Susan Shapiro’s 6th Annual “Shrinks Are Away” reading

New York City’s SPEED SHRINKING author Susan Shapiro held her 6th annual reading to soothe the savage psyche during August — the month all our shrinks are away.

Authors included Molly Jong-Fast (THE SOCIAL CLIMBER’S HANDBOOK), David Goodwillie (AMERICAN SUBVERSIVE), Lindsay Harrison (MISSING), and special guest, the poet Harvey Shapiro (THE SIGHTS ALONG THE HARBOR).

The celebratory evening took place at McNally Jackson Booksellers, 52 Prince Street. The room was packed and the audience rapt. Lindsay Harrison was the first to read. She is 25, enrolled in a master’s program and has had her first book published already! It’s a memoir about when her mother went missing. As soon as she read the first sentence I knew I had to buy the book.

The second to read was David Goodwillie. He read from his second book, a novel about New York journalists and bloggers and wine-sodden parties. His first book, SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME, is a memoir about Goodwillie’s adventures through one career after another, including a private eye, pro baseball player and an assortment of dot coms.

Molly Jong-Fast, daughter of Erica Jong and Jonathan Fast, and granddaughter of Howard Fast, read a delicious excerpt from her edgy, hysterically funny, satirical novel about Upper East Side socialite Daisy Greenbaum who discovers murders are a great stress reliever. The author took a pause to say that her background opened doors for her in the writing world but it also tended to make her feel psycho at times. “If you hate my Mom, you should love me. And if you hate me, love her. Doesn’t that make perfect sense?” (Read THE SOCIAL CLIMBER’S HANDBOOK review)

Next was Susan Shapiro, author of 8 books in 8 years, who has helped hundreds of students break into The New York Times. She read from her memoir, LIGHTING UP, about how she stopped smoking, drinking and everything else except sex. Shapiro is currently working on a screenplay for her optioned book, FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART, and has a self-help book coming out in 2012 titled, UNHOOKED: HOW TO QUIT ANYTHING. Unhooked’s co-author is Fred Woolverton, Shapiro’s psychiatrist who helped her quit all of her addictions— except writing. (read reviews of OVEREXPOSED and Shapiro as Writing Guru).

The last author to read was Harvey Shapiro, 87, a poet who also spent 50 years as an editor at The New York Times. After editing during the days, he then went home to write poetry at night. He has published 12 books of poetry. His advice to new writers starting out? “You must love the craft or you can forget it. Most people don’t hit instant success. You’ve got to want to stick with it.” Check out this interview by Maggie Paley to learn more about Harvey Shapiro). Susan Shapiro (no relation) credited him as one of seven literary mentors in her book, ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR WORD.