E IL TOPO Red Letter Edition No 1 stories by Steve Piccolo with Special guest John Lurie

The beauty of bookstores is going in and not expecting anything.   Just let the moment rule your heart and the head will follow.  It was that in spirit that I entered Printed Matter in New York City and found this charming publication.  E IL TOPO is an oversize journal with oversize Red letters and no visuals, just text.  That alone made this magazine or zine a pleasure.  The additional and even greater pleasure is reading the text by Steve Piccolo with a piece by John Lurie.  Both writers were in a great jazz band called Lounge Lizards.  The beauty of their music is not only in that medium but also in their prose as well.  

Although it reads as memoir, the cover clearly states the works as stories, but nevertheless Piccolo's work is really good.  Slices of childhood memories as well as Lower East Side New York & Italy life fits in the landscape and his observations on the everyday in front of him is both grand and in smallish details, which makes the work very human and beautiful.   There is also a great wit in his writing.  To me it is the ideal literature from New York City.  Like the town itself, it has nine million stories and this is only one narrative.   Piccolo captures the moment perfectly.

The Lurie piece is equally great and fits in perfectly with Piccolo's writings.  Lurie writes about a moment which was a turning point for his music and also his observations on a funeral or two, and his part in the proceedings.  Very funny.  If you are a fan either of his music, paintings, or his acting - this is another medium where he spreads that Lurie magic on the page and makes it shine.  I'm hoping both writers will eventually turn out larger works - maybe a memoir each?  Now that would be fantastic. 

For those who would want a copy (and you really should) contact Printed Matter in New York City.