Chapter 3
I arrive twenty minutes early to my interview.
As I wait for the manager to come interview me I make sure to not look like some insecure basketball-short-wearing douche who puts their ankles on their knees to make an obtuse triangle, like they’re stretching their hamstring. Those types don’t come to fancy coffee shops like Van Gogh’s Vase.
To read Jay Halsey’s Barely Half in an Awkward Line is to be immersed in its author’s world and the places and people at their heart — sometimes literally. This book blends terse poetry, haunting prose, and mysterious images, all of which combine to bring the reader into the author’s history and the places closest to them. I spoke with Halsey about the book’s genesis and its new edition — as well as what the deal was with the masked figures that factor prominently into the book’s second half.
It’s been well over a decade since the publication of Melissa Vaughan and Brendan Vaughan’s The New Brooklyn Cookbook. Featuring dispatches and recipes from 31 restaurants throughout the borough, the cookbook offered a memorable snapshot of notable eateries at that point in time. I’ve had a copy of the cookbook in my apartment since not long after it was first published, and a few years ago I began to wonder: what happened to the 31 spots featured in here?
Chapter 2
Mom lit her cigarette on the red coils of the stove. The tobacco burned slow. And you could smell maple syrup. One side of the neck would glow orange and start to smoke. Then she’d roll it along the edge.
“Girl fell asleep at her station again.” Mom rattles, “And I haven’t said nothing about the times I came over and checked on her, woke her up, made sure she was alright. I never told anyone. I didn’t report her to the super or nobody. Then the one time I have to cover they say ‘Keep an eye on her, if she falls asleep and gets hurt you’ll get in trouble’ and she was literally asleep standing up over the workstation when they were telling me that.”
I was doing some holiday shopping a few weeks ago in Princeton’s Labyrinth Books when, on the new release table, something caught my eye. If you are reading this, you’re probably aware of the allure of a book titled Fifty Forgotten Books solely based on the title; the retro cover and blurbs on the back from the unlikely duo of Washington Post critic Michael Dirda and Current 93 mainstay David Tibet piqued my interest further.
When I was finding my way into worlds of music beyond the Top 40 and classic rock of my hometown, I thought it was immeasurably cool that Ian MacKaye from Fugazi had also been in Minor Threat. Or that Vernon Reid from Living Colour had also been involved in the downtown NY jazz scene. The first hat trick I recall was realizing Erasure’s Vince Clarke had also been in Depeche Mode and Yaz(oo).
It’s a new year, apparently. January can be a strange month for books; this one is no exception, but that’s meant in the best way possible. Where else can you see cult classics, cinephile thrillers, and J.G. Ballard-inspired horror fiction in one place? Here are some suggestions if you’re looking to get some reading done this month — and we’d wager that if you’re here, you probably are.
Chapter 1
During the commercial break before returning to the featured presentation of James Whale’s Frankenstein the television tells me to stay tuned for a live news update at six using the same stock footage from a year ago.
People holding signs over their heads that say: UPDATES COMING SOON? and FREE FOR WHO?