it's here!
It’s here! Ira did a photo shoot. When Emily dressed him yesterday morning — before the big box of books arrived — it was not with the intention of color coordination! But even the socks match.
The anticipation of getting the book and flipping through it and making sure it looked and felt like a real book has now subsided. It looks, and feels, like a real book! It’s really quite lovely; beautiful cover, nice material. (Thank you, Oxford!) Now there’s a weird feeling of “My book is in my house.” I don’t really know what to do with it besides gaze at it intermittently and remind myself that it has actually become a thing. It’s not like I’m going to read it again! So it just sits there and makes me smile sometimes. Which is not all that different from Ira, I guess, except he does require regular attention and does makes me smile much-more-than-just-sometimes.
Anyway, what’s much weirder is the possibility that other people are receiving this book in the mail and having it in their houses! I’ve been used to, for a while now, people reading things I’ve written on the internet, but the idea of people owning something I’ve written feels like a different thing entirely. It’s…weird.
Fortunately, some of the people who read it are saying nice things! Joshua Kosman, in the San Francisco Chronicle, had a generous take on the book and Bang’s broader legacy. (Their next marathon is this Sunday!)
Also, I did an interview about the book and my scholarship with I Care If You Listen’s Tracy Monaghan, which you can read here if you’d like!
And Sound Expertise is kind-of-back! For purely self-promotional purposes, I conscripted my producer, D. Edward Davis, to read my book and interview me about it. It’s a fun chat — Eddie asks great questions, and also went to Bang on a Can’s summer program so has his own take on them too. Plus, at the end, we’ve got a trailer for Season 2, which begins on March 23!
Finally, one more reminder that the 92nd St Y is hosting a live-streamed event on Feb 22, launch day, in which Allan Kozinn and I will talk about my book, Bang, and the broader world of new music. Get your tickets here!