Contra Morrissey, I am delighted to say that I am ecstatic to have a whole mess of writer friends who are kicking ass in various ways. You may know the name of Alan Schwarz from the New York Times, where he did extraordinary work on concussions in sports (especially football) and their aftereffects, which got […]

posted 29 August 2016 in News. no comments yet

I was very sad to hear of the passing of the hugely talented comics creator Darwyn Cooke, struck down by cancer. Every page I ever saw that was drawn by him crackled with life and wit; he was also a gifted writer who had a knack for making complicated stories come alive in far fewer […]

posted 15 May 2016 in News. no comments yet

At some point in the mid-90s, I turned down the chance to interview Stone Temple Pilots: I had already written too many profiles of heroin addicts, and right then, I couldn’t listen one more time to stories of the drug and its inevitable toll on human lives. A decade later, I ended up spending a […]

posted 4 December 2015 in News, Uncategorized. 1 comment

I never had the good fortune of meeting Allen Toussaint, the great New Orleans musician who died on Monday, but I want to share two stories about him with you. 1. This was about 10 years ago, when I lived in lower Manhattan. I was taking my dog, Mojo, on a long walk in and […]

posted 10 November 2015 in News. no comments yet

Gail Zappa, best known as Frank Zappa’s widow, was reported yesterday to have died, possibly from lung cancer. My sympathies to her family and all who knew and loved her. A few years ago, when researching Last Night at the Viper Room, I discovered that River Phoenix, at age sixteen, spent many nights hanging out […]

posted 8 October 2015 in News. 2 comments

Hello, good people of Portland, Oregon! I am currently in your beautiful city, and tonight I will be appearing at the world-famous Powell’s bookstore, reading from Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind, answering your questions, and signing copies for anyone who wants one. (Personal message to those […]

posted 4 November 2013 in Buy My Stuff, News. no comments yet

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to Book Soup: we had a full house, people asked lots of great questions, and I was happy to meet so many of you. I am making another appearance tonight, in conjunction with a screening of Dark Blood: that’s the movie River Phoenix was making when he […]

posted 29 October 2013 in Buy My Stuff, News. no comments yet

Hello, citizens of Los Angeles and visitors to this fair city: Tonight (which is Monday night, October 28), I will be at the legendary Book Soup, starting at 7 pm, reading from Last Night at the Viper Room and answering questions on any topic you care to bring up, be it River Phoenix, Lou Reed, […]

posted 28 October 2013 in Buy My Stuff, News. no comments yet

Hello, citizens of Los Angeles, California, and Portland, Oregon! I will be appearing soon in your town to read from Last Night at the Viper Room, sign copies of the book, answer questions, and generally be in full authorial mode. (I’ll have everything but the pipe and the jacket with the elbow patches.) If you […]

posted 24 October 2013 in Buy My Stuff, News. no comments yet

Hugh Laurie has released his second album, Didn’t It Rain: another disc of New Orleans jazz and blues, a genre that he loves and proves to be a surprisingly fluent performer in. It’s been almost two years since I wrote a profile of Laurie for The New York Times Magazine (and almost seven years since […]

posted 13 August 2013 in Articles, News. no comments yet