Bright Lights Big City – Literary Art and Illustration

“Tell her you are suffering from amnesia and looking for clues.”

I haven’t read the book, but I remember the movie.

I saw the movie.

I really liked the movie.

I really like Marc Tauss’ cover art, too…

Open the drawers of your desk and you realize it could take all night.

There is a vast quantity of flotsam:

files,
notebooks,
personal and business correspondence,
galleys and proofs,
review books,
matchbooks,
loose sheets with names and phone numbers,
notes to yourself,
first drafts of stories,
sketches and poems.

Here, for instance, is the first draft of “Birds of Manhattan.”

Also the “U.S. Government Abstract of Statistics on Agriculture, 1981”,

indispensable in researching the three-part article on the death of the family farm,

on the back of which you have written the name Laura Bowman and a telephone number.

Who is Laura Bowman?

You could dial the number and ask for her, ask her where she fits into your past.

Tell her you are suffering from amnesia and looking for clues.

____________________

The term “odeon” (via the Century Dictionary), refers to, “…A kind of theater in ancient Greece, smaller than the dramatic theater and roofed over, in which poets and musicians submitted their works to the approval of the public, and contended for prizes; — hence, in modern usage, the name of a hall for musical or dramatic performances.” I especially like the way a neon-lit Odeon, and, the World Trade Center, contrast with one another in shape, size, and color, their orange and blue nicely complimenting the violet color of the empty sky above. The fact that protagonist Jamie Conway (I suppose he’s Jamie Conway?!) has his back turned towards the viewer – amidst the city’s exciting glow – imparts upon the scene feelings of solitude and anonymity.

Really, everything fits together so nicely!