Research Notes: Introduction

So I'm working on a new thing.

Okay, even that's not quite right. I've written...maybe twenty pages. So I'm not even sure yet I'd call it a new thing. I certainly would not call it a novel. I would call it a project. And even then, I'd do it cautiously.

Mostly what I'm doing right now is research. And it's a kind of grazing research, not yet zeroing in on particulars. Looking for ideas rather than fact-checking.

Here's what it is, more or less. I'm thinking about music scenes in New York. Particularly the worlds of punk and avant garde music from around 1975 through 1987. Maybe beyond that, I'm not exactly sure where the piece is going to go. And before you start, yes, I am aware there is a very large novel that just came out about New York City in 1977. And yes, I tried to read it, but then I bailed. Because it's kind of terribly written, for one thing. And for another thing, it's particularly bad when it talks about exactly the stuff I'd want to talk about (that is, the book is overly enamored of wealth and its trappings, but when it deals with punk, it becomes clear the author doesn't like any of the music he's talking about). I'll probably address the book in question here later. But, moving on.

Because research for this project is probably more interesting to other people than, say, the research for a book about Warsaw in 1889, I'm going to keep some notes here. Feel free to read them or not. Feel free to comment or suggest other sources. Again, I'm casting a pretty wide net to see what I haul in, so tangents and side streets are not only acceptable, they might be preferable.

Onward. Or, more to the point, one two three four.