Rollicking Rock Reads at Tavin's Little Birds Series

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We know that when many people hear the words "literary reading," they instantly think "old guy in a tweed sportscoat with patches at the elbow" and then they think "z-z-z-z". Last weekend, Tavin held the second reading in the Little Birds series, and effectively demolished the notion that readings are stuffy and academic. Bohemian literati packed the store to hear stories about Mick Jagger's penis, a teenage girl seduced by Jimi Hendrix, Dennis Hopper running around naked and on drugs in the mountains of Mexico, and a star groupie's lunch with her newly male-to-female, transsexual, 6'4" dad in Beverly Hills. This definitely not for the faint-of-heart night was started by Big Love's Grace Zabriskie's poetic approximation of life and love in the urban sprawl. She was followed by Jessica Hundley and her intimate look at Dennis Hopper, complete with slides of photographs from Hopper's own collection.

Then came the marquee attraction: supergroupie Pamela Des Barres, reading from I'm with the Band, a book that paved the way for any and all contemporary women writers who write about sex. Even at 61, Miss Pamela is still stunning, and her tales have an ageless appeal. (We wish we'd had the chance to ask her about which current rock stars she would have liked to bed. We can totally see her with Jack White?since he obviously has a thing for redheads.) She was followed up by her one-time groupie arch-rival Catherine James, who shared the funny, poignant "So Dad, do I call you Mom now?" excerpt from her memoir, Dandelion.

Tavin will be doing it again next month; we'll keep you posted with the details.
· Tavin [Official Site]