Stuff!

This is grossly overdue, and for that I apologize.

BUT. There is a new issue of the ever-delightful 52nd City out. The theme is Stuff. Enjoy the online version, and if you have a couple of dollars to spare, consider grabbing a print version, too--print and online are totally different sets of material, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the support.

I have to say, so far I have really enjoyed each issue that these guys have produced. 52nd City is not the new ballpark, and it is not a plate of toasted ravioli. It is not the museum at the foot of the Arch. 52nd City is like an intimate walking tour of your own neighborhood, or a plate of crepes at Washington Avenue Post eaten with friends while you are still in your pajamas. 52nd City is like standing on the cobblestones and throwing chunks of driftwood into the river at night.

In other words, 52nd City is really good at capturing those places and moments and feelings that are really, actually St. Louis to me. It's something that I show to out-of-towners to help explain what is so magic about this place. Somehow, Andrea Avery's fabulous poem Love Letter to New York says more to me about St. Louis than a million cliche Mark Twain misquotes ever could. And I might as well start handing out copies of Thomas Crone's essay "In Appreciation: The Pruitt-Igoe Nature Preserve" (from the Faith print issue), because dozens of times I have tried to capture the experience of the overgrown Carondelet Coke site in letters to friends in other cities, but where my words have been insufficient and unpoetic, Thomas's words got that kind of place just exactly, wonderfully right. And I could go on listing favorites (My Road by Tom Weber, When The Honest World Has Passed Away by Stefene Russell ...must.......stop.......) but I think you get the point. Check it out for yourself.

I should probably also mention that (unrelated to the above praise! honestly! [seriously!]) Michael and I have a piece in the current online issue. It is a partial inventory of the literally tons and tons of putrid garbage that we had to remove from our house before moving into it. Enjoy.