Vermin on The Mount

The Mountain Bar was a packed house on Saturday night for the latest in Jim Ruland’s Vermin series. The readers included (in order) Julianne Flynn, Lisa Glatt, Alex Lemon, Mark Sarvas, Steve Almond, yours truly, Ben Ehrenreich, and Dylan Landis. Julianne and I had exchanged emails a few times before Saturday so it was a pleasure to finally meet her and hear her read from her novel. Lisa Glatt wowed the house with “Soup,” an amazing story that appears in the current issue of Swink. Alex Lemon read several poems, some of which were about his brain surgery (my favorite? “M.R.I.”) Mark Sarvas read a hilariously funny excerpt from his novel Obiter Dicta (I didn’t know he could do such a great Polish accent.) Steve Almond read a very graphic piece that delighted a few people and horrified others (so what else is new?). Having read Ben Ehrenreich before, I knew he was talented, but I didn’t know he was so young. And Dylan Landis ended the evening on a high note. The material was very eclectic (funny, serious, sexy, heartbreaking) though the men readers all picked material that involved sex in one way or another. (Coincidence? you decide).