Tues. Nov. 20

Earlier this year, I got this e-mail from Anthony Martignetti. I knew him as Amanda Palmer's - what? - counselor, muse, confident, foil, long-time friend. They were pals in Lexington, MA way before Amanda-ness took over the world, back when she was a confused teen on her way to becoming a nude model/statue and the Dresden Dolls were just a figment in her imagination and that of her partner Brian Viglione. Palmer and Martignetti are still very tight as Amanda-ness has had, and continues to have, its tsunami wave through the world. Not an un-controversial wave, as you no doubt have noted. And Amanda will be at Anthony's party/reading Tuesday Nov. 20 for the Souled Out Artists.   
    Martignetti, who we saw at Palmer's private party/gig at the Middle East early this summer, is a lot of things. It's a cliche to say, but he's a survivor of deadly illness. He's also a most penetrating, darkly humorist memoirist and that book is out now and he's reading, a 3 Swalleys Press presentation at Cary Hall in Lexington.
    Here's an excerpt from an e-mail Anthony sent us earlier this year: I have  "a rare form of leukemia, was given 6 months to live, 15 months, and [then] another rare disease, temporary blindness in one eye. I've been through some major trials ... I will do a reading  I'm self-publishing a book of 15 short (memoir) stories entitled 'Lunatic Heroes.' It's blurbed by Neil Gaiman, Jack Kornfield and a number of other erudite friends and Amanda Palmer who also wrote a very nice foreward." She did. It's deep, emotive, persuasive. As is Martignetti's evocative, not undisturbing prose. Marignetti's publicist, Nivi, just e-mailed, "Book sales soared thanks to Amanda, and yesterday he cracked the top 100 best-selling memoirs on Amazon!  Really great reviews have been pouring in too. In case you haven't seen it, Amanda posted a really touching blog entry, mostly about Anthony, and plugging the Nov. 20 show and the book" - http://www.amandapalmer.net/blog/20121105/. Neil [Gaiman] will be blogging/tweeting in the next couple days as well. {He'll be reading at this event, too.] The book, "Lunatic Heroes," is available at: http://amzn.com/0988230003.  I've read three chapters, and I can say the words amusing and horrifying go together quite nicely. This was not a life of privilege, emotionally at least. The giig, so to speak, is 7:30-9:30. Tix: $10. All proceeds go the cancer care and research.

1605 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington,  http://lunaticheroes.brownpapertickets.com