{"id":10284,"date":"2025-06-06T04:17:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10284"},"modified":"2025-06-06T04:17:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:17:44","slug":"jim-does-rutgers-1995","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-does-rutgers-1995\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Does Rutgers (1995)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jim Does Rutgers
By Cyndi Gentile
The Medium<\/em>: The Satirical Entertainment Weekly of Rutgers University
September 27, 1995<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you didn’t go see Jim Carrol last Wednesday night, you should be ashamed of yourself. Carrol gave a chilling performance, one in which the true spirit of this seasoned artist came shining through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd Colby, a published poet and musician, began the eveningwith afew intense and feverish poems of his own. The most well received piece was entitled Taking the Bull By the Horns <\/em>(I think). In it, Colby exploded with wit and anger, employingthis trite clique as a vehicle to a “motivated” moment, as he watched the “bull” drown in the Hudson River. Later, he read a new poem called “Hippieshit”, where he bashed the silly nature of the modern day hippy. (Aside: Colby may not look like your average tie-dye wearing, bead-making hippy, but he certainly rolled a mean joint and smoked up back behind the Rutgers Student Center with the ease of any decent sandal-footed hippy.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Carrol was quite a different story. Carrol is a slight man with pale red hair, cut haphazardly, but with careful regard to his small, deep-set, dark eyes. Despite his size, he is quite a commanding force. His voice is gruff but clear, and it is easy to imagine him fronting his hardcore punk band, aptly called The Jim Carrol Band. Their greatest hits album entitled World of Gravity <\/em>was released to a surge of critical acclaim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Carrol is more than a rocker turned author, he has been writing all his adult life. The recent movie. The Basketball Diaries<\/em>, starring Leonardo DiCapprio, was based on Carrol’s novel bearing the same name. He began thatjournal around age thirteen, and it chronicled his life throughhis addiction to heroin and his days of junk-sickness. Carrol has also written several other books filled with short stories and poems, from which heread several pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first story he read was entitled Curtis Charm<\/em>. In it, Carrol told the story of a fellow recovering drug addict that had taken a fall from the wagon. Curtis was a bit on the loopy side, and in this funny tale,Carrol is inclined to created a talisman for Curtis to ward off evil spirits. Curtis Charm <\/em>was recently made into a movie by an independent Canadian film company, and won second place in the Toronto film festival just last month. To that news, Carrol seemed to be quite flattered, if not a littleconfused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrol read several other pieces dealing with a wide range oftopics – from insanity to Kurt Cobain. His most moving piece was one about at welve year old Bosnia girl who had witnessed the execution of her entire family. Though RCPC billed this as a “lecture” Carrol really did anything but. The question and answer period at the end was a big flop, but that’s no surprise. Those who remained were either blown away by his hard-hitting words, or were awe-struck. Jim Carrol is an underappreciated, but talented author. His words serve to inspire and to educate, and it is worthwhile to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Does RutgersBy Cyndi GentileThe Medium: The Satirical Entertainment Weekly of Rutgers UniversitySeptember 27, 1995 If you didn’t go see Jim Carrol last Wednesday night, you should be ashamed of yourself. Carrol gave a chilling performance, one in which the true spirit of this seasoned artist came shining through. Todd Colby, a published poet and … Continue reading Jim Does Rutgers (1995)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3985,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"folder":[38],"class_list":["post-10284","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2FS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10052,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carroll-biographies\/jim-carroll-sonic-net\/","url_meta":{"origin":10284,"position":0},"title":"Jim Carroll – Sonic.net","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"from Sonic.Net To rock audiences, Jim Carroll's crowning achievement was the near-hit \"People Who Died,\" a brutally emotional punk record saluting the victims of the New York drug culture. In truth, however, Carroll's artistic legacy was considerably more complex and far-ranging -- an acclaimed novelist, poet, actor and spoken-word performer,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8774,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/questions-and-answers\/about-the-jim-carroll-website\/why-a-jim-carroll-website\/","url_meta":{"origin":10284,"position":1},"title":"Why a Jim Carroll Website?","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By\u00a0Cassie Carter I have been developing this Jim Carroll site since 1995, and it has occurred to me that some might wonder\u00a0why\u00a0I'm doing it. Here's a brief rationale. Jim Carroll is a significant American artist. He's not prolific, but his talent with words is phenomenal, his ability to capture the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10132,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-goes-beyond-basketball-diaries\/","url_meta":{"origin":10284,"position":2},"title":"Jim Carroll Goes Beyond “Basketball Diaries”","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Southwest Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), 12 September 2000\u00a0Review by Tim InklebargerThe Daily University Star13 September 2000 Yesterday evening, many students gathered at the LBJ Student Center while Jim Carrol read many of his poems. Arriving fashionably late to the event, Carroll read a prose piece from his second\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/swt9122000_lg.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/swt9122000_lg.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/swt9122000_lg.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/swt9122000_lg.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9360,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/friends-influences\/important-people-in-carrolls-life-and-work\/artistic-influences-mentors-supporters\/lenny-kaye\/","url_meta":{"origin":10284,"position":3},"title":"Lenny Kaye","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"March 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Lenny Kaye (1946 -) is best known as guitarist for Patti Smith; he accompanied her at her first poetry reading in 1971 and has stuck with her ever since. However, during the 1980s, when Smith was semi-retired and raising her family in Michigan, in addition to fronting his own band,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10288,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-at-nyu-1995-poem-by-steven-grin\/","url_meta":{"origin":10284,"position":4},"title":"Jim Carroll at NYU 1995 – Poem by Steven Grin","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Jim Carroll at New York University26 October 1995Poem by\u00a0Steven GrinHe Stands, He readsVocal chords powerless from past addictionChanting Phrases, words motionless with emotionHis purity found in reclusion\"You want some?\"\"I don't need\" he repliesTolerance, however, No needHis abscess, memories of a gloomy pastHaunting, bullets in the airRazorblades sharp to pierce our\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3998,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carroll-bibliographies\/jim-carroll-a-secondary-bibliography-1969-1996\/","url_meta":{"origin":10284,"position":5},"title":"Jim Carroll: A Secondary Bibliography, 1969-1996","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Home > Research > Bibliographies > Jim Carroll: A Secondary Bibliography, 1969-1996 Jim Carroll: A Secondary Bibliography, 1969-1996 By Cassie Carter Updated 7 June 1997 My original, annotated bibliography appeared in Bulletin of Bibliography 47.2 (1990). I occasionally update the secondary works section (works ABOUT Jim Carroll) via this page,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10285,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10284\/revisions\/10285"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=10284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}