The New York Times Book Review - USA (2020-11-15)

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 7

What books are on your night stand?

None [laughs]. Let me explain. Right
now, I’m in the Bahamas. I’ve been here
for six months and three weeks. I thought
I was coming here for five days, so I
brought five days’ worth of clothes and
really nothing else. I was supposed to fly
to Australia to start my tour. Of course,
the world has changed, and here I sit.
Actually, I have some books on a chair.
I’ve got James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man.” I’ve got “The
Heart of a Dog,” by Mikhail Bulgakov.
I’ve got a book on Thelonious Monk by
Robin Kelley called “Thelonious Monk:
The Life and Times of an American Origi-
nal.” I’ve also got a book called “Ne-
grophilia: Avant-Garde Paris and Black
Culture in the 1920s,” by Petrine Archer-
Straw. They’re not on the night stand, but
they are sitting on the chair!

What’s the last great book you read?

I reread “The Catcher in the Rye,” be-
cause I hadn’t read it since I was in high
school.

I love the voice Holden Caulfield spoke

in and the way he described what he was

feeling and what was going on in his

mind. Believe it or not, it actually helped

me with my book “Let Love Rule.” I’m

telling a very simple story. I’m not a

writer, but it helped me reshuffle things

in my head and how I wanted to speak.

Describe your ideal reading experience

(when, where, what, how).

I like to read in bed at night. During the

day, there’s so much to do outdoors. I also

go to the studio. I love recording here,

because one of the walls in my studio is

glass. I can actually see the jungle from

the studio. It’s not like I’m cooped up in a

black box all day. I’m still in the middle of

nature. I love to read in the evening. I sit

back on the bed with a cup of tea and

hang out.

Which writers — novelists, playwrights,

critics, journalists, poets — working

today do you admire most?

I’ve got to tell you I’m more familiar with

the folks who aren’t here anymore

[laughs]. I tend to read a lot of the things

my mother and father were into. I’ve

been going through my mom’s stuff, and I

found all of her old James Baldwin and

Toni Morrison books.

I just watched a documentary on Toni

(“Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”),

which I hadn’t seen. She and my mother

were friends. They knew each other and

were in the same circle. When I was a

teenager, my mom used to make me read

that stuff. I wanted to play music though.

As a kid, you’re not into anything your

mom is! I also went through all of these

old boxes and found the plays she did

when she was in the Negro Ensemble

Company. There were plays by Joseph A.

Walker and different Black playwrights.

I’ve been nostalgic digging through all of

this.

What book, if any, most influenced your

decision to become a songwriter and

musician or contributed to your artistic

development?

I read a book about David Bowie when I

was about 19 years old. It was a great

example of how somebody who didn’t fit

in a box made his way by being ex-

tremely different and being himself. He

was such a visionary with his music, his

appearance and his fashion. That in-

spired me a lot.

When I read it, I was going under

another name, which was Romeo Blue.

I’d become this other character, because I

wasn’t really comfortable with Lenny

Kravitz. I didn’t think it sounded rock ’n’

roll. I thought it was weird. I hadn’t yet

accepted myself. I had changed my ap-

pearance. I wore these blue contact

lenses. This was way before the soft,

fashionable colored contact lenses. There

was a guy who made contact lenses for

movies at Universal Studios. I hired him

to make them for me. They were quite

hard to wear and really uncomfortable.

However, I wore these blue contacts,

because I loved the tone of Bowie’s eyes.

He had one blue eye and one sort of

brown eye. Reading about Bowie got my

imagination going, and it really helped

me with this Romeo Blue character,

which I did for a couple of years.

By becoming someone else and having

this alter ego, it brought me back to being

myself. I understood that wasn’t who I

was. I was putting something on. Al-

though it was interesting and fun, I had

to be organic to who I am. It’s a great

respite to leave yourself and come back.

It’s the typical “Wizard of Oz” story.

Everything you need was right there to

begin with. 0

Lenny Kravitz

The musician, whose new book is ‘Let Love Rule,’ likes to read his par-

ents’ favorites: ‘I’ve been going through my mom’s stuff, and I found all

of her old James Baldwin and Toni Morrison books.’

An expanded version of this interview is

available at nytimes.com/books.

By the Book

ILLUSTRATION BY JILLIAN TAMAKI

WEST VIRGINIA

UNIVERSITY PRESS

THE

SECRET

LIVES

OF

CHURCH

LADIES

DEESHA

PHILYAW

“Marks the

emergence of a

bona fide literary

treasure.”

—Minneapolis Star

Tribune

“Luminous.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Triumphant.”

—Publishers Weekly

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