Corky Lee’s original photograph used for the cover of “This Is a Bust.” The Pagoda movie theater was torn down in the 80s.

Well, I’m about to embark on the first leg of the tour for “This Is a Bust.” Thursday, Sunday and then Tuesday.

I’m feeling good, though I haven’t yet decided what parts I’m going to read. Definitely Chapter 1, which is the setup for 1976 and all.

Back when I did readings for Waylaid, I would just jump in and start reading, without saying anything apart from “Hello.” But that’s not very audience-friendly. I’ll just be myself at these three shows, all of which promise to be extremely different.

I just love this photograph by Corky. Back when we were kicking around ideas for a book cover, I found it on a web site and asked the webmaster who the photographer was. No reply. That was a bad sign.

Of course, when I found out later that Corky was the photographer, he had no knowledge that it was being used — and without his permission. It seems that they’ve since taken the image down. He also took the back-cover picture of the mural that used to be on the side of the late, lamented Music Palace. I used to work this crazy 5pm-midnight shift and I would catch the double feature with the other scumbags there before going to work. The place is a demolished lot now, waiting for financing to clear the subprime mess and grow into a healthy condo to make Chinatown even more upscale.

In any case, plenty of time for more reminiscing at the readings! I hope I’ll see you New Yorkers in near future!