Whenever I return to the apartment building in New York where I lived for twenty years – from 1976 to ‘96 – the people at the front desk, who were young then but are heavier and graying now, greet me with the welcome words, “Welcome home, Bonnie!” as I drag my suitcase through the lobby.
Old friends in the building (we’re all older than ever now) who’ve never moved away greet me the same way. According to the title of his 1934 novel, Thomas Wolfe claimed You Can’t Go Home Again. I disagree.
New York City gets a bad rap, and you might be tempted to believe it, until you’ve lived here for a while and adapted to the culture: your neighborhood becomes a village, and the villagers are nice. They welcome you back, with smiles and hugs, regardless of how long you’ve been away.
I’m here now, briefly, on the first leg of my new book’s book tour. I’m staying with my former next-door neighbor Marty (see my WOW post about her, “Martha Cooper: Rock Star in the Realm of Street Art,” posted April 16, 2018). Her sweet little cat, Malia, is curled up, fast asleep, beside me as I type this. It’s early Sunday morning, and everyone in this village (‘hood) also seems to be sound asleep.
Tomorrow night I’ll give my first reading from Jamie’s Muse. Today I must plan, prepare, and rehearse for it. I must look into my crystal ball (pretending I own one) to divine what people in the audience want to/need to hear. Some in the audience will be old friends willing to listen to whatever. Others, on the other hand, will require more persuasion.
This is the challenge for authors doing readings, I believe: how to encapsulate a book that took years and years to write into a short presentation. How to make the brief event worth the listeners’ while. I tell myself, You can do this! You didn’t spend ten years standing in front of a class of antsy college students for nothing.
When I lived in this building on the Upper West Side, in a studio apartment not much bigger than a shoe box, which (nevertheless) had a glorious, more-than-compensating western view of Riverside Park, the Hudson River, and frequent dazzling sunsets, I used to travel out to New Jersey from time to time to visit my mom when she was still alive.
She and I would sit across from each other at the small kitchen table in the home where I grew up, and she’d listen to whatever I had to tell her, as if there was nothing in the world more important to her than what I had to say.
That’s when I first learned that Tom Wolfe was mistaken.
If you happen to be in the City tomorrow night, please come to my reading. It’s at 7 pm at 310 Riverside Drive (on 103rd) and should only last about an hour. If you can’t make it, please wish me well.
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[Jamie’s Muse is available from www.amazon.com, or direct from the publisher at www.nighthawkpress.com.]
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Break a leg, Bonnie! I look forward to your reading in Taos.
XO, Helen
Thanks, Helen dear! Yes, by that time (Sept. 16th at 5 pm at SOMOS), I should be well rehearsed! — xx
Best wishes Bonnie – I seen you present and know all will be enchanted!
Hugs Kate
Thanks so much, Kate! Must begin to prep for it now. — xx
I do wish you well, Bonnie, and have your book to read when I return to NJ later this month. With love, Cathleen Sain Turick
Thank you for your good wishes, Cathy, and please let me know what you think after you’ve read the book! — Best, BB
Bonnie, I can really feel your commitment here, especially after making an especially emotional connection with my refugee grandfather when I was on the island of Lesvos. Looking forward to learning more!
Yes, Kim, your connection to your grandfather resonated with me, too, when I read your book.
Break a leg and besos to the Hood.
Thanks, Toni dear!
Wishing you the best on your book tour and visit to EEUU
Thank you, dear Lyn!
I wish you well! Will you be in the MD-VA-DC area on your tour? If so I’ll tell my friends back there to watch out for you. I’m sad that I have an unchangeable prior commitment on Sept 16 so will miss you at SOMOS.
Ah, Jan, so sorry you have to miss the Sept. SOMOS event. But I hope we can catch up while I’m in Taos at that time. Alas, my tour won’t take me to the DC area this time. But maybe your book group will consider Jamie’s Muse?
Bonnie, are you reading on Monday evening, 9 July? Please give me more information as to where it is. I am L O V I N G your book. I took it with me to Canada to help me wind down after hard days loading and firing a kiln. I am back home in CT now and would love to come in and see you read if I can.
YES! Barbara, it’s tonight, July 9th, at 7 pm, at 310 Riverside Drive (corner of 103rd Street). I’d LOVE for you to come, would love to see your smiling face in the audience! — xx
Home is where the heart is, so they say, and since yours is as big as that RSD view, you’re Home wherever you go. Love you.
Dearest MM — Thank you for your sweet words, but it’s a known fact that your heart is bigger than mine. Wish you could be at the reading tonight, but I know your new adventure will be wonderful! Can’t wait to hear all about it. — LU, BB xx
Bonnie, how did it go? Was it good practice? Was the crowd pleased? Did you give them too little, too much, just enough? Lots of questions, but I know you put your heart and soul into it for that village of friends. Mucho love to you.
It went well, I think, Barb! Thanks for asking. Nice big crowd, including dear friends who came from far afield (Philly, Boston, Connecticut, etc.). Helen seemed to come alive for them. Wish you could have been here, but you’ve been busy with other major happy life events! I loved seeing your wedding pics on FB. More, please! — xx
Glad it went well. Does The Master still look the same?
Thanks, Tom. The Master looks better than ever — really spiffy! Wish you could have been here for the reading. It was like a reunion of Master alums. Hope you’re doing well. — BB xx