Find Page One on APPLE PODCASTS or STITCHER.
(Background noise might make this episode a challenging listen.)
Episode image is a detail from the cover of The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, published in 1999 by Vintage; cover © Michael Wildsmith/Millennium.
And it was Paula Varjack! A slightly unusual Second Hand Book Factory this week, recorded while Charles Adrian and his guest, the writer and performance-maker Paula Varjack, were in Edinburgh for the 2013 Fringe Festival. Given that they could not plunder their own shelves for books to share, they agreed to scour the second-hand bookshops of the city for a book that each thought the other should have. Perhaps this episode should be called the Third Hand Book Factory.
Note: Paula’s (beautiful) Edinburgh show was called The Antisocial Network.
Martin Bengtsson, who is mentioned here, appears in Page One 58.
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith is also discussed in Page One 170. Another of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels, Ripley’s Game, is discussed in Page One 76 and Page One 175.
This episode has been edited to remove music that is no longer covered by licence for this podcast.
Episode released: 8th October, 2013.
Book listing:
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Rough Guide To MySpace And Online Communities by Peter Buckley
Links:
Episode transcript:
Charles Adrian
Okay. Let's go! Hello and welcome to the 53rd Page One. I'm Charles Adrian and I'm here for the 38th Second Hand Book Factory in Edinburgh with Paula Varjack. Hi Paula.
Paula Varjack
Hello.
Charles Adrian
So I'm going to kick off with the first track, which is the only one that I have chosen today, and it is Paula Varjack by... should it be Waldemaar [/wældəmʌ/] or Waldemaar [/vældəmʌ/]?
Paula Varjack
Waldemaar [/vældəmʌ/].
Charles Adrian
[gleefully] Waldemaar [/vældəmʌ/] This is [stumbling over the words] Paula Varjack... [slower] Paula Varjack... Sorry, I'm going to try that again. This is Paula Varjack by Waldemaar.
Music
[Paula Varjack by Waldemaar]
Charles Adrian
So that was Paula Varjack by Waldemaar. I can't get over the fact that you've got a song named after you. I think that's superb!
Paula Varjack
I think that has something to do with having a best friend who's a singer-songwriter. So my advice to you - anyone who's listening - is if you want a song named after you, get really close to a singer-songwriter.
Charles Adrian
[laughs] Yeah, okay. Okay, I'll take that in. I should say that we are sitting outside the Fiddler's Elbow in the new town of Edinburgh, which is where, Paula, you're doing your show at the moment. Here just for the first half of the Fringe. I'm next door at The Street doing my show. And I'm so excited that we're both in Edinburgh together and that we met because of Alan, who I interviewed for... I don't even remember what number Page One it was. So all that is [indistinct]. I want to ask you, first of all, how would you describe yourself?
Paula Varjack
I would describe myself as a writer and performance maker.
Charles Adrian
Cool. Excellent. I think that's nice. I... yeah, I seem to know quite a few people who describe themselves as something like... performance maker is quite a popular... and I really like that sort of description. It seems to... It just sounds dynamic apart from anything else. And it sounds like you could make anything with that. You could do and make anything.
Paula Varjack
Yeah, I think that's true. I think maybe the problem about it is, for people who are not interested in contemporary performance it can be sort of a... maybe not quite an elitist term but it's not necessarily an accessible term. That's the problem with it.
Charles Adrian
[speaking over] It could sound a bit wanky.
Paula Varjack
Yeah. Or, like, it's just, like, I'm not speaking English properly somehow. And it's interesting because sometimes I'll say performance maker and people will say, “Oh. What?” You know? And other times they'll go, “Oh!” and you can tell that they're thinking, “Oh. What?” but they're just too polite to say that.
Charles Adrian
But I think it's as well to be precise. I think that other words... I sometimes... Through cowardice more than anything, if people ask me what I do, I sometimes say I'm an actor and I think that doesn't describe what I do. And I think that that comes with its own set of, kind of, images, which aren't necessarily accurate and... So I think you should describe what you do in the way that you feel comfortable and then explain if necessary. I think that's totally okay. I think... Anyway. Go you, is what I'm saying.
Paula Varjack
[laughing] Yeah. Thank you.
Charles Adrian
[laughing] I think that's great. So... Now, because we're here in Edinburgh for the Fringe - this is for my listeners as much as for you, Paula, because we had this conversation earlier... Normally, for Page One, I would say the first book should be a book that you like and then we will bring books that the other person should have. But I realised that neither of us have lots of books with us. We have plenty of other stuff to carry around. So what we agreed,, listeners earlier is that the two of us... we would run around Edinburgh today looking for books - did we agree second hand books?
Paula Varjack
Yes.
Charles Adrian
Yes. That we think would suit the other person. So we've each brought a book that the other person would... would...
Paula Varjack
Should have.
Charles Adrian
Should have. Yeah. Okay, we'll stick with that. Good. So we're going start with yours, Paula. Whave have you brought for me?
Paula Varjack
Okay. I have to say I found this massively difficult, mainly because I was really frightened of being judged.
Charles Adrian
Yeah! I know. It's hard, isn't it?
Paula Varjack
Right? And then it was like... And I think I did something really embar... I think I went to something like six or seven different charity shops because I was really intent on getting something that wasn't embarrassing. And I almost went very lowbrow. I almost got He's Just Not That Into You. I was very close. Because I thought it was, you know, kind of a wise tome but I was too embarrassed about that being committed to Internet. So I found something. And then I also have to confess that I haven't actually read this book. And I wanted to give you a book that I'd read. But it's a book that I've seen the film of. And it's a book I've seen the film of that I wish that I had read the book. And it's The Talented Mr Ripley.
Charles Adrian
Oh! Great. Do you know, I have another of her Ripley books that I bought - by chance. I didn't realise that that's what it was. Although I think probably has Ripley in the title. I just didn't make the connection. And I've always wanted to read that because I found the film annoying and I read... In several ways. I didn't like Matt Damon, essentially, in the film. And a review I read of it suggested that the book was more interesting and nuanced. So I have... Yeah, perfect choice.
Paula Varjack
Fantastic. Yeah. And there's a really bizarre section. Can I tell you this really bizarre section I found in it. So, like, quite early on before it all goes sinister...
Charles Adrian
I like that you're marking the place with your own flyer. That's really... Like, you are totally on message. "Paula Varjack, The Antisocial Network, every day at 4:30 until the 11th". [laughs]
Paula Varjack
[laughing] Yeah, but they can't see that. They could have just thought it was a book mark. You are branding. No, but there's this really... I just think this is quite fitting. So quite early on, before everything goes a bit wrong but when Tom's become friends with Dickie, Tom's talking about all the things that he can do and he says, “‘Oh, I can do a number of things - valeting, babysitting, accounting - I've got an unfortunate talent for figures. No matter how drunk I get, I can always tell when a waiter's cheating me on a bill. I can forge a signature, fly a helicopter, handle dice, impersonate practically anybody, cook - and do a one man show in a nightclub in case the regular entertainer's sick.’” So Dickie's like, “‘What kind of one man show?’”. “‘Well,’ Tom sprang up, ‘this, for example...’” And then he goes into a drag act!
Charles Adrian
[laughing] Superb.
Paula Varjack
Which is not in the film, listeners.
Charles Adrian
No! All he does in the film is sing along to a bit of Chet Baker. That is... But that's something every gentleman should have in his pocket, [laughing] I think.
Paula Varjack
[laughs]
Charles Adrian
Would you like to read the first page to us?
Paula Varjack
Yes.
TOM glanced behind him and saw the man coming out of the Green Cage, heading his way. Tom walked faster. There was no doubt that the man was after him. Tom had noticed him five minutes ago, eyeing him carefully from a table, as if he weren't quite sure, but almost. He had looked sure enough for Tom to down his drink in a hurry, pay and get out.
At the corner Tom leaned forward and trotted across Fifth Avenue. There was Raoul's. Should he take a chance and go in for another drink? Tempt fate and all that? Or should he beat it over to Park Avenue and try losing him in a few dark doorways? He went into Raoul's.
Automatically, as he strolled to an empty space at the bar, he looked around to see if there was anyone he knew. There was the big man with red hair, whose name he always forgot, sitting at a table with a blonde girl. The red-haired man waved a hand, and Tom's hand went up limply in response. He slid one leg over a stool and faced the door challengingly, yet with a flagrant casualness.
’Gin and tonic, please,’ he said to the barman.
Was this the kind of man they would send after him? Was he, wasn't he, was he? He didn't look like a policeman or a detective at all. He looked like a businessman, somebody's father, well-dressed, well-fed, greying at the temples, an air of uncertainty about him. Was that the kind they sent on a job like this, maybe to start chatting with you in a bar, and then bang! - the hand on the shoulder, the other hand displaying a policeman's badge. Tom Ripley, you're under arrest. Tom watched the door.
Here he came. The man looked around, saw him and immediately looked away. He removed his straw hat, and took a place around the curve of the bar.
Charles Adrian
Cool. Thank you very much. I think I'm going to really enjoy that. I'll probably read that while I'm here and... Great! I'll let you know how I get on. Let's hear the first track that you've brought today.
Paula Varjack
Ah! Okay, so the first track is Get Free by Major Lazer. And it's featuring a singer called Amber from the Dirty Projectors.
Charles Adrian
Great.
Music
[Get Free (feat. Amber Coffman) by Major Lazer]
Charles Adrian
So what... Remind me what that was because I haven't written it down.
Paula and Charles Adrian
[laughter]
Paula Varjack
It was Get Free by Major Lazer featuring Amber from Dirty Projectors.
Charles Adrian
Superb. All things that I have never heard of before. Oh no, I think I've heard of the Dirty Projectors but that's cool. Now, so the second part today is the book that I've found for you. And so I went to a couple of places that I knew existed already and I... like, one really dusty old bookshop, like, full of stuff. And then, while I was there, someone drove up and must have dropped off, like, a whole houseload of books. And there wasn't space for anyone to move in the shop before he arrived. And then there were just bags of books everywhere and they were frantically ferrying... I don't know how they will sort those out. Anyway: nothing there. Like, nothing that grabbed me. And then I went to another little bookshop, just that I'd been past - they have a rack outside - and I found this, which is really cheesy and slightly embarrassing but I think it's [an] excellent choice. It is the first edition of The Rough Guide To MySpace And Online Communities...
Paula Varjack
That's fucking brilliant!
Charles Adrian
... From Bebo And Friendster To MySpace Music. From 2006. So I find this so cool. Facebook wasn't even... like, it hadn't even left Harvard at this point. So this is... MySpace was obviously the major social network in those days. And I also found some interesting... Like, in the middle of this there are “tips for parents”, [laughing] which I think is so great. So there's one, like: “Tips for parents: accumulating friends simply for the sake of it is not to be encouraged and does little more than increase an individual's online visibility in an uncontrollable way”. And then: “Tips for parents: talk to your kids about how they choose their MySpace names and display names. Compromise from both parties may sometimes be required when what they see as ‘cool’...” in quotation marks... “you understand to be provocative or offensive”. [laughs] And, oh, this little section here I think is really nice: “Do I really need a MySpace page? Though there is pretty much something for everyone on MySpace, you certainly don't need to dive in to be part of the modern world. It's true to say that many of the individuals you come across online - just like in the real world - probably won't be your kind of people. In fact, you're likely to encounter people you consider idiots at every turn. If you don't mind putting up with all this nonsense you'll get by just fine. If however, you are prone to being wound up by the foolishness of your fellow man, then MySpace is probably not for you.” And ironically, of course, it turned out that MySpace was not for very many people once Facebook came along.
Paula Varjack
It's just had a comeback!
Charles Adrian
I know. They had, like, an injection of cash.
Paula Varjack
No, they've really... And funnily enough I met a woman who was on the team of the new MySpace rebrand only, like, a month ago. [indistinct] There you go.
Charles Adrian
Okay. I take that back. I take that back!
Paula Varjack
The first... So Paula Page, if you're listening to this, Adrian doesn't mean it. He thinks MySpace is wonderful and he's really excited for it.
Charles Adrian
[laughs] [speaks over] I think it's awesome and I always hoped it would go places. I'm going to read the introduction.
Charles Adrian
Introduction, Why a book about MySpace?
The internet has always been about communities...
I'm going to start that sentence again.
The internet has always been about communities and in the last few years the most cohesive type of online community yet has evolved. Within these communities - such as MySpace, Bebo, and Friendster - every user has their own homepage or profile where they can posit thoughts, receive messages from other users, showcase their music, and most importantly link to the homepages of their online friends and acquaintances. These new generation community sites, often labelled social networks, have grown at an astonishing rate and have taken on many roles: a hangout and flirt zone for teenagers, a stage for musicians and comedians, a networking spot for professionals, a drop-in for new parents, a soapbox for politicos The list goes on. Whether you're new to online communities or a longstanding user, this book has something for you.
The first section examines the whole phenomenon, provides the lowdown on the most popular sites, and gives practical advice to get you started. From then on in the book focuses primarily on MySpace, the biggest online community of them all.
[soto voce] How ironic.
However, much of the information given, such as the basics of HTML code and advice on preparing digital pictures, music and video for use on the web, is applicable to every community site. So even if you're not a MySpace user, you'll doubtless find plenty of useful tips.
And guess what, this is written by a guy called Peter Buckley.
Paula Varjack
[gasps]
Charles Adrian
Isn't that weird?
Paula Varjack
PBH?!
Charles Adrian
PBH! Maybe.
Paula Varjack
No, it's not.
Charles Adrian
No. It's not. Listeners, Paula and I, we're part of the PBH Free Fringe and PBH stands for Peter Buckley Hill. That's why we're gasping at that. So that was written in September 2006, that introduction.
Paula Varjack
That's amazing.
Charles Adrian
I think it's going to be really fun, this book. Totally...
Paula Varjack
No, I'm super excited. This is so relevant.
Charles Adrian
[speaking over] And I wish I'd been able to give you this, like, months ago when you were planning your show.
Paula Varjack
I mean, it could it could find its way in.
Charles Adrian
It could do. In the next few days. Play me the second track that you've brought.
Paula Varjack
Okay. This is not my track, right? This is, like, another other person track. That's right, isn't it? Yes, yes.
Charles Adrian
That's right. Yes.
Paula Varjack
Yes. So I'm just going to play it now.
Charles Adrian
What is it? Tell us what it is.
Paula Varjack
Okay, I should tell you what it is. It's Bonnie Li, Voodoo Doll. And Bonny Li is a [laughing] friend of mine that I met on MySpace.
Charles Adrian
[laughs] Awesome! How does this stuff happen? That's so cool.
Paula Varjack
And I don't even know how but somehow we got linked on MySpace. And then she did a gig in Berlin and like a total fan girl I went by myself and didn't introduce myself. And then afterwards she wrote me on my MySpace page and said, “I saw you, why didn't you say hello?” and now she's my Instagram friend. I think she's amazing. She lives in Paris and I've never since seen seen her perform again. And if you listen to this you should see the video online. It's Bonnie Li, Voodoo Doll. She's kind of amazing. And, yeah, maybe one day she'll be more than an Instagram friend, a real friend. So this is Bonnie Li, Voodoo Doll. I'll stop rambling.
Music
[Voodoo Doll by Bonnie Li]
[Initial transcription by https://otter.ai]