Frank McCourt

A Moveable Book

This op-ed from the New York Times is a must-read if you're planning on rushing to the bookstore to purchase Hemingway's newly revised, posthumous memoir, A Moveable Feast. I was curious to read it and had every intention of buying it until I read this piece. Now I'm not so sure. This isn't the first time there's been controversy surrounding the editing of this book. (Here's Wikipedia's take on it, which I don't trust entirely, but it's interesting nonetheless.) A Moveable Feast is my favorite of all of Hemingway's books. It isn't a sweeping piece of literature, and it's not as spare as his short stories, but it is a beautiful, heartbreaking book. I can understand why Hemingway's grandson, Sean Hemingway, who has re-edited this edition, wouldn't want the final chapter of the book to stay; it's a damning appraisal of both Hemingway and Sean's grandmother, who was Hemingway's second wife. It is also the chapter that defines and devastates everything that came before it. Having read it nearly a decade ago, this is the chapter that continues to haunt me from time to time when I think about the reckoning to be made at the end of our lives.

Now this chapter has been moved to an appendix.

Read the original edition.

Review of Yoga Bitch in Commercial Appeal

Here's the Memphis Commercial Appeal review of the Bitch! Now I'm off to the theater for my closing matinee, and then packing up and driving south to New Orleans for mouffeletta, beignets, and gumbo. Things could be a lot worse.

Greetings from Memphis

After eating enough ribs to fill a dozen cages, some exceptional brisket and a plate of fried chicken livers; after boisterous tech rehearsals at the end of long days of 90+ degree weather; after visiting Graceland, Sun Studios and the Civil Rights Museum-- and after a gorgeous drive from Nashville to Memphis with stops in Jackson and Shiloh, Yoga Bitch opened here on Thursday night to a lovely audience at Playhouse on the Square's TheatreWorks. I've loved every minute of working with the great staff and crew at Playhouse, and I've visited two awesome yoga studios and chatted with countless charming and open Memphians over the past week; I'll be sad to leave after we close the show tomorrow afternoon. Here's some press from Memphis's Commercial Appeal and Examiner.com. I'll be posting to Jean-Michele Gregory's Travelmonkeys blog with photos and travelogue as soon as I catch my breath.

Yoga Bitch: A Memoir, Coming to You From Broadway Books

. . . in Spring of 2011! I couldn't be more thrilled, and I have plenty to say about my exciting book news, but I am headed to Memphis tomorrow to perform Yoga Bitch at Playhouse on the Square and am drowning in laundry and urine sample jars (props, people, just props!) and have been surviving on a diet of champagne and um, champagne since I heard the good news from my agent on Monday. I will tell you all about it, just as soon as the show is up and running. If you're going to be in Memphis, or have friends or family there, send them my way! 

And yes, I will eat BBQ and spend some quality time with Elvis. My aunt Barbie would disown me if I didn't-- she has actually devoted her guest room to her collection of Elvis paraphernalia and spent a good part of her Graceland pilgrimage weeping over his black leather suit. It would be wrong to go all the way to Memphis and not pay my respects.

My trip to the South will be a first for this Yankee-- I'm looking forward to some great audiences, weather under 95 degrees (please God), and lots and lots of BBQ.

See you on the other side.