Benjamin Busch – The Elemental Man
When Dust to Dust author Benjamin Busch was offered an eight-city tour by his publisher, he turned them down. Most authors dread the standard two weeks of flying from city to city, staying at different hotels each night, and wondering if anyone will show up for their readings. However, Busch wasn’t opting out of the tour, he just had something else in mind. He asked if he could take the money and use it for a 48-state driving tour of independent bookstores across the country. He would stay the nights on friend’s and stranger’s couches and “live light.” Ecco’s Director of Publicity, Michael McKenzie, who Busch calls a “magician,” gave him the go ahead.
So far, he’s set to visit almost 200 venues. A couple days ago when I touched base with him, he was in San Diego and said he’d been to 42 venues since March 20th. He was going to spend the night on a small boat in the harbor by the Marine Corps base and “needed to get some Dramamine.” Obviously, this is a man who believes in his book and wants to get it into as many hands as possible. From what I’ve learned, this sort of focus and drive is typical Busch.
At his Powell’s reading he was greeted by some diehard fans of The Wire. It turns out he is also an actor, a photographer and, recently, he added filmmaker to his resume. He played police officer Anthony Colicchio on The Wire, which some people believe was the greatest television program ever made. Busch told the audience, “You should have to watch all five seasons before you can vote in America.”
He talked about the genesis of Dust to Dust, which is a memoir of sorts, and said he wanted it to be both memories from his life, as well as, stories that everyone can relate to. In a break with traditional narrative, the book is not written in chronological order. “Originally, before my editor walked me off a ledge, I was planning on writing the entire book completely out of order because we don’t remember chronologically, we don’t remember linearly, we remember by association. My editor said, ‘You know, that’s great, but there may be a reason nobody’s ever done it. I think you’re going to lose your audience, although it would certainly be a fascinating book.’ Every chapter begins in my childhood and moves through an elemental pathway to some period later in my adulthood. Each has an elemental theme: stone, water, metal, blood, bone, soil, and all these things are pathways in trying to take you into your own memory, your own past. The entire book is designed to take you home. It takes you back to those moments where you can live your childhood and kind of see that childhood and who you are now. That’s what I hoped to do with this book.”
The Arms chapter refers to guns and all manner of weaponry. Ironically, Busch was born to pacifists, but some of his earliest memories are of guns, swords, and war games. He found his way to the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School in the summer after his junior year at Vassar, which was a very unusual path for a Vassarite. He eventually served two tours of duty in Iraq and was awarded a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Iraq Campaign Medal. During his second tour he lost many friends and was sure he wasn’t going to make it back. “It was brutal.”
When he returned, his father, the renowned writer Frederich Busch, and then his mother, unexpectedly died in quick succession. Not surprisingly, the struggle to come to grips with mortality lies at the heart of Dust to Dust. He talked quietly about the temporary nature of our existence, and his path to coming to terms with death, and that “all artists hope that they create something which endures beyond them. I’m a small moment in the greater cycle of the earth. There is something about me which still hopes that we are something more than ourselves, that we persevere past death after our brief time on earth.”
He was always interested in acting and in between his two tours of duty, he auditioned for Homicide: Life on the Streets which was being filmed in Baltimore, not far from where he was living. “I always wanted to be an actor; I saw Star Wars in ’79 when I was ten. The fact that you could make up an entire world and have someone buy into it was a revelation to me. I like the fact that an actor gets to be an entirely different person — if you go deep.” The passage he read gave us a hint at the full-tilt way he throws himself into his work. It chronicled one day of filming Homicide and was both funny and dark.
As is Busch. His easy smile and gentle manner seem to belie the very serious and focused life that is revealed when you read his book or listen to him talk. He has lived a reflective life, on purpose, and with singular vision. No stranger to danger, even as a child he defied his parents and wandered into rushing waters to build dams and observe nature – constantly testing himself. He’s not blind to risks he has taken. Busch said, “The book is full of bad decisions executed with great enthusiasm, which I continue to do.”
Dust to Dust is not a whimpering account of a difficult life – he had a good childhood and an accomplished adulthood — and there is very little dialogue to reveal what his interaction with those around him entailed. Nor is this a war novel, although the war figures dramatically in his life. There is no sentimental backwash or nostalgia, but there is an emotional tug. It is more a journal of the spaces he has passed through. As I moved through the story, it became sort of a Castaneda-like philosophical rendering of the meaning of life and death. When one grasps its totality, Dust to Dust feels weighted with the gravity one experiences when realizing the truth that lies at the heart of these matters. In fact, I was swept away by this truth telling: about his childhood, about his war experience, about the nature of life as he has lived it.
Oh, and I just found out that Busch will tour until the spring of 2013 and, eventually, fly to Alaska and Hawaii, making it a full 50-state tour. Please be sure to catch a reading at an indie bookstore near you. You won’t be sorry.
You can find more information about Benjamin Busch and his book tour at HERE.
Ecco, 2012
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New Reviews Up at Portland Book Review
Check out what I had to say about Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, The Cove by Ron Rash and Troublemaker: A Memoir from the Front Lines of the Sixties by Bill Zimmerman.
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As Powell’s employees frantically searched for the author who was supposed be reading, Amy Waldman sat quietly on a bench a few feet from the search party gazing out over the chairs as they filled with fans. She looked like any other reader waiting patiently for the author to arrive. When she finally stepped up to the podium she said, “I have worshipped Powell’s from afar, from across the country, so it’s really great to be here.”
Waldman read from her debut novel, The Submission, which is a story of what happens when an American-born Muslim architect is anonymously chosen to design a memorial to the victims of a terrorist attack in New York City. It is a richly characterized and quietly powerful story that manages to be both dark and, at times, humorous. The people who populate the story are complex and conflicted over their reactions to the news that the person who will be creating a tribute to their loved ones is vaguely connected to the perpetrators.
A journalist for 15 years, Waldman said she never set out to write a 9/11 novel. She covered the aftermath of 9/11 in New York, and then went overseas for The New York Times for several years. It wasn’t until a couple years later, in 2003, that she got the idea for the book. She had a conversation with a friend who’s an artist about the memorial competition, and was asking her why she hadn’t entered. They talked about the politics of the competition, and they also talked about Maya Lin who won the competition anonymously to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Waldman said, “We now think of that as the pre-eminent memorial, but at the time, her selection was quite controversial. One piece of that was the resistance to her being an Asian American designing the Vietnam Memorial.” Waldman then started thinking about the 9/11 competition, and wondered what would happen if a Muslim was chosen to design it.
“I instantly thought that was a novel somebody should try and write. It took me another three years to actually start writing the book. The idea really stayed with me because I think, like many Americans, I was really pre-occupied with these questions of what kind of country we would be in response, and what would our identity be after these attacks. At the same time, I was also trying to understand the nature of Islam. This book seemed to bring these things together in an interesting way.”
She added that she didn’t want it to just be about a Muslim American, but she also wanted it to be about design. “It gave another level to the book in terms of how we read danger and fear and mistrust. So the winning design is a garden which seems, at the time of selection, very beautiful. Then, once the designer’s identity is revealed, questions emerge about whether, in fact, it is an Islamic garden.” While writing the book, Waldman read a lot about the design of Islamic gardens, how they evolved through time, and about their symbolism. “So that becomes a piece, how do we read symbols, who gets to decide how we read them.”
What is the difference for her between writing journalism and fiction? “The obvious one is writing fiction felt very free because there’s something so grueling in journalism – about chasing every fact. In journalism, you gather all your facts and you sit down and write your story. I tried to do that with this and it was very deadening to me. I have a friend who’s a poet and she kept saying, ‘You have to let go, you have to let go.’ I didn’t even understand what she meant for a long time, and then I finally got it, which was you just have to sit down and say, ‘I’m going to start this work today, but I don’t know where I’m going to end up.’ That changed everything.”
She’s working on a new novel that is “sort of hard to explain.” It’s a little bit about “memoirs and how they influence people, and it’s a little bit about the war in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan is especially interesting to me because there’s been almost no fiction written about that and we’ve been there ten years.”
Amy Waldman was co-chief of the South Asia bureau of The New York Times. Her fiction has appeared in The Atlantic and the Boston Review and is anthologized in The Best American Nonrequired Reading of 2010.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011
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I had a serious boyfriend in high school. We were seriously in love, yes, but that’s not exactly what I mean. I mean, he was serious. While most of my peers were partying, going to football games, and getting high, he was introducing me to stuff that would influence my life forever. He got me my first subscription to Rolling Stone, took me to readings by Allen Ginsberg and to Chicago blues clubs, and lent me his copy of Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul On Ice. He opened up a world I never knew existed outside the confines of my white suburban bubble.
One day, he asked me if I wanted to go to Grant Park to hear music and take part in some demonstrations. Unfortunately, my mother heard the word “demonstration” and immediately put the kibosh on that idea. He went without me to what turned out to be one of the most publicized demonstrations of our generation: The 1968 Democratic Convention. Of course, I read the newspapers from cover to cover and got a first-hand account from my boyfriend about the riots, the music (MC5) and the demonstrators which included the SDS, the Yippies, and the Black Panthers. That I didn’t disobey my mother that day, became one of the big regrets of my life.
Fast forward to last month when I read about a new book chronicling the impact the Black Panther party had on music – I was intrigued. The book is Listen, Whitey!: The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 by music producer Pat Thomas. Five years in the making, it’s a visual and narrative history of how the Black Power Movement influenced folk, rock, soul, and jazz during this “revolutionary” time. Thomas dug deep to find underground recordings of that time and reveals long-lost and mostly forgotten albums, cassettes, and reel-to-reel tapes of music, speeches, interviews, poetry and more. The book is impressive and definitive.
At his Powell’s reading last week, Thomas talked about how he befriended members of the Black Panther Party after moving to Oakland, and over time discovered rare recordings of speeches, interviews, and music by activists Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Elaine Brown, The Lumpen and many others. He met and interviewed Dave Hilliard and Elaine Brown who were important leaders of the Black Panther party, as well as, Bobby Seale, Erika Huggins and other Panthers. During his reading, he played snippets of some of the albums, some produced by the Black Forum label, a Motown subsidiary, and showed companion slides. We heard The Lumpen’s song Free Bobby Now – Seize the Time (referring to The Chicago 8 Trial where Bobby Seale was accused of conspiracy to start riots); Eldridge Cleaver reading a letter to the press in Algiers when he put Timothy Leary under house arrest; Dick Gregory talking about Black Power; and Bob Dylan’s song for George Jackson two weeks after Jackson was killed. Thomas said his favorite recording was Amiri Baraka, who changed his name from LeRoi Jones. He played Who Will Survive America which Amiri raps out. LISTEN HERE!
For nearly a decade, Thomas was the A&R Director of the San Francisco-based record companies Water Records and 4 Men With Beards. These two reissue labels focus on 1960s-1970s rock, jazz, folk, and soul including some of my favorites: Tim Buckley, Otis Redding, and Fred Neil. Check out Thomas at http://roomonetwofour.com/books.htm.
Fantagraphics Books, 2012
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If You’re Southern and You Write Short Stories, I Like You!
That’s what Adam Levin said when asked which short story writers he liked. He also named George Saunders, David Foster Wallace and J. D. Salinger.
Levin was at Powell’s reading from his highly-anticipated new book, Hot Pink, a collection of ten short stories. For any of you who were intimidated by the size of his first effort, The Instructions, which is his 1,030 page novel published in 2010, Hot Pink could be your gateway drug into the heart and soul of one of today’s most agile and clever writers.
Hot Pink’s varied characters live in Chicagoland where Levin lives and teaches creative writing at the School of the Art Institute. (Glen Ellyn, my home town, is the backdrop of one story called Hot Pink. It rarely gets a shout-out in the lit world so – Yay!). Some of the stories were written while he was struggling with The Instructions as a kind of antidote to the nine-year drawn-out process involved in producing it. Levin commented, “I certainly didn’t think I was going to write a 1,000 page book.” When he turned it in, it was a whopping 425,000 words.
Levin, who is wrapping up the Hot Pink book tour, knew the ropes and said, “I’m supposed to stand up here someone told me, and, like, make some noise, and say some useless things for a little bit, so you can get used to me. Because you were expecting someone shorter. Less obscenely handsome.” Audience warmed up, laughing, and already a little bit in love with him – check.
He read from Frankenwittgenstein, one of my favorites from the collection, which was originally published in our local Tin House lit mag. Then he answered questions and listened to adoring praise. Fans spoke about how The Instructions made them feel “elated,” was “one of the best books ever,” and that even though it was over a thousand pages, “it was a quick read.” I think that made him happy – he was smiling.
Some words of advice he follows when facing writer’s block: “When you hit a wall, it means you’re about to turn a corner.” He closed by saying, “I would like, because I haven’t done it yet, to write a short novel.”
Like Levin himself, Hot Pink is rife with dark humor, damaged characters, love, tragedy, and beauty. It’s a must read!
McSweeney’s, 2012
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Huge Literary Night in Portland
Last night was fantastic! I gave away 20 copies of Just Kids by Patti Smith at Portland’s Music Millennium in honor of World Book Night. It was wonderful to say “This book is free. It won the National Book Award. Go ahead and take a copy. Enjoy!”
It made perfect sense for me to choose this iconic independent record store to pass out copies of Smith’s book. For one, the author is a legendary singer, songwriter and poet and got started around the same time as Music Millennium at the end of the sixties. For another, Smith has some history with the store. On one of her trips to Portland a few years ago, she gave a free performance there. I heard quite a few Smith stories of her visit while I passed out books: “She rode in my car, she signed my CD, she sang some great songs…”
The main reason it was such a good idea is that I love Music Millennium. I grew up in Chicago-area record stores. My friends owned a few good ones, but nothing like MM. It’s far and away the best of the best, and I’m pretty sure it’s the oldest music store in the Pacific Northwest. It’s owned by the wonderful Terry Currier. The staff knows all things music, and if they don’t know, they’ll find out for you. They are very friendly and come in all ages and backgrounds so everyone feels comfortable browsing the bins. While I was there, someone called to find out how to open tune their steel guitar and Jack walked them through it. He happens to be an accomplished musician on the side. Or his job at MM may be on the side; I’m not sure which it is, really.
Customers were surprised to receive a free book, but all were thankful. One man said he had it on reserve at the library. Several said they had been wanting to read it since it came out. One person had never heard of it or Patti Smith, but became very excited about it as I told her what the book was about. Only one person walked away book-less – he decided it wasn’t his thing, but that was cool.
The icing on the cake was the live music provided by The Northstar Session, a Southern California rock band with wonderful romantic harmonies. You may have heard them on NBC’s Parenthood. Very reminiscent of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and The Beach Boys.
World Book Night was a tremendous success. Thousands of people gave away thousands of books all across America. It was supported by American book publishers, booksellers, libraries, book distributors and Barnes & Noble. Check out this valuable resource and think about taking part in the giveaway next year.
One other event that made last night such a great lit night in Portland was the announcement of the Oregon Book Award winners. Huge congratulations go to Patrick De Witt for The Sisters Brothers, Emily Whitman for Wildwing, and Joe Sacco for Footnotes in Gaza. The Readers’ Choice award went to Lidia Yuknavitch for her memoir, The Chronology of Water, one of my favorites.
Click on the cover to read my coverage of her reading last year at Broadway Books.
Review of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
This book was like a shot of Southern Comfort for this winter-weary reader. Hoffman sweeps you off your feet with the captivating story of twelve-year-old CeeCee who has parents that are a bit of a train wreck. Her future seems star-crossed and ill-fated until her great Aunt Tootie steps in to rescue her. CeeCee moves from Ohio to Georgia to live with her aunt, and it’s there that her world shifts from desperate to delightful. The wise women of Savannah surround CeeCee and shower her with love, while teaching her valuable lessons that turn her life around.
This is more than just a feel-good read. Hoffman tackles the difficult issues of mental illness, death, loneliness, racial divides, and divorce and then throws in a good dose of eccentricity for good measure. There is also plenty of down-home advice to take away from this book that could be used as rules to live by:
“Don’t grow up too fast, darling. Age is inevitable, but if you nurture a childlike heart, you’ll never ever grow old.”
Hoffman has produced a delightfully charming and funny testament to the power of women to overcome all that ails them, usually without a man in sight. This is a fantastic debut novel sure to win over even the most jaded reader, and I can’t wait to read what Hoffman comes up with next.
Penguin Books, 2010
To read an interview with Beth Hoffman, go to The Great Women Series.
