Harlem Kerfuffle

 I reviewed the latest Colson Whitehead novel in the East Hampton Star. Called Crook Manifesto, it is set in the '70s and checks in with Ray Carney, the main character from Whitehead's previous novel, Harlem Shuffle. Carney has a furniture store in Harlem, and fences stolen stuff for local gangsters. He's trying to exit what he calls the “secondhand rug business," but his daughter wants Jackson 5 tickets, they are hard to come by, and they are expensive.

The story is told in three parts. “Ringolevio” sees Carney seek out a sketchy police officer named Munson, who is known as a fixer of problems, such as one’s lack of Jackson 5 ducats. “Nefertiti T.N.T.” focuses on a thug named Pepper, who pulled off jobs with Big Mike, and later with Carney. Part three, “The Finishers,” looks at the startling number of buildings burning down in Harlem at the time.

Whitehead offers an intriguing look at an ailing neighborhood, and the individuals hustling to succeed in it.

There may not be a more decorated novelist today. Whitehead picked up Pulitzer Prizes for The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad, and has been the recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships as well.

The Little Engine That Eventually Could

With Father's Day a couple days off, I got to do an essay on what happens when your child wants you to do something, but you have no idea how to do it, and your kid wants it anyway. 

It happened to me, years ago, when my son wanted a motorized go kart. 

Some dads could put something like that together in a few weeks. 

Not this dad. 

The essay, entitled "Fake Mechanic, Real Panic," is in the weekly East Hampton Star. 

Enjoy Six Days in the Hamptons, For Only 28 Bucks

I got to do a book review for the East Hampton Star, a novel from a hot author that is set out in the Hamptons. The book is The Guest and the author is Emma Cline. It tells the story of Alex, who's an escort in NYC, has a falling out with her employer, and meets up with a wealthy guy in a bar, who invites her to stay at his Hamptons place. 

Things go wrong with the Hamptons guy, because things always go wrong for Alex, and he boots her out. She's convinced all will be right again in six days, when she shows up at his Labor Day party, and he presumably regrets tossing her out. 

And so sketchy Alex has six days to kill in the Hamptons. 

It's a fun book. 

Cline's previous novel is The Girls, loosely based on Charles Manson and his cult, about a group of teen girls staying with an aspiring musician with a bit of charm on a ranch in southern California. 

Cline ventures to the Hamptons May 25, for a reading at the East Hampton library. 

Hanging With Al Roker in His Neck of the Woods

I had the opportunity to chat with Al Roker for a profile, with the trade mag Broadcasting + Cable inducting the Today icon into its Hall of Fame. 

Roker spoke about growing up in Queens and studying at SUNY Oswego, in upstate New York, where he picked up his first TV gig, despite a professor telling him he had a face for radio. 

Roker eventually got hired at WNBC New York, and from there, landed at the Today show. Co-anchor Savanna Guthrie said of Al, “He’s the joy, he’s the spice, he’s the salt that makes the food tasty,” she said. “Al brings energy, humor and warmth. He’s our sunshine.”

The weather and feature anchor is up pretty darn early during the week, but he's not complaining. “My dad drove a bus eight to 10 hours a day,” Roker said. “This is one of the greatest jobs going.”

Viewers Dig Drag Shows. Politicians, Not So Much

TV shows featuring drag queens are a bit of a trend right now. There's We're Here on HBO, where drag shows are set up in not-so cosmopolitan areas, such as Jackson, Mississippi and Sussex, New Jersey, with local folk taking part alongside more established participants. 

There's Queen of the Universe on Paramount Plus, which sees drag queens battle it out for top billing, and there's RuPaul's Drag Race on MTV, and its various offshoots. 

RuPaul's Drag Race single-handedly shows how drag has become more mainstream. The show launched on LGBTQ-friendly Logo, then shifted to VH1, before arriving on MTV earlier this year. (Logo, VH1 and MTV are all owned by the same company.)

Amidst all this, several states are cracking down on drag shows, fearing the effect such shows have on children. I got to do a story on the emergence of drag shows, and the emergence of anti-drag legislation.

“When we created the show, we were living in a world where it felt like progress was being made,” said We're Here co-creator Stephen Warren. "These days, “Homophobia, transphobia, drag phobia — everything is more intense than it ever was. It’s a very different world.”

Janis Joplin Builds a 'Mercedes Benz' in Westchester County

I got to do a fun story on how the Janis Joplin song "Mercedes Benz" ("Oh lord, wontcha buy me, a Mercedes Benz") was hatched in Westchester County, as Joplin had a beer before playing the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester in 1970, and sang the ditty as her friends banged their beer mugs to keep time, and jotted down some lyrics.

She premiered the song that night at the Cap. A couple months later, she recorded it. 

A few days after that, Joplin died. 

The story goes: 

With time to kill between performances at The Cap, Joplin went to the bar Vahsen’s, a few doors down, on Broad Street. There, with songwriter pal Bob Neuwirth, actor Rip Torn, and Torn’s actress wife, Geraldine Page, Joplin starting singing, “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz.” The lyric was inspired by beat poet Michael McClure, who’d written, “Come on, God, and buy me a Mercedes-Benz.

[photo credit: Bob Vita]

Beer Mag Says Yes to My Beer Short Story

The bulk of the stuff I get published is journalism, but I did have a short story published recently. 

"Colonel Sawyer Goes For a Beer" is about a military guy from the late 1700s who is tinkering around in his wine cellar north of New York City, takes a knock to the head from a falling beam, and wakes up in 2022. He goes for a stroll outside his wine cellar, and sees there is a brewery named Colonel Sawyer across the road from his house. So he goes for a beer. 

The story ran in Beer & Weed Magazine, which pays more than the literary journals, many of which had said no to "Colonel Sawyer." 

It was inspired by the brewery nearest my home, Captain Lawrence. 

It is on page 26. 

Enjoy!