brunobaby

Agh! I've been tagged. I'm honored. Truly. And to the best of my ability to think of a line of bullshit fast, here are my answers to seven intriguing questions:

1) Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies.

I gave my sister a copy of Jimmy Breslin's "Table Money*" and Christine O'Hagan's "Benediction at the Savoia*" as a gift a few years ago, because I thought they reflected our shared upbringing in Queens in the '60s and '70s.

Also, years ago in an acting scene study class, I wanted to adapt a scene from Cynthia Buchanan's "Maiden." It's a novel about a singles community in Southern California, and a 30-year-old virgin. My scene partner demurred because he'd thought the book was "too weird," but I told him to pass it on to a friend, and then I bought another copy. Likewise with "Letting Go" by Philip Roth.

BTW, Lily Tomlin wanted to produce and star in a film version of "Maiden" back in the '70s and in the forward to the latest edition of the book, she says: What was I thinking, even I don't have the ego to do this thing justice.

2) Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music.

Watching the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show literally changed the way I listened to music. I was nine, and before that, pop music was the Broadway cast albums my mother played on our record player, or the easy listening station in the kitchen or on my father's car radio. Maybe if the baby sitter was there, it was Ricky Nelson doing a number with his band at the end of "Ozzie and Harriet." Or it was the kids' records that grown-ups would buy for me, like the soundtrack albums from Disney movies.

But after the British Invasion, I begged for and received a transistor radio, which almost did not leave my ear until I got into FM radio in 1970. This was the first time I'd sought out music and made it my own. In the parlance of the '70s self-help groups, I took responsibility for the music.

3) Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue.

I watched "The Jolson Story" every day for a solid week on Million Dollar Movie when I was eight. I haven't seen it since.

Also, I can recite "The Producers," the original film version, from any point in the film.

But I don't think there's anything I can do again and again without fatigue! I'm an old person.

4) Name a performer for whom you suspend all disbelief.

I can't figure out that question. Suspend all disbelief, meaning "I believe that man can fly!" Suspend disbelief that this particular actor is playing the role that he or she is playing?

5) Name a work of art you'd like to live with.

Any Danish modern chair that looks more beautiful than it is comfortable. With 300 square feet of living space, everything has to be both!

6) Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life.

Any piece of fiction listed in my profile. (Good. That should get my profile more hits.)

7) Name a punchline that always makes you laugh.

"Get me a sponge. I want to clean the tub."


I'm going to pass this on to krunkbot, who is currently on a culinary tour of Manhattan.


*Oh look! Amazon has both books for one cent each. I can give them to everybody! Nice to know I love such popular books.