NY Observer 6/2/97

[Bruce Appelbaum]

     Yesterday, at our suburban Borders, I was attracted to the referenced 
     issue of the Observer by the totally awful caricature of TRP on the 
     cover.  An artist's (or somebody's) conception of what TRP looks like 
     based on the fuzzy photo in NY Magazine, the description by one of the 
     band members in the Esquire Lotion piece, and the old high school 
     snaggle-toothed photo.  
     
     While we have been told by some source or other that significant 
     amounts of dental work have been carried out, the illustration brings 
     to mind nothing so much as Bugs Bunny endorsing Starbuck's coffee 
     being consumed at B&N.  A gray bearded, mustachioed, and pony-tailed 
     Bugs.
     
     A coffee bar, perhaps in a bookstore, is the setting of the drawing.  
     M&D (the book) itself is pictured under the rump of a toddler, used as 
     a booster seat while his Mom (nanny?) sips coffee.  For an added 
     bonus, that other recluse Salinger is shown walking in the street 
     through the storefront window.
     
     The article itself describes M&D as one of those books that people 
     have on their bookshelves rather than actually read (and put it in the 
     same category as works by Salman Rushdie, among others), since it is a 
     "difficult" book -- a thread that has been explored on the p-list 
     recently.  
     
     To validate this claim, the author of the piece presents us with the 
     case of Vin Scelsa, a New York disk jockey and raconteur, with an 
     eclectic music show that runs on WNEW-FM on Sunday night into Monday 
     morning.  While I've listened to Vin off and on for many years 
     (currently off), I've never considered him an arbiter of literary 
     taste.  Vin's main criticism is that the book is too heavy to sit 
     comfortably on his chest while he attempts to read it.  With all those 
     words, his lips probably get tired, and he only got about 30 pages 
     into it.  I wonder how far Scott Muni got (not to mention Bruce 
     Morrow, cousins).


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: NY Observer 6/2/97
Author:  "davemarc" <davemarc at panix.com> at Internet
Date:    6/2/97 4:14 PM


FYI, someone at the Observer offices told me that copies are available at 
many Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores.  
     
davemarc