Meet a Grubbie: David Goldstein

What are you working on right now?

A novel about a stand-up comedian who stops telling jokes and starts doing constitutional law on stage.

 

What are you reading?

I just finished The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. It’s about a couple of academics in 21st century London who discover a trove of documents about a 17th century Jewish Community that arrived in England via Amsterdam and Portugal. It manages to be sad and moving and witty and intellectually stimulating and life-affirming at the same time. It shattered me and made me think I should be a plumber or something.

 

Weirdest or worst job you’ve ever had?

I was once a telemarketer for a summer in college. It was soul-crushing. I eventually got fired because I would sometimes use a Scottish accent and tell prospective customers that I was William Wallace. It was, however, weirdly gratifying for them to call me Mr. Wallace without irony.

 

What’s your go-to karaoke song?

Tie between Bonnie Tyler’s "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and Aha’s "Take on Me." Normally, I don’t have much range, but during the chorus of Take on Me, I briefly lose consciousness and am able to hit all the high notes. I once caused an old man’s pacemaker to explode.

 

What does being a “grubbie” mean to you?

Being part of an insanely great writing community. I know that if I were reading this, and I saw someone respond to this question with a banality about community, I would hate that person, but now that I’ve come to know GrubStreet, I am that person, and I make no apologies. No one finishes a book without some combination of support, feedback, love, constructive criticism, and inspiration. There’s a lot of that to go around at GrubStreet. Also donuts that are often filled with surprising kinds of jam.