Ten years after “The Devil Wears Prada,” the characters are back — and a bit more grown up — in “Revenge Wears Prada.”

Author Lauren Weisberger spoke with Metro at her Gilt City launch party. 

In the new book, Andy – engaged and now helming her own magazine – encounters fresh challenges of her own right off the bat, as she is preparing to walk down the aisle. One of those challenges? Well, we’ll let you guess, but it includes a familiar face.

How did you decide to bring back Andy for a new book? 

I’d been thinking about it for a really long time. So much happens in all of our lives in 10 years, I just got really curious about what would be going on with Andy and Emily and the whole crew. … I thought it would be really fun to not just check in with them and pick up their story 10 years later, but to create a whole 10-year back story, so it was kind of the best of both worlds.

How was it different writing this book than your other novels, where you started fresh with brand-new characters? 

It was a little strange, but I really liked it. It’s great and it’s fun to sit down with an empty screen and you can just start from scratch. For me, the challenge came in wanting to stay true to them, wanting to keep them the same people that the readers recognized and connected with the first time, but also letting them grow up and face their own obstacles.

Did you feel like you needed to include real-world events like the recession, making lives considerably less lavish?

I think anything that’s going on in the real world finds its way into your writing. New York still plays such a big role in this book, Andy’s a New Yorker, and I’m a New Yorker I guess you can say, it’s been 14 years. I still don’t even know if that counts. … I don’t think New York the city has changed, of course things have changed in 10 years, but I feel like the characters living in it haven’t changed.

What will Andy face in this new book that she wouldn’t have faced 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, she was wide eyed, fresh faced, straight out of college, super naïve, and 10 years have gone by, and she’s way more experienced in the industry now, she’s doing what she loves, which is writing. She’s founded this magazine, and I think she’s much more confident, much more sure of herself. She’s a proper grown up.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @reporteralison

The post Lauren Weisberger on bringing back ‘Prada’ and whether she can call herself a New Yorker appeared first on Metro.us.

“Hermione, sick of studying, rummaged through her bag. There it was. Did she dare? No one was in the Library, not even Madam Prince. Hermione threw caution to the wind for once in her life and pulled out her vibrator. Padma had given it to her as a prank joke on her birthday, but Hermione had put it to good use. She gasped just thinking about her last orgasm.”

If this doesn’t sound like the “Harry Potter” you remember reading (and the “Harry Potter” you let your kids read) that’s because it isn’t.

That’s a line from a piece of Potter-inspired erotic fan fiction we found on the Internet titled “Dirty, Erotic, Smutty Sex in the Library.” For the uninitiated, fan fiction is a term for a subset of fictional stories based upon about characters or settings of an existing work, written by fans of the original work, rather than by creator. And erotic fan fiction, well, you get the idea.

Not limited to children’s fantasy novels (though that makes the fan fiction all the creepier, which is often the point) fan fiction and erotic fan fiction can be written about a wide variety of genres including television, movies, comics, and more. If you can imagine it, and you can smut it up, then you can write it.

The thing is, though, that while we’re sure a fair amount of this particular type of literature is penned by pasty, 50-year-old virgins, typing sweatily and furiously in their parents basements at 3 a.m., fan fiction can also be mined for comedic gold. That’s the idea behind comedian Bryan Murphy’s Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, a monthly comedy show (soon to be made into a podcast) he’s hosted for the past two-odd years at the Nerdist Theatre in San Francisco. The premise: eight comics write — and read aloud — short pieces of erotic fan fiction based either upon their own fancy or audience suggestions. The audience decides who has written the most titillating — or just plain absurd — story by a show of applause. We asked Murphy a few burning questions that sprang to mind when we found out that his show was stopping in town at the Davis Square Theatre next week.

How did you come up with the idea for this show?

I used to do a Valentine’s Day comedy show in Seattle, and a few weeks before I saw my friend Travis Vogt (a great comic/filmmaker) read a piece of ‘Cars’ erotic fan fiction at a show. It was hilarious — and it bombed. It occurred to me that Valentine’s Day would be a perfect time for a bunch of comics to write erotic fan fiction, so I made everyone performing on that show bring a piece and we had a competition. It was by far the most popular thing that night, and a month later I spun it off into its own show.

Tell me how it works.

Five comics bring pieces they have written in advance, based upon any subject they choose. Five other comics get audience suggestions for a topic, and have to write backstage while the first five read their pieces.

Do you write erotic fan fiction yourself?
For this show, yes, but it wasn’t something I was into before, because that would be pathetic.

Was the first show super awkward?
No, not at all. The (small) crowd who came out knew what they were in for, and it was great. There are times now when I get audience members who may not know what they’re in for, because I bring the show to comedy clubs. Comedy club crowds sometimes just show up for “comedy”, and don’t know that what they are going to get is the cast of Green Acres getting sodomized by Petticoat Junction.

What’s the best story you’ve heard or read so far?
It’s a three-way tie: Kyle Kinane doing “Rent: The Musical,” Ian Karmel doing “Criss Angel: Mindfreak,” and Ben Roy doing “Life Goes On.”

What about the worst, weirdest, or most uncomfortable?
Same three answers. The worst/most uncomfortable fan fiction IS the best fan fiction!

What makes a really great piece of fan fiction?
1. Know your subject really well or not at all (either extreme is hilarious).
2. Get to the f—cking
3. Make it tight. Very few people can keep it up for more than a few minutes.

If you could read a piece of erotic fan fiction about anything in the world, what would it be?
What do you mean could? I can! I may be the only person with such an option (and a regular audience who will listen). But it changes constantly. Lately, it’s “Girls.”

If you go

June 17, 8 p.m.
Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm St., Somerville
$10, 617-684-5335

The post Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction: This ain’t your childhood story circle appeared first on Metro.us.

Veteran comedian Marc Maron, perhaps best known for his wildly popular podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” (for which he interviews personalities from his garage) lived in Boston during the early days of his stand up career after attending Boston University. Known for his frank, acerbic wit, Maron honed his comic chops in small venues across town. Maron spoke to the Metro about his visit to his old stomping grounds, for a stop in town to discuss his new book of essays “Attempting Normal.”

When you come back to Boston, does it feel familiar to you?

Definitely. I mean, you know, everything’s different. There’s remnants of what was there when I was there. There’s a tone to the place and a feeling to the air and that brings back a lot of memories. I was there kind of a long time.

Do you have any spots that you like to hit when you come back to Boston?

I don’t know what that city has anymore. It’s a strange thing. Out of all the places I’ve lived, I never really went back there much. I don’t even know why. I paid a lot of dues there as a comic, and I was in a lot of sticky situations, and there are just as many bad memories as there were good memories. But it’s weird, I don’t really know what’s there anymore. I’m looking forward to being in Harvard Square. Like at the Brattle Theatre, when I was in college. Sh—t, I saw Spalding Gray do “Swimming to Cambodia” there. I used to know the woman who ran the place because she was dating this older dude that I hung out with. How long have you lived in that area?

Since 2007.

Oh, there used to be this joint in Harvard Square called “The Tasty.” It was just a lunch counter on the corner there — like there were just five seats — and all he made was burgers and stuff. He was open all night. I used to work at the Coffee Connection, back in the day, before I started doing comedy. It was the first really chichi coffee joint and I would steal coffee from there, and I would end up just jacked and I couldn’t sleep, so I would end up at that place the Tasty at two or three in the morning because I knew the guy. Harvard Square’s not really any kind of crazy place, it’s a very well-managed bit of real estate. But this one joint was just this light in the middle of the night where you could sit there and eat hamburgers and talk to people at two or three in the morning. But it’s gone. [But] That old cigar shop’s probably still there.

It is still there. The cigar shop will always be there.

Yeah, I saw David Mamet in there. He used to hang out in there. One time I saw him there, and he had come in wearing these sunglasses, and I thought they were the best sunglasses I ever saw in my life. It took me about twenty years but I actually found a pair that looks just like them.

If you go

Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge
Sold Out
harvard.com

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Still hunting for a great Father’s Day gift? Look no further than this list of books. Whether he is a fly-fishing fan or wants to hunker down in a transatlantic adventure, here are our picks for pop.

For a transnational adventure
“TransAtlantic,” a new novel from National Book Award winner Colum McCann, weaves a story detailing three different crossings of the Atlantic in dynamic time periods, from an Irish famine to a modern-day presidential visit from Barack Obama. The novel moves through 150 years and two continents, starring historical figures including Obama and Frederick Douglass alongside characters like aviators attempting the first nonstop flight.

For golf laughs, and maybe a few tears
The new memoir “Loopers: A Caddy’s Twenty-Year Golf Odyssey” tracks decades of caddy adventures. John Dunn says this wasn’t the long-term goal he envisioned, but he ended up appearing at golf courses across the country, hitchhiking to get to some of the fanciest greens in the nation. He tells tales of assisting regular golfers to movie stars — and making as much as $500 a day in tips. And it’s not all laughs – it also touches on problems that plague caddies, like heavy drinking and gambling.

For a father-daughter relationship
In “The Entertainer: Movies, Magic and My Father’s Twentieth Century,” Margaret Talbot, a writer for the New Yorker, weaves old Hollywood stories and family legends together from the life of her father, actor Lyle Talbot. As well as following along on his adventures, the book also tracks changes in the entertainment industry.

For fans of fishing
Fishing books might be a classic dad gift, but get him a tailored book toward one specific type of fishing this time with “Why I Fly Fish” by Chris Santella. The author interviewed 25 fishermen, from fly-fishing professionals to celebrities like Henry Winkler, all telling their personal reasons for the pursuit.

For a new take on old history
This new book takes an underwater view of World War II. In “The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan,” James Scott describes a submarine force that destroyed a Japanese merchant fleet, hurting that country’s economy. Tales include an underseas appendectomy with kitchen utensils. Drawing on diaries, letters and interviews with veterans, this is a fresh story for any World War II fan.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @reporteralison.

The post Still shopping for Dad? Read our Father’s Day book gift picks appeared first on Metro.us.

Pity the poor only child. The eldest child is never stereotyped as spoiled; the youngest is never pigeonholed as maladjusted or lonely. Forget giving birth to a small army — it is when you say you are only having one child is when eyebrows get raised.

Lauren Sandler is on a one-woman (and one-child) mission to change these misconceptions of onlies with her new book, “One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One.” Sandler, who is an only child and has an only child herself, found herself being a de facto proponent of stopping after one.

“One day, I got an email from a friend that said, ‘I’m pregnant with my second child and I know how you feel about this.’ And I thought, ‘I don’t know how I feel,’” recalls Sandler, a freelance journalist who writes on cultural politics and women’s issues. “Her comment really sat with me in a funny way. Then when I had my child and I was wrestling with what it would mean to not have another, I decided to report it out, like I do for everything.”

What Sandler found was “stunning,” in her words: “Hundreds of studies over decades found that our stereotype of lonely children is totally untrue,” she says. “That doesn’t mean that there isn’t commonality within the only child experience, but it has nothing to do with whether you were lonely and selfish and maladjusted.”

Filled with in-depth reporting (with some wry motherhood observations thrown in), “One and Only” lays it out there: If you decide to only have one child, you aren’t “ruining” that child by deciding not to give it a brother or sister. In fact, you may just create a happier family life because of it. As Sandler digs up, parents who stop after one have more resources, more freedom and more time for not only their child, but for each other as well.

And even though she wrote the definitive book on the subject, Sandler is quick to note that she’s not saying that having one is the best choice; only that it is a valid choice, and one that parents don’t think they can really make without seeming selfish or withholding. “If most people have their first kid for them, and their second kid for their first kid — which is what polls have consistently told us they do — what would it mean if they didn’t? What would it mean if they didn’t feel like they had to?” she asks. “Don’t have another kid just because you think you’re gonna avoid screwing up you your first kid if you do.”

Research from “One and Only” by Lauren Sandler

The good news about only children:
• In 500 studies over the past several decades examining 16 traits — including leadership, maturity, extroversion, social participation, peer popularity, generosity, cooperativeness, flexibility, emotional stability and contentment — only children do just as well as siblings. In only two categories is there a marked difference between singletons and sibs: achievement motivation and self-esteem. And in those traits, onlies fare far better.

Parental happiness:
• In a survey of 35,000 Danish twins, women with one child said they were more satisfied with their lives than women with none or more than one.

The increasing juggle of motherhood:
• Each child adds no fewer than 120 hours of housework a year.
• Women devote about 13 hours a week to childcare, up from about 10.5 hours nearly a half century ago. Meanwhile, the American workweek has increased by 13 hours.
• Women do twice as much housework as men, and provide more than two-thirds of care for kids under 12.
• A single child decreases a mother’s employment by about eight hours a week. A second child leads to a further reduction of about 12 hours (for a total of 20).
• 60 percent of men say they are struggling with the demands of work and family.

The financial reality:
• A child born in 2011 will cost an average of $235,000 to raise to age 18.
• Two-parent households with two children devote over a third of their income to their kids.
• College diplomas awarded in 2010 came with an average of $24,000 in debt.

The environment:
• Our global numbers are expected to increase by more than two billion to over 9 billion people by 2050.
• Each baby born in the U.S. today will add about 300 times more carbon dioxide to Earth’s atmosphere than a baby born in Ethiopia.

… And yet:
• 76 percent of Americans told Gallup pollsters they think being an only child is a serious disadvantage in life, responsible for everything from gutting loneliness to major character defects.
• 17 percent of American women in the 1970s said they’d stop at one kid; today, 3 percent of Americans say they think a single-child family is ideal.
Source: Contributed

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After numerous starts and stops by Hollywood executives to bring Judy Blume’s books onto the big screen, the best-selling author and her filmmaker son decided to make it happen.

The film adaptation of her 1981 young adult book “Tiger Eyes” opens in theaters Friday and simultaneously on iTunes, DirecTV and On-Demand.

It was a family project, with Blume and her son, Lawrence Blume, writing the screenplay and producing the film. Lawrence directed the movie and Blume’s husband of 26 years, George Cooper, was executive producer of the independently financed $2 million project.

“Tiger Eyes” is about a teenager named Davey, whose family moved from New Jersey to Los Alamos, N.M., to start a new life after the murder of her father.

“It sort of mirrored my own story of being pulled away from my life, my friends and my father in New Jersey and moving to this strange town of Los Alamos,” said Lawrence, who directed the 2002 comedy film “Martin & Orloff.”

Blume divorced his father, remarried, and moved Lawrence and his sister to New Mexico in the late 1970s.

The New York-based filmmaker collaborated with his mother, who lives in Key West, Fla., mainly by email and telephone.

“The biggest challenge was taking the book’s first person inner monologue narrative and figuring out how to turn that into an actionable behavior that actors can play,” he added.

Blume, 75, has sold more than 82 million books in 41 countries. Earlier attempts to make a feature film based on one of Blume’s books had failed, said Lawrence, 50.

When British supermarket giant Tesco got into the film business a few years ago, Lawrence made a deal for “Tiger Eyes.”

Working with his mother, he said, was “kind of magical.”

“We don’t live in the same city anymore, so it was really nice to be able to spend a lot of time with her,” Lawrence said. “There was a joyful feeling on the set.”

Shooting began in Santa Fe in the fall of 2010 with “Gossip Girl” actress Willa Holland and Amy Jo Johnson, who starred in the TV series “Felicity.”

Blume said she would like to see big screen versions of her adult novels “Summer Sisters” and “Wifey.” She is also working on a novel she began before production on “Tiger Eyes” began.

“Writers don’t stop writing,” said Blume. “So I want to continue to do more of the same.”

The post Best-selling author Judy Blume hits big screen, finally appeared first on Metro.us.

Publishers gave Amazon.com an “ultimatum” to let them set prices of e-books sold on its website after they reached deals in 2010 to sell through Apple Inc. as well, a top executive at the retailer testified on Wednesday.

Amazon could have been barred from selling books for its Kindle e-reader the same day physical hardcovers were released unless the retailer agreed to their terms, said Russell Grandinetti, vice president for Kindle content on Amazon.com.

Grandinetti gave the testimony on the third day of an antitrust trial in Manhattan federal court. The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Apple and five major U.S. publishers in April 2012, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices for e-books.

The publishers all settled before trial and together paid $164 million to resolve parallel claims by state attorneys that are also being asserted at trial. Apple, which became a Kindle rival when it launched the iPad in 2010, did not settle.

Amazon, which debuted the Kindle in 2007, controlled up to 90 percent of the market by 2009, court filings show. It was pricing new and bestselling e-books at $9.99, often below cost.

Amazon ultimately switched from the wholesale reseller model, in which it set prices, to the publisher-controlled agency approach similar to the one Apple had adopted in 2010.

In Apple’s model, publishers pay the retailer a commission and can set prices of $12.99, $14.99 or more.

Grandinetti said if Amazon could, it would want to sell books for cheaper.

“Certainly if someone offered reseller, we would have taken them up on that offer,” he said.

The Justice Department has sought to portray Amazon at the non-jury trial as the central victim of the alleged antitrust conspiracy amid disapproval by publishers of the low prices it was offering consumers for new and best-selling titles.

A provision in Apple’s contracts stipulated that if other retailers sold e-books for less, then e-books on Apple’s platform had to be the same price.

The Justice Department, which says Apple orchestrated the price-fixing scheme, contends the price parity clause was designed to compel publishers to move Amazon to the agency model.

At the trial, Grandinetti recounted that in January 2010, Jon Sargent, chief executive of the publisher Macmillan, offered him a choice of either moving to the agency model or having to delay selling e-books until after a title’s hardcover had been on the market for seven months.

“I think I expressed how unpalatable the choice presented was,” he said.

Amazon for a time subsequently pulled MacMillan books from its online store amid the e-books dispute, until finally capitulating and signing a three-year agency deal, according to Grandinetti.

“We wanted to avoid losing most or all of their titles from our store,” he said.

Other publishers soon also sought to move to agency, which Grandinetti said Amazon believed were in part intended to “slow down the success of the Kindle.” At times, Amazon told publishers it may need to re-evaluate business relationships, though it ultimately did switch models.

“We were not prepared to sign a contract for whatever length of time where we weren’t confident we couldn’t be further discriminated against by these publishers,” he said.

Two publishing executives have testified so far, both telling tales of tough negotiations with Amazon following their decisions to sign with Apple.

Earlier Wednesday, Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy testified that after the CBS Corp unit decided to sign Apple’s agency agreement, she called Amazon to say her company would “want to change business terms with them.”

Several calls followed with Grandinetti, who she said initially told her he was “not entirely surprised to hear this.” In the third call, “he threatened our business,” she said.

The other publishers that settled are Pearson Plc’s Penguin Group, News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers Inc., and Hachette Book Group Inc.

The post Publishers gave Amazon ‘ultimatum’ over e-book pricing: executive appeared first on Metro.us.

Officials have announced the lineup for this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival.

More than 130 authors will attend the yearly event, which will be Sept. 22 at several locations in Brooklyn, including Borough Hall and the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Authors scheduled to appear this year range from Meg Cabot to Pete Hamill. “Bonfire of the Vanities” author Tom Wolfe will also appear.

The festival will be supplemented with seven days of events at various places, such as parks and libraries, starting Sept. 16.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is the largest free literary event in the city, featuring author talks and various panels for all literary levels.

More than 40,000 visitors attended last year.

Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz announced the lineup with prose full of puns.

“Brooklyn, or ‘Book-lyn,’ is the editorial capital of America and the writer’s capital of the world, all contributing to our growing reputation as our country’s creative hub and the literary center of the universe,”  he said. “Make sure you ‘book’ Sept. 22.”

Scope out the full author list here.

The post Tom Wolfe joins 2013 Brooklyn Book Festival appeared first on Metro.us.

The devil is back. The one wearing Prada, that is.

Ten years after “The Devil Wears Prada,” the main character, Andy, is back for a sequel, “Revenge Wears Prada.”

Author Lauren Weisberger kicked off the launch last night at a Gilt City New York party, complete with pink drinks, champagne and plenty of the alternating red- and white-covered books.

Metro spoke with Weisberger last night, who said she wanted to explore what Andy’s life would be like a decade later.

In the book, Andy has launched her own magazine and is on the cusp of getting hitched.

If you subscribe to Gilt City, this week Weisberger is highlighting her favorite things, from brands to NYC spots mentioned in the novel, like Pinkberry. One offer, the author’s favorite, includes Friday night cocktails at K2 Lounge at the Rubin Museum of Art.

Keep an eye out for Metro’s upcoming article on the book!

The post ‘Devil’ returns as Lauren Weisberger launches ‘Revenge Wears Prada’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Prices of the rarest books are rising as the Internet drives the trade off dusty shelves and into the digital age, a leading expert said this weekend.

Matthew Haley, head of the books, manuscripts and photographs department at auction house Bonhams in London, said the rise of online catalogs and aggregators of booksellers’ stock meant more collectors are aware when a rare find comes on the market.

“More people can find it, and there is only one of them around,” he told an audience at the Hay Festival, adding this was pushing prices of the rare and the one-off higher.

At the same time, demand was growing for what he termed “quirkiana:” books on specialist, niche topics.

“We see that the mid-rank is really the struggling area of the market, which in our terms would be books between £100 and £1,000,” Haley said.

Into this category he put books that, while rare, were not unique, and modern first editions, as potential purchasers can scour the web for other examples more easily than in the past.

With prices rising at the top and bottom of the market but easing in the middle, the overall value of the market was holding at up to $600 million a year, he said.

Haley said the outlook for second-hand bookshops, which he said were closing “at a tremendous rate,” was not good.

“I fear that we are going to see the end of the serendipity of browsing through a bookshop and finding a book you didn’t know you wanted,” he said.

He said some in the industry forecast digital books would outsell printed books in Britain in 2015. Yet the shift to digital publishing only made physical books more alluring to many people.

“There is no substitute for handling a book,” he said, adding many people still treasured the feel of crisp paper or the smell of an old volume.

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This sequel to “The Crown,” Nancy Bilyeau’s debut novel, brings back Joanna Stafford, a headstrong nun faced with a dramatic fate at a young age: to fulfill an unclear prophecy. And Stafford is here to stay – Bilyeau signed on to write a third book last month, making this series a trilogy.

“The Chalice” follows Stafford as she leaves her oasis of Dartford, a small town hours from a major city, to travel to London and abroad in search of answers. Stafford seeks not only to unlock the prophecy, but also whether she should fulfill it at all.

Major characters of the era appear including, of course, King Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves, all told through the lens of a woman who only ever wanted a quiet life devoted to her faith.

How do you write? How do you transplant yourself into this time?

I’d take my laptop and go to the Cloisters museum, and I would try to write in there because they have recreated 14th- and 15th-century French monastic rooms, and Dartford Priory was built in that period. So as long as my battery would hold up and the guards wouldn’t chase me out, I would sit in various corners and write.

You traveled to England for research – what was that like?

They demolished the priory just like in the book. There is still a gatehouse from that period. I walked the perimeter, and it was very emotional to feel that all these women had been there and lived these lives, and that maybe I would help that they would not be forgotten.

With so many books written about this era, did you feel like you had to have a really unique idea?

I wanted to do a thriller. That was important to me. I thought I wanted to do that more than anything else, and then I decided what period to set it in.

What do you love about Joanna that you wanted to see her through another adventure?

I was very determined to write a woman who was different from most standard historical characters. I wanted her to be independent and intelligent but not perfect. She has a bit of a temper, she’s a bit impulsive. I’ve had people say that they love her but they want to go into the book and shake her. I wanted to create someone who was flawed but who had an urge to always try and do the right thing.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @reporteralison

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After being rejected from Carnegie Mellon University’s cognitive science program due to his SAT scores, Scott Barry Kaufman was determined to prove he had the intellectual chops to excel. He gained admittance to the music program and eventually transferred to the science program he had dreamed of all along. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2003 and later received a master’s at Cambridge as well as a doctorate from Yale.

So why did the SAT determine that he didn’t have the mental chops? In his latest book, “Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined,” Kaufman attempts to get to the bottom of that question — for himself, and students everywhere who find themselves falling through the cracks.

“I think education has got to get out of the business of trying to judge a person’s potential. It’s just not something we can capture at any one moment in time,” says Kaufman. “We’re really stuck in a false model of giftedness, where you’re either born gifted and you will stay that way the rest of your life, or you’re not and you won’t ever be. That’s just not in line with current research on human development.”

“Ungifted” traces Kaufman’s unique mental maturation: He suffered severe ear infections that left him with an auditory disorder in elementary school, which led to a special education classification that he had a difficult time shaking off. Woven into his personal narrative is his own research on cognitive development as well as an analysis of the major breakthroughs in his field.

“What we think of as an ordinary mind has a lot more capacity than most people realize. If you trace the development of minds that we label gifted or genius, you see a rapid development, but there’s also this engagement and passion aspect that gets overlooked,” says Kaufman. “If we find something we’re driven to engage in day after day, hour after hour, any of us can demonstrate the kind of behavior that society labels as gifted.”

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Drew Moerlein was just a nice boy from New Hampshire before he was cast as twisted, sadomasochistic playboy Christian Grey in “Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody.” Part musical, part comedy, part “interpretive dance,” the Canadian-based production (an unauthorized parody) was such a hit on its first run on stages across the country that they’re hitting many of them again for the second time this year. Didn’t read the book and worried you won’t get the show? You needn’t be. Like all things we love to hate, just being aware that E.L. James’ ridiculously prurient “Fifty Shades of Grey” series exists is enough for most people to know everything they need to. It doesn’t hurt (unless you want it to) to be prepared, however, so we got Moerlein to fill in the grey areas before the show stops in Boston, Philly, and New York this month and next.

Are you playing to fans of the books or detractors?

We play to everyone. We’re about to play Nashville, which is a bit more of a conservative town, you know? We’re not about to stick vibrating vaginal balls up somebody’s crevice and then not have an audience for the next two nights. We try and find a happy medium between shock and awe and light, hilarious innuendo.

Was being into S&M, belonging to sex clubs or having a dungeon in your basement part of the job description for getting this role?

Yes, I had to show them the slaves tied up in my basement in order to get this part. No. (laughs) I had to do a lot of research. The cookies on my computer were pretty interesting for the first couple months of this process. As an actor you obviously need to be able to tap into those weird, dark, kinky places, but that does not have to be a part of your outside life.

Wouldn’t it be funny if this actually was your lifestyle, though?

Wouldn’t it be, though? I’m currently propped up above my hotel room like a spider with needles through my nipples.

So, did you read the books?

For “research.” And no, I did not read it thinking it was a literary masterpiece, but it made this woman a billionaire. She did something right.

Did you get a “woodrow” reading them?

Oh I got a “woodrow,” if I’m assuming what a “woodrow” is! I was pretty much standing at “woodrow mast” the whole book. No. I don’t think that men have the same reaction to the book as women do. Every single day I hear “this changed my sex life.” From women and from men. Men are like, “yo, I can’t hate on that book. The week my wife was reading that book was pretty much the best sex we’ve had in ten years.”

Let’s say you had a nice, little old set manager and he didn’t know anything about your show. What is he going to see that’s going to shock him?

He might open up a box that contains a very phallic rubbery object that is attached to an everyday household sports item with florescent hair attached to it. That’s one.

I am sure that your family and friends are accustomed to the occupational hazards of your job, but did this job present any particularly memorable interactions?

I’ve got very old fashioned, lovely and amazing grandparents from Alaska. They flew down to Florida and came to see us in Jacksonville. I was totally fine with it. I was prepared and ready for what was about to happen. I was doing the show and I forgot that they were there. I was waiting to go on before I disrobe, if you will, down to a very tiny man piece, and I realize I’m about to be shaking my man-jewels in my grandma and grandpa’s face. We’re in a small venue. There’s no question that when I thrust my manhood towards the audience that that’s what’s going to be happen, my junk to their face. That was a bit intense, and I was a bit tentative when I turned around for that.

When you go out for a drink after the shows, do you ever stay in character?

Well I don’t think my lady friend would be too keen on that. I will say this: the opportunities present themselves on a nightly basic. It is as though these women are in a fantasyland. It is like they are at a strip club with their friends, wasted off their faces. I have 60-year-old women molesting me after the show. It’s quite something.

If you go
“Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody”

BOSTON
May 30-June 1
Wilbur Theatre
246 Tremont St. Boston
$37.75-$47.75
ticketmaster.com

PHILADELPHIA
June 18-22
Perelman Theatre in the Kimmel Center
300 South Broad St., Philadelphia
$37.50-$47.50
tickets.kimmelcenter.org

NEW YORK
June 21-22
Gramercy Theatre
127 East 23rd St., New York
$39.50-$49.50
ticketmaster.com

The post Hurts so good: talking shop with the star of ‘Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Dan Kennedy is known to legions of fans of “The Moth” as host of their weekly podcast, a medium where truth is held in high regard and fictionalizing is frowned upon. But after a 2008 memoir (“Rock On: An Office Power Ballad”) Kennedy is making his first foray into fiction. “American Spirit” follows the 40-something Matthew as his life slowly unravels. Kennedy says he could maybe relate to the character — but just maybe.

Why is the mid-life crisis so fascinating?
I suppose because it
really doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, when it occurs to you that you may, in the best-case scenario, be at the halfway done with your life, it tends to grab your attention. Having said that, I guess we never know what the halfway point is. History is full of people who didn’t realize they were middle aged at 14, you know? Have I started the interview on a positive note? Hey, where’s everybody going? Hello?

How was switching from nonfiction and essays to developing a novel?
I am a huge fan of true stories onstage. But I hit a point in writing where I just wasn’t fond of dragging friends and loved ones into print for the sake of a laugh and a few bucks to eat on. At a certain point you’re having a nice weekend with someone and something funny or weird happens and you can see them thinking: “Jesus, don’t tell me Shakespeare here is gonna throw me into his next little essay.”

Is 40-something Matthew based on anyone?
As for Matthew, he’s a guy who can’t figure out what to do when his job is gone, his marriage is doomed, the money’s running out fast again, he’s drinking in suburban grocery store parking lots, eating hallucinogens and decongestants, and then burning frequent flier miles flying around the world making a bigger mess of things for himself. … I’ve, uh, never known anyone like him.

The post Dan Kennedy on “American Spirit” appeared first on Metro.us.

As Bobby Baccalieri on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” Steve Schirripa was a hot-headed, loud-mouthed, opinionated guy. As a father to his two daughters (17 and 21-years-old) he’s pretty much that same guy. Which is why, he says, he wrote his book “Big Daddy Rules,” a rather unconventional parenting manual.  ”It’s s a conversation with me and it’s written in my way,” he says. “So there’s some cursing in there. That’s the way I talk, so that’s the way I had the conversation.” The book was written as a love letter to his girls. “I guess I don’t always tell them how I feel,” he says. “I mean, I yell a lot. I’m pretty strict, and also I’ve got a lot of opinions, and I wanted to put them all together in a book.” We got Schirripa on the line from California to school us a bit on his rules for parenthood.

What kind of rules are in this book?

The first rule is, I make the rules. I’m your father, not your friend. But I’m the best friend you’re ever going to have because nobody is going to care about you the way I care about you. The four greatest words in the world are “because I said so.” That’s why you can’t go out tonight, that’s why you can’t go to the party where they’re serving beer. Because I said so. You know, parents don’t want to tell their kids “no” anymore. No, the answer is no. You cannot do that, you cannot go there. So, I’m not Doctor Phil, I’m not a parenting expert. I’ve never read a book in my life, but this is how I’ve done it. And so far, so good. I’m going to make mistakes, I’m going to make my own mistakes.

So you’re not the kind of dad who can be sweet talked by his daughters?

Well, they try, and I’m not saying it’s never happened, but I mean, absolutely. The other day she came in at 7 and said “can I go to this party? It starts at 9, I’ll be home by 11.” She’s giving me the whole spiel, and I said “there’s not a chance on earth you’re going, you know that right?” And she says, “yeah I know that, I just thought I’d try.”

What’s the hardest part about raising girls?

Look, a boy, you give them a ball, you give them a Lego, they’re fascinated. Girls are smart, they’re cunning, they’re calculating. They bat their eyelashes, they manipulate you. They’re smarter, you know? I think boys are easier. I don’t have boys, but I would raise them both the same way whether I had a boy or a girl, so it doesn’t matter.

Before you had kids, did you care whether you had a boy or a girl?

No, no, I really didn’t. It didn’t matter to me, as long as they were healthy. It was scary though, when my wife got pregnant. Even though we were trying, it was scary to me. I was not prepared. I was a guy that went out a lot, I worked nights, I was living in Las Vegas. I thought my world would come to a stop, as I’ve seen with so many other guys. But it turned out ok.

What’s an uncomfortable situation you’ve been in, as a father?

My daughter dated a boy when she started high school, she was 16, and I think I made a mistake there. I don’t think she was emotionally ready. And they broke up, and she took a big hit. It took about three months for her to snap out of it. And I don’t think I should have allowed that. I was reluctant, and I would not make that mistake again. That was a mistake.

But do you really think you could have stopped her, even if you wanted to?

I mean, I didn’t embrace it, but he still came around here and there. I hear what you’re saying. I can’t control everything they do, and I don’t try to, but I want to be present whether I’m there or not. I want them to think “what would my dad think about this decision I’m about to make?” I mean, my daughter is 21, she’s in college, I don’t know what she’s doing at every moment, of course. But I want her to think, “hey, I don’t think my parents would approve of this.” So I say in the book, you know Big Daddy has a big mouth, a big temper, a big heart, and he’s always present, whether he’s in the room with her or not.

So you’re that scary dad that intimidates the boys who come around?

I mean there have been some boys, and they’ve been nice kids. There haven’t been a whole lot, there’s only been two, actually. So, I want them to look me in the eye — I mean, they better not come home with a dagger tattoo on their face and their underwear hanging out, that’s not going to fly. They’ve got to be gentlemen, at least in front of me. I’m very much an old-fashioned guy when it comes to that stuff. I was a gentleman, and I’m still a gentleman to their mom.

Do you play the bad cop to your wife’s good cop?

I mean, I am who I am. It’s not an act, they kind of know me by now. My wife is a little more lenient, she tells me I need to let it go a little bit. I have a hard time with that. I mean, they’ve got to grow up, and you’ve got to let them do stuff on their own, I’m well aware of that.

How did you handle the sex talk?

My wife had the sex talk, I was out of that one. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have the sex talk. I talked to my wife about it, and she said she’ll handle it. So, that’s on her.

Did you let your daughters watch “The Sopranos” when you were on it?

They were young, they didn’t watch the show. I don’t think [now] they’ve even seen all of it, I think my older one has seen bits and pieces. She’s old enough now to watch it, but it’s not for everyone — and especially when they were younger. I mean, they knew what I did, but it wasn’t for them.

Were you strict with TV in general?

I am still! I hate that reality crap. I saw them one day watching “The Jersey Shore” and the “Kardashians” and I said I never want to see that again, ever. I mean, you’re a smart kid, you don’t need that. It’s complete garbage. I said, I’m embarrassed for you to watch that. You think this is for real?

What’s the best part about being a dad?

Look, I like spending time with my kids, I like my kids. I enjoy them very much. I don’t like a whole lot of kids, but I like my kids.

How about the worst?

Well, you worry 24 hours a day. I’m only at peace when we’re all together. I worry about them, all I want them to do is be safe and be good people. When they’re not there, I’m never calm. That’s the worst part, you’re always worried. And I think every parent is like that. Every parent who cares, you know?

A lot of kids today are financially reliant on they’re parents late into their 20s, even 30s. What’s your stance on that?

I would give them as much as I can, as long as they’re out there and working. If I’m doing ok, I don’t mind helping them. It would be my pleasure to help them. I mean, they have to work, they’re not going to just stay in my apartment. But I don’t think they want to. I think they want to be out on their own. If I was completely wealthy, I would help all the way, I’d pay for their apartments if I could. As long as they’re working — it’s when they’re slackers, I wouldn’t.

What’s your best piece of advice for a new dad?

I think the best thing is to be present. Get in there, get your hands dirty. Be involved. Don’t let your wife just be involved. You know, in every movie, every TV show, the dad’s an idiot. Don’t be an idiot. I’m not an idiot! Take charge, change a diaper, help. Be involved with the kid’s life. You had the kid, now take care of them, that’s your responsibility.

The post Steve Schirripa’s tough love: The ‘Sopranos’ actor talks about his book ‘Big Daddy Rules’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Just add water. Hot, humid weather makes my children miserable, which in turn makes me miserable. When temperatures soar, we hit parks and playgrounds with water spray or wading areas. When the girls were younger, I’d give them bowls, spoons and measuring cups, and let them “cook” with ice. And if all else fails, there’s always ice cream.

Swap. Set up a regular play date exchange with a friend: their place this Friday afternoon, your place the next. If you’re so inclined, bring a bottle of wine or other treat for the host when you pick up your kids. Especially if yours, like mine, are, er… “spirited.”

Be a tourist. Summer is a great time to explore your own backyard — the parks, museums and attractions you don’t normally get to. Schedule a weekly “field trip” to someplace within an hour’s ride or drive that you and/or your kids have never been before. (This includes exotic new malls and movie theaters if you’re craving air conditioning.)

Make them read. Almost every public library has some kind of summer reading program — even for the picture-book set. Check out what’s available near you, and designate some independent reading time every day. While the kids read, you can dive into your own summer reading. Note: The “50 Shades” trilogy is probably not advisable. (“What’s your book about, Mommy?”)

Let them be bored. Resist the urge to schedule every last minute. When my kids complain that they’re bored, I say, “Well, it’s OK to be bored.” And within five minutes, they usually come up with some amazingly creative game or activity on their own. Other times, they just lie on the couch like giant throw pillows for a while. Either way, you get a break and they survive. And it’s all about survival, right?

The post How to survive your children during the summer appeared first on Metro.us.

Is happiness something that happens to you, or something that you make happen for yourself? If you ask “Glee’s” Jenna Ushkowitz that question, she’ll tell you it’s the latter.

In fact, she’s written the book on finding your own glee through the power of self-affirmation and positive thinking. “Choosing Glee: 10 Rules to Finding Inspiration, Happiness, and the Real You” is part memoir, part self-help tome, and all motivational. Written through anecdotal vignettes, personal photos, lists and charts, “Choosing Glee” is Ushkowitz’ way of giving back to the world, putting out positivity as a means of reaping more good vibes. “I like to think that positivity is a choice, and you wake up and make a conscious decision,” says the 27-year-old actress. And though she admits, “I’ve never been through any really dark times where I hit rock bottom,” she seems to know what she’s talking about.

So, what’s this book really about?

It’s 10 rules that I live by, to success, to where I’ve gotten, where I am. I just wanted to share that with my fans and readers. You know, to tell them that it’s something you can choose to believe in every day. It’s like your mantra. You know, there are like people who feel that they’re the victim and it’s always happening to them? You can turn that around, and change your outlook on life, and it really makes life a little bit brighter.

Have you always thought this way?

Yeah, I think I’ve always been this way. You could say I was born this way, but I also think I owe it to my parents teaching me to have a good head on my shoulders, and rely on my support system, and always stay true to who you are.

But what about somebody who wasn’t born that way?

Well, again, it’s making it a choice. You make it a choice, and every day you wake up and make it your mantra and say today I’m going to make the best of every situation and look at every situation with the glass half full. And then, after awhile, it sort of becomes subconscious and it becomes a way of life. It’s a lifestyle change, it’s like a diet. People always say, oh, I’m going to diet for this amount of time — well, it’s actually a lifestyle change you need to make.

Can you think of a recent situation where you had to make that choice?

Sure, I mean there was a time in the industry where I did a pilot — my belief is that everything happens for a reason — so I was doing this pilot and it got picked up, and I was all excited, and then I got this phone call that they actually weren’t going to pick me up, that they were going to recast me. And the first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, well, I’m not a good actor; I’m fat, I’m ugly, they hate me!’ (laughs) And then you turn around and say, you know what? It wasn’t me, it wasn’t meant to be, and actually it turned out that the reason was that I was a little too young. But you still believe, Oh, they’re lying,’ so I went to my friends and we vegged out and did our thing, it’s like a breakup. But then you get over it. And I then went on to book “Spring Awakening,” and then “Glee,” and wouldn’t have finished college. So you have to look at it like, well, I wouldn’t have been able to experience those things.

So you’re obviously a big believer in karma.

Oh yeah, 100 percent. Everything happens for a reason and I believe in karma. I believe that what you give to the world — the energy that you give to the world — is what you get back. And it will come back to you if you’re not good to it. (laughs)

The post Jenna Ushkowitz talks the power of positivity in ‘Choosing Glee’ appeared first on Metro.us.

It seems impossible: A baby — many times not much older than newly born — going to the bathroom directly into the toilet and not a diaper. Thanks to a much-circulated New York Times article last month that featured these poopy miracles, “elimination communication” has become the buzzword for plugged-in parents everywhere.

The EC technique means watching and listening to your baby’s cues about when they might be, well, “eliminating.” Tipped off to their bodily functions, you then put them over a potty, thus training them at an early age that the place to go is the bathroom, not their diapers. Christine Gross-Loh has been preaching this alternative to toilet training for years; her book, “The Diaper Free Baby,” has been the instruction manual for EC devotees since it was published in 2007. Here she gives advice on being No. 1 in the “number two” business.

How is EC different from regular toilet training?
The most basic difference is that you start EC earlier, before a child has become so used to eliminating in diapers that potty training is a whole new transition he has to get used to (and may be resistant to). Babies are born with this awareness of elimination, but as they become used to eliminating in a diaper all the time, they lose that awareness — and have to work on becoming aware again when they reach the age of conventional toilet training. With EC, your child has known from an early age that a diaper is not the only place to eliminate, and using a potty or toilet becomes second nature to your child. EC’ed children are often out of diapers completely at or before the age when most children are just beginning to embark on potty training.

Wouldn’t it be easier for parents to potty train their children on their own when they are older?
It depends on how you define easier. Parents may wonder if EC is really easier because at first, a parent is the one taking her baby to the toilet. But a lot of parents who EC find it easier that they don’t have to deal with diapers as much for so many years, and that their child can just eliminate in a toilet (less messy). Parents who do EC also often find that their babies aren’t eliminating randomly or frequently once they prefer using a toilet to a diaper — which eases worries that they’d be constantly running their baby to the toilet!

What advice do you have for working parents who live in cities who may want to try EC?
EC can be done during the evening or on weekends. Even if you are at home with your baby full time, you may not be doing EC full time. It’s easy to have some diaper-free time during the evening, or sit your baby on the potty before and after his bath. Doing EC does not mean you have to ditch diapers completely.

What are some drawbacks to EC? Benefits?
It’s hard to do anything when it’s not a cultural norm — you may get less support and less information. Information about EC — about typical stages, about the logistics — is really key.  Luckily, the information and support is out there as more and more parents do EC. And there are so many great reasons to give it a try: There are communication benefits (you learn to read your baby just as you learn how to figure out when he is hungry or sleepy), environmental and economic benefits (you go through fewer diapers,) and health benefits too (less diaper rash). Finally, you are not relying on diapers so much that your child becomes reluctant to let go of them (a problem that some parents face when doing conventional toilet training).

Why do you think EC has taken off in recent years?
I think it’s because there are so many parents out there who know more about the world around us. They know that in cultures around the world, it’s not at all the norm for a baby older than 1 to be in a diaper (if he was ever in a diaper at all). When you know that this isn’t a universal thing, it makes you feel more open to understanding why and how this is, and to realizing there are some viable lessons here for us. It’s also kind of instinctive: I know so many parents who could tell their newborn was eliminating — it’s usually so obvious at that age — but conventional wisdom tells us to change the diaper after he’s done. EC gives us permission to follow our instincts and common sense.

EC has also become more popular because we realize there are so many ways to do it. When I had my first child 13 years ago, before EC was widely known, I had heard of EC but thought of it as a black-or-white endeavor — you either do it fully or you don’t. I simply couldn’t imagine how you could make it work in a culture where we have so many homes with carpets! But my experiences showed me that you can do it to any degree that works for you. Even if your baby sits on the potty just once a day, there are benefits.

The post No diaper? No problem. ‘Elimination communication’ takes off appeared first on Metro.us.

For Lucy Knisley, the decision to create an illustrated memoir was easy. “Food is something that interests me, and comics are how I tell my stories, so it was a natural decision to make comics about food,” she says about the impetus for her new memoir, “Relish: My Life in the Kitchen,” a hybrid kitchen how-to and memoir.

The post PHOTOS: Artwork from Lucy Knisley’s memoir, ‘Relish: My Life in the Kitchen’ appeared first on Metro.us.

For Lucy Knisley, the decision to create an illustrated memoir was easy. “Food is something that interests me, and comics are how I tell my stories, so it was a natural decision to make comics about food,” she says about the impetus for her new memoir, “Relish: My Life in the Kitchen,” a hybrid kitchen how-to and memoir. Here’s how she cooked it up.

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  PHOTOS: Artwork from Lucy Knisley’s memoir, ‘Relish: My Life in the Kitchen’

Each chapter is bookended with an illustrated recipe; how did you pick these recipes?
The recipes are simple and familiar to me, and pertain to the chapter previous. I wanted to share some of my favorites, and allow readers to think about food abstractly, through the stories and then, more directly, through the recipes.

Which is your favorite food to draw? Which is the most challenging?
Favorite food to draw is probably the croissant– they’re such fun shapes, and I’ve had a lot of practice with drawing them. My least favorite is probably the kind of food that might taste delicious, but look like brown goo -— like curry or stew. It’s hard to get across what it is through drawing, and that can be frustrating.

Is there some food you just can’t do?
Can’t eat or can’t draw? I think I could draw any food! I had the opportunity in Korea not long ago to try eating live octopus. It’s a little dangerous, as the octopus can choke you on the way down if you don’t fully chew it up first, and while I eat meat, I just couldn’t chew up a live creature in my mouth — especially one so cute. Pass.

When did you realize that food was something to cherish rather than fear?
I’ve never feared food– always loved it. It’s something inherent in my upbringing, to love and to be curious about food. There’s a lot to fear nowadays, of course, but it’s important to remember that food is a shared human experience and can open us up to new experiences that connect us with one another, which is not to be feared.

The post Lucy Knisley draws (and draws upon) key episodes in her life through food and recipes in ‘Relish: My Life in the Kitchen’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Caleb Cain Marcus, a photographer living in New York City, became enchanted by the Perito Moreno glacier of Patagonia in 2010.

He spent the next two years traveling to Iceland, Norway, New Zealand and Alaska to make the images that comprise “A Portrait of Ice,” recently published to critical acclaim by Damiani. Three images from the series were recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Cain Marcus writes: “As the boat that crossed Lake Argentino swayed
back and forth, I thought about the oppression created by the lack of a
horizon in an urban environment and what would happen if there was no visible horizon in the open space. What would happen if it vanished?”
 So he toyed with the idea of shooting the glacial landscape as if it were a vertical city, with no earthbound orientation.

Cain Marcus scrambled across the Perito Moreno wearing homemade crampons fashioned by local guides to easily, and safely, traverse the type of ice that forms this glacier. Lost in utter silence, broken only by the crunch of frozen snow underfoot and the occasional clashing sound of the camera’s shutter, he tested his idea, frame after frame.

In his introduction to “A Portrait of Ice,” noted photography curator and editor Marvin Heiferman writes: “It is the painterly qualities of these stark images, as
 much as photographic ones, that makes the work seductive. The woozy 
atmospheric conditions that prevail look as if they are airbrushed or 
stippled in. Images of crenellated landscapes that evoke the surfaces
 of the brain or the moon, give the impression of being dusted with
 pigment, like pastels.”

http://calebcainmarcus.com/

The post Starkly beautiful images from New York photographer Caleb Cain Marcus’ two-year ice odyssey appeared first on Metro.us.

As a nationally touring comic, Jim Gaffigan is no stranger to hectic schedules and sleepless nights. His new book “Dad is Fat” is the latest addition to an extensive comedic resume, in which Gaffigan applies his trademark self-effacing humor to observations about parenting. He’d like you to buy a copy so that his seven-member family can finally upsize from their jam-packed two-bedroom place in Manhattan.

How crazy is life with five kids under 8 in a two-bedroom?
It is insane. But everyone who lives in New York or a metropolitan area is sacrificing a lot of space. No one moves to New York because they can get more space. But I like convenience too much. I can put my kids to bed, and 10 minutes later be onstage somewhere.

Parenting so many little kids seems incompatible with the lifestyle of a stand-up comedian.
Being a parent is incompatible with just about everything, if you want to do it right. There’s something of a contrarian spirit in being a comedian that doesn’t necessarily seem like it would prepare you to be a father. I intentionally didn’t bring my kids up in my act for a couple years. I like my stand-up to be universal. On Twitter, I posted different comments I wouldn’t say in my stand-up, and that led to the book.

What was your thought process while writing the book?
I wanted this book to be observational and substantive. And I focused it on hopefully being funny. I didn’t want it to be completely foreign from my stand-up. As far as parenting goes, I have no idea what I’m doing! This is not an advice book, a confessional or a complaint.

Have your kids seen your comedy?
I have a 7-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they have an idea of what I do. It’s a very strange occupation to attempt to explain to a kid. As a comedian, you also have an additional parenting crisis: You have to teach kids to be polite and not be joking around all the time.

Your most famous bit is about Hot Pockets – do your kids like to eat them?
No. They’ve never even had them!

The post Comedian Jim Gaffigan on parenting five kids in a Manhattan two-bedroom appeared first on Metro.us.

The post PHOTOS: Artwork from Robert Edsel’s ‘Saving Italy’ appeared first on Metro.us.

There are sites all across Europe, from the Normandy beaches to Auschwitz, where travelers can recall the acts of heroism and sacrifice that occurred there during World War II.

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  PHOTOS: Artwork from Robert Edsel’s ‘Saving Italy’

But the war rarely crosses the minds of tourists taking in some of Italy’s most-visited cultural treasures, like the Last Supper, Michelangelo’s David, Florence’s Ponte Vecchio bridge. But those masterpieces still stand only because of the efforts of a group of little-known art historians and educators turned soldiers known as Monuments Men.

“To think that some 65 years after the war, there’s a story of such epic proportion that the broad public really doesn’t know about is astonishing,” says author Robert Edsel. “When we consider some of the problems that we experienced in the aftermath of the looting of the National Museum of Iraq in 2003, which was a small regional conflict, it’s remarkable to imagine that we were able to do this with just a hundred or so men and women during a truly world war.”

Edsel’s latest book, “Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures From the Nazis,” recounts the efforts of the Monuments Men to preserve, protect and recover some of the greatest works of art in the history of western civilization. Throughout the war, works by the likes of Leonardo, Caravaggio, Raphael and Botticelli were threatened by bombings or looting by Nazi soldiers hunting for specimens for Hitler’s collection.

“The Monuments officers had been assigned to protect cultural monuments and treasures from Allied bombing,” Edsel explains. “We didn’t want to be the goats of history by destroying western civilization’s cultural heritage in the process of trying to defeat Hitler and the Nazis. But when they arrived the degree of premeditated theft was vastly in excess of anything they’d anticipated.”

Edsel’s previous book, “The Monuments Men,” is being turned into a film by George Clooney, who’s co-starring with Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett.

“It’s a great story about ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” says Keller, who recently visited the set in Berlin. “I don’t think we can ever hear too many stories about something good we did as a country.”

If you go

Robert Edsel
Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
26th Street & Ben Franklin Parkway
$5-$12, 215-763-8100
www.philamuseum.org

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In her third book, “Go Big or Go Home,” acclaimed tattoo artist and reality star Kat Von D delves deep to tell stories from her own life, and experiences she’s shared with clients. Chock-full of photos of tattoos in various stages of completion, and the people who wear them, the book sheds light on the personality, process and profession of one of the tattoo world’s brightest stars. We had a few questions for Kat about the arts of ink and writing.

What made this book more challenging to write than your other two?
I’ve always been an open book – no pun intended. it’s just a little bit more profound on an emotional level. I want to be as open and honest as possible, even in all my flaws.

What do you love most about tattooing?
There’s all this negative stigma surrounding people with tattoos. But I’ve always thought it’s a form of being openly devoted to something, and that’s a very rare and great quality to have. You listen to people’s stories during an intimate session, and really get to know somebody. I like the idea of being extra connected to a piece because you know how much it’s valued by the client.

You’re known for your portrait work. How did you get into that?
I think it has to do with the television show. I was doing a lot of them on there and got a reputation for portraits. I love black and grey realism. So I could do a portrait of a paper clip, or a person, and I’d still get excited. It’s more about the textures and accuracy.

You’re in a boy’s club – what’s it like being a female tattoo artist?
I go back and forth on that subject. Although I feel lucky to be a girl because it’s fun to be a girl, I get kind of annoyed by these uber-feminists who make gender such a big part of who they are. I don’t think gender should define you. I’ve always wanted my work to speak for itself. So, as for the challenges of being in a male-dominated field? I get cramps once a month, but that’s it.

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Benjamin Percy didn’t set out to write a typical werewolf novel. The 34-year-old author says he’s “always loved the epic novel — the kind that swallows up your life, that tangles you in its complicated web — and I’ve always wanted to write one.” And his new book “Red Moon” is just that. The sweeping tome is a mixture of a supernatural thriller (hello, werewolves!), a love story and a political allegory all wrapped up into one insanely readable package. Here’s how he did it:

Can you tell us a little about how you came about writing a book about werewolves? It wasn’t because you were secretly looking for the next supernatural phenomenon after vampires, were you?
Some of the most lasting horror stories target cultural unease. Consider Frankenstein: The creature embodies the fear of science and technology, man playing God, all of the anxieties that swirled out of the Industrial Revolution. So when I sat down to brainstorm “Red Moon,” I considered what we fear now. We fear disease (look at the Purell oozing from every counter top, the panicked headlines about bird flu, swine flu, West Nile), and we fear terrorism (as the recent Boston bombing and ricin-laced letters so unfortunately reminded us). I have braided these two elements together. That’s the strategic answer.

Here’s the anecdotal one. I moved recently, and when pawing through some old boxes discovered a sixth grade “research” paper. The title: “Werewolves!” There is a table of contents, though the paper is only five pages long, and the final section concerns The Ceremony of the Wolf. In my backyard, under a full moon, I followed the instructions in a mildewed book from the library and tried to transform myself into a wolf. In other words, this book has been a long time coming. (Oh, and you should avoid me on a full moon.)

Why do you think apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic plotlines are so addictive these days?
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic narratives have been around forever, but since 9/11, there has been a flood of films and novels. The end of the world has never been so popular because the end of the world has never seemed more possible, due to political and economic and environmental unrest.

What kind of research did you do to nail down the book’s militaristic aspects?
Every story is a research project, but “Red Moon” was more challenging than most. I spent dozens of hours with researchers at the USDA and Iowa State University, trying to figure out the slippery science behind animal-borne pathogens (lobos, as I’ve written it, is a prion) and vaccinations. I had to talk to politicians and government agents and brewmasters and pharmacists. And, yes, soldiers. I bought them coffee, scribbled down jargon and procedure and ranks and stories in yellow legal tablets. I also read blogs and articles. I watched documentaries. And I got my hands on the Marine Corps handbook.

There are many facets at play in “Red Moon” — there’s a love story, it’s a political allegory, human rights are addressed — the nuances interspersed within the pages go on. But if you had to whittle down the point of “Red Moon,” what is it? What is at its core?
I’ve always loved the epic novel — the kind that swallows up your life, that tangles you in its complicated web — and I’ve always wanted to write one. I hope my readers feel struck by the political allegory, and I hope their pulse quickens with the love story, and I hope the more horrifying passages scare the pants off of them. Its core — this post-9/11 reinvention of the werewolf myth — is thought-provoking entertainment.

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Bottoms up, craft beer lovers! A new book by beer enthusiast and journalist Tom Acitelli is getting us nice and thirsty for a pint of something heavy on the hops. “The Audacity of Hops” explores the craft beer revolution as people put down the cans and pick up home-bottled or specialty brews instead. Bring your appetite, too — Acitelli says a big part of the craft beer revolution is accompanying your brew of choice with something delicious to snack on.

You’re no stranger to writing about beer. What attracts you to the topic, other than the obvious perk of sampling the goods?
I actually approached it as a journalist telling a business story and this, at its heart, is that. As I started researching, I found the craft beer business intersects with a lot of culinary trends. Another tangent is the role that craft breweries physically played in different cities. Anchor Brewery in San Francisco is that city’s biggest manufacturing company. Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg had a lot to do with the gentrification in Brooklyn.

What do you think sparked the craft beer revolution? Were beer drinkers just tired of the mass-produced stuff?
There were two things: There was an excise tax cut in 1976 for smaller brewers. Suddenly, it became less expressive to brew on a smaller scale. Two years later, home brewing was legalized at a federal level in 1978. Home brewers could hobnob with commercial brewers, get new material from Europe and suddenly take that knowledge and turn pro at lower costs. I do think along with that was a societal shift; people did get tired of homogenized beer. It all tasted the same after a while.

Usually wine is more commonly paired with food, but craft beer is really blazing its own trail. What is the concept of locavorism and how does craft beer play a role?
One of the key concepts in craft beer is traditional ingredients. Another thing is small batches. That gels nicely with locavorism, which is eating artisanal foodstuffs that are made close to where they are consumed. The intersection of beer and fine food happened very early. The idea that beer can be on the same level as wine, as far as accompanying food, has been going on for a long time, but has really picked up steam in the last 10 years because these [craft] breweries in neighborhoods have helped spawn their own restaurants. I was at one about two years ago — it was a walking tour of Brooklyn beer history and it ended at a restaurant, and it paired beer with cheese. That wouldn’t have happened in Brooklyn about 10 years ago.

The book highlights lots of interesting craft brews that are popping up, including a honey ale at the White House. What was the most interesting example you encountered in your research?
The thing that got me was the rise in extreme beer. It is a unique thing to the United States. Other countries are experimenting with it, but extreme beer is very much an American invention. It’s beer made with extreme amounts of traditional ingredients, like a lot of hops, or extremely unusual ingredients like roots, candies or powders — things that would not have occurred to a Belgian brewer, but Americans do it. To me, extreme beer is an excellent example of American ingenuity.

You dedicated the book to your parents. Are they big beer drinkers?
Not at all. They don’t drink, really. If they had to drink, they would drink Italian wine.

Do you have a favorite beer?
I don’t have a favorite, but I can tell you I used to be very fond of extreme beers, the hoppier beers. Maybe it’s a function of age, but I now appreciate the milder, lower-alcohol beers, a lot of the ones being brewed in the Northeast. I can’t drink like I used to. The extreme beers make it a little difficult to wake up the next morning and work.

Meet Tom Acitelli at his NYC book signings:

Wednesday
Blind Tiger Bar
281 Bleeker St.
7 p.m.

Thursday
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N. 11th St.
7:30 p.m.

“The Audacity of Hops” author Tom Acitelli.

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A number of rock memoirs have hit bookstands recently including those of Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Pete Townshend.

A year after Adam Yauch died the remaining members of the Beastie Boys announce they plan on writing a memoir.

Much like the Beastie Boys’ music, the memoir promises to be electric and not a typical straight-forward narrative.

Michael Diamond, better known as Mike D, and Adam Horovitz, a.k.a. Ad-Rock, the two surviving members of the hip-hop group signed a deal with Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, according to the New York Times.

The memoir has yet to be named and is scheduled to be released in fall 2015.

Julie Grau, the publisher of Spiegel & Grau, said readers should not expect the Beastie Boys’ memoir to be anything like those of other classic rockers such as Clapton and Richards.

The Beastie Boys are “interested in challenging the form and making the book a multidimensional experience,” Grau said in an interview with the New York Times. “There is a kaleidoscopic frame of reference, and it asks a reader to keep up.”

Luke Janklow, the group’s agent, told the Times he had been in talks with the Beastie Boys several years ago about a book but the conversation was dropped after Yach was diagnosed with cancer in 2009.

“After Yach died, I didn’t push them,” he said. “But I think that Adam and Mike ended up realizeing that it was the right time for them.”

Yauch, the third member of the Beastie Boys died last year after a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer. He was 47.

Yauch was a hometown hero for New York City. As news of his death spread a number of locations throughout the city turning into makeshift memorials commemorating MCA.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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Credit: Joyce Ravid

Anna Quindlen is no stranger to sharing the details of her life with millions of followers — her New York Times column, “Life in the 30s,” was a hit with readers for its three-year run. Her memoir, “Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake,” provided Quindlen another opportunity to invite readers into her perfectly imperfect life. Not one to shy away from the industry’s new technologies, the author fielded questions from us via her iPad while in LA for her book tour.

When did you know the time was right to write a memoir?
It wasn’t so much that I wanted to write a memoir as that I wanted to write about how growing older has changed during my lifetime. It became clear to me that the best way to illuminate the ways we live now was to mine my own life for material.

Did you approach this the same way you did your other nonfiction works? Do you approach fiction differently?
I approach almost all my writing in the same basic fashion. I spend as much time as I can reading and reporting, and finally thinking deeply about the subject and the themes that interest me. I obviously don’t do the reporting when I’m writing a novel, but the months of constant mulling are certainly a big part of the process.

What surprised you about writing a memoir?
For three years I wrote a column in the New York Times that basically took place in my kitchen, so there’s very little about intensely personal and sometimes revelatory writing that I don’t already know. No surprises, except that telling stories about yourself is like riding a bicycle — the knack comes right back as soon as you’re sitting down and pedaling.

Were you ever nervous or apprehensive to reveal such private details about hard subjects, like when you gave up drinking, for example?
I’ve had to learn over the years what can go into print, and what is too much information, perhaps not for the reader but for friends and family. When I had a finished manuscript of “Candles” I gave it to my husband and three children, who had absolute veto rights. No one exercised them, I suspect because I had already been pretty sensitive about what not to include. Certainly discussing the fact that I stopped drinking 24 years ago was a bit of a leap for me. But I thought it might be helpful for other women who have had issues with alcohol.

What is the best compliment someone could give you as a writer?
There are two. Sometimes a conservative will say to me about my political columns, “I don’t agree with your politics, but you always make me think about things in a different way.” hat’s huge for me; preaching to the choir is one thing, but engaging with those who are not on the same page feels like a real accomplishment, especially in our divided and divisive society. The other thing is that women will sometimes tell me that they feel as though I’m telling the story of their lives.

If you go:

Anna Quindlen in conversation with Lauren Graham
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Union Square
33 E. 17th St., 212-253-0810

The post Anna Quindlen has her “Cake” and eats it too appeared first on Metro.us.

In times of disaster, there are those who run. And then there are those who run directly into the fray. Journalist Chris Faraone is one of the those people. The former reporter for the Boston Phoenix, the now defunct alt-weekly, is an immersive journalist (a Gonzo journalist, really,) the kind who doesn’t mind getting a little dirt on his hands while hunting for the facts other journalists might leave un-dug. The kind who relishes it.

Faraone has camped in the trenches of the Occupy movement — following the movement tirelessly, some might say doggedly — reporting from hotspots in Dewey Square and camps across the country. These months spent exhaustively reporting the grassroots protests for the Phoenix birthed the 34-year-old writer’s first book, the self-published 99 Nights with the 99 Percent.

Now, just two weeks after the bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, he’s penned his second book. Heartbreak Hell is an e-book that chronicles Faraone’s experiences reporting the attack on the marathon —both as a journalist and a self-appointed Bostonian — over many sleepless hours fueled, by his own admission, by a lot of drugs and a lot of heart.

Faraone recently won Boston-based online news site BostInno’s Write to Power Books distinction in the media category of their 50 on Fire awards, which honor those “setting the Boston scene on fire,” the wording now imbued with a kind of eerie symmetry, considering the content of Heartbreak Hell. We caught up with Faraone in preview of the e-book’s release — available for free at heartbreakhell.com — before he left town for a much-needed vacation (the reporter’s first real bit of time off in some 10 odd years). “If people read the book, they’ll understand why,” he said.

How the hell did you manage to write an entire book, in the span of two weeks, while juggling all your various freelance assignments?

Some of those assignments — for Dig Boston, for the American Prospect —were incorporated into the book, but they only account for a bit of it. Otherwise, this is a work of gut reaction and reporting. I was just a few blocks away when the bombs went off. From that point on, I was reporting and writing for about 20 hours a day — whether on Twitter, walking the streets filling notepads, or sitting at bars processing it all the best I could.

What was your initial, gut reaction when you first became aware what was going down that day?

First my reaction was that there was no way this was an attack. I thought it must have been some sort of accident. And then, amidst the people who were still going about their business merrily, I saw more and more people crying, and even sobbing uncontrollably, lost. Having been in New York City on 9/11, my thought at that point was that I really can’t believe something like that is happening again. Then I thought to start reporting.

What has this experience these past few weeks been like, as both a Bostonian and a reporter?

As someone who lives in Boston by choice, it’s strange to see so much attention put on the place from outside. I’m from New York, and one thing I love about Boston is that it’s not the focus of attention. It’s a great place, we know it, a lot of tourists love it, the teams win, and that’s good enough for us. It’s been interesting to watch the reaction from outsiders this time around, because from their perspective it’s hard to see that there were different reactions, that not everyone was just holding up “Boston Strong” banners and acting like we won the World Series. As a reporter, I set out to show the different types of impacts that this heinous act of violence had on people and circumstances that we didn’t see much of in most reporting in the immediate aftermath.

Did you pitch this book around at all, or immediately decide to put it on the web?

Maybe one day this — or some version of Heartbreak Hell — will come out as a regular print book. At this point, though, that’s the last thing on my mind. I just want to get the story out there to as many people as possible. Whether it’s cathartic, or just a different take on things, the stories I tell are the kinds that I think people will want to remember down the line. The book is kind of a time capsule.

Why did you decide to package this as a free online book?

I think it just matched the spirit of the whole reaction. The last thing I want to do right now is run around hawking a book about this tragedy. These are just stories that I want to get out there, while they’re fresh. I got help from my friend Clarence Smith Jr. (of Bold Edition) to develop what I can honestly say is one of the most dynamic and beautiful-looking online e-books ever released by anyone. There’s also a version on Amazon for Kindle, and that cost me a little bit to format, so that one is 99 cents. A little secret though — it’s not nearly as cool looking as the free version.

Check out Chris Faraone’s “Heartbreak Hell” at HeartbreakHell.com.

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