May 2001

May is a busy month for me because I'm running up and down Britain promoting the paperback of The Powerbook with it's luscious new cover. Don't miss our new Flash movie this month, and if you can't get to a live reading, at least you get to hear the start of the book from the comfort of your own speakers. For those who have asked - the US edition will be out in the Fall this year.

One of my favourite things is to tour with the book. I've never had a lot of interest in reviews; the bad ones make you miserable and the good ones make you vain. Readers who are curious and who want to go on the journey with me are a much better guide than paid pundits. I have a personal rule never to review a book where I can't be 80 per cent positive, unfortunately I am in the minority here, and it always amazes me when reviewers will earn money out of slicing someone up. My view is - if you don't care for a book, ignore it.

That said, writers I respect and admire - like Simon Schama or Muriel Spark or Marianne Wiggins, have helped me with their insights, but that is a world away from the ordinary life of newspapers.

So I'll be on the road, and I hope you'll come and enjoy an event, ask a few questions, and get your book signed.
I can't compete with Bill Clinton at the Hay on Wye Festival - he's on the night before me, but I promise some fun and some thinking to do with my lecture WHAT IS ART FOR?

At the risk of sounding like Barbara Bush, I think I have the perfect life, and I'm not even in Texas.

What makes a perfect life? I can't speak for the First Lady, but for myself, it starts with meaningful work. Then it wraps round someone to love who loves you too. Then it's about where you live - the city is great but not for me - now that I only visit I appreciate it much more. And I suppose it's in those private happinesses that don't depend on money or success or other people at all.

It's different for all of us I guess. For some it will be kids, for others, a big show in the world. I think though, that what lasts is what really belongs to you. What can you call your own? In my case, it's my work. That's the centre of my life and as long as my centre is where it should be, I'm fine. Nothing was worse for me than the years 1992-1997, when I felt I was on the defensive about everything. I wasn't sure if I'd get through it. Things were going incredibly well in the States and Europe, incredibly badly in the UK and in my personal life. The contrast made things worse. I did not know where to find truth, and it took me years to find it again where it always is - inside. Not as arrogance or solipsism, but as a quiet certainty about what you are for.

Well, reaching the end of another cycle with The PowerBook, I wondered how I would feel, and although I have been through, and am going through all such of strangenessess and doubts, I know it will be OK this time. Mind you - I have had a classic mid-life crisis; joined a gym and bought a powerful sports car. Actually I did both 2 years ago on the grounds that it's better to let it out than keep it in. Anyway, I haven't got a mistress and the dog still loves me, so there's hope.

All Taureans out there, eat, drink and be merry. This is your month, and as a fellow earth-sign I'm celebrating with you. I love the good things of the earth. Food, wine, and physical beauty. I love the good things of the body too. Being alive is so precious and so short. I must be half way through now, and although I'm not oppressed by thoughts of mortality, I feel an urgency to make the most of what I've got.
Join me.

Next month - we feature the Reader's Site www.winterson.net Be there.