An Evening With Garrison Keillor, Maya Angelou, Laurie Colwin, Tom Wolfe, Calvin Trillin: A Gala Evening of Readings to Benefit the Homeless

Rating:
Summary: A priceless recording, continuous wit, amazing heart
Review: If the current population in Washington isn't doing much to make you feel good, harken back to the days of yore with this audiotape made at a benefit for the homeless at Symphony Space in 1989. The Symphony Space (un Upper Westside institution, for those of you unfamiliar with Manhattan) is an auditorium where readings and other artistic events supplemented the theater of the streets of the Upper West Side before no one could afford to live in this neighborhood anymore unless they were over 70 or had made a pact with the devil.

Tom Wolfe, Calvin Trillin and Garrison Keilor all read very pithy stuff but Calvin Trillin's deadpan annecdote, based on a fait divers about Ronald Reagan's address in Bel Air, is priceless. Maya Angelou is fascinating and compelling, but it is Laurie Colwin's performance for which I bought this tape because I wanted to hear if she sounds as wonderful as she reads.

Colwin died only three years after this recording was made, quite suddenly. Although her name was known to me, I only began to avidly read--and appreciate her books over the past year, surprisingly as a result of having read her food essays--a genre I seldom touch. They were so great they inspired me to read the novels and short stories.

Finding this tape was like winning a treasure hunt--it far exceeded my minimal expectations and has become my favorite driving excuse.

Laurie Colwin reads an excerpt from "Goodbye without Leaving" that almost had me wetting my pants in the car without leaving--it was that funny--and her delivery was as good as the text.

For Laurie Colwin fans this tape is a collector's item. The more I read her work and read about her, the more I miss her--I never saw or met this woman but I intensely love her. If you can still get a copy--grab it!!