Carol Bergman

I went to the New York Historical Society to see an exhibition called "Drawn by New York: Six Centuries of Watercolors and Drawings." The earliest drawings are the most fascinating as they document the Dutch settlement: the first Native Americans encountered, the coastline, the ships at anchor, the interior cabins on the ships, the slave markets, and more. Most--French, Dutch, English, Spanish--explorers were draftsmen as well as writers; learning to draw was considered part of a proper education for upper class men and women from the 16th through the 19th century (at least). Before photography, there was reliance on images as well as words to document daily life, important occasions, coastlines, weather, politics. We have lost the skill of visual narration. Perhaps it has been taken over by photography and film. Audubon's magnificent drawings of birds and wildlife, for example, are accompanied by journals and notebooks. Prints of these drawings and an anthology of his writing are both available in the Society bookstore, a good place to buy holiday gifts.

The historical society has a treasure trove of documents that they rotate on a regular basis for exhibition. They also have an excellent research library. I have used the library to research articles on Nelly Bly--the first American woman investigative reporter--and Daguerreotypes. The museum has a rich collection of them.

Just years ago this important New York institution was threatened with closure. Hopefully, this will not happen again.

"Drawn by New York" is on until January 7. The address of the NY Historical Society is 170 Central Park West at 77th Street. Check their website for hours over the holiday. Read More 

I was invited to a salon at the Algonquin to celebrate Alexander Lobrano's book, "Hungry for Paris; The Ultimate Guide to the City's 102 Best Restaurants." Though the book was published in the US by Random House last April, has been translated into several languages, and has been reviewed well, Lobrano is still publicizing the book at every opportunity. This is the writer's task even if an in-house publicist has been budgeted.

But this author is more than a publicity machine; he is an inspiration. The European correspondent for GOURMET Magazine, Alexander Lobrano has made a writer's life for himself that is both personally satisfying and financially viable. His early childhood was spent in a literary household in Connecticut. Lobrano always knew he would be a writer but he still had to work hard to become a writer. He is well educated but also an autodidact. Recently, he went on an anthropological eating tour of Transylvania for GOURMET. When I asked how he prepared for assignments, he said, "I read until my eyes drop out. It's the preparation for the articles I write that is most enjoyable." Unable to speak French when he first landed in Paris, he is now fluent in French, Spanish and Italian.

I've invited Mr. Lobrano to speak to my class next spring. As he travels so much of the time, he's not sure he'll be in the US. I hope so.
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A message came to all the members of the Author's Guild--which hosts my site--about book buying this holiday season. A friend took it to heart and bought about fifty books she had enjoyed reading this past year to offer as presents at her holiday party. They were stacked neatly on a bench by the door, unwrapped, which made them more enticing for some reason. Everyone stopped to browse and took one as they were leaving. What a treat!

FYI, I will paste the broadcast email here:

I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards.

We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!

There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they're easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children's books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they'll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: "Got to move on, folks. Got some books to write now. You see...we're the Authors Guild."

Enjoy the holidays.

Roy Blount Jr.
President
Authors Guild

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The end of term is always bittersweet for me and my students. To celebrate, we put together a "book," of best work, most of it still in progress, some close to submission. Then we have a reading of sketchbook entries and a discussion about "what's next?" We say good-bye and plan, sincerely, to stay in touch.  Read More 

I've been thinking today about our President-Elect, the recent campaign, and the challenges we all face. I've just finished reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Ben Franklin, which I highly recommend. It seemed appropriate to return to colonial history in this present (historic) moment. The issue of slavery is handled deftly in this biography. Have we finally come to the end of that sad, brutal road? I hope so. The book is also very well written and will be added to my suggested reading list next term.

I've never blogged before. It's interesting, a bit strange, but interesting. It's not exactly private, of course, as it will be broadcast on my site. There's an article in the current Atlantic Monthly I'll read this afternoon about blogging to get some more ideas. It certainly provides more opportunity to write, which is fine with me. I look forward to some comments from bloggers, if they are so inclined. So far the "be the first to comment" has not been clicked so I might be talking to myself or into cyberspace. Nonetheless, there's a sense of freedom and possibility I'm enjoying. I suppose that is partially the point: we are FREE to write. How privileged we are in this regard, truly. And with this freedom--responsibility-- to speak with bold voices. According to Ha Jin, writing in the Autumn, 2008 issue of American Scholar, rigid censorship in China has weakened the Chinese people and "forced them to be less imaginative and less inventive." We don't have this excuse, so let's go, and write with gusto.  Read More 

The teaching term is nearly over at NYU so it's time to reflect on the exceptional students I've mentored this term before returning to my own projects: a revision of a murder mystery, the first I've ever written, and some research for another. A long short story, "Water Baby," just won the Glimmer Train "Top 25" prize, prestigious, but they only publish the Top 3, so I am free to place it elsewhere, not easy because of the story's length. And "Searching for Fritzi Redux," was just published in Austria in a University of Salzburg journal. There's a link to a word document on the site if you'd like to read it. I'm anticipating an interesting response in Austria as Fritzi Burger, my mother's second cousin, a former Olympic Silver Medalist, is a heroine in Austria. It's the first time she's been outed as a possible Nazi collaborator (the evidence is not absolutely definitive).

It's late, this is my first blog, so I'll sign off and write again soon.  Read More