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!