I can see the Wooster Group’s building out of my study window. They continue to perform and I feel so lucky to just go across the street and see them. Spaulding Gray was an instrumental part of their work. Thank you for this post.
Thanks for this reminder of the man and his breadth and depth of work. I saw Swimming to Cambodia when it came out and all I can remember now was that I loved it and loved him. I shall watch it again and catch up on some of the pieces you mention.
Leaping sideways what do you think of Charles Bukowski’s and Henry Miller’s writing?
Fantastic. I'm interested in Jerry and Heddy in all the right ways. And wow, this line re: Spalding, "No one really cares about the real life of the narrator, he understood. We care about stories we’re made to feel are about us, and this happens when the narrator isn’t trying to protect anything or ask us to feel for them." This is raw truth.
Lucky to have seen Spalding Gray perform Sex and Death to the Age 14, in 1979, without knowing anything except what my friend who'd just started NYU Drama School (who would later be working, and even later performing with The Wooster Group) had told me. "It's a guy sitting at a desk, and telling stories from his life. Well, it's a lot more than that, but that's a good place to start."
lovely. no wonder you loved his work, because you've seen how storytelling works well in some similar ways to his, and you've investigated his methods so richly here. it makes me wonder how to use what he did to make stories, and as well, the experiments with throwing together things contributed by a group of people seem exciting.
“What makes a subject feel trivial or large, he discovered, isn’t its historic dimension or lack of one but whether or not there are stakes for the teller and the amount of complexity a story unfolds.“
So good. Wonderful -the part about how we love stories we feel are about us/not really caring about the narrator. Etc. He was a gold nugget in that 70s/80’s landscape.! I so admire your work. ✍️🙏
Hi Laurie, thanks that is true - I already have very mixed feelings about his work, same as I have about Miller's. I put the question to you as I am forever interested in other people's responses and I was interested to know if you (as a woman) thought either of them worthy of attention. From your replies so far I get the sense that Bukowski is beyond the pale for you. Gosh this is all feeling a bit unwieldy and lumpen - I've got a terrible cold which does not help. But to end I was curious as to why you make the distinction between the two...any you're probably bored to tears by the whole thing - apologies if that\s the case and no need to reply.
Salad Bar
I found myself really wanting to know more about what happened with Heddy and Jerry with regard to the interesting narrator in Salad Bar.
I can see the Wooster Group’s building out of my study window. They continue to perform and I feel so lucky to just go across the street and see them. Spaulding Gray was an instrumental part of their work. Thank you for this post.
One of the best and most incisive looks at Spaldings early work. He is so missed. Thanks for bringing those performances to life
Thanks for this reminder of the man and his breadth and depth of work. I saw Swimming to Cambodia when it came out and all I can remember now was that I loved it and loved him. I shall watch it again and catch up on some of the pieces you mention.
Leaping sideways what do you think of Charles Bukowski’s and Henry Miller’s writing?
Fantastic. I'm interested in Jerry and Heddy in all the right ways. And wow, this line re: Spalding, "No one really cares about the real life of the narrator, he understood. We care about stories we’re made to feel are about us, and this happens when the narrator isn’t trying to protect anything or ask us to feel for them." This is raw truth.
Lucky to have seen Spalding Gray perform Sex and Death to the Age 14, in 1979, without knowing anything except what my friend who'd just started NYU Drama School (who would later be working, and even later performing with The Wooster Group) had told me. "It's a guy sitting at a desk, and telling stories from his life. Well, it's a lot more than that, but that's a good place to start."
I loved Spalding Gray the more I hear about him the more I like.
I never knew Spalding, but I miss him. His performances were mesmerizing.
lovely. no wonder you loved his work, because you've seen how storytelling works well in some similar ways to his, and you've investigated his methods so richly here. it makes me wonder how to use what he did to make stories, and as well, the experiments with throwing together things contributed by a group of people seem exciting.
“What makes a subject feel trivial or large, he discovered, isn’t its historic dimension or lack of one but whether or not there are stakes for the teller and the amount of complexity a story unfolds.“
So well explained.
So good. Wonderful -the part about how we love stories we feel are about us/not really caring about the narrator. Etc. He was a gold nugget in that 70s/80’s landscape.! I so admire your work. ✍️🙏
Hi Laurie, thanks that is true - I already have very mixed feelings about his work, same as I have about Miller's. I put the question to you as I am forever interested in other people's responses and I was interested to know if you (as a woman) thought either of them worthy of attention. From your replies so far I get the sense that Bukowski is beyond the pale for you. Gosh this is all feeling a bit unwieldy and lumpen - I've got a terrible cold which does not help. But to end I was curious as to why you make the distinction between the two...any you're probably bored to tears by the whole thing - apologies if that\s the case and no need to reply.