Category Archives: Uncategorized

What’s It Like to Choose Cover Art?

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The good folks at Debut Lit, who will be putting on an event at the Brooklyn Bookfest Bookend series this Friday night, asked me if I had something to say about the vastly different designs between the hardcover and paperback editions of my novel.  Here’s a bit of what I wrote:

Everybody knows the saying — you can’t judge a book by its cover.  Which is true.  But at the same time, it is the first thing that people see, and you want it to be original, relevant, and eye-catching.  I didn’t think my hardcover jacket was any of those things, but I didn’t have much choice in the matter.  Unless your last name happens to end in Grisham or Patterson or King, I don’t think you have much input when it comes to your cover.

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In the short essay, I mentioned the rejected “shoe cover.”  Curious about what it looked like?  Here it is.

Not a bad cover.  I especially liked the way the designer integrated “A Novel” into the insole of the slipper.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

In any case, come on by this Friday to Brooklyn to celebrate all things books!  It’ll be a rollicking good time.

DEBUT LIT Presents “Opening Act,” a flash reading of original work by literary rock stars. Readings will be written on a theme provided by DEBUT LIT—it’s fun and it’s fast. Readers include Aryn Kyle (The God of Animals), John Murillo (Up Jump the Boogie), Sung J. Woo (Everything Asian), Brooke Berman (No Place Like Home), Matt Stewart (French Revolution), Fiona Maazel (Last Last Chance), and Daphne Beal (In the Land of No Right Angles).
Location: powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St.
Date: 7 p.m.
Price: FREE

Life Missing Matrimony Novelist, or Four Short Reviews of Four Novels

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There was a time in my life when I read purely for pleasure.  Before then, I read pretty much for pain, or more accurately, I read and it caused me pain.  Like reading Thoreau’s Walden and Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage for English class – now there was torture.  But thankfully, there was Stephen King and Stephen R. Donaldson and Stephen Coonts and even some authors not named Stephen, and I was in bliss.  These were my lazy high school years.  I remember reading Misery in a single day, from nine in the morning until nine at night, and I had no other desire than to feel every word on the page.  It was pure hedonism.

A review of four books I wrote for The Nervous Breakdown.

KO’ed at Ko

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Last night, my wife and I completed our David Chang experience by eating at Momofuku Ko.  The first time I visited one of his restaurants was a little more than a year ago, on my way back from getting my ass kicked by the Wii Tennis gods, where I had myself some rosemary ice cream.  Yes, you heard that right, rosemary ice cream! Since then I’ve also had stuffing-flavored ice cream, and last night, I had perhaps the weirdest of all, BBQ sauce.  And just to prove that I’m not making this up, click on the thumbnail of the cellphone photo I took of the Milk Bar’s menu.

Anyway, in case you haven’t heard of Ko, it’s the most interesting of all of his restaurants, because you eat what the chef prepares for you (i.e., no menu to choose from).  And it’s an adventure even getting in the door, because there are only twelve seats and two sittings, which means on any given night, there are a maximum of 24 diners.  The only way you can get a reservation is by signing up for an account on his website and then logging on at 10am to see if there are any spots open.  I got lucky, as a few days ago, I was able to refresh the page like a coked-up monkey and snag somebody’s cancellation.

Dawn and I sat at the head of the table, so we had the good fortune to have the vantage point of the photo above, able to look at the entire kitchen and all the diners.  There was another couple sitting catty-corner from us, and they were Canadians on a visit, at Ko to celebrate her birthday.  The music was on the loud side, but we kinda liked it.  I especially liked it when they played Safety Dance, the 80’s Men Without Hats staple!

But you’re at Ko not to talk to people or listen to music.  You’re there to eat, and boy, eat we did.  There must’ve been about a dozen courses total, and the three chefs kept it all moving at the perfect pace.  Some dishes were just a bite, while others were more substantial, sort of like tapas.  My favorite of the night was the lobster tortellini with breaded sweetbread and some exotic mushroom that was sauteed and diced.  Dawn’s favorite was my second favorite, a succulent oyster and grilled pork belly with kimchi surrounded by a warm broth.  There was a lamb rib that was as hearty as a hug, and a dessert that featured what seemed like ground-up peanuts in the shape of blueberries.

Was it all that I’d expected?  Absolutely.  This was creative cuisine at its finest, and the only downside was the guilt I felt for eating it all so quickly.  These chefs spend hours preparing the meals, and they take surgical care assembling their dishes, and there I am, shoveling it down like I was going to the electric chair.

In the end, we were stuffed, but that didn’t stop us from modifying our route back home to stop at the Milk Bar, where I got the BBQ sauce ice cream and also picked up a dozen cookies, a truffle of cake, and an order of pork buns for breakfast.  Except this morning, neither of us is in shape to eat the buns because our stomachs are still full.  It’s like we went on a bender, which I suppose we did.  But man, I wouldn’t change a thing.  David Chang, thank you.