SF, Ep. 49

November 8, 2012 — Before a joyful, tittering crowd, Literary Death Match made its masterful Contemporary Jewish Museum debut, as a stunning lit-comedic night ended with a Jewish Author Jumble that saw Suzanne Kleid outduel co-finalist Zarina Zabrisky by only seconds to win Kleid the LDM SF, Ep. 49 crown. 

But before the Jumble was even a thought, the night kicked off with Kleid (co-editor of the anthology Created In Darkness By Troubled Americans) reeling off a story about a person without a name that captivated/enthralled all comers, before her opponent Jason Turbow (author of The Baseball Codes) read a piece about the difficulty of buying his wife a birthday gift, announcing his story as this year's gift. 

The mic was then passed to the trio of all-star judges: best-selling author Ayelet Waldman (author of Bad Mother), Peabody/Emmy award-winning writer/director/producer Richard Kramer (My So-Called Life, author of These Things Happen), and comedian Josh Kornbluth (the mind behind The Mathematics of Change). The trio traded quick quips, with Waldman letting Turbow suggesting gifts, Kramer kindly praising both authors, and Kornbluth unleashing a bevy of hilarity that had to be seen to be believed. Faced with a tough decision, they selected Kleid to advance as the night's first finalist. 

Then came Round 2, with Randall Babtkis (author of the forthcoming The Originals), up against Zarina Zabrisky (author of the recently-released Iron). Babtkis told a sex story in three dazzling parts: "The Extended, Latent, Leaked, Original Sex Sequences," a chapter from his forthcoming novel, and Zabrisky finished with a glorious story about an old lady discussing the truth about Judaism in her fantastic Russian accent. 

Again the judges took the mic, with all three gobsmacked by the level of competition, and after a series of witticisms and gargantuan praise, Zabrisky was announced as the night's second finalist. 

Then LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga took center stage, announcing the wild finale: a Jewish Author Jumble that featured a series of Jewish author names (Round 1: Roth v. Levi) that were mixed up, with the finalists racing the clock to get them in order. Kleid was unstoppable, taking an early 2-0 lead, before Zabrisky struck back. But when it was Ginsburg v. Gordimer, Kleid didn't hesitate, finishing the night with a monumental victory, winning her the Literary Death Match SF crown, and literary immortality to go with it. 

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[nicole]

This links to a CJM page that has another link to the preorder page, but it's broken. Please see if they'll fix it!