Handbill Handout

I just saw a very old picture of me. I’m with my brother, and I am maybe seven years old which means he is 23. He is in his full dress Army uniform and I am standing to his right, barely as tall as his armpit and I am wearing a green plaid shirt with a huge 1970’s collar and a denim jacket with a nameplate on it, the same nameplate he is wearing on his full dress uniform. We are standing in front of a brick wall and parts of two windows can be seen, two slivers at the top of the frame. There is a hedge to our right (left in the frame). We are smiling. My arm is wrapped around his waist and the tips of my fingers protrude above his left lower jacket pocket indicating that my brother was a hell of a lot thinner then than either of us are today. My hair is blonder than it is now. It’s all ahead of both of us there, all of the happy days and sad days and the overwhelming grey pile of nothing days that make up the overwhelming majority of life. Days that just lay there like a pile of unf...

There is a particular moment that happens in any long-form celebrity interview that gives me an almost overwhelming urge to throw my shoe through the television. It is an integral part of what Colson Whitehead dubbed the “Bob’s Debut” interview in John Henry Days. “Bob’s Debut” is the first type of article or interview in the cycle of celebrity that introduces the Next Big Bob, usually followed by “Bob Returns” which is the inevitable second novel/record/movie/whatever that comes with some kind of backlash since Bob is now successful (this is especially true in music journalism once someone who was a critical darling hits it big). Then you have “Bob Returns” which is the rehab of Bob’s image after fame has peaked and then fallen due to failed effort/sex scandal/substance abuse/all of the above (Tiger Woods just did his “Bob Returns” interview this week, in fact). There are a couple of other “Bob” interview or article genres but our topic today is “Bob’s Debut” and specifically the o...

For thanks !