blues for mister charlie (written by james baldwin and based loosely on the emmett till murder in mississippi in 1955. the play itself takes place in 1965, when sncc was beginning to fragment over the issue of non-violence as an effective [or realistic] organizing strategy) is on stage at the hudson guild (441 west 26th street, nyc 10001) starring kenyon, until the end of the month.

jami and i rolled up to housingworks last night for an all-hands-on-deck reading by paul auster and stephen dixon. some williamsburgdorf with the requisite thick-framed glasses, sloppy hair, gum-soled sneakers, and tight sweater opened the reading with a ramble on how most lovers of auster and dixon have only read one of their works, and used so many big words that i leaned over and wondered in jami's ear, is he studying for the s.a.t. or something? auster went up and said, "to the extent that i understand that intro, i thought it was very good"—oooh, snap!