D.W. Lichtenberg, winner of last week's Literary Death Match, celebrated the release of his first book this past Wednesday, November 18 at The Space Gallery. For whatever else it does or may do in its now nascent lifespan, The Ancient Book of Hip filled the studio with enthusiastic supporters who would probably tell even their non-language-conscious friends poetry is alive and the most hip thing we know.
When I was in high school my mom used to say: "You make it cool to learn, Evan, and that's the greatest thing someone can do." I'm not sure if that was/is true but it struck me. I thought, what if there was a superhip individual "picking a fight with the cosmos," as Reynard Seifert says, who everyone wanted to be like. The world would churn out artists beyond the scope of our current imaginations, earth would be saturated with talent and competence and the little globe would spin by the power of our own collective will. This has been the secret mojo of every depressed writer to ever pick up a guitar or deliver his/her voice to the wind. We follow these people because no matter who they are inside they attempt to reach beyond quirks and grab hold of something substantial. The world as the rest of us see it is not enough for them and we love them for this.
This is my long way of saying I really like D.W. Lichtenberg. At the death match I found him "aloof and roguish," but the truth is he possesses a unique charm that attracts people who might otherwise not have much in common. Most of The Book of Hip was written while Dan lived in Brooklyn and to its credit you will not find desciptions of winter fire escapes overlooking the gray hopelessness, but you will feel them. It does not explain what a Big City does to little hearts but you will understand that Dan's heart has stretched and he has brought it back for us smiling.
The release party contained a tinge of magic it would be hard to express better than Dan's childhood friend David Gerbstadt does in his drawings. David created the cover to The Book of Hip and flew in from Pennsylvania for the event. He makes art "from whatever he has nearby" - something all real artists do and why so many go to Paris or New York or San Francisco: making art in these places is easy and even natural. The walls both upstairs and down were plastered with ecstatic moments, cheers, and encouragement, each for only $1. I think David told me there were 337 different pictures, all unique and simple and beautiful. When I opened Dan's book I felt a wave of confirmation: the preface is a quote from one of my favorite all-time bands, Belle and Sebastian: "You wrote a book about yourself but people left it on the shelf / You'll write another one / Now you've got a story that's worth talking about." Somehow this combined with David's art to fill the room with The Right Stuff, plain jane goodness, whatever you call it when the world is humble yet profoundly bold bright and beautiful. (If you're not familiar with Belle and Sebastian listen up mister, miss!) The most appropriate punctuation is the fact that the evening was also Dan's birthday.
Watch special guest readers Tess Patalano and Truong Tran read to commemorate Dan's achievement. The evening's mood was set when Tess tried to explain how meaningful it was for her to be there with Daniel on this night and you could tell that she really meant this, and when Truong gave Dan a new hat because at some point a launder tragically ruined his beloved collection. But the best was when Dan read his "Poem for Dave Gerbstadt."
It's easy to shout
I love you
into an empty field
But harder to find
someone to take you seriouslyAnd Holden Caufield just wants to catch kids
in a field full of them
And Dave Gerbstadt
just wants to paint alongside
kindergarteners in art classRecently Dave was
riding down the street
on a stranger's bicycle thinking:What if I hadn't ever grown up in the first place
What if I'd cheated maturity somehow got out of jail freeThinking of all the things
he'd want to be
when he grew up
that he hadn't known existed
the first time around.What if I just fired adulthood but in the nice way by letting it go
Just then he felt a pain
and the second he felt it
he stopped feeling it
and next thing he knew
he was in
the hospitalDave is awesome
and next time I see him
I am gonna give him a high five I think
Dan walked over to his friend Dave and they did share a high five right there in front of everyone. It was one of the better high fives this reporter has seen. Signing off for Examiner.com I am, Evan Karp.
And joking. But not about The Ancient Book of Hip. Dan and 14 Hills did an outstanding job with this book and you should have a copy. The San Francisco State University Review will be celebrating the release of Issue 16.1 on Wednesday, December 16 - join me for a long list of emerging and established readers (and go to 14hills.net for details).
This first video is to give you an idea of Dave's art.
Truong Tran gives DW a birthday present:
Truong gives DW another present: lyrics from an alleged mix tape!
And man of the hour, birthday boy, 24 yr old author of Tha Ancient Book of Hip!
- Read my review of Reynard Seifert's ZZZombiezzz and share your thoughts about literature, po-po-modernism, whatever amen.
- Read my dedication to the heroes we have as peers, with performances by Rob Brezsny. Additional wisdom provided by Nina Lesowitz, who promises you have more than you can possibly imagine right now!
- My first experience with West Coast Live!
- The new documentary on Kerouac's Big Sur
- True Blue Indigo's Personal Aristocracy
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