You know I got to thinking about it and, except for graphic novels and these reviews, I don’t really read books anymore…at least not like I used to. A bad faze? What I do know is that books like this one make me want to get back into reading again…inhaling. Just cuz it needs said though, reading PDFs is not the same. I like to get my greedy little hands on things, get them dirty with use, hahaha. Check out that cover, that is how a book needs introduced, and it makes me want to hold it, and wonder what’s inside, preparation for doing some serious digging. Instead of leafing, I scroll on. Even as a PDF though, the book is quite tasty, a meal and a half, enough to take home some in a doggy bag. Not a difficult read at all, and as I’ve said before about Michael’s book, you pretty much are compelled to read the whole thing in a couple sittings (despite the numerous distractions we all have, does any of us have uninterrupted time anymore). Before I give my lame spiel, how about something from someone who is in the know…“Mike is one of them, a good writer and a damn good storyteller. He is eloquent and concise and doesn’t get lost in the world of minutia. He tells the story and holds you captive page after page. To the point you want to cheat (go to the back of the book) but don’t!Enjoy the book. Learn something you perhaps didn’t know, I did. Thanks to some well written verse knowledge of a lifestyle and the honesty to tell it.” – Clyde A. Wray, Poet, Playwright, director and producer author of four books of poetry. I don’t know who Clyde is but, honestly I couldn’t have said it any better and this is my fucking blog and the trouble with bloggers, is their mouth don’t stop (intentional Fear reference). How about another author’s take, “Michael Essington’s short stories are contemporary tall tales, new urban legends that might be spun by a guffawing host to attendees at some summer night barbecue in a suburban enclave on the outskirts of any major American city.” – Chris D., author of Dragon Wheel Splendor and Other Love Stories of Violence and Dread? And, I think Mr. Essington was talking about me in the dedications, “Last and not least: I ask forgiveness of all those who have been with me over the course of the years and whose names I have failed to mention”…just kidding Mike (who reminds us, “Stay safe and thanks for reading”).
So tried something different this time around, I jotted down notes as I read the book, shit that relates to me, because many people will be able to relate to this book (especially if you’re one to go out and about in any major city)…
Awe…the jewelry district (got my first wife’s wedding ring made there)
Todd was a puss (you should have kicked his ass for that Mike)
Getting to know homeless guys downtown (a real education)
Executive and their false sense of importance (I worked at two law firms downtown)
It’s a shame about Harley (but I think everyone from Iron Butterfly could time travel)
Oh God the characters Mike meets, only in LA
7/11s baby (someone get me a slurpee)
Taking the bus across town (2 1/2 hours one way from Burbank to UCLA)
Watching your child grow up (I feel like I know Lucas)
You just have to know Rip Taylor, Paul Lynde and Allen Funt (and Nipsey Russell)
Mickey D’s (I vaguely remember growing up enough to go from the kids meal to the Big Mac)
High or unbalanced? (the question you ask yourself of everyone you come across)
Dad + dead = pee (sadly yes)
Shop class! (blue collar class)
Brain Dead Wayne (everybody knows a Brain Dead Wayne)
the innocence of childhood (ah, we just didn’t really know what was going on around us)
That may not make any sense to you, but it makes perfect sense if you read the book. Michael got it right once again with this one. He is a man of passion and compassion, a keen observer and, most of the time, a participant in this thing we call humanity. This is real life. A speck of time in the universe, but still important. In the days before writing, when spoken word was how humankind shared information and stories, Mr. Essington would have been highly sought after. All and all another great read…
Small world time. I get all kinds of emails from folks petitioning reviews of their music, and every once in a long while, to my delight, I get asked to do a book review (at various stages in my life I have found myself consumed with reading…these days it’s mostly about graphic novels). This time ’round, I got a message from Steven Dilodovico of DiWulf Publishing House (very interesting story about Steve and Amy who run the show there and co-authored the book No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens) reaching out to this humble blog, for a review of a book coming out on October 31st. Turns out it was written by the only Mustard Relic in the borough of Queens, 
In the synopsis it calls Freddy Alva’s book a treatise, I was thinking more of a tome, but regardless, this thing is massive, shit the press kit was almost half a gb. Bible massive and in some ways very bible like in terms of how it’s broken up into chronology, history, stories and even captures the mythology of this “outlaw movement.” What Mr. Alva has put together here, IS the bible on the topic. I don’t have an actual copy of the book, yet, but DiWulf obviously did not fuck around, 330+ pages and 180+ color images. So, the meat of the book….hmmm. I think before I do that, want to share what other folks have had to say, because there’s a lot chunks there and these folks aren’t brain damaged like old Mustard…
First thing I got from the book, for the people who did the graffiti, they were “writers” and what they did was “writing”, but the average Joe unfamiliar with the scene would be steered in the wrong direction if the book had been called “…Writing In New York Hardcore.” These guys are the 1%ers of the art world. We had a graffiti / hardcore punk connection on the West Coast as well in the mid 80s, but that’s my story not Freddy’s. I will say that I had a black book (Freddy has given us a behind the scenes look into a bunch of black book art from these guys) in the mid 80s that I did my chicken scratch in and would give it to other artists to do their thing, so I had something to aspire to. Loaned it to this artist DASH (a very prolific tagger in LA County) and he told me he lost it, but I know the fucking thief stole it. Reminds me of all the beefs between artists, that come up in these interviews. So the meat of the book is these compelling interviews with the writers of the scene in New York (you should be able to get that from the fucking title right?). Not one or two interviews, but a shit ton of ’em, with some of the key artists of the 80s and 90s. Half of them Freddy knows personally and I don’t know how the hell he found the rest, he’s got most of the major crews represented. You get to know these guys pretty well through his relevant questions, the part they played with respect to other artists, the bands they played in, the crews the rolled with, what’s up with them these days and most incredibly, their art. I like what MANOR had to say when Freddy asked him, “Do you still write or follow graffiti?”…his response was, “No. Unless I’m on tour. And then…no comment.” This textbook is impressive even just as a pdf, but a smart guy would want to get his greedy little hands on it (maybe bring a buddy to help you carry it out to the car)…the book will be available at the end of the month at 
Don’t know if anyone notices or not, I haven’t felt the writing bug lately, in other words no babbling, like usual, just straight and to the point (there’s something to be said for that). On top of that, sitting down and reading a book is something I haven’t done in quite some time, shit even the unread comic books (Walking Dead) have their own growing pile. God, even just reading anything except for stupid headlines of stories by the mind controlling media, who have essentially thrown objectivity out the window, is a chore. But I heard Michael Essington was releasing another book, and wanted to line up early to get a sneak peak, so to speak. Hit him up on Facebook (which reminds me, I don’t even really call anyone anymore) and he leaked me the pdf. It took me a while to get around to reading, not for lack of interest, by any stretch of the imagination, it was just that my Son was here and it was two weeks of spending all my time hanging out with him. So long story short, I finally got to read the book…
Didn’t take me long, his books are not tomes, they are an easy read and really you want to get to the next page in the story before you’re done with the one you’re on, the stories are that engaging. I’ve never actually met Michael, but through blogs (he was one of the ones who inspired me to do my own) and our mutual love of music, we have been friends for several years now. This book, is like the others before, in that you really get a feel for the kind of guy he is or at least seems to be. Once again the stories here are gritty, raw and very real. The themes don’t have that lame PG-13 vibe, there is nothing tame here, these are stories about real life. The characters could be you or someone you know, someone who isn’t surrounded with rainbows and unicorns, as I said real. Michael doesn’t waste a lot of time with bullshit, no extra words to make the stories longer, you get just enough to know what the fuck he’s talking about, just enough to relate. Short biographical stories (not unlike his own autobiographical stories from the blog), like opening a novel in the middle and just reading several pages, a moment in the life of so and so…Bo, Hank, Walter, etc. This time around, you get lots of poetry too, and you can tell they are his, because they have the same vibe as the stories…gritty, raw and very real (“As I approach the headstone, I know it’s mine”). I don’t want to give anything away, but you gotta dig private detectives. In fact, I may have told him before, but I think he really should do a graphic novel, maybe one about a private detective. Go figure a comic book fan, we both are, writing a graphic novel. Seriously though, these stories lend themselves to that form of media and for an artist it wouldn’t take a whole lot of imagination to draw the scenes, with Michael’s writing you can see them in your head (I’m thinking Ben Templesmith for his style as an artist, for those of you in the know). All in all, without giving away specifics, this book is laid back, with economically chosen words, hyper-realistic, tense at times like real life can be, pleases, but doesn’t aim to please or beg for approval…as the reader you are just a bystander.
