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Kevin Dolgin Sings!

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What? You think writers just sit around all day with their notebooks and laptops? Nerds with pencils behind their ears? Nah.

Kevin Dolgin and I once went to a Mexican restaurant in Chelsea on a winter’s evening. My feet were so cold, I took my shoes off so I could sit cross-legged and warm my toes. We ordered scotch and something with guacamole, and when we finished – some three hours later – we knew each other’s life stories, and there was half a foot of snow outside. Kevin is a great friend, a great human being. And he sings!

Here he is, kicking off a brand new LitPark feature called Writers Sing! with a cover of Jeff Buckley‘s “Lover, You Should Have Come over.” (Turn the sound up high so you can hear his very sweet introduction.)

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Kevin Dolgin is originally from New York but has lived in Paris for the last twenty years. He’s done a bunch of things in the worlds of business, music and writing, the details of which are too convoluted to be properly addressed here. One thing to mention is that he is a regular contributer at McSweeney’s, where he writes a travel column cleverly titled “Kevin Dolgin Tells You About Places You Should Go in Europe.” Currently, Kevin is plying his literary agent with whisky to help motivate him to sell Kevin’s novel “Entropy”.

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23 Comments
  • lance reynald
    October 10, 2007

    wow. not only does Kevin sing, but he F-in ROCKS!!!

    (franticly fishing bic out of my pocket and stomping feet for an encore)

    and, yeah… incomparable indeed.

    xo.

  • Robin Slick
    October 10, 2007

    Hmm…does whiskey help in that process? And here I was offering my body (though let’s get real – I’m guessing my agent would rather have the liquor, too)

    Good job, Kevin – very nice — and by the way, the bassist for Jeff Beck is Tal Wilkenfeld and she’s awesome (but my daughter kicks her ass and Adrian hired her first in May of 2996…which Jeff knew all about).

  • Robin Slick
    October 10, 2007

    Yeah, 2996, that sounds right.

    Err…that would be 2006.

    And I see I’m awaiting “moderation”. Hey, I’ve been behaving, even though I have to say, it hasn’t been easy.

    Oh, I’m kidding.

  • Susan Henderson
    October 10, 2007

    Kevin – Thank you for being my guinea pig! (Sheesh, talk about plying a person with whisky!) Quick little note – we went out to dinner last month when Kevin was back in NY and the weirdest stuff happened all around us – a flasher, a lady who wore a Dallas Cowboy cheerleading type outfit to the semi-fancy restaurant we were at, and Kevin did not see ANY of this. I felt like I was making stuff up. I was like, Kevin, don’t you see the lady behind you looking at herself in the mirrored walls, and then he’d turn around just as she slipped into the bathroom. It was very funny, and Kevin and I always have a good old time when we hang out.

    Lance – Um. The thing about holding up Bics in concert… Kimberly, you tell him.

    Robin – First of all, I just want to say if I could do my life over again, I’d be a bassist or a drummer. Also, you are absolutely not on probation. Maybe Terry cranked up the spam filters. It seems that anyone who posts a link of any kind has to wait for moderation. (How long are you going to torture us by withholding your news?)

    Terry – The site is soooo slow today. What’s up?

  • lance reynald
    October 10, 2007

    (holding up mobile phone display screen…)
    just doesn’t read the same way to me…
    xo.

  • Susan Henderson
    October 10, 2007

    Lance – Okay, I just wanted to make sure you knew.

    Few things I want to mention for friends:

    Steve Erickson’s Zeroville – Check it out. More on Steve soon.

    How great is it when two friends are in one place? Here’s Kesey and Churm.

    Oh, what else? How about: Eat here.

  • Oronte Churm
    October 10, 2007

    Kevin does indeed rock, as the young people say. Is that what they say?

    It’s great to finally see your face, Kevin, so I can pick you out of a crowd in the Tuileries. Why is everyone else who writes for McSweeney’s so better-looking than I?

  • Robin Slick
    October 10, 2007

    Wait – you want us to eat at a restaurant in the theater district? That close to tourists and Times Square? Now as the resident food snob of Lit Park, I need more details…

  • Susan Henderson
    October 10, 2007

    Oronte – You both rock.

    Robin – My friend’s the maître d’ there. He’s the funniest, most fascinating person I know, but there’s almost nothing I can say about him that belongs on the internet. Someday, I think I’ll write a book about him, but I’ll change his name to Jimmy.

    (We should go to Chez Josephine with Kimberly and order all the most expensive things on the menu and give him that, Oh wait, you did not expect us to pay for this look.)

  • Claudia
    October 10, 2007

    Kevin Dolgin, you cheered me this morning.

  • Robin Slick
    October 10, 2007

    I have one thing to say:

    WHEN?

    And Kim, when is our film debut? Though after I did my, err, narrative for you, I could not help but notice after hitting the ladies’ room that I was having the worst hair day of my entire life which will be documented forever in your film. However, I was wearing my Neil Gaiman t-shirt so perhaps that will detract from what was going on atop my head (not to mention what was going on inside my head, but unfortunately, I pretty much revealed that, too) though as luck (heh) would have it, due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to participate in the scheduled Brazilian waxing, a fact for which my kids will probably be thanking me for life and thereby saving me a ton of money for their respective therapists.

  • Nathalie
    October 10, 2007

    I finally managed to see the clip and quite enjoyed the choice of song and the way Kevin did it.
    I also went to read some of the things on McSweeney and chuckled copiously over his piece on cars nesting in Rome. It has become even more ridiculous with the invasion of the Smart car. It looks like now the city is overtaken by randy rodents on wheels…

  • Betsy
    October 10, 2007

    Sweet! I enjoy this new feature!

  • Lizzy
    October 11, 2007

    Aww, that was awesome! I love the new feature.

  • Kevin Dolgin
    October 11, 2007

    Aw shucks, thanks everyone. And thanks, Sue, for the opportunity.

    Incidently, for information – we’re launching Opium Europe (the franco-american version of opium magazine: http://www.opiummagazine.com) on October 26, at Le Reservoir in Paris. It will be France’s first “Rocklit” evening: a host of well-known French writers will be reading (Philippe Jaenada, Christine Orban, possibly Philippe Djian…and many others), as well as Todd Zuniga, yours truly and…Bruce Benderson! Who I had the great pleasure of meeting thanks to Sue (you can see the interview I had with him on this site). Also, four indie bands from the label Spozzle (www.spozzle.com) will be playing bits of brand new albums. If any of you happen to be in Paris then, you absolutely shouldn’t miss it. Opium Europe is shaping up to be a significant bridge between the French and the American literary scenes, and I’m very excited to be involved (I’m the co-editor). You can get more info on the Opium site.

    And Robin – it’s a shame it wasn’t your daughter up there with Jeff Beck.

  • Susan Henderson
    October 11, 2007

    Guys, I’m SORRY LitPark has been down most of the past two days. There’s a problem with the host site and so it’s completely out of our control. I’ll be back to comment tonight. And I still need to write about love, don’t I? Don’t expect warm fuzzies!

  • Susan Henderson
    October 11, 2007

    Claudia – Isn’t it fun to have him sing to you first thing in the morning?

    Robin – I heard the film went NC-17. I have yet to see it, but if it gets into Sundance, I’m going for the screening! About NYC, you two pick a couple of dates, and I’ll make one of them work for me.

    Nathalie – I don’t know anyone who travels more than Kevin, and his takes on the places he goes are fascinating.

    Betsy – I like it, too, because I get to be as surprised as everyone else!

    Lizzy – Thanks, Awesome-L.

    Kevin – What a line-up! And that’s so fantastic Bruce will be reading for the big event. I wish I could be there! And thank you, thank you for singing for us!

  • Kimberly
    October 11, 2007

    OK, seriously, if this new XXX romp get into EITHER one of the ‘dances – the condo is on me! Every LitParker gets a complimentary spot on the floor – B.Y.O.[S.]B. (B.ring Y.our O.wn [S.leeping] B.ag)!!

    As for the premiere – we still have the final audio mix and color correct to do (and with my editor in France till the end of the month – we’re thinking mid-November at this point.) But I promise, I’ll post the info on LitPark as soon as we know!

    Robin: I promise you, the hair that I notice more is the fact that your lovely black N.G. tee was COVERED with white Bailey-hair (I TOLD you we should have used the lint brush!) And there’s absolutely NOTHING incriminating in the final cut (although we could always make a LitPark “Director’s Cut” if you really want me to… :))

    Sue: OK. The Kimberly-Robin-Sue dinner is afoot!

    Lance: Tragic, isn’t it? I’m flicking my bic at the computer screen right now, just out of spite…

    Kevin: I’m SOOOOO impressed! I just started guitar lessons this summer and while I’ve mastered most of the Jimmy Buffett catalogue (all five chords of it) I’m just blown away by your mastery of Buckley. He’s one of my faves, and I fear my own dexterity will forever be lacking…

  • Todd Zuniga
    October 12, 2007

    Kevin is a god! I’m so thrilled to see this.

    Sue: great idea having this on the site. More, more, more!

  • Aurelio O'Brien
    October 12, 2007

    Thanks, Kevin.

    Susan, I think this is a fine idea as long as I don’t have to do it sober.

  • Susan Henderson
    October 12, 2007

    Kimberly – Wait, what’s the other dance? Please say Cannes!

    Todd – New York is not the same since you left.

    Aurelio – You think Kevin’s sober??!

    I would love to have you sing. You can do a duet with my girl, Amy Tan!

  • Aurelio O'Brien
    October 12, 2007

    I could ask her next time I see her, but I don’t think I’m in that Rock Bottom Remainders league. Not famous enough, I fear. 😉

  • Susan Henderson
    October 14, 2007

    That’s one intimidating singing group – wow! Maybe you can start a group called The Catostomids, those guys who just kind of lick the slime off the sides of the fish tank!

Susan Henderson