A few nights ago, I did a group reading of the book. RIPE: Tales of Hunger & Desire at this wonderful new bookstore, North Figueroa Bookshop in Highland Park, a community in Los Angeles. RIPE is an anthology of short stories, poetry, and visual art dealing with eros and eating. Since I’m well-known as an expert in both fields, the book’s editor and co-publisher, Manuel Chavarria (along with Eleanor Studer), asked me to contribute a short story to its collection. Once he asked, I think I finished the narrative within 24 hours. I can do things like that when the theme is sex and food.
Dined to Go is about a man who sees a woman having lunch in a popular restaurant, Bottega Louie, in Downtown Los Angeles. He is attracted to her and arranges a date with her for dinner at the exact location. What happens later is a sexual transaction of a particular practice that takes place in the restaurant during a meal. The narration is simple, but in detail, it is really about everything. Or maybe nothing, but on a bigger scale than something.
I like being asked by an editor to write something for their magazine/publication because it inspires me. A deadline is always a positive feeling because I feel wanted and someone is waiting for me to deliver my writing. Also, being part of something like an anthology makes me feel like part of a group, although technically, I’m very much a lone wolf. For the past two years, I have been working on a screenplay based on my memoir TOSH with filmmaker and writer Nick Ebeling. We just finished a third draft of the script, and the writing process was very satisfying. It’s interesting to see how someone contextualizes my memoir and sees it in another medium, such as film.
So far, I have written or co-written two scripts. The first one was about the surfing world of the 1950s, which also deals with the 1950s in a cultural sense, but also my memories of that era as a child in California Bohemia. Technically a script is the foundation or rock for film industry, but I also see my (our) script as a work of literature. I can see myself writing in both formats, but I would never give up writing for the page/computer screen. And the third category for me is blog writing, which is what you are reading at the moment. Substack writing is not book writing, nor is it a script. Each platform or medium is separate from the other, and I like it that way.
My short story Dined Out was purposely written for the anthology. RIPE. It’s important to me that the story fits in with the other contributors in the book because it is very much part of not only the theme, eros, and food but part of the band. I may have a collection of short stories put together as a book in the future, but I don’t think I would put this short story online. It is meant to be read in a book and part of this RIPE concept. And a thank you for Manny and Eleanore Studer for inviting me to be part of this family.
RIPE is an anthology of artistic, photographic, and written works by 16 talented contributors, exploring the relationship between food and sex, and the myriad ways they ooze together. Featuring original works by Erin Alexander, Laura Lee Bahr, Tosh Berman, Katherine Bower, Tess Congo, Cait Duttry, Brittany Fukushima, Bec Hac, Kathryn Louise, Esther Lakefield, Theo Macdonald, Bex Saunders, Lila Seidman, Eleanore Studer, Troy Turner, and Brendan Vidito.
Good story!! Very Bermanian. Good luck w the script !!!
Sounds spicy; yum.