Under the Volcano Books

Too much to say – you’ve heard most of it – now the day has finally come. I’ve listed the people who made this happen once before and so what I want to get to is the specifics of the date itself. A long, long, long wait – stateside for the resources for the second half of 2010, then here in Mexico as I struggled blind through the arcane formalities of this beautiful (but often frustrating) culture that is perhaps so far away from that of the U.S. because it is so different and inexplicable: it must be learned, one dead-end, one foolish question, at a time.

But this is it: after all the bullshit, Under the Volcano Books opens for business on Friday, October 14th, at 11 AM.

After a guest reading event early this summer (Matthew Stadler, June 24th) and two rent parties (RENT PARTY! 8/18 and BOOKS FIFTY PESOSEACH (BYOB) 9/23) in the store space, I felt we’ve had our share of drunken ragers (all we had to drink at the Stadler reading was two half-garrafones of pulque but let me tell you it was enough). This event is going to be held in calm end-of-the-week daylight. For one thing all the stock is going to be on the shelves, and for its’ safety’s sake, and to avoid teasing guests with a forest of unpurchasable titles, it will all be available to buyers.

Our friend DJ Zorrita (who was precluded from spinning at our last event due to having just had his ass kicked by police like an honorable citizen) will be playing the Goth and punk rock vinyl of ‘our’ youth. Apologies to those too young and too old to have lived those times, but know our youth is shareable: unlike the hippies we won’t exclude anyone on the basis of seniority nor tell our younger siblings they’ll never know what it was like: the revolution happens every day.

Pushing the civilized Mexican lunch hour for once a little to the right, we’ll have the grill in our very chill, Spanish-tile courtyard ready when people get off work, and burgers going by 5 - in addition to a large bowl of my famous and widely-praised gringo guacamole, and - yes, again - a healthy-sized quantity of delicious pulque, the ancient sacred beverage the Aztecs reserved for their priests and imminent volunteer sacrifices. Nutritious and heavy, it imparts a transcendent vibe mixed with a double-cappucino-esque bring-it-on-motherfuckers kind of feeling. Also, they don’t call it the ‘Mexican Viagra’ for nothing. It’s good stuff. (In fact, our intern Forrest says it’s the best thing he’s ever had.)

And hey – if you can’t make it, we’re open Tuesday through Friday 11-7;  Saturday and Sunday 12-5. (Except for the day after the opening, when we’re all going to Festival Corona Capital.)

YEAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-HOOOOOO!!!!

And a very, very happy and adventurous 28th birthday to my beloved brother Ryan Gorman, seeing this one through in Sulamaniya, Iraq - teaching, not fighting.  But, still. Meeting him just over seven years ago was the blessing of a lifetime: as a prophet of the East once sang, ‘nothing feels better than blood on blood’. The only thing I’m looking forward to more than opening the store is showing it to him next summer.

Hope to see you – all – soon.

Oh – and Under the Volcano Books supports the fuck out of the 99%ers at www.occupywallst.org .

www.underthevolcanobooks.com