Hello. I’m Gavin Edwards, the public speaker and the New York Times-bestselling author of The Tao of Bill Murray, the ’Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy series, and Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever. If you’re interested in hiring me, click here for more information.
It turns out that the historic Billy Joel announcement was actually that he’s going to be doing a monthly concert at Madison Square Garden for the foreseeable future: at least four months, very possibly thirty or more. And here I was hoping that he’d reveal that Sgt. O’Leary, who at night becomes a bartender, is the same guy as John at the bar who gets Bill his drinks for free. Unleash the power of John O’Leary!
posted 5 December 2013 in Tasty Bits. no comments yet
Photographed recently from a trail at the Audobon Center in Debs Park (in the Montecito Heights district of Los Angeles). Anyone recognize what model this car is?
posted 29 November 2013 in Photos. no comments yet
Twitter can be fun.
Billy Joel is set to make a "historic announcement" next week. We speculate wildly: http://t.co/DgMN3ykxkC
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) November 26, 2013
Brenda & Eddie: back together RT @RollingStone Billy Joel is set to make a "historic announcement" next week. http://t.co/jBVYLZrCV1
— rob sheffield (@robsheff) November 26, 2013
Sgt O'Leary trading in Cadillac for a Prius @robsheff @MarthaQuinn http://t.co/VrHctYL9QW
— Gavin Edwards (@mrgavinedwards) November 27, 2013
Overhaul! Now our PORTUGUESE restaurant “@mrgavinedwards: Sgt O'Leary trading in Cadillac 4 a Prius @robsheff http://t.co/EVv9OefraZ”
— Martha Quinn (@MarthaQuinn) November 27, 2013
Rose admits he's not a credit to the game @mrgavinedwards @robsheff @MarthaQuinn Billy Joel set to make "historic announcement" next week.
— Tom Nawrocki (@TJNawrocki) November 27, 2013
Joel rethinks issue of motorcycle safety; no longer rides in rain @TJNawrocki @robsheff @MarthaQuinn
— Gavin Edwards (@mrgavinedwards) November 27, 2013
Bored silly, finds he DOES want clever conversation @mrgavinedwards @robsheff @MarthaQuinn Billy Joel set to make historic announcement
— Tom Nawrocki (@TJNawrocki) November 27, 2013
Davy dishonorably discharged from Navy #billyjoelhistoricannouncement @TJNawrocki @robsheff @MarthaQuinn
— Gavin Edwards (@mrgavinedwards) November 27, 2013
Story in magazine now provides sufficient information to divine the sound of new band in town #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— Gavin Edwards (@mrgavinedwards) November 27, 2013
@mrgavinedwards @TJNawrocki @MarthaQuinn working too hard? really clears up those ventricles #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— rob sheffield (@robsheff) November 27, 2013
@robsheff @mrgavinedwards @TJNawrocki Don't know how to tell you this but, have apartment in Harrisburg. No longer living here in Allentown.
— Martha Quinn (@MarthaQuinn) November 27, 2013
@MarthaQuinn @robsheff @mrgavinedwards @TJNawrocki Captain Jack banned by federal decree.
— emilynussbaum (@emilynussbaum) November 27, 2013
Has finally figured out meaning of Sesame Street #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— Gavin Edwards (@mrgavinedwards) November 27, 2013
@mrgavinedwards Paul the Real Estate Novelist finally got married.
— Brian Hiatt (@hiattb) November 27, 2013
Just learned that the drink is called "gin and tonic," not "tonic and gin." #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— Gavin Edwards (@mrgavinedwards) November 27, 2013
Only 38% of crowd in mood for a melody; 53% saying that to be nice; 9% left wallet in younger man's clothes. #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— Gavin Edwards (@mrgavinedwards) November 27, 2013
@mrgavinedwards @tjnawrocki @robsheff Thanks to hormone treatment, she's no longer always a woman #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— Tom Nawrocki (@TJNawrocki) November 27, 2013
Lights never did go out on Broadway; just a bad dream #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— whitney pastorek (@whittlz) November 27, 2013
Will finally explain the responsibilities and duties of a "real estate novelist". #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— Patrick Di Justo (@patrickdijusto) November 27, 2013
Found the orchestra, thanks. #billyjoelhistoricannouncement
— Dave Kobert (@dkobert) November 27, 2013
posted 27 November 2013 in Tasty Bits. 1 comment
For your reading pleasure as we head into the long holiday weekend, I can suggest a clutch of articles by me on the Rolling Stone website in the past week. You might enjoy my rundown of the celebrity reactions to the magic of David Blaine, my report on the Live Read staging of the Tootsie screenplay at LACMA, my review of the all-star concert performing Beck’s Song Reader compositions at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, my extended Q&A with Jared Leto on topics including Dallas Buyers Club and his pink Mohawk, and my piece about the making of the excellent new interactive video for Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” (You’ve seen the video already, right?) That piece was pretty much instant gratification: I saw the video the day it came out, wanted to know more about it, got the director on the phone the same day, and my article ran the following morning.
Photographed on a recent helicopter ride from Los Angeles to Bakersfield. The fields of windmills were nearby.
posted 22 November 2013 in Photos. no comments yet
Perhaps you’d like to know what I’ve been writing lately? I can’t share all of it with you, but I can tell you what’s appeared on the Rolling Stone website in the past week: More Naya Rivera (basically, all the good stuff from our conversation that didn’t fit into my flip-cover RS profile of her). More Key & Peele: a short item setting up a video clip of a sketch they did about intergalactic funk. A list of Mike Tyson pop-culture cameos. (I once talked with Flea about Tyson, whom the bassist idolized. He said that he had met him once, and that Tyson hadn’t said much–which Flea took as evidence that he was incredibly deep, although he conceded there were other reasonable interpretations.) If you read one piece, however, I would suggest my interview with M.I.A.’s supercool DJ, Venus X.
posted 19 November 2013 in Outside. no comments yet
I have been getting email requests from people who want to copies of Last Night at the Viper Room signed by me, either for themselves or for loved ones; I am happy to oblige, of course. The easiest and best way to make this happen, now that my two-city world tour has concluded, is for you to phone up the good people at Book Soup here in Los Angeles: 310-659-3110. They will be more than happy to sell you a copy of the book–before they ship it out to you, I will swing by and sign it. If you want it inscribed or otherwise personalized, please give them the necessary information on the phone. And since you’re making this phone call, you might want to order some other books, either by me (could I interest you in VJ, cowritten with the original MTV VJs?) or by any of the fine authors in this world who are not me. Book Soup is an outstanding independent bookstore, where I’ve been a happy customer for two decades; when you order a book from them, know that you’re helping keep a good bookstore in business.
I’ll be stopping by Book Soup periodically; the next time I’m doing that is at the end of this week, so call them up by Thursday the 21st if you’d like a signed copy of Last Night at the Viper Room sooner rather than later.
posted 18 November 2013 in Buy My Stuff. no comments yet
Photographed on Tuesday night at the Belasco, in downtown Los Angeles.
posted 15 November 2013 in Photos. no comments yet
I’ve received a fair number of reviews for Last Night at the Viper Room, which I hugely appreciate; when you spend many months writing a book, it’s a blessing whenever people read it and consider it seriously. (When they actually like it, all the better.) In case you’re curious about what people who are not me think of the book, I’ve collected tastes of some of the recent items:
The Associated Press (via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune website): “Edwards’ sensitive biography builds just the right tone for looking back at Phoenix’s life 20 years after his death: respect for his talents, admiration for his individuality and a subtle indignation for the tragedy to come.”
Vulture (a lovely review and essay by Jen Doll): “This is a book about a particular time, and it beautifully captures the weird Zeitgeist of the eighties and early nineties in a way that will remind those of us who were growing up at the time of not only River Phoenix, but also of ourselves at a younger age. Names checked and touchstone events cited: Ione Skye, the heyday of Alex P. Keaton, chubby Jerry O’Connell, ABC After-School Specials, the casting of Dead Poets Society, Anthony Kiedis, the first Lollapalooza, the year that Sundance really became something, Sassy magazine?”
The LA Weekly: “As Gavin Edwards details in his enormously compelling new biography of Phoenix and his era, Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind, the actor didn’t take that speedball knowingly. ”
USA Today (three stars out of four): “If only … That’s the thread that weaves through Last Night at the Viper Room, author Gavin Edwards’ insightful biography of River Phoenix, marking the 20th anniversary of the actor’s death.”
The Advocate Hot Sheet: “Phoenix, whose famous siblings Joaquin and Rain are still Hollywood fixtures today, is documented thoughtfully in this new minute-by-minute account of how he died, from bestselling author Gavin Edwards.”
posted 12 November 2013 in Buy My Stuff, Links. no comments yet
Another week goes by, which means I have more articles in Rolling Stone, both the print magazine and this new-fangled website thingy. By far my most-viewed item this past week was a short take on the PBS documentary about Jimi Hendrix. But I also interviewed Jill Cunniff of the groovy Luscious Jackson (back with their first album in fourteen years) and Naya Rivera of Glee (in print, she’s currently appearing as the flip-cover where the obverse image is the late Lou Reed–but check out how the web version has a picture of her wearing the garment I write about in the first sentence!). If I could recommend just one piece, however, I would steer you towards my Q&A with the sketch-comedy geniuses known as Key and Peele. Enjoy!
posted 11 November 2013 in Outside. no comments yet
