Jason Smith's Blog, page 11
September 25, 2015
September 24, 2015
"Ladies & Gentlemen: Introducing the Asshole of Tomorrow, Today" in The Coffeelicious
You gotta hand it to the guy. I mean sure, assholes have always been around. Narcissists existed prior. Corporate villains, capitalist…
September 21, 2015
Hey Jeff,
As somebody who may disagree with you on many issues, I wanted to say that I have a tremendous amount of respect for you and your…
September 15, 2015
"“Yeah, straight up, we’re raising a generation of pussies.”" in The Coffeelicious
Warning. The following microaggression may trigger uncomfortable feelings.
September 11, 2015
This is something I struggle with.
The story is done, first draft, and time to start hitting the 'delete' button.
September 10, 2015
Of anything I’ve ever written, I may be most proud of this piece.
The idea came to me in July while watching the news. Headlines around the world focused on Chapo Guzman and his (second) escape from a…
September 6, 2015
So there are a lot of things we can take her to task for, just as long as they’re things that won’t…
I don’t see it as “marriage shaming,” a term that makes absolutely no sense by the way. At least in the context you’re trying to use it. I…
August 28, 2015
Jerry Stahl: The Interview
A Real Edition Exclusive.
by Jason Smith
Sitting outside of Fred’s 62 Diner in East Hollywood, I watch Jerry Stahl drive up — black Cadillac, black pants, black T-shirt, Johnny Cash had Johnny Cash shot dope while screenwriting for ALF and Moonlighting in the early 80s- when I’m struck with the realization that I’m about to do an interview and I have no idea what I’m doing.
I first read Stahl’s memoir, Permanent Midnight, back in 2007 while strung out on Fentanyl and Xanax, and I remember thinking: “Fuck. If this guy can get it, maybe there’s hope for me.” Fast forward eight years, and here I am, on a promotional tour for my own memoir, and we’re about to sit down to chat. It seems a bit surreal. I’d reached out to Jerry to ask him if he’d be interested in doing an interview, assuming he’d politely decline and I’d be able to say that I gave it a shot.
He accepted. So here I was, with absolutely no clue as to how to conduct an interview.
We walk the length of the diner, wrap around the back, and find a seat next to a lady, mid-80s-ish, eating runny eggs on wheat toast, all alone. It made me wonder what she did in her younger years that lead to her eating breakfast by herself on a Wednesday morning.
“Hey man,” I said, “I really appreciate you taking the time. I know you’re busy.”
“No, man, come on. It’s the least I can do. I know what it’s like, starting out. Shit, I should probably be out pimping my book too.”
The book he’s referring to is OG Dad, a collection of essays originally published online at therumpus.net, short stories that came about when the recovering drug-addict/Hep-C survivor/writer found out he was going to be a father for the second time. The first time, as detailed in Permanent Midnight, things didn’t go so well. OG Dad is the story of his second go-round.
Sitting down, Stahl describes his experience with Hubert Selby, author of Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream, who shared his own experiences with Stahl while he was starting out. I get the impression that Stahl’s meeting me today is a sort of “pay it forward” act, which I’m totally cool with.
“So, I’m going to be totally up- front with you — I have no clue what the fuck I’m doing,” I confessed. “I’ve never done an interview before.”
Cool, calm, collected, he chuckles, which makes me feel a little better.
“Let’s just chat, man. Ask me whatever you want.”
[image error]Jerry Stahl: The Interview was originally published in Addiction Unscripted on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
