Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show

And check out my past conversations with Sven:
2017 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-2...
2020 chimeraobscura.com/vm/covid-che...
2021 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-4...
2024 chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...

I've just started in on Julian Barnes' DEPARTURE(S), which he has publicly billed as his last novel, and that announcement plays out as a key theme in the novel, which steers, as so many novels now do, between memoir and roman a clef, with some latitude for creative tweaks. I'm fascinated so far, but also unsettled, not only by the fact/fiction interface, but also by what I assume are the real-life aspects, which have the author with a blood cancer he's holding at bay with chemo, and announcing that this is his last. Could that just be a plot element? But no-how could a writer follow a plot element like that with some 'next' book. I believe what Barnes is saying and it has me, as I said, unsettled. I felt a similar confusion years ago when Philip Roth announced he was done with writing. I worried that. What do you mean you're done with writing? I chastised. There is no being 'done, no end to filtering experience through the mesh of language. I think about these writers, but really I'm wondering what this means to me-the notion that a person who has built a life of words might draw a line, decide to just stop. I see this not as a career decision-quit while you're ahead, etc.—but an existential one. Is it really possible. Really? What does it mean for a writer to decide to leave writing behind? Is the decision really a cover for no more inspiration coming? But this is something bigger than writers' block. It sounds like the writer saying I'm going stop engaging the world as I've always engaged it. Can I even envision such a choice? I have, it's true, stepped back some in recent years, no longer pursuing assignments or sending query letters, no longer-this more serious-writing things with the thought of publication (though posting on Substack is, of course, a form of publication). Could I whittle down further, could I cancel the public side of the vocation and just write for the drawer? A gratifying martyrdom, but I can't see it. How else-really-would I carry on?

And go subscribe to Sven’s daily newsletter svenbirkerts375678.substack.com
follow his Instagram www.instagram.com/sven.birkert...
and check out his rare bookseller site www.ebay.com/usr/birkbooks

Episode 670 – Sven Birkerts Virtual Memories Show 670: Sven Birkerts Essayist Sven Birkerts, one of my favorite past pod-guests, welcomes me back to the mic for a conversation about writing, art, mortality, resistance, techno…

First new #podcast of 2026! #SvenBirkerts rejoined the show to talk #writing, #art, #mortality, #resistance, #technology, & selling rare #books, so GO LISTEN: chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...

Poem by Frank O’Hara: “POEM Light clarity avocado salad in the morning after all the terrible things I do how amazing it is to find forgiveness and love, not even forgiveness since what is done is done and forgiveness isn't love and love is love nothing can ever go wrong though things can get irritating boring and dispensable (in the imagination) but not really for love though a block away you feel distant the mere presence changes everything like a chemical dropped on a paper and all thoughts disappear in a strange quiet excitement I am sure of nothing but this, intensified by breathing 1959

Frank O’Hara

Red letters on white background reading, "I'm going to try to take some time off from social media (& podcast & newsletter). Email if you need to reach me."

Going Away A new end-of-year podcast, some thoughts about going on hiatus, BIRDY!’s 1st gotcha-versary, a couple New Year’s resolutions, a dip into the Mystery Bin, some art, & more

Final newsletter of the year (and for . . . a while), with lots of good stuff, incl. BIRDY! celebrating her gotchaversary, some art, in-process of my book, & more, so GO READ: buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...

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Thanks, friend! All I can hope for!

I have been listening to Gil’s podcast since 2013 or 2014, back when podcasts were still a relatively new and unfamiliar format. Over the years, it has become a constant presence in my life, a unique project sustained not by an economic venture but by genuine curiosity and generosity. Thanks, Gil!!!

Episode 669 – Indefinite Hiatus Virtual Memories Show 669: Indefinite Hiatus For his 2025 year-end wrap-up, Gil’s putting The Virtual Memories Show podcast & newsletter on hiatus (!): talk about your crazy New Year&#821…

I'm putting The Virtual Memories Show on hiatus, so this is my last #podcast for a while! I talk about that decision and wrap up 2025; GO LISTEN: chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...

Hitting The Links: 12/28/25 We've got the Last Load O' Links for 2025, and it's a doozy. Plus My Weird Christmas, some put-upon BIRDY!, workout-craziness, and more

It's the last linky-newsletter of 2025! Tons of great reading, plus put-upon BIRDY!, so GO READ: buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...

Mine are at the end of the episode (along with some weird anecdotes), but I forgot to mention a whole bunch that I enjoyed the heck out of this year.

The Guest List 2025 We asked the past year’s podcast-guests for the favorite books they read in 2025 and the books they hope to read in 2026 for our special year-end Guest List episode! Twenty-six guests partici…

Looking for #books to read during the New Year's break or as 2026 aspirations? Look no further! The annual Guest List episode of my #podcast features a TON of faves from this year's pod-guests, so GET LISTENING/READING! chimeraobscura.com/vm/the-guest...

Birdy sends regards (I think; she's tough to read)

2024 for me. Give it a shot!

Pink and Blue Just Like A Child It's time for the Year-End Guest List episode, plus holiday wishes, a great Instax, & more

Christmas Eve newsletter, feat. the annual Guest List episode, so GO READ: buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...

I think it was Gabriel Byrne who updated the actors’ advice to, “Never work with children, animals, or Denholm Elliott.”

Guests incl. @jonathanames.bsky.social, @dangoldman.net, @deanhaspiel.bsky.social, @davidnleopold.bsky.social, @katemaru.bsky.social, @whitneymatheson.bsky.social, @joshneufeld.bsky.social, @lancerichardson.bsky.social, @mlrio.bsky.social, @tomtomorrow.bsky.social, @wolfffish.bsky.social & more!

The Guest List 2025 We asked the past year’s podcast-guests for the favorite books they read in 2025 and the books they hope to read in 2026 for our special year-end Guest List episode! Twenty-six guests partici…

It's the annual GUEST LIST episode! Find out which books 26 of this year's pod-guests loved the most & what they hope to read next year! (I participated, too, and tell some stories at the end.) GO LISTEN (& check out the list of books!): chimeraobscura.com/vm/the-guest...

TBF, John Waters has always leaned into the "perverts" thing, but I get what you mean. Plus the Iraq War thing is kinda enough to get you Also'd.
Enjoying the Chabon K&C but not too deeply, about a quarter of the way in.

THE BOOK FOREST Printed Matter, 2025

Art books, zines, and some other odds and ends.
churchghost.substack.com/p/the-book-f...

Hitting The Links: 12/21/25 We've got lots of links, a do-or-die stretch for my book, BIRDY!'s centerfold, a throwback flex, & more

Last linky-newsletter before Christmas! GO READ: buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...

Photo of a study/library with printouts of 2-page spreads of photos and text taped up EVERYWHERE in kinda disturbing rows, over the bookshelves and prints

I printed and hung all 78 spreads so I can see just how much work I have to do to finish this Instax book. (You can't see all of them because of the corners and weird angles.)

2 years ago. Got a ways to go to get back there, but something to aspire to.

#workout

I feel seen. Better back this one up to my ZIP drive.

photo of gray aussiedoodle curled up on a light-brown leather sofa with a copy of Tom Tomorrow's new collection, OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE, rested on her legs

Birdy loves the new @tomtomorrow.bsky.social collection! (At least, she hasn't chewed on it or anything.)

Issue 8: The Extremely Specific This, Not That Gift Guide Having spent time the past few weeks thinking about your friends and family, every person on your holiday gift list, I present the following, ready to clip and take with you to the shops this weekend....

One weekend left, one last reminder:

The first-ever This, Not That Extremely Specific Gift Guide is here for you!

Find books (& alternates) for:

•Your weirdest friend
•Your friend who enjoys reading about people endangering themselves through travel
•Your friends in Chicago

And many more!

totally

photo of middle-aged white man in gray suit, white shirt, and blue striped tie smiling at camera, standing at a riser table, with a glass of water in one hand

photo of middle-aged white man in gray suit, white shirt, and blue striped tie smiling at camera, trying to hide his gut

photo of two men in profile talking to each other in a ritzy club reception area

From last week's Chemical Marketing & Economics (CME) STEM Leadership Awards at the Metropolitan Club in NYC.

Mismemory New podcast feat. Jonathan Sandler, a throwback Instax, a half-memory, the limits of journals, and another and another

New #newsletter, from another #Acela! GO READ:
buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...