Talk To Me From Wnyc

Nearly two feet of newly fallen snow proved little obstacle for fans to clap their eyes on musician Bill Callahan on a recent winter's night. Callahan, known to many by the name Smog, drew a hip crowd to Spoonbill and Sugartown in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for a reading from his novel, Letters to Emma Bowlcut. The book, read in the author’s halting, sonorous voice, consists of correspondence written by a man to a woman he met at a party. Readers aren’t provided much context for the meeting but can sense the relationship develop as the letters progress. During the lengthy question-and-answer session that followed his reading, Callahan admitted he was attached to the art of letter writing. “If I was younger and had never experienced life without the Internet, then it probably would have been e-mails, but I’m still holding onto pen and paper,” he said. Callahan also noted that he’s focusing on his music these days, but that he might publish another book in five years or so, which was how long it took him to write