Nicolina
06-17-2006, 06:17 PM
Just wanna jump in and recommend a book called "The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer" by Eric Hansen. It's a bunch of essays by a decent writer who's led a pretty interesting life....
The title essay includes the best depiction of a stripper that I think I've ever read. I don't know if she posts on SW but I wouldn't be surprised--she's super-smart and very level-headed.
I also like his essay about the time he spent living on a little island in the South Pacific in the mid-1970's. This was the first place he landed after nearly dying in a typhoon on a shrimp boat. He was 26 years old, and after a night of debauchery at the only bar on the island, he decided to stay.
Here's a little excerpt:
Backstory: After three minutes in the bar, he's challenged to fight by a huge drunken local. He offers to buy the guy a beer (and a little more time before his pummelling):
"I leaned forward and told him in a quiet voice that, just between the two of us, I didn't want to fight because I was concerned he might slip in my blood and hurt himself. He liked that and Billy soon forgot about beating me to a pulp...
"Billy taught me my first local phrase...Anyone who has spent more than a few days on Thursday Island knows the expression 'Kubalah wah?' Politely translated, it means 'Would you like to have sex?' In response to this question there are only two possible answers and both of them are 'yes.' The first means 'Yes, I would like to'--and the second means, 'Yes, but not with you. You are not man (or woman) enough to please me.' A favorite sport among the men, Billy told me, was to sleep (at different times) with the daughter, her mother, and her grandmother. This feat was known as the Grand Slam, and according to several men and women at the bar it was a common activity enjoyed by all participants. They talked about the Grand Slam in the way some people discuss golf."
Sounds like most of us would fit right in, huh? :)
Anyway, I highly recommend it. His writing isn't fancy or florid, he doesn't write "pretty," but yet it's somehow very affecting, and he tells a damn good story.
I wrote him an e-mail and he wrote back; apparently he's continued his friendship with the dancer he met in the story, and his next book is about her. Interesting.
The title essay includes the best depiction of a stripper that I think I've ever read. I don't know if she posts on SW but I wouldn't be surprised--she's super-smart and very level-headed.
I also like his essay about the time he spent living on a little island in the South Pacific in the mid-1970's. This was the first place he landed after nearly dying in a typhoon on a shrimp boat. He was 26 years old, and after a night of debauchery at the only bar on the island, he decided to stay.
Here's a little excerpt:
Backstory: After three minutes in the bar, he's challenged to fight by a huge drunken local. He offers to buy the guy a beer (and a little more time before his pummelling):
"I leaned forward and told him in a quiet voice that, just between the two of us, I didn't want to fight because I was concerned he might slip in my blood and hurt himself. He liked that and Billy soon forgot about beating me to a pulp...
"Billy taught me my first local phrase...Anyone who has spent more than a few days on Thursday Island knows the expression 'Kubalah wah?' Politely translated, it means 'Would you like to have sex?' In response to this question there are only two possible answers and both of them are 'yes.' The first means 'Yes, I would like to'--and the second means, 'Yes, but not with you. You are not man (or woman) enough to please me.' A favorite sport among the men, Billy told me, was to sleep (at different times) with the daughter, her mother, and her grandmother. This feat was known as the Grand Slam, and according to several men and women at the bar it was a common activity enjoyed by all participants. They talked about the Grand Slam in the way some people discuss golf."
Sounds like most of us would fit right in, huh? :)
Anyway, I highly recommend it. His writing isn't fancy or florid, he doesn't write "pretty," but yet it's somehow very affecting, and he tells a damn good story.
I wrote him an e-mail and he wrote back; apparently he's continued his friendship with the dancer he met in the story, and his next book is about her. Interesting.