Ties add a classy accent to a reading.

Hey guys, check out this radio interview/reading I gave when I was out in Berkeley.

If you want to be crass, skip to 15:55 to go directly to me.

photo credit: Cindy Cheung

Whew, four readings in four different cities in four days. How’d it go? Only one word can describe it: superawesome! My deepest thanks to Mayumi Takada for setting up the general tour and to Neela Banerjee for finessing things in the Bay Area.

L.A.

The L.A. reading was at Book Soup. It’s an offbeat setup because I was in the corner with two aisles of chairs off to my left and right while shelves of books were directly in front of me. At times it was like being a pitcher with runners on first and third. Very cool staff and very cool store!

San Francisco

The Modern Times bookstore is along a strip of other bookstores, but it’s special because it is collectively owned and operated. I totally support that 100%. One other special thing was that my old pal Bushra Rehman came! I have some movie clips from that reading that I may or may not load up. This was also a great store, and boy it sure was a boost to my ego that they ran out of copies of This Is a Bust! Lisa Chen read with me and totally rocked out!

Berkeley

Show you what a New Yorker I am, I had thought Berkeley and San Francisco were basically the same town. Uh ah. Berkeley is a town where one has to suspend judgments while being confronted with the boundaries of one’s own prejudices. Okay — I saw an apparently upper-middle-class person in the street reach into a garbage can, find a half-eaten muffin, smile (!) and then proceed to eat it. Oh, the reading? It was great, man! Eastwind rules! Lisa again read with me and did the Taiwanese people proud! I also did this radio interview that I will link once I got it. . .

Seattle

I like this picture. It was taken by my wife Cindy Cheung. I like how I look like the angel of light up there. Elliott Bay Book Co. is awesome! My first time there. This place is ginormous and has a separate cafe/reading space in the basement. Anna Maria Hong was supposed to read also, but she injured her Achilles tendon and couldn’t make it down the stairs (no handicapped entrance). Rock star Hannah Moon read a short story that adds new meaning to “stinky tofu.” Thank you Karen and Patrick! Hey, check out this review of the reading in The Stranger!

It is awesome to be back home here in New York City. Strangely, my heels hurt, I think, from all the flying around with my long legs bunched up. But hell, I did it for you people, and it was an honor and a pleasure!

You have no choice. You have to come. Ed Lin reading from “This Is a Bust”:

Saturday February 23, 2008, 5 PM

Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles
800.764.BOOK

Sunday February 24, 2008, 3 PM

Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street
San Francisco
415.282.9246
Fellow reader: Lisa Chen
Co-sponsored by Hyphen Magazine.

Monday February 25, 2008, 7:30 PM

Eastwind Books of Berkeley
2066 University Avenue
Berkeley
415.282.9246
Fellow reader: Lisa Chen
Co-sponsored by Hyphen Magazine and Eastwind Books of Berkeley.

Tuesday February 26, 2008, 7 PM

Elliott Bay Book Co.
101 South Main Street
Seattle
800.962.5311
Special guests: Anna Maria Hong and Hannah Moon.

Well, when I rolled into Philadelphia, for the reading at UPenn I was sick. Just as well, because the entire Northeast was covered in a sleet storm. We were literally falling over each other on the ice as we fumbled our way to the Kelly Writers House. Even though we were about half an hour late, a roomful of people were patiently waiting. While I was reading I broke into a sweat and my glasses kept slipping off my nose, but, hell, nothing would stop me from reading for and poisoning the minds of young people! Thank you Mayumi, Warren, Jo and Jessica for having me and Lisa Chen over! Haverford and Bryn Mawr — you guys rock!

Then 24 hours later, it was off to the Asian American Writers’ Workshop for another reading with Tao Lin and Lisa. I’ve been a member of the Workshop since 1992. The place has had its ups and downs, IMHO, but it’s off to a great start in 2008. Lisa’s so shy, I just had to put a picture of her here. Thank you Nina, Jeannie and Ken for having us!

I’m still a little sick, so this is enough typing for me today. The tour continues next week in LA, SF, Berkeley and Seattle. Watch your ass, West Coast!

Is this generally known? Talking about his genetic makeup, James Brown wrote in his autobiography “I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul”:

“I also have some Chinese in me, at least as much as I have black (and maybe a little Egyptian King Tut thrown in for good measure). All you have to do is look at my face–it’s all there.”

Don’t believe me? Check page 54, the beginning of the second chapter, using the search engine on Amazon.com.

Okay, okay, JB was pretty whacked out at times, certainly not in the least here. But hell, I want it to be true so badly. C’mon, papa’s got a brand new five-pound bag of rice!

In any case, happy lunar new year!