What to say when there’s nothing to say

This week: conversational shortcuts, why I write, and more...

In this week's newsletter: conversational shortcuts, why I write, eye and ear candy, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  Sometimes I don't know what to say or I don't want to say it, so I keep a list of conversational shortcuts.   Filmmaker Werner Herzog on reading and writing. I'm still reading Werner Herzog: A Guide For The Perplexed in big chunks at night. I also read E.F. Schumacher's A Guide For The Perplexed last weekend. (I feel only slightly less perplexed.)   Why do I write books? To have an intercourse with the world. (Although, sometimes I think I could just quit and make marble runs.)   Parents and picture book lovers: My sons are totally obsessed with Tomi Ungerer's The Three Robbers. I can't remember the last time a book was such an instant slam dunk with them. (They love this animated short, too.)   The Paris Review graced us with not one but two unpublished (in English) essays by Tove Jansson: one called "The Island" (like a rough draft of her classic, The Summer Book) and the other on writer's block. (I cannot recommend her Moomin comics enough.)   Highly recommended: the vegan queso blanco in Isa Does It, a fantastic cookbook. (One of my week's themes: when "fake" things are good in their own way. See also: the harpsichord sound on my old electric piano.)   Ear candy: Sam Cooke's Live At The Harlem Square Club 1963 has long been one of my all-time favorite records.  It plays a role in the new Netflix documentary, The Two Killings of Sam Cooke.    Eye candy: The Favourite is very much worth watching, maybe on a double feature with Sofia Coppola's terribly underrated Marie Antoinette, or maybe with their shared ancestor, Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. (You can't go wrong with any of those!)   Also worth streaming: all three films in The Worricker Trilogy. So much fun. Bill Nighy is so good.   RIP actor Bruno Ganz. Two films he starred in are at the top of my queue: Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire and Herzog's Nosferatu. OK, friends. Thanks for reading. Next week I go into full Book Promotion Mode with the new one. If you like this newsletter and want it to keep going, pre-order Keep Going online or at your favorite indie bookstore, and save your receipt because we're announcing an awesome pre-order gift next week. (The reviews on Goodreads so far are better than good and my 6-year-old was quite pleased by the nice comments about his book trailer.) If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2019 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 19885 Detroit Road Box #222 Rocky River, OH 44116 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)

Don’t give up!

In this week's newsletter: the secret to a good life, the wilds of the internet, and more... 

In this week's newsletter: the secret to a good life, the wilds of the internet, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  My six-year-old and I made a book trailer for Keep Going.   I am totally engrossed in Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed, a 400+ page interview with the director. It's so dense with stories and poetic sentences worth underlining that it's taking me forever to read.   Stevie Smith recites her poem, "Not Waving But Drowning."   This transcription of the late food critic Jonathan Gold in the classroom is full of gems about writing, food, and taste. (This was right before the release of the wonderful documentary about him, City of Gold.) I just ordered his book, Counter Intelligence. (Whenever I read him or Eve Babitz, I'm like, "Why don't I live in L.A.?")   The secret to a good life? Get a good pencil. (Still in love with my Palamino Blackwings.)   Patricia Lockwood on the internet is wild and very, very good, like her book, Priestdaddy. (One of my favorite books I read last year.)   Citizen Kane as a cautionary tale for Jeff Bezos.   Worth streaming: my wife and I enjoyed Page Eight, the first in The Worricker Trilogy. (Here's the video of Billie Holiday and Lester Young they watch in his apartment. The clip is part of an hour-long 1957 CBS program called "The Sound of Jazz." Both Holiday and Young would be dead in two years.)   Ear candy: the Rushmore soundtrack is even better than I remembered and an excellent afternoon walk album. (Come for "Making Time," stay for "A Quick One While He's Away.")   RIP artist Tomi Ungerer. Here's a good clip from the documentary about him, Far Out Isn't Far Enough. (I ordered The Three Robbers and Moon Man for my boys.) Thanks for reading. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to someone who'd like it or, even better, buy them a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin PS. Have you made your appointment with the page? Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2019 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 19885 Detroit Road Box #222 Rocky River, OH 44116 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)

Connect Four

In this week's newsletter: finding out who you are and doing it on purpose... 

In this week's newsletter: finding out who you are and doing it on purpose... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  It's rare, but sometimes I make something that perfectly captures how I'm feeling about everything.   I tore through Walker Percy's Lost In The Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book. My favorite part was his theory of "problems of reentry." (Related reading: "5 thoughts on self-help.")   After that, I gobbled up the second half of John McPhee's The Patch — "An Album Quilt," made up of uncollected pieces he's written over his career.    Mister Rogers (and others) on why you should love what you do in front of the kids in your life.   Jessica Abel, author of Growing Gills, asks the question many of us have asked: "If creativity is so freeing, why do I feel like I'm trapped?"    This interview with director Steven Soderbergh is so good and wide-ranging I think it'll be of interest whether you're in the film business or not. (Best line: "I can't make something that I wouldn't stand in line to go see.")   A short reminder that the best a writer has to offer you is in their work.   Advice from Dolly Parton: "Find out who you are and do it on purpose." (Speaking of: as a recent convert, I will attest: "It's Just a Matter of Time Till Everybody Loves Lizzo.")   Ear candy: I've been taking gloomy afternoon strolls to Frank Ocean's Blonde and J Dilla's Donuts. (As my friend Frank put it, "Listening to Donuts while doing anything makes you feel like a badass.") For deep cuts, check out this Spotify playlist of J Dilla samples.   The religion of walking. Thanks, as always, for reading. Hang in there and remember: Don't argue with strangers on the internet and don't give in to, "Why wasn't I consulted?"  If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to someone who'd like it or, even better, buy them a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2019 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 19885 Detroit Road Box #222 Rocky River, OH 44116 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)