Listen Up Philip Page #2

I, er... I feel... No, it's insane.

- It's very hot.

- What is? The champagne?

- You being mean.

- Oh.

Not hot when you stand like that.

- It's not hot?

- Not hot.

You ruined it. Go back to your story.

'Despite these recent events,

'Philip was incapable of

experiencing happiness.

'He counterbalanced

his feelings of love and productivity

'with periods of extreme isolation,

'sometimes finding

that days on end had passed

'since last leaving the house.

'Shortly after the rush of severing ties

'with those he believed to be poisonous

to his mental health,

'Philip was too crippled

with anxiety and dread

'to go outside

for the better part of a week.

'Philip had harboured

increasingly romantic notions

'about what this period

in his life would mean,

'until one day, a few months before

the publication of his second novel,

'he abruptly became

confidently disenfranchised

'to the point of despondency.'

You know this should be your job.

- So sorry about the wait.

- Ah, it's ridiculous.

30 minutes I'm out here, 40 maybe.

I'm five away from leaving.

- I'm sorry. What do you want me to say?

- Nothing. I'd prefer you to say nothing.

Riley, don't hold my calls.

I've got some bad news,

two items of good news.

Give 'em to me in that order.

Bad news is you're not looking at

a good review in the Times.

What? How do we know so soon?

Who's doing it?

Some new woman.

- She's new.

- So what's the problem?

She doesn't like your book.

F***, I really needed that.

- I'll take the good news now.

- Well, two things.

First, you're going to be in the "35 Under 35"

issue of the New York Literary Review.

- Nobody reads that anymore.

- This is something.

It is not uncompetitive.

Don't be a baby.

Sh*t.

Other thing is,

Ike Zimmerman got back to me.

- He liked your book, wants to meet you.

- That's huge.

'Ike Zimmerman was one

of the most prolific American authors

'of the 1970s and '80s.

'His breakthrough novel,

Madness & Women,

'sold over three million copies

in hardback alone.

'Lesser returns

and failed genre experiments

'gave way to the triumphant comeback

Audit in 1982.

'Since then he published infrequently.

'He had not completed a novel

in six years.'

Do you wanna look in our wardrobe area?

We can probably find you

a lighter-weight jacket.

Let's just keep this jacket on me and take

the photograph sooner rather than later.

We actually wanted to get a picture

of you in front of the printing press,

and then the portrait.

- Is that from the 1920s?

- Yeah.

Well, I'm not, so let's skip it

and move on over

to this yellow thing, all right?

I know. "What an a**hole."

Would you mind standing?

What is this for?

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