A dangerous animal. And a tiger.
I am sitting in the writer’s studio with Rob Summerlin, a gregarious, witty American tumbleweed. By day he shelves books, but by night he works at a bar down the street frequented by all the literary greats and even the Tumblepress. As Rob masterfully makes the tea I half-heartedly started and gave up on due to a hangover, Our Tumbleweed Correspondent asks the questions you want to know the answers to.
Rob:
…steal a bit of milk! Would you like some milk?
No thanks
No milk for Tom! No milk for Tom! So do you really think you’re going to stop drinking?
Probably not.
Its like Mark Twain said: “Quitting smoking is easy: I’ve done it hundreds of times.” Oh, who’s going to take me home tonight? This is exciting
What drew you to Shakespeare and Company?
Uhm…
(Grins)
I studied abroad here three years ago and I was doing a project on street musicians, actually, and my partner and I were getting tired of that and she said; “Have you been to Shakespeare and Company?” We did that and wandered round the shop and she told me some people get to stay here and live in the shop and write for free and so I remembered this when I was moving back to Paris and so I came here and it all happened. The dream began, slap slap.
What is your favourite thing about tumbleeeding?
Hmmm. Mwah. Uh. Probably just sleeping here. People that know I’m doing it sort of ask me what it’s like and my answer is it’s basically four kids who are locked in a bookshop and get to have sleepovers every night. Your room mates are the books, your alarm clock is Notre Dame as you said in your interview, but actually it’s usually the dude with the mop and I sleep on the floor. It’s a big sleepover party. And of course tickle fights with Ryan.
What is your least favourite thing about tumbleweeding?
That outlet over there can be stubborn once in a while so that’s out there, gotta jam it in. Uhm, Putting the mattress away to your little nook where you used to sleep when you’re not six foot five – gotta hop up on the children’s section. No complaints – zero, Tom!
Who is your favourite member of staff and why?
Well I’ve slept with one of them.
(Laughs)
Elaborate
And she was a real dog, I think you know who I’m talking about! Good old Colette! But that’s a bullshit answer. You know I think I’m going to have to go with Karolina. She brought me here, she got me in as a volunteer, she’s a ray of sunshine, she’s the front runner but its a tough race. Some good humans here.
Tell us about the Great Canadian.
(Laughs)
Uh, its the Canadian pub I work at down the road. Have a lot of Shakespeare visitors which is always good as we talked about yesterday – was it me and Terry or was it me and you? – but he Shakespeare people bring up the intellectual level and just of course the charm and good looks – it’s just down the street, it’s a good commute it’s pretty surreal. It’s like having two families on the same street. One of them drinks a lot more than the other but one of them reads a lot more than the other so its a nice back and forth.
I presume you mean the Shakespeare and Company contingent drink more?
(Laughs)
It’s actually probably even now that I think of it. If you were still a tumbleweed you’d bring our stats up but yeah. A lot of Jameson shots, that’s been my go-to when the Shakes, the Shakespeare people come in, which doesn’t seem to upset them too much.
(Phone buzzes)
They know they can’t be buzzed in!
(Shouts out window)
Go through the library!
(Leaves to let whoever it is in muttering)
Dickheads!
(returns)
It was a ghost.
Name your three favourite songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnkuBUAwfe0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB0DU4DoPP4
Have you a little poem to send to Terry in Craven’s Corner?
I dunno I’ve none memorised, but I can come up with a haiku perhaps. It’s twenty-six syllables, is that what a haiku is?
It’s more if you want to send him your favourite poem, you don’t need to have one memorised: I’ve got Google.
I was going to make one up…
Actually, that’s better – why did I never think of this? Go for it!
Uh..,,.
Poem about Terry! Now!
It’s called Craven’s Corner?
Terry, sweet Terry
– Enter, enter, ellipses…
I will come visit you in your infamous corner
Where beards grow long
And love blossoms.
And when I visit
I’m going to give you a hand-job.
Karolina:
(who entered just in time to hear the last line)
(Appears flabbergasted)
I know that I cant say anything because whatever I say will be used against me but… Jesus! This is worse than I thought!
(Karolina leaves. She stops at the door to talk to Sarah as she comes in)
He’s talking about a hand-job…
(Enter Lauren)
Sarah:
Does this all go in the interview, you literally put every interjection in? He’s rolling his eyes.
Rob:
My favourite thing about working at Shakespeare and Company is telling ****** not to take photos. I said it was sleepovers but to be honest it’s giving an ***** a good scare. It’s the photoshoots that get me. If there were photos allowed it would be chaos ’cause even the bench outside is swamped.
(The Tumblepress have used asterisks in the previous comment in the interests of responsible journalism. I know, who’d’ve thought…)
Sarah:
People ask me to move from my seat – yeah it’s my seat now – it’s very upsetting.
Lauren:
I am literally on some random tumbler with Steph. We’re going to Kaiser now, want a croissant?
Rob:
Too expensive for my tastes.
Lauren:
I had a good velib adventure last night.
Rob:
You had a good velib?
Lauren:
I steer like I’m drunk even though I’m totally sober.
Rob:
So you can handle a velib but not the subway stairs?
(Lauren and Sarah leave talking about breakfast)
Rob:
This conversation seemed very affected with you on your laptop. I’m sure you’re used to that.
Anything else?
Uhm… Anything I’d like to add? The fact that you’re not going to stop drinking and that’s how we started out conversations today and we should put it in writing that we need to have a play date at your place with whisky and records… for the record. Shirts optional would you say? Or should I say fluffy shirts? What would you call the shirt you were wearing last night? Ruffled shirt?
(Rob continues to maintain bizarre enthralling chat.)
Our Tumbleweed Correspondent 