Gallery" (1947), based on his wartime experiences, is a critically acclaimed novel and one of the first to unflinchingly depict gay life in the military. "The Gallery" sold half a million copies upon publication, but never again would Burns receive that kind of critical or popular attention. 

 Get HERE.

I loved Bill Clegg's sex-and-drugs memoir, "Portrait of Addict as a Young Man," but never got around to reading the follow-up. His relapse memoir, "Ninety Days," is out in paperback, so I picked it up at Three Lives the other day. Get HERE.

 Heard about "Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter" in Out magazine:

When Alison Wearing was 12, her father came out as gay. Nearly unheard of in 1970s small-town Canada, the revelation changed the course of her and her father’s lives, both captured in Wearing’s funny and moving memoir.

I'm in! Get HERE.

And finally, Michael Menzies' "Deeply Superficial: Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, and Me" sounds like a hoot:

In this dazzling memoir that also serves as a dual biography of stage and film legends Noël Coward and Marlene Dietrich, film and music executive Michael Menzies chronicles in hilarious detail his life-long obsession with the theater in general and these two international superstars in particular. At age 12, Menzies discovered the autobiography of actor/writer/composer Noël Coward and was consumed by it. Although still only a youth, Menzies identified hugely with Coward—so much so that he came to believe that he must be the star’s love child. But with whom? In a burst of inspiration Menzies worked out that his mother could only be Marlene Dietrich. The author then decides that as soon as he can he will voyage around the world to confront Coward and Dietrich in person and announce himself as their son. Yet even after he finally abandons his plan, Menzies continues his search for them—and their pasts—spending the rest of his life following in their footsteps, traveling to London, Paris, New York, Berlin, Switzerland, and Jamaica. 

Get HERE.

David Rakoff Is a High-Maintenance, Nightmare Author

Just found out about this faux documentary a diva author named David Rakoff (played by the late David Rakoff), who tests the patience of his driver, played by comedian Dave Hill.

Rakoff Moment of Zen

Nice to see on "The Daily Show" last night. Jon Stewart was a longtime David Rakoff fan ...

Remembering David Rakoff (1964-2012)

David Rakoff's death yesterday has left everyone who knew or admired him very saddened. What's comforting, though, is that there has been such an outpouring of love for him, from blogs to Facebook posts to beautiful obituaries like the one in the New York Times. What many fans don't know about David is that in addition to being a gifted writer and radio personality, he was also a talented artist, who bestowed hundreds of beautiful works on his friends and family. A good friend of his just pointed me to a Tumblr featuring many of those  items, aptly titled DAVID'S DENIM, WALLETS, LINOCUTS, &C, which you can check out HERE..You'll smile at all of the clever and unique items he created, but it was this adorable photo from the site that made me smile biggest of all.

Here's David's heart-breaking last dance in May, on the stage for "This American Life: The Invisible Made Visible":

 

RIP, David Rakoff

Am incredibly sad to hear that the great David Rakoff died yesterday in his Tudor City apartment here in Manhattan. He was just 47. I knew he was gravely ill -- the radiation he received for treatment of Hodgkin’s disease in the '80s had likely caused his recent tumor in his shoulder, which eventually took his life -- but to hear it officially from a good friend of his still came as a shock, as I thought somehow this whole thing had been a bad plot twist he could still weave his way out of. He was the author of three of my favorite books, "Fraud," "Don't Get Too Comfortable" and "Half Empty," which he was writing when the cancer returned and includes one of the most moving essays about the subject you will ever read. David inspired me in ways for which I will always be grateful, and I feel fortunate to have seen him recently at the Person, Place and Thing taping as well as his heartbreaking dance recital in "This American Life (Live).". He left a nice mark on the world, yet we still all got robbed. You're missed already, David. But fortunately I think you know/knew that. Now rest in peace, sweet man.

UPDATE: Read David's loving New York Times obituary HERE.

The Associated Press reports that Doubleday plans to publish Rakoff’s final work -- “Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die; Cherish, Perish," a rhyming snippet of which David recently shared with me -- next year. Can't wait.

UPDATE: See some of David's art and a video of him from "This American Life (Live)" HERE.

Tig Notaro Tells It to My Heart

Dragged my flu-ridden ass out of bed last night just long enough to see the long-planned screening of "This American Life Live" with a group of friends in Union Square. The show featured two of my favorite writers (David Sedaris and David Rakoff, who gave the most heartbreaking dance "recital" of all time) and one guy I'm dying to learn more about (Ryan Knighton). But the highlight of the evening -- by a HUGE margin -- was comedian Tig Notaro, whose custom-made-for-me story about Taylor Dayne was quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life!

This one will get you.

'Person Place Thing' Featuring David Rakoff

As promised, Randy Cohen and David Rakoff were a hoot at last night's taping of the former's new public radio show, "Person Place Thing," which embraces the idea that people reveal themselves most intimately when speaking not directly about themselves but about something they care about passionately.

David's picks were:

Person: Richard Halliburton, a long-forgotten 20th century travel writer and adventurer to whom he was strangely drawn as a young boy.

Place: The lobby of the Daily News Building, an art deco masterpiece that was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. (Rakoff's life nearly revolves around its glorious globe!)

Thing: A hands-free can opener, a gift from his mother after he lost use of his left arm.

All three picks wound up having an Ayn Rand tie-in -- a name that makes him shudder -- but rather than reading my take on the whole thing, track down the show when it streams online. A fun evening with two great men!

For details, click HERE.

Live From New York!

Randy Cohen -- the funny man behind the long-running Ethicist column in the New York Times Magazine -- will be doing a live taping of his new radio show, Person Place Thing, on Wednesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y downtown. His guest will be the hilarious David Rakoff, whose three books I recently reviewed HERE. Should be a fun night -- I have it on good authority that these two have great chemistry. Tickets and information HERE.

Bookshelf: Kimmel, Rakoff & Didion (Oh My!)

When I blogged about notable books I couldn't get through, it occurred to me that it would be even more fun to talk about ones I could. Let me preface this post by saying I read nonfiction almost exclusively these days -- just as with television and films, I turned a corner years ago where I just found real life to be infinitely more fascinating than anything someone could make up -- so skipping "The Imperfectionists" might be easier than it looks. Here's a quick look at what's landed on my nightstand in recent weeks. Feedback and recommendations highly welcomed!

"A Girl Named Zippy"

"A Girl Named Zippy" by Haven Kimmel. I'd heard about this one for years yet remained leery of a story about a young gal growing up in small-town Indiana. (How could this possibly be good?) What a fool I was! "Zippy" is without a doubt the most delightful memoir I've ever read , a refreshingly happy childhood told through the eyes of a child -- little Zippy reminded me of a Midwestern Scout Finch -- but for an adult audience. (Frank Anthony Polito's "Band Fags" -- which came out after but I read before -- had a similar appeal.) I laughed and smiled throughout, it's no wonder this was a New York Times No. 1 bestseller. Anyone read any other Kimmel?

"Fraud"

David Rakoff is someone you may not know by name, but are likely familiar with. (I think of him as kind of a brainier David Sedaris.) If you're a magazine junkie, you've likely read one of his hilarious essays from over the years -- his piece that appeared in New York mag's "My First New York" is a classic! -- or at the very least have seen one of his memorable appearances on "The Daily Show." (Jon Stewart is a huge fan.) NPR types know him from "This American Life." Having heard mutual friends gush about David for years, I finally decided to take our relationship to the next level, and here's what I found. All three of his essay collections are pure fun -- FYI: Barnes & Noble conveniently keeps "Fraud" and "Don't Get Too Comfortable" in the "Essays" section, while "Half-Empty" sits alone three floors down in the "Humor" aisle (and they wonder why they're going out of business) -- with each having its own memorable high point.

"Don't Get Too Comfortable"

His story about going out drinking with his fellow editorial-assistant nobodies in "Fraud," his road to citizenship in "Don't Get Too Comfortable" and his work -- and termination -- on the set of "The First Wives Club" in "Half-Empty" will have you laughing out loud. (Fair warning: Prepare to feel like you have the worst vocabulary in the world.)

"Half-Empty"

In addition, "Half-Empty" -- his most recent and the winner of the 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor -- ends with two particularly moving stories, about the death of his therapist, and his battle with a recurrence of cancer. (No surprise, I tend to favor his more personal essays over his journalistic ones, although they're all great reads.) Next up for Mr. Rakoff? "Mutually Assured Destruction," a collection of rhyming stories undoubtedly inspired by poor Helen, aka The Girl Who Ruined Christmas.

"Blue Nights"

And finally ... Although she's been writing books for nearly 50 years, Joan Didion wasn't really on my radar until "The Year of Magical Thinking"came out in 2005. (It won the National Book Award for Nonfiction that year.) I bought it but never read it, then found out a blog pal of mine was good friends with Didion's daughter, Quintana, so picked up "Blue Nights" over the weekend, the new book in which Didion reflects on her only child's unexpected death, and examines her fears regarding illness and growing old. If solipsism isn't your cup of tea, stay away from this one. But I eat this stuff for breakfast -- KENNETH IN THE (212)! -- and while "Blue Nights" reads more like a doodle pad compiled on a shrink's sofa than a coherent book, all of the Hollywood and New York City name-dropping and glamorous parties and travels are more than enough to keep me engrossed, just as hearing a mother beat herself up for mistakes she might have made is enough to break my heart. Am now curious about Didion's 1979 essay collection, "The White Album," in which she recounts prison meetings with Linda Kasabian, a former member of the Manson family who was testifying against the group for the grisly Tate/LaBianca murders.

Haven't decided what's next -- might need a break from the "mourning lit" -- so am considering some of the following dust-covered titles on my shelf:

"The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. (A gift from a friend that sounds right up my ally -- I'm obsessed with serial killers.)

"The Berlin Stories" by Christopher Isherwood. (Can you believe I've never read it? Bought it 'cause Michael and I were headed there for our 10-year anniversary, but then we moved things to Hawaii later this month. Would it be weird to read it on the beach?!)

"Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in '70s New York" by James Wolcott. (Another gift. It sounds like my kind of book -- Wolcott was a longtime Village Voice writer and I love "old" New York -- but a first attempt at reading it fell flat, as he went on and on and on with all these minute details about coworkers that I had never heard of and don't care about. Time to give it another chance?)