Originally this page provided links to a lot of books that might help a person trying to understand The Petting Zoo. Sadly the technology I used for this died and there was no way to save the content. I will try to reconstruct this . . . as well as add my experience. Here we go:
The Infinite Variety of Velazquez at Met – 1989 New York Times review of “VELAZQUEZ” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is the Velazquez show that freaks out Billy Wolfram and initiates the story of The Petting Zoo.
Later on . . .
The Raven Sculpture in Madison Square
After handing off the final manuscript for The Petting Zoo to Jim’s editor, Paul Slovak, in 2010 I went back to work at a new job located in Madison Square, near the Flatiron Building. One morning in 2013 I arrived to work to find this in front of my office:
I have experienced many magical and mystical things around Jim Carroll. Like in 1999 when I shared an office with the woman who typed his first book, Organic Trains. This was yet another one of those experiences but on a grand scale. As it happens, this is the very neighborhood where Billy Wolfram, protagonist of The Petting Zoo, lives and spends time walking around. To have not just a “Bird” (title of the sculpture) but a freaking giant raven here! Check out the details about Billy Wolfram’s Home on the Important Places page.
Tonight I’ll Sleep on a Bird of Nails: Will Ryman’s “Bird” – article about the sculpture with a link to an interview with the artist.