Tosh Berman's Blog, page 184

"West of Eden: An American Place" by Jean Stein (Random House)

ISBN:  9780812998405 Random House
"West of Eden: An American Place" by Jean Stein (Random House)
Hollywood will always be a mystical land that has a tinge of sadness and even worse, tragedy.  Not for me, mind you.  I lived in Los Angeles for my entire life, and I only know the joy of being in this city.  But then again, I'm one of those rare breeds who was born in Los Angeles, and stayed here as well.  On top of that, I'm not in the entertainment business!  But here, we have the roots of what became a certain type of Los Angeles culture.  Painfully rich, the five families that are profiled in "West of Eden," are mostly iconic families and some (at least to me) obscure.   It may be my nature but I find the obscure always the most interesting.  
Jean Stein, who is very much the queen of the oral history narrative, due to her early masterpiece (with George Plimpton) "Edie" has put together a book that is much more personal or in reality, her backyard.   The book covers five families: The Dohenys, the Selznicks, the Warners, her own family, the Steins (MCA), and the fascinating Judy Garland and her family.   What is interesting about Garland, is that she was not only a rich girl from a Hollywood family, but also quite insane.  What is even more insane was that she had a pair of male nurses: Walter Hopps and Ed Moses.  Hopps was the legendary curator and gallery owner of Ferus, and Moses is a great painter.  Both, are very much rooted in the art world history that is Los Angeles.  How these two eccentrics became a caretaker for Garland is both a fascinating tale, and an amazing map from fine art to the world of films.  
Each chapter (on each family) has a sense of sadness, and the reader is introduced to a world that although rich, is actually a landscape touched by  insecurity, madness, eccentricity, and to me, a perfect example of either an era passing or the death of a family's power and presence.  Those who are fascinated by the works of Truman Capote or F. Scott Fitzgerald, will find this book fascinating.  There is a fascination of watching the wealthy turn into dust - but there is also a beauty of that era, that won't be the same anymore.  There will always be the rich, but due to the American promise of riches and happiness - it is usually a bargain that fails in the end.  You get the wealth, but the happiness tends to unreachable.  

Tosh Berman's short story "Structure Equals Eros" in the current Pure Lust issue of BLACK SCAT REVIEW

I have a short nine page story in the current issue of Black Scat Review #14.  It is their " Pure Lust " theme book, and I have to say i'm a master of eros.  In fact, the story is called "Structure Equals Eros."  With an illustration by Elizabeth Yoo.  Down below is the info:  
The first day of Spring is Sunday, March 20th, so get a jump-start on Spring Fever with the “Pure Lust” issue of Black Scat Review.Over 100 pages of lusty art & fiction by an international roster of artists & writers—featuring Tosh Berman, Tom Bussmann, Theodore Carter, Elna Holst, Monika Mori, Derek Pell, Eugene Schacht, Sybil Shwarzenberg, Mercie Pedro e Silva, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Mylene Viger, Tom Whalen, and Elizabeth Yoo.Cover art by Giada Cattaneo
One can purchase a copy of the journal/book here: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Scat-Review-14-Issue/dp/0692633871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457595124&sr=1-1&keywords=Black+Scat+Review+%2314

"Black Wings Has My Angel" by Elliott Chaze (NYRB)

ISBN: 9781590179161 NYRB
"Black Wings Has My Angel" by Elliott Chaze (NYRB)
Fucking and crime are the basis of all classic noir, and clearly the novel, "Black Wings Has My Angel," has that in spades.  Elliot Chaze wrote a noir tale that is basically a definitive frame of what noir is.   A man against a system or himself, and falling for his weakness or the power of the sexual pull.  One's life starts from the bottom, and goes straight down to Hell.  It's a classic premise for a crime narrative, and Chaze's novel is another example of that shadowy world. 
The peaks of heaven are always cash in the pocket and the sexual urge being satisfied.  The beauty of "Black Wings" is that it is written beautifully and there is a tinge of real sadness that comes with the despair.  On the other hand, this book is very much the typical noir literature of the 1950s, but well thought out and written with great skill.   For me, nothing is better than David Goodis' series of novels of the underworld, and this book comes close to that insane landscape, but follows a guide rule to write the practical crime book.  Still, it's a pretty amazing read, and the crime itself is very livid with overtures of the definitive existential angst.   Lovers of noir will love it, and no one will be bored.   Enter and don't be afraid. 

"Sphinx" by Anne Garréta (Translated from the French by Emma Ramadan & Introduction by Daniel Levin Becker)

ISBN: 978-1-941920-09-1 Deep Vellum
"Sphinx" by Anne Garréta (Translated from the French by Emma Ramadan; Introduction by Daniel Levin Becker)   Deep Vellum
A really nice mood piece of writing here.  Anne Garréta gives the nighttime life of Paris and Manhattan a nice smokey touch, as this is a tale of lovers, one is a combination of professor and DJ, and the other lover is an American dancer in Paris.  What we don't know is the gender of either of the two.   Which must have been hell for the translator Emma Ramadan to do, since the French language has very strong genderistic touches to their language.   In all honesty, as I was reading, I was imagining that the lovers were women, and I'm not sure if it was just a stupid knowledge of knowing the author is female, or somehow the nature of the two main characters.   Garréta wrote this novel when she was 25, and she became a member of Oulipo five years after she wrote "Sphinx."   One can sense the playfulness of the language as well as the no gender specific of the two characters, but it's not as experimental as Georges Perec for instance.  The story reads as a doomed love story, a very smart and textured text, but one that conveys the loss of a presence.  

- Tosh Berman

"I Hate The Internet" by Jarett Kobek (We Heard You Like Books)

ISBN: 9780996421805 We Heard You Like Books"I Hate The Internet" by Jarett Kobek (We Heard You Like Books, 2016)
San Francisco has always been an odd city to me.  There are many wonderful things about it, but then the technology internet companies moved in, and sort of changed the landscape from the literary beats with great bars to Google world.  Yet the city houses one of the great bookstores in the world, the iconic (rightfully so) City Lights, but alas, the literary tradition does continue on, which is Jarett Kobek's novel "I Hate The Internet."   Yet, the novel doesn't prowl through the streets of Dashell Hammett or Jack Spicer, but the sorry state of Google, Facebook, which is now tattooed on the image of San Francisco.  On the other hand, it can be any city in America that embraces a technology that brings riches to a few, yet can leave a greater population empty - as in desire and promises not full-filled. 
I read very little of contemporary novels, but I have to say Kobek's book is really rooted into the "now."   I have never read a book that is so now, and not only that, it is a great novel.  It is my ideal of fiction writing in which it is about ideas, culture and politics. I imagine if Guy Debord wrote fiction it would be like "I Hate The Internet."  Kobek pretty much describes the dangers of the computer world, and what it promises to be, as in opening up new worlds for the consumer/visitor, but more likely the sole purpose is to either collect your personal information, or sell you something.  It's capitalism, but taken on to another tech level.   
There are characters, that are both real and fictional, or fictional real, but what is interesting to me is when Kobek breaks down the ills which are the American world, that is basically defined by Google and other sites.  Without a doubt, the Internet is quite useful, but there is also a price that goes with it, and in many ways, it is sort of the death of a culture that was once much loved.  Or, at least those who lived a long time, or have a memory of a life before the Net.  Excellent commentary on the American 21st century. 
- Tosh Berman

February 29, 2016

February 29
It is almost like sinking into velvet.  If I can stop aging, or hold back the years, so I can totally focus on the day.   There is something beautiful about waking up early in the morning, before dawn, and one starts to paint on canvas with a beautiful young girl in front of you.   As I take a seat, with a persian cat on my lap, I take a brush to express what is in front of me.   People have commented to me that the girls in my paintings are a total mystery, but in fact, they are a mystery to me as well.  Youth is beautiful.  Aging is beautiful.  But since I’m born on February 29, I age not every year, but every four years.


I was approached by a young beauty for my hand in marriage.  I turned her down, because I couldn’t imagine myself being a property of one person, and therefore I had to buy her 12 pairs of gloves for her to hide the fact she doesn’t have an engagement ring.   “Yes”and “No” tend to carry the same amount of responsibility.   She was a stripper with remarkable skill, and the one thing she didn’t do, was to remove her gloves.  I often regret that I made that decision not to marry, because it made me reflect on my slow-pace aging. 


I had the opportunity to make a recording in 1965 called “Put Me Amongst The Girls, ” which wasn’t a hit, probably due to the public’s indifference between the career of a painter and singer.   Again the ugly head of “Yes” and “No” stuck out of the gopher’s hole, allowing fate to make the final decision.   A flip of the coin has always made me nervous at the best of times - at the worst… Well, I follow my desire.


All I know a day without yours truly creating or making something is like death approaching me in a slow cat-like pace.  If I had a tail, I would slowly flick it back and forth, till I capture the moment.   To explain what I do, is like being forced to use a language one doesn’t know.  I paint, I sing, and therefore that is exactly what I am. A gallery sent me a message that they wanted a bio from me.  I wrote back stating “No biographical details.  I’m a painter of whom nothing is known. Now let us look at the pictures.  Regards, T.”

"Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant lunatics" by Rob Baker

ISBN: 978-1-4456-5119-4 Amberley Books"Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics: A Sideway Look at Twentieth-Century London" by Rob Baker
For me, a city is something of brilliance.  I never cared for nature or the world outside of a city.  What I love is neon lights, people walking from there to here, cars, public transportation, and various cafes and restaurants.   Each city has a definite identity.  My favorite cities are Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, and the subject matter of this book "Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics," London.  It is odd when I walk around London, I'm consistently looking for something from the past.   My main interest is London in the 19th and 20th century - and I have a pretty good collection of books on that subject.  My favorite, I think is this book.  It captures the mystery, the eccentricity, and life flowing through its streets.
The book covers everything from Mary Quant to woman nazis to Christine Keeler to underground gay culture.  Rob Baker has the eye of a historian, but the heart of a poet - and he takes the reader down various pathways to a world that is very much London, but also going against the grain as well.  
This superb book is based on Baker's incredible website "Another Nickel in the Machine."  I discovered this site by accident, and like any good accident, it led me to other worlds that are within London.   His amazing collection of photographs is reason enough to visit the site, but now he made a book, and it is equally great.
For those who love London, this book is a must, but even those who never been to that part of the world, yet find the urban world of great interest, will need to own and read "Beautiful Idiots."  
- Tosh Berman

"Taken Care Of" by Edith Sitwell

"Taken Care Of" by Edith Sitwell
The one thing that surprised me for some reason, is that Edith Sitwell's quotes Arthur Rimbaud's poetry a lot in her memoir "Taken Care Of."   For some reason, I didn't think the Prince of French punk poetry's work would get along in the eccentric world of Edith Sitwell - but there you go!   This is a book of little and not too many major surprises.  For instance, I didn't know she lived at the Sunset Tower on the Sunset Strip, nor that she had a great admiration for Dylan Thomas.  She didn't like D.H. Lawrence and is quite snooty towards a lot of people. On the other hand, it seems she adored Marilyn Monroe. 
The memoir started off strongly in a narrative way with her relationship with her parents when she was a child, which wasn't so hot.  After that, the book jumps around time-to-time with no strong narrative impulse.  Sort of whatever entered Sitwell's head at the time of writing, is what stayed in the final version of the book.  
I wished she wrote a larger chapter, or even a whole book on her experiences in America, especially Hollywood.  Still, this is a nice portal or entrance into the brain of Sitwell, but it's not the great memoir that one would hope for.  

- Tosh Berman

"Scrapbook of the Sixties: Writings 1954 - 2010" by Jonas Mekas (Spector Books)

Spector Books ISBN: 9783959050333
"Scrapbook of the Sixties:  Writings 1954-2010" by Jonas Mekas (Spector Books)

The world is great when it is represented by Jonas Mekas.  For those who don't know or not in the know, Mekas is a filmmaker, film-supporter, film distributor, art lover, and the light of the Film Anthology in New York City.  On top of that, he was hired by Jackie Kennedy to tutor her two children in film aesthetics.   Mekas is also a great writer in defense of the art film, than say the narrative Hollywood film.  His writing throughout the years on filmmakers like Breakage, Anger, Conner, and of course Andy Warhol is priceless.   The beauty of reading "Scrapbook of the Sixties" is one gets a snapshot of that era, and all the issues that came up in the arts - especially the arts that were produced in lower Manhattan.
The odd thing, not everything in this book took place in the 60s.  Some of the pieces were written in the 90s, 00's as well as the 70s.  Yet, the root of the aesthetic does go back to the late 50s and of course, throughout the 1960s.  Here you get John & Yoko, Peter Kubelka, Warhol, Stan Brakage  - but it also goes beyond the cinematic arts - there are also various insights into the world of theater - specifically The Living Theater.  Reading Mekas, he now reminds me of Boris Vian's various reviews and commentary on Jazz.  Both artists share a total passion for an art form and a social movement.    
I also have to say, that this book is a delight to hold.  It's beautifully designed with wonderful paper.  The texture is incredible.  So are the words and their thoughts.
- Tosh Berman

"Jumpin' Jack Flash: David Litvinoff and the Rock n' Roll Underworld" by Keiron Pim

ISBN: 978-0-224-09812-0 Jonathan Cape Vintage
"Jumpin' Jack Flash: David Litvinoff and the Rock n' Roll Underworld" by Keiron Pim (Jonathan Cape Vintage, ISBN: 978-0-224-09812-0)
For me, what is there not to love about this book?  In 300 or so pages, I get a bit of Jewish London history of the East End, The Krays, The Rolling Stones, and a tale of an obsessive record / music collector who was also a criminal, Francis Bacon  & Lucian Freud, London Soho night life, as well as one of the leading influences of the great film "Performance."    Not only that, he was hired as an advisor for the film, and hinted that perhaps (or perhaps not) wrote some of the scenes for the film.   David Litvinoff is a figure who very much lived in the shadows of other people.  Yet, his presence, was greatly noted in the world of the Krays as well as to the world of Eric Clapton, Stones, and the swinging London 60s.   Litvinoff, was an invented character (of sorts) who was the bridge between the criminal life of London and the world of rock n' roll with a side trip to the cinema.  The author, Keiron Pim, did a fantastic job in putting together this biography that couldn't have been that easy.