aimee bender "willful creatures" reading

first a quick response to the emails I got asking why I haven't been posting as much - hey it's called a day job - some of us have them...that & just simple fact that watching my favorite city on the planet going through hell has left me less than motivated to do anything that's not directly related to relief efforts or in the realm of "must do this or will not get paid"...That said, I did make it to Aimee Bender's reading last night at Barnes & Noble Astor Place. And before you say it, yes, I do support Barnes & Noble. I also support small bookstores & the guys who sell books on the street & just about anyone else who wants to sell me books...however, since my local bookstores consist of that used bookstore I'm not telling anyone about, St. Mark's Books whose buyer seems to want to stock every hip & trendy book on why america sucks on every level and yet has never even heard of Chris Offutt & only has one copy of "Jesus Son" in stock ("He has other books?" Hey - even the guy at Barnes & Noble-Astor Place stocked "Angels" when I asked for it)...I will continue to go to Barnes & Noble. Sorry. Besides, they have the best readings. Case in point...I begged out of work "early" and got there in plenty of time (I thought) to spend some time hiding all the crappy Right Wing Republican "non-fiction" titles by putting much better books on top of them (yes, I know...but sometimes I just can't help myself) and of course, letting myself spend time in the Sci-Fi/Graphic Novel section BUT...there were already people sitting down waiting for Aimee Bender to show. So...I sat myself down and took out some proofreading work and before not too much time had passed, the seats around me were completely full. This was at say, 6:20 for a 7pm reading. A nice lady on crutches (?!) came up and announced that the reading would start soon and could we all turn off our pagers & cell phones & of course...someone's cell went off right then. Ah, I love this town. Eventually, Aimee Bender was introduced, she came out looking fabulous in a little red dress & cool shiny red shoes (I'm even more shoe-obsessed now that I can't wear heels...at all...). If you haven't seen her read, she's got a great reading voice & unlike most great writers, doesn't seem the least bit nervous. She gave a nice little intro talk & mentioned that she'd be reading a piece from "Willful Creatures" entitled "OFF" which she said is "sort of a sequel" to a story from "The Girl in the Flamable Skirt"...which BTW, is being produced as an off-off-Broadway play - "Girl", not just the story. The reading took about 25 minutes & she got laughs in all the right places - just as she did the other times I've seen her read (both at Tin House this past July). Though I have to say I liked the reading she did of "Motherfucker" better than "Off" (maybe it was my mood, maybe the story itself?) She took a few questions - all more intelligent than anything I could think of & then began her LONG process of signing everyone's books. The place was jammed all the way back into the cafe & I'm sure she was there for a good long time. Thankfully, since I'm a geek, I was in the 2nd row. I was happy to see that she remembered me (yes, I know...I just said...I'm a geek) and that she had such a great turnout. I'd tell you more but I've had too much caffeine & you should really just go buy the book & read it. It was interesting to me that the audience was overwhelming made up of women - I would've thought she'd have a lot of dorky guy fans too since she is cute & smart & writes about sex in some of her stories (something I hear those dorky guys like - not just women). After 2 full readings of "Willful Creatures", I'd have to say my favorite stories are "Fruit & Words" and "Dearth" though if you hold me to that, I'll probably change my mind.