British people are smart.

It can be difficult to know what to make of reviews, and maybe even more difficult not to fall into the habit of deciding that critics who like your books are incredibly intelligent and perceptive, and that people who dislike them just don't understand you, or your project, or possibly anything at all. At the risk of walking straight into that trap: Roz Kaveney totally gets me. Or at least she's written an astute review of Live Nude Girl in the Times Literary Supplement of June 19. I can't seem to find it online, but here's a picture of the copy that my friend Ernie faxed to me this afternoon: Not pictured? The triple exclamation point to the left of the arrow. Thanks, Ernie! (Incidentally, all you readers at home can pick up a copy of Ernie's poetry collection here.)

"One of the likable things about Rooney is that she is aware of the physical limitations of actual bodies as well as of the ways in which they can be idealized," Kaveney writes in a portion of the review that you can't really see in the snapshot. Thanks, Roz.

Think. Art! Think. Art!

The weather in Chicago last night was what meteorologists like to call severe, but the greenish sky followed by humid darkness and heavy rain only added to the spookiness of the Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble's interpretation of one of the photo shoot scenes in Live Nude Girl: See? Even though we were in a well-lit art gallery... ..they made it feel just like a campfire ghost story: Thanks again to Laurie Glenn for hosting and for fostering the Spirit of Surrealism, pictured here... ...and the spirit of community and collaboration. Thanks again to the Chicago Danztheatre, and to S. L. Wisenberg for inviting me!

When I say Think, you say Art!

Check it out, it's "me" posing for an art class! Or at least it's me as portrayed by Denise Parkhurst of the Chicago Danztheatre ensemble... ...at the Th!nkArt Salon series, hosted by the inimitable Laurie Glenn, pictured below, all the way to the right: Chicago Danztheatre also interpreted scenes from Sandi "Cancer Bitch" Wisenberg's book, and as you can see, they were not shy about sitting on the couch right next to unsuspecting salon-goers... ...because letting yourself be held back by the fourth wall is like, so lame. Sandi and I each read a tiny bit from our respective books, The Adventures of Cancer Bitch and Live Nude Girl, but to call it a reading would be inaccurate. Neither Sandi nor I had ever had an actual theatre troupe read our whole books, pick out selections, and then act them out in a gallery full of people before, and for that, we are super-grateful and impressed. Because I have this picture from an event earlier today during which I helped chaperone a field trip of interns to the Federal Reserve Bank... ...I'll go ahead and say it: thanks to Laurie and Chicago Danztheatre for making us feel like a million bucks. If you missed it tonight, there's one more chance to catch the show: tomorrow, 1530 N. Paulina, Chicago, IL from 5:30-9:30. Hope to see you there.

LNG makes today's Daily Pick List...

...on Jim Agnew's Literary World. You can check it out alongside other picks (including, but not limited to, Glenn Beck's Common Sense and The Joy of Pickling) here.

Thanks, Jim! And thanks to University of Arkansas Press's eagle-eyed marketing director Tom Lavoie for pointing it out.

78 square miles surrounded by reality

As the nickname above might lead one to believe, Madison, Wisconsin is almost unreal in its physical beauty and wholesome-yet-progressive atmosphere. How do I know? I was just there today to read with Sandi Wisenberg aka Cancer Bitch at A Room of One's Own feminist bookstore: Like Sandi, I read behind a lectern, but since I've posted plenty of podia pics here in the past, I offer you instead this photograph of me posing in the style of the statue "FORWARD" on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Capitol building overlooking State Street. And here is 50% of our beautiful audience, lit from the side:
And here is some of the weird reality that surrounds Madison's 78-square miles, the ad for the Roast Beast sandwich at the Beefaroo restaurant attached to the Road Ranger station where we stopped for gas: Thanks to Sandi for hatching the plan for this reading, to A Room of One's Own for hosting us, and to Beefaroo for offering a sandwich so beefy you have to tie it down. Sandi and I will also be reading at the Th!nkArt Salon on Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19. Hope to see you there!

Mr. Obama's Neighborhood

As part of their 70th Anniversary celebration, the Hyde Park Art Center is hosting "70 Days for 70 Years". They started on April 5 and are continuing through July 4 with "70 days of exciting and creative events," one of which was the "Live Nude Girl Reading and Discussion with Kathleen Rooney and Krystal Meisel" which took place tonight. In addition to being an artist's model and a kickass event partner, Krystal is a brilliant photographer whose work you can see and learn more about here. Thanks to Crystal Pernell for hosting us at the Art Center, and to Chicago Public Radio for recording us!

Llalan Fowler reviews LNG on Vernacular

If you follow this link, you’ll see that this review was posted back in April, which sounds even farther away now that it’s the first day of June, but still. I’m sorry I missed it when it first appeared, and—because I am a completist and want this record to reflect that—am psyched to have the chance to post it now.

Thanks, Llalan, for reviewing it in general, and in particular for saying things like: “Rooney’s own writing is reflective but not to the point of egotism, and scholarly but never dry or overwhelming. The quick switches among the essayistic passages, the more personal reflections, and the quote-heavy, research-driven sections catch hold of the reader and dispel any doubts that there is nothing to say on the subject. However, few if any besides Kathy Rooney could have written this book. It is a smooth, fast-moving, engaging read that is constantly surprising the reader. One might argue whether the book itself is naked or nude.”