Adventures in Marketing — Weeks 447 – 458

Phillip has chronic health problems (lungs) and, as far as I knew, had not left his house since Covid. I had thought of calling him but, I explained when he walked into the café, “The longer it went and I didn’t, the less I wanted to…” “Because you thought I was dead,” he finished for me. “I thought the same about you.” We had a good laugh.
Phillip’s thinning hair seemed to have gone months without trimming. Patches of grey beard splotched his cheeks and jaw line. He has lived for extended periods in Paris, where he has a publisher who, in an arrangement I do not understand – and about which I do not inquire – releases his books in English; but distribution is entirely Phillip’s responsibility. He keeps a mental log of local stores which will not even take his work on consignment.
He had been among a group of promising young writers in S. F. in the early ‘70s, centered around North Beach’s Intersection for the Arts, most of whom had eclipsed him. His conversation is full of references to men by whom he was betrayed him and women who have rejected him for others. I sometimes thinks he tolerates me only because he views my literary career as not having as risen as far from the launch pad as even his before exploding.
Through it all, Phillip has kept writing. He has written four books since we were last in touch, and he gave me the most recent, a seemingly autobiographical 550-page novel about failed relationships. In return, I gave him a “Bob on Bob” and the café journal in which I appeared, the only books I had with me he did not already have.
Phillip’s prose is crammed with ideas and attitude. It does not make the slightest concession toward commerce or affability. His work has my respect without being something I look forward to grabbing off the bedside table. Any White Whale he has landed will not be easily consumed.

In other news…
“Messiahs…” is at the point of minor fixes and preparing back cover copy. My editor/ publisher says, due to the printer being in China, it will not be available for five or six months, but pre-publication orders will be solicited in two. It will be 350-pages, 6″ X 9″, retailing for $25 or $30, depending on the printer’s charges (and maybe Trump’s tariffs). I am thrilled.
And Phillip was “…jealous.”