Episode 404: A Michael Silverblatt Tribute & a David Markson Reading

"I am one who does not think that the Earth was made for us. I think that we are first to last strangers on it, and that it takes us a good first half of our lives just to get used to gravity. That it's not easy." -Michael Silverblatt LINKS:Visit the Bookworm ARCHIVES.Buy David Markson books on INDIEBOUND.Watch Michael Silverblatt at Cornell HERE. Listen to David Markson on Bookworm. 

"I think mostly about clothes, sex, food, and seasonal variations. I have done so much to be ordinary and made a record of this: first I was born, next I was a child, then I learned things and did things and loved and had those who loved me and often felt alone. My body was sometimes well, then sometimes unwell. I got nearer to death, as did you." -Anne Boyer, Garments Against Women"I think mostly about my health, food, the past, and sweatpants. Although I complain often and suffer from depression, my general demeanor is actually quite positive. I wish I liked hot tea and stillness more than I do." -Me LINKS:Buy Anne Boyer's Garments Against Women Me on InstagramMe on Substack

"Twisting it in the right hand - I love another." via The Public Domain Review"Donna Logan felt badly for her younger sister, Katie, ,who was suffering from acne."  via The Bold and the Beautiful: 10th Anniversary CelebrationLINKSVisit The Public Domain ReviewWatch The Bold and the Beautiful My InstagramMy SubstackJoin Grig's Poetry PartyListen/Watch to Anne Carson's Lecture on Corners.

Tonight, we have a Recommendation Corner (it's been a while!), a return to Vasko Popa, praise for Valentine's Day whether you like it or not, and some new sound clips 🖤And I'll miss you forever, Billy. I'm devestated.Love, Robynp.s. can you believe I'm back for a 3rd week in a row? I can't!LINKSBuy Vasko Popa's Complete WorksMy InstagramMy Substack My Website

If you grew up in the 70s and 80s like me, you certainly know Geri Jewell. If you don't know the full breadth of her career, you will for sure know "Cousin Geri", Blair Warner's comedian cousin with cerebral palsy from The Facts of Life. I have adored her from the first moment I saw her on TV, and recently read her 2011 autobiography I'm Walking as Straight as I Can: Transcending Disability in Hollywood and Beyond. In this episode, I read to you a small excerpt from a story she wrote involving a nun, some urine, and a car wash. ENJOY!  xoxo, RobynLINKS:Buy Geri Jewell's book I'm Walking as Straight as I Can: Transcending Disability in Hollywood and Beyond!See Geri on Sesame Street HERE and HERE (with an appearance by Northern Calloway, who I told you about on THIS episode of ME READING STUFF). (and there are many more if you just search Youtube)Geri's character dancing on Deadwood.Geri Jewell's website.Me on SubstackMe on Instagram www.robynoneil.com

Today, we head back to Encyclopedia Corner, exploring the letter "A". Also discussed: The Prinzhorn Collection, Jean Dubuffet, Hypergraphia, Emma Hauck, Ants, Animals, The San Fernando Valley, Cardiology, and Cockroaches, Nudity, and Adoption. LINKS:My SubstackMy Instagram

"My paintings are certainly nonobjective. They're just horizontal lines." - Agnes Martin"Oh really, bitch? I don't think so!" - My BodyLINKS:Learn more about artist Agnes Martin HERE.Buy "On Beauty" by Agnes Martin through PACE.Buy "Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words" on INDIEBOUND. 

"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness." - Vladimir Nabokov"I love ruled paper." - MeLINKS:Buy The Best American Essays of The CenturyBuy Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary BuilderLearn more about my drawing HELL See James Ensor in front of Christ's Entry Into Brussels in 1889 as an old man. 

Dear You,We last spoke in January and I've missed you; I've missed this. A lot has happened. A lot has not. Let's pick back up where we left off, but let's make it better and more loving this time. Let's not let the hoards of negatives overshadow the rest — the ever-present glimmerings of light. I simply can't anymore. I woke up different after that night. I even had pink cheeks for the first time in ages, according to some! "Such fun to wake up though!Such fun too if you don't!" - C.K. WilliamsAll my love,RobynLINKS:Buy C.K. Williams "Writers Writing Dying" at INDIEBOUND.Damien Jurado's INSTAGRAMMy INSTAGRAM Our MEAL TRAIN ❤️🌮❤️ if you're so inclined. Listen to every episode of ME READING STUFF on my YOUTUBE PAGE."Keep dying! Keep writing it down!"

"It is certainly true that the larger and older the living thing is, the harder it is to know how to care for it." - Lydia Davis"I barely know what a uterus is for God's sake." - MeLINKS:Buy "The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis" HERE.Become a Subscriber on My Substack!Become a Paid Subscriber and get a drawing! My Instagram My WebsiteMy Youtube