Henry Miller Memorial Library

One of the great things about Big Sur (besides the Eggs Benedict at Deetjens) is the fact that all the days blend together. None of that “Sunday Night Work Dread” (SNWD*) I used to have. It’s like, even now, I’m not sure what day it is. And even if I did, what’s it matter? Who cares?

Case in point: two kick-ass shows, courtesy of ((folkYEAH!!)) at Fernwood Resort on Monday the 10th and Tuesday the 11th.

I mean, this is weekend-type entertainment that’s dropping on the two days of the week most often associated with low-level depression.

Here are the line-ups:

Monday Oct. 10th - 7 pm; Gang Gang Dance + Prince Rama + Mindnight Artis. Tickets here.

Tuesday Oct. 11th – WASHED OUT + The Entrance Band + Date Palms. Tickets here.

*You may be familiar with this. It’s when Sunday night hits and you feel like you were punched in the gut because the next day is Monday. It often leads to the “Sunday Night Extension Plan” (SNEP.) That’s when you extend your weekend as long as possible by, say, having a nice Sunday night dinner at Applebee’s and one of those big $9 margaritas and hanging around until they kick you out at 11.

Remember that astute bloggy from last week that saliently probed the fine fault lines between art and commerce? How could you not?

Well, the gist of it was this: if you sign up for the one-of-a-kind Big Sur Children’s and Young Adult Writing Workshop you’ll get valuable constructive feedback on your work, meet amazing writers, agents, and publishers, and may even strike gold with a publishing deal.

The list of previous participants who’ve gone on to secure such deals is impressive. Well, we can now add another to the list:

Ellen Hopkins’s protegee Kristin Clark Venuti’s FREAKBOY, about a guy who plays sports and has a girlfriend (who he loves), and is dealing with his place on the transgender spectrum, to Joy Peskin at Viking Children’s, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2013, by Tracey Adams at Adams Literary (World).

Pretty cool!

Congrats Kristin!

More info on the workshop here - there’s still room! – and on its very own Facebook page as well.

Ciao!

With the summer kinda winding down, its worth looking back on the season that was. Hmm, actually last season.

Here’s an old gem, hosted by Dan Bern, that gives a first-hand account on what it’s like to work at the Henry Miller Library.

It’s timeless! Enjoy!

A running joke amongst us 30-somethings is how the kids nowadays love the 80s music. The kids, of course, weren’t even around then. They weren’t even around when “Nevermind” came out!!

But they love the 80s hits and that’s cool and it’s the same reason why me and you like Buffalo Springfield and Ella Fitzgerald.

Complaining about how the kids like the 80s music is ultimately just an unhealthy way to admit to ourselves in the silent prison of our hearts that we’re getting old and the days of drinking 7 Bud bottles and feeling emotionally stable the next day are over. Now it’s like, oh! better drink a lot of water at closing time! Or oh man! I better not forget to take my spirulina pills!

Pathetic.

Little Dragon played to a sold-out Library last month, and I wouldn’t even call them 80′s throwbacks – that’s be too simplistic – but a) the kids did like’em, and b) hey, they had keyboards, so that’s all you need to know. After all, keyboards = Duran Duran = 80s.

Here’s a great show review about said show in Streetlight Santa Cruz.

We are pleased to say that Henry Rollins is part of the extended and ever-growing Henry Miller Library family.

He performed at our annual benefit show in 2006 and the back story surrounding it is pretty cool.

So, if I’m not mistaken, Magnus or the booking agent was on the phone with Henry’s people – I think some kinda-clueless administrative assistant; we’ll call her Debby – trying to set up a show for another performer.

We won’t say who. We’ll say its Performer X. And the chat went like this:

Our people: So can Performer X play in Big Sur on whatever-date?

Debby: Sorry, Performer X isn’t touring at that time. What venue was that again?

Our people: The Henry Miller Library…

Debby: The Henry Miller Library…OK, well, yeah, sorry, he’s not avail— hold on

And then something crazy happened. When Debby audibly said “Henry Miller Library” on her end, Henry Rollins was standing nearby in the office, and heard it. Immediately he ran (lunged?) over to Debby and was like, “Debs? Did you just say ‘Henry Miller Library’?”

This was a big deal for Henry (Rollins) as Henry (Miller) was a huge hero for him and the Library was his Mecca/Graceland/Dollywood.

Anyway, to make a long story short, once Rollins heard that, he personally got on the phone with our people, and the benefit was born.

And that, kiddies, in a nutshell, is how Henry Rollins got to play the Henry Miller Library.

Now get off the computer and go play outside!

Straight from our pals the Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company: The 2011 edition of the annual Nexus: The International Henry Miller Journal is now available. The 281-page, book-sized journal contains ten articles relating to Miller, plus a few pages of additional notes.

Check out the contents here. Of course, we have it here at the shop, so come on down and say hi, or call to order one: 831.667.2574. They’re $20.

Here’s a cool summary of a particularly cool-looking article:

The Genius and Mr. Nobody – Joe Kishton

One of things I like about Miller as a research subject is the way his life intersects with so many other fascinating individuals. In the case of Joe Kishton’s contribution to the journal, that person is Salvador Dalí, and his wife Gala. The Dalís and Henry Miller had shared Caresse Crosby’s Virginia mansion for several months in 1940. It was an uneasy time for Miller, who disliked Dalí.

An account of this time is pieced together mostly from interview transcripts of Miller, from documentaries he’d done in the late 1960s. This article, in fact, is a documentary script, in script format, for a recently completed film on this very specific subject. Includes a detailed anecdote about the crazy event that drove Miller and the other guests to leave Caresse Croby’s home.

Available now at the Henry Miller Library Online Store, here’s a cozy, soft American Apparel shirt with a leering, sultry Henry on it.

Below it says, “Henry Miller Library, where nothing happens.” Order it here.

We have them in M, L, and XL. After placing your order, please email your size preference to store@henrymiller.org.

Art.  Commerce.

Commerce.  Art.

Commerce and Art.

Art and Commerce.

Indeed, it is a timeless struggle.

Well, kinda.  Up until, like 1993, no artist seemed to have any trouble with getting rich.  Remember when Warhol became a one-man silk-screening factory in the late 70s and a rich one at that?  No one raised an eyebrow.   It was no big deal. Good for him, I remember thinking.

What’s my point?

My point, I think, is this: no artist wants to die unknown.  Well, Dickinson did.  But beyond that, we want to the world to hear what we have to say, generally.

Which brings us to the Big Sur Children’s and Young Adults Writing Workshop, held down here on Dec 2-3 and sponsored by the Library and the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Is it the perfect venue for writers – or aspiring ones – to improve their craft?  Build out their characters?  Get constructive feedback from experts?  And all while hanging out in the most artistically inspirational place around?  Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes.

But – is it also a venue for writers to network with editors and publishers and perhaps even score a publishing deal?

Yes!

And is that a bad thing?

Of course you know I’m going to say “no!”

It’s a great thing!  And it’s happened many times in the past, in fact. We’ve documented these success stories here as well as on the workshop’s Facebook page. For example:

Congratulations to Rebecca Wolf, attendee from 2005 on her sale of “Rockabye” to editor Brooke Warner at Avalon Books, sold by agent, Laura Rennert.

That’s really nice.

So consider signing up for the workshop on Dec 2-3.  It’ll be great because of all the high-minded artistic reasons you’d imagine; the fact that you could walk away with a publishing deal is but icing on the young adult fiction cake.

Today we’d like to post a nifty review of “Tropic of Capricorn” from our pal Dan, who is precariously flitting around in the Henry Miller Library’s ever-increasing orbit of influence, all “Space Oddity”-style.

Don’t you think it’s time for a fresh, new voice here? Things are getting kinda stale IMO.

Dan’s blog is called Living with Literature (How to Enjoy Classical Literature in the Modern World”) and here is his take on “Cancer” and here is his take on “Sexus.”

Money quote:

So, why do I love Sexus and, more importantly, why should you be reading it? Written ten years after the release of his most celebrated, Tropic of Cancer, Sexus is more than just a look back, it’s serves as an influence for young artists. When Henry struggles, we struggle.

It’s understandable that detesters of the author would pan the novel for it’s objectification of women, even I had my moments, but there is something inherently wonderful in Miller’s writing that surpasses the dismal perversity of Bukowski and underlying misogyny of Hemingway.

Check it!

Money quote:

“Moore and his band—featuring rhythm guitar, harp and violin—took the stage. Just the sight of the gangly, six-foot plus, shaggy-haired genius is enough to demand the audience’s attention. The noise-punk icon breathed heavily into the microphone as he explained that an experimental black & white film—with half-nude women running around—made by a student at Smith College, was going to play on a large screen behind the band.

It was a perfect accompaniment to the artistry of Moore’s music and poetry.”