Blather

An excerpt from Don DeLillo's Underworld. Music by Charles Mingus.

An excerpt from Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. Music by Chris Brokaw.

I liked the way Gonzague Van Bervesseles sang "Sylvie" in Jean-Paul Civeyrac's A Paris Education (2018) so much that I recorded it so I could share it with you.

An excerpt from a work in progress. Music by Arvo Pärt.

An excerpt from a work in progress. Music by Ran Blake.

An excerpt from from a work in progress. Music by Mute Duo.

An excerpt from a work in progress. Music by the Dick Slessig Combo.

I read Canto 27 of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" as part of a celebration of his 201st birthday. The entire poem, read by many people, here.

What happens when you set up a book talk and no one shows up? Paul Durica (of the Newberry Library) and I talk about Soviet Stamps and the writing racket to a bunch of empty chairs in the secret back room of Uncharted Books in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago.

I make my triumphant return to The Green Arcade in San Francisco and discuss Soviet Stamps, art, cabdriving, and other related and unrelated topics with Ben Terrall (Namaste, Motherfucker!)

Kyle Beachy (author of The Slide and many, many essays about skateboarding) puts me through my paces about Soviet Stamps, art, writing, making a living, and much else at Logan Square's City Lit Books.

Christian TeBordo interviews me about my new book, Soviet Stamps and other related topics at The Dial Bookshop in Chicago.

Tim Kinsella interviews me about my book, art, writing, and all that jazz at the Rainbo Club in Chicago on August 31st, 2019.

Christian TeBordo meets me at the Rainbo Club to talk about his forthcoming short story collection, Ghost Engine, teaching writing, and how he got from being the son of two pastors to where he is to day—the author of six books and the director of an MFA writing program.

I talk to Ben Terrall (of Namaste, Motherfucker! fame) about my new book at The Green Arcade in San Francisco. Andy Gillis—a longtime store employee—does the introduction. More info about my book here: http://www.tortoisebooks.com/store/music-to-my-eyes

Daniel X. O'Neil talks about Arte Agora—art made, sold, or placed in the public way. More info here: http://www.arteagorabook.com/.

Musician Peter Prescott's talks about Mission of Burma, Minibeast, fighting nostalgia, and continuing to stay vital and creative in his 60s. Read more here: https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2019/04/15/catching-up-with-peter-prescott/

I read Chapter 57, "Of Whales and Paint," as part of Newberry Library's Moby-Dick Read-a-Thon. It was about 12:30am on Sunday, January 20th.

I talk to Stan Klein at Firecat Projects about how he got his start in art, opening a frame shop, working for other artists, and the whole kit and caboodle.

Cofounders Malia Haines-Stewart and Alan Medina talk about their Pilsen community storefront cinema. Then Ashley Cooper talks about her series of classic Hollywood films and how she learned to love movies from her grandma.

Ken Krimstein visits the Dial Bookshop to talk about "The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt.

Don De Grazia and I get together at the Music Box Lounge to talk about Orson Welles' "new" movie, toxic masculinity, film nerds, and the overall state of the world.

I meet Chicago musician and man-about-town, Skyler Rowe, at Firecat Projects and The Handlebar to talk about how he became the drummer in seventeen local bands. The Rainbo Club, gentrification, and the eternal conflict between metal and punk is also discussed.

Dmitry Samarov and Northwestern University professor Bill Savage discuss Samarov's show of marker drawings done on CTA buses and trains on view at Firecat Projects in Chicago.

I met Chicago collagist and sculptor Rebekka Federle—it's pronounced "fade-early", she insists—at Feed and, after eating some ribs, she talked to me about art, Chicago, and copywriting. You can see a bunch of her work at https://rebekkafederle.com/.

A story from cab-driving days. Written and read by Dmitry Samarov, with improvised music by Bill MacKay (guitar), Daniel Thatcher (bass), and Charles Rumback (drums). Recorded up on Frogg Mountain in Chicago, Illinois by John Vernon Forbes in 2013.

I visit Chicago painter Brian Wells to talk about his art, day-jobs, the art world, and his time in the city. You can see a bunch of his work at https://brianwellsart.com/.

John Vernon Forbes visits Jackalope Coffee in Bridgeport to talk about art, Tijuana Hercules, childhood, and the whole kit and caboodle.

Photographer/historian Paul Petraitis and filmmaker John McNaughton talk about shooting footage of Old Fashioned Days in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago in 1970. White flight, rock-n-roll, and growing up in Chicago in the '60s are discussed.

Don De Grazia and Dmitry Samarov convene at the cocktail lounge of a movie theater, situated within a deadmall which just won't die, to discuss Paul Schrader's new film. Also, whether the axe-throwing concern recently opened in the basement of the mall will save it from the wrecking ball.

Don De Grazia convene at the Chicago Cultural Center to debate the thespian talents of Joaquin Phoenix and the merits of Lynne Ramsey's 2018 film, You Were Never Really Here.

Choreographer/artist/dancer Wendy Clinard talks to Dmitry Samarov about her collaboration with Japanese photographer Akito Tsuda on a new multimedia piece.

Don De Grazia and Dmitry Samarov repair to an undisclosed Ecuadorean eatery to debate the merits of Ryan Prows' 2017 feature film, "Lowlife".

About jitneys, the rideshare racket, and the end of the taxi industry as we know it.