forrest andrews smells like kafka on the shore

friends of!

Welcome to friends of! Once a month, one of my favorite writers, artists, friends, poets, opera composers, lovers, and/or booksellers recommends books and things to you and me.

This week, Forrest Andrews, co-founder of @FRIDAYSFORMUSIC, is here to share some of his favorites with us! Forrest is one of those people who has flawless taste and knows more about music than Google herself. Every time I see him he’s been doing something incredibly chic (jetting off to Spain for a month, honky-tonking in Brooklyn, etc, etc) so I was especially excited to pick Forrest’s brain this month. From poetry to drill bits, find Forrest’s recs below.

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Recent reads 📚

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris and There’s Always Next Year by Hanif Abdurraqib. Read Happy-Go-Lucky if you want to read a chapter a night and laugh. Read There’s Always Next Year if you don’t mind a book without much structure and like basketball, poetry, or basketball and poetry. 

Procrastination 🖥️

YouTube. Someone needs to put parental controls on it so I can’t access it during the workday. 

Current mood as a song 🎶

“Better Days” by Tom Misch – good times ahead

“Wickedest” by Tems – keeps the confidence high when trying to figure out what’s next in my career (hope no one from work reads this)

“Fear Less” by Fred again.. & Sampha – feels like falling in love [Editor’s note: AWW ❣️]

Footwear 👟

Dark green Vans

Hobbies 🎾

Tennis, photography/videography, and exploring new restaurants (shoutout to my Thursday Supper Club fam). I’ve been trying to get into fly fishing but struggle to find the time. 

Most recent online order 🛒

Drill bits to finally hang the art that’s been chillin on my bedroom floor for two months.

Most treasured possession ❤️

My grandfather’s typewriter and my St. Christopher’s medal

Signature scent 👃🏼

This brand named FOLIE a PLUSIEURS makes a cologne named Kafka On The Shore, themed after the book, that smells glorious.

Restaurant(s) 🧑🏼‍🍳

My favorite restaurant of all time is Chubby Fish down in Charleston. My favorite here in NYC is a toss-up between Rosella in the East Village or Joseph Leonard in the West Village.

Music festival of choice 🎤

Primavera Sound will forever and always be my favorite live music event. Disclosure’s set at this year’s festival was one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in a long time.

Record store 🎵

My favorite record store is my parents’ record collection in our attic back home. 

Recommend a book to me? 📕

My Search For Warren Harding by Robert Plunket. This is one of the least serious books I’ve read and it’s why it’s so good. So damn funny in the absolute weirdest, quietest way. 

Just read the description of the author and you’ll get it:

Robert Plunket was born in Greenville, Texas, in 1945, but raised in Havana and Mexico City. After college he moved to New York and became Mr Chatterbox, the gossip columnist for Sarasota Magazine. He has published two novels, My Search for Warren Harding (1983) and Love Junkie (1992). He is currently retired and lives in a trailer park in Englewood, Florida, where he enjoys collecting old quilts and raising succulents from scratch.

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Forrest Andrews is a proud Virginian transplant to NYC who is just happy to be here. :)

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Thanks for reading! Missed connection next Tuesday. MWAH!