I shared these emails with Jacob's mother and we thought others might enjoy them too:


Email from October 10, 2000:

(I had just seen Salman Rushdie and his girlfriend, Padma, walking in midtown and remembered that Jacob had been obsessed with any news about Rushdie--he'd even bought The Post to read more about the affair.)

good memory on my post purchasing. i'm glad that salman's lady lived up to the advance billing. in a curious way, i'm happy for him that they're still together.

so did you send your novel to mary? if so, what was the word?

my thesis workshop is turning out to be quite good, people both appreciate what i'm doing and have useful suggestions about enriching the emotional terrain of the novel. even though i don't really care about that shit, i realize it makes for a more compelling read. just kidding.

so how're the central america plans? we should definitely hang at least once more prior to your departure.
best,
jacob



Email from January 20, 2001:


well... i'm back, hazelden was actually quite good. i learned a lot about both myself and recovery, hopefully i'll now be able to conjoin the two.

though i didn't get any writing done, the milieu in which i found myself is just too rich not to mine at some point, the words of a three hundred pound man: i smoked crack for three years and all i lost was fifteen pounds. and much, much else besides (12 DWI's, an ironworkers' union where 2 out of 70 had their driver's license, etc.)

my classes at columbia look good, particularly promising is scammell's translation seminar for which i'm going to translate the first chapter of TheTrial. other than that, grad shakespeare, a film class, and workshop. it's 18 credits, but without the weekly cognitive erasures, it should be a breeze.

so no new zealand? i was beginning to suspect you had set out to trace the same route i did ten years ago. no big loss, NZ's a lot of ugly people, some beautiful scenery, and vast flocks of sheep. plus it's by no means cheap. how's your surfing coming?

well, i'll definitely be here in feb when you come through. look forward to seeing you then and hearing more in the meantime.

love,
jacob


Email from January 23, 2001

(I was traveling in Mexico, and had just gone to my friend Ninive's wedding there.)

so it's not spelled nineveh? what's the point of a biblical name with a variant spelling?

in a way, i'm glad to hear san miguel isn't so great. i too felt like maybe i should have gone there. i talked to someone who just come back from somewhere on the west coast of mex who was talking about it in a 'the beach'-ish kind of way (dirt cheap, undeveloped, way cool). from the perspective of what i
need in my life, it's probably just as well that i was some combination of fucked up and not paying attention. but it would be fun to tell you now what you could have done.

my grad shakespeare class is with david kasten, he's a jolly, erudite fellow and i think the class will be good. translating is fucking hard. i'm think I've a certain knack for it, but it's not that much less taxing than original writing. the class is with scammell who, as you may recall, translated Nabokov's 'The Gift'. i don't seem to have the same aversion to richard
howard that some people do and am actually looking forward to his reviewing class. the book i'm reviewing this week 'Whatever' by Michel Houellebecq (of 'The Elementary Particles') is quite good and one i believe you would like.
i'm actually planning to take 18 credits this term even though i don't have to. penance for my past half-assedness.

with 39 days clean, my cognitive functions and mood are higher than they've been in a long time. i'm relatively sanguine about the prospects for writing regularly and well. things with dana are good.

glad to hear that you and the dave are still grooving. best to claude and nin. look forward to seeing you soon. (how tan are you, anyway?)

love,
jacob

p.s. i heard sheinkman and whatever-his-name-is broke up. do you have any intelligence on that one?