On the evening of October 31st, Andrew, Yusef, Rushabh and I attended a reading on the lower East Side of Manhattan at The Dixon Place. For the Fall 2018 season, the Dixon Place hosted readings by established authors in the “Guerilla Lit Reading Series”. On this night, there were three authors presenting their work, all reading fiction texts, all persuading the audience members to buy their work.

The Dixon Place is very hard to describe, a place that you have to see in person to get a real grasp for. It is a bar, a lounge, and a theatre all in one. The Dixon Place was very warm and cozy, with a plethora of different tables and chairs, all made from assorted materials, all antique. There was a great deal of artwork on the walls. The price and author were noted beneath them. Right at the entrance hung a large LGBTQ+ flag, indicating that this is a safe space.

The first author, Jacob M. Appel, began his reading by telling the audience that he’s written about 215 short stories but he is only known for one entitled Einstein’s Beach House, of which he reads the beginning of. At a first glance, his strong lisp and reserved demeanor gave off the impression that he was shy about his work. However, as he began to read and the intensity of his voice gradually increased as he read the excerpt, I could tell that his work meant a great deal to him. The piece he read, was about a couple who had a pet hedgehog and he becomes ill. The woman in the relationship was very upset that the hedgehog was sick because she had lost some relatives recently, so her partner decided to take him to a veterinary psychiatrist. Before this reading, I had never heard of such a thing. The rhythm and pace at which he read the excerpt sounded as if he was reading a poem, with such cadence and flow to his words. His stance, with his feet planted firmly and his voice projected outward, indicated that he was very confident in his craft. I was very impressed with his piece, as it took a slightly unexpected turn, leaving me wanting more. After all the readings, Andrew and I asked to take a picture with him and he seemed very excited to do so. In fact, he gave us both free copies of his book.

The second author, Laura Catherine Brown (an older white woman with blonde hair who was dressed up as a hippie for Halloween, the only author who was in the holiday spirit), also read an excerpt from a book she’s published called Made By Mary. She stated that she has never read this section aloud before, and she prepped us for any errors she may make while doing so. Nonetheless, she read the excerpt with an assertive, mysterious, and newscaster voice. The excerpt she read was about a lesbian couple who was preparing to get pregnant through surrogacy. She also mentioned how the characters in the book were involved in paganism and drug trafficking, but most of the concepts in her novel went over my head, partly because I am not personally familiar with those topics. I would rather sit down and read her novel myself and be able to go back over the things I don’t understand. She was very animated in her speech. For instance, she patted her chest when she read the word “thumped”, and constantly used her hands for further infliction.

The last author, Brian Leung, commanded the stage as soon as he stepped up, or at least he tried to. He gave off a very arrogant attitude, and yet he was unprepared and could not see his novel because of the lighting. When Laura Brown initially came up to help him with the lighting, he brushed her off and denied her help. Then, when he finally admitted to himself that he couldn’t see, he agreed to her assistance. Before he read, he told the audience that he was going to read without context, and “you will learn nothing about my novel from these excerpts”. From that statement, I was turned off from listening to his text. However, he was very lively whilst reading his text, animating the sounds in the book (i.e.: “zzzz”).

I have never been to a reading like this (or at all for that matter), and it was nothing like I expected, but I am very grateful that I went.

Andrew and I with Laura Catherine Brown

Andrew and I with Jacob M. Appel

Rushabh and I at the Dixon Place