Eileen Myles is the author of numerous books, including our favorite, "Chelsea Girls." The title story in the book begins with the narrator going on a date with her girlfriend and ends with her enjoying a steamy romp here at the Hotel Chelsea with a waitress she met that evening. Luckily, she only has to go down two flights of stairs (from the 8th floor to the 6th floor) to get to her job the next morning--fixing toast for the poet James Schuyler.
What was the inspiration for your book "Chelsea Girls?"
I had been looking at French new wave films since the 60s and was moved by Truffaut's Antoine Donell character and wanted to write a female character who we would follow from childhood through adulthood in a succession of stories. Chelsea Girls is a novel in the form of stories that does just that.
Do you have a personal connection with the Chelsea Hotel?
I was the assistant to the poet James Schuyler who lived in the Chelsea Hotel for the last 11 or so years of his life. For about half a year I worked for him seven days a week then intermittently and a friendship developed. I wrote a story about that time and called the story Chelsea Girls which became the title of my book. (Photo: James Schuyler in his room at the Chelsea.)
Do you think there is a creative energy in the Hotel?
There's obviously a history that particularly people who are new to New York find exciting.
What creative people at the Chelsea or elsewhere have influenced your development as a writer? James Schuyler.
What’s your favorite Hotel Chelsea story? The one I wrote.
Are you working on any new projects?
Sure. I have just finished a novel called The Inferno/a poet's novel which is about becoming a writer. Particularly it's about the hell of becoming a female writer. Jimmy S. who I mentioned and the time I knew him also figures in this new book.
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