NYNYNYNY ❤️

and Philly Underdogs

Rocky training through South Philly, 1976

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I love an underdog story because I’m from Philadelphia. When you grow up in Philly they don’t let you leave without drilling into you that losers are just winners who haven’t won yet, and that their wins will be so much sweeter when they finally ripen on the vine. Zohran Mamdani just won the NYC Democratic mayoral nomination and I can’t read about it because my eyes keep filling with tears of happiness. This feels like a win everyone desperately needed, a win that is clearly resounding far beyond the five boroughs. My own self-image will always be that of an undergod, oops underdog... Hmm…

I haven’t posted much over the past few weeks because I have been teaching while taking care of my child as he finishes first grade, which involves rushing to see him “rocket to Mars” in between studio visits with grad students. I also read at a bar in Brooklyn called Fiction to celebrate Lara Mimosa Montes’ gorgeous new book, The Time of the Novel. I’m savoring every word and feeling so grateful that our publisher, Wendy’s Subway, brought us together. The creative director of Wendy’s Subway, Rachel Valinsky, has Philly blood and everything she does is seasoned with affection for an underdog. I adore her, obviously, and respect her enormously.

Below is a piece I read at Fiction and a voice note about a girl I went to high school with. We’ll call her “Katie.” (Sorry for the mouth sounds. It was late a night when I recorded this on the back porch, as if there’s a correlation between nighttime, fireflies, and saliva production.)