Last night Issue Eight: Creation contributor Blake Butler rolled into Brooklyn to promote his new memoir Nothing: A Portrait of Insomnia. I found out about it at the last minute, grabbed my camera, hopped on my bike and high-tailed it to BookCourt to catch the dude.

Here’s the thing: Blake knows how to read. If he ever comes to your town or remotely near you, it’s in your best interests to check him out. Reading in front of people is performing and there’s no two ways about it. You need to give as much of a shit about reading your words aloud to people as you do putting them on paper. Blake knows this, that’s why I like watching him do his thing. He knows how to spit fire.

Here’s some video from last night. My card ran out of space about halfway through, just as it was getting very good. Apologies for the abrupt ending. You’ll need to pick up a copy of his new book to see how this piece ends. Judging by what I saw last night, you won’t regret it.