the future of fiction?

Fri Apr 20 23:38:38 CDT 2007

I was wondering back in the fall why Ms. Pessl was being hyped so
aggressively by the NYT Book Review. Now I feel better about not being able
to get past page 12 of Special Topics. But its nice to know that the food
at City Hall is clean. And that Nic is incredible. Hope he finds that k.

D.C..

  _____  

From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf
Of Billy Sprangs
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 4:13 PM
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: the future of fiction?

what writer orders in fancy sandwiches? what a joke -

Novelist Marisha Pessl Motivates Herself With Coffee, Rewards Herself With
Cupcakes

  <http://nymag.com/images/2/daily/food/07/04/18_nydiet_lgl.jpg> 
"Even though Im half-Austrian, I never really used to like German
or Austrian food."Photo: Melissa Hom
As Marisha Pessl has it, she got so carried away describing food in her
best-selling novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics that certain passages
had to be edited down. Its no surprise then that beyond the eight or nine
cappuccinos she used to drink while writing (she's now down to two or three)
and the  <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/wichcraft00/> wichcraft
cupcakes she rewards herself with afterward, the author and Tribeca resident
is a self-confessed absolute foodie. Now that shes between book tours and
working on a second novel (the paperback of Special Topics comes out next
week), she says she has a license to feed all the time. So how does she
put it to use? 
Thursday, April 19
I cannot eat breakfast. Today I had two or three cappuccinos I made for
myself (I have this Italian cappuccino maker). I absolutely need them before
I start writing. And its very easy to start steaming milk when you hit a
wall.
Wednesday, April 18
I was meeting a friend at 71
<http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/71-irving-place-coffee-and-tea-bar/>
Irving Place and had a toasted everything bagel and two cappuccinos. Its a
really cute café where a lot of people are writing novels. For lunch I was
back in the apartment writing. I usually dont like to interrupt myself so I
order a roast-turkey sandwich from
<http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/wichcraft00/> wichcraft with avocado
and roasted red onions, without the bacon. 
For dinner I was helping a friend with her film shoot. I had chicken soup at
Square Diner at Leonard and Varick. We were in Times Square around midnight
so I had matzo-ball soup at Roxys. Ive had matzo-ball soup five times in
my life, but the waiter was carrying it by and it just seemed like the
perfect thing. 
Tuesday, April 17
I had banana bread at Pecan, one of my favorite cafés in Tribeca  and three
cappuccinos. Lunch was at Blaue Gans
<http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/relg/> . I had moules frites. My
husband, Nic, and I love going there on Saturday afternoons for brunch. On
weekdays you can sit there by yourself, which is nice. Even though Im
half-Austrian, I never really used to like German or Austrian food, but I
came back from Germany and now we go there even more. 
Dinner was with Nic at Landmarc
<http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/landmarc/> . I had roast chicken with
crushed potato, green beans haricot vert, and dijonaise sauce. During the
week, my husband gets home late so we order or stop in there  they deliver,
which is wonderful. 
Monday, April 16
I had two cappuccinos. I was writing, so again I ordered the roast turkey
from wichcraft. Dinner was City Hall
<http://nymag.com/listings/attraction/city_hall/> , a huge restaurant with
very clean, healthy food. Its nice to order in during the week when we
dont have time to cook, which is most of the time. We had grilled salmon
steak and Brussels sprouts. 
Sunday, April 15
We stayed in finishing our taxes. We snacked at lunch  oranges and a PBJ
sandwich. Nic cooked hes incredible and made spaghetti pesto dolive from
a Mario Batali cookbook.
Saturday, April 14
I had lunch at Le <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/le-bilboquet/>
Bilboquet. The poulet Cajun is the best chicken dish in New York. Dinner was
at Pylos <http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/pylos/> , where we got the
saganaki and poikilia. Theyre appetizers that you share with taramosalata
and melitzanosalata sauce. For the main course, we had baby lamb chops. We
discovered this place through our really good friends who are Greek  its
Greek traditional hardy food. 
Friday, April 13
Lunch was a skate sandwich from Bouley Bakery
<http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/upstairs-at-bouley/> . Dinner was at
Balthazar <http://nymag.com/listings/bar/balthazar00/>   saffron risotto
with squid, shrimp, and roasted peppers. I like red meat, but I eat a lot of
fish too. I eat everything! 
Pessl reads from the paperback of Special Topics in Calamity Physics
(available April 24) on May 9 at the Chelsea
<http://nymag.com/listings/stores/barnes_and_noble03/>  Barnes & Noble.

  _____  

Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check out new
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=48245/*http:/autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html;_ylc=
X3oDMTE1YW1jcXJ2BF9TAzk3MTA3MDc2BHNlYwNtYWlsdGFncwRzbGsDbmV3LWNhcnM->  cars
at Yahoo! Autos. 