The Salesman - Laurie Anderson

Now the book is called Stories from the Nerve Bible, and what I mean by the

Nerve Bible is the body.

And parts of the body appear and disappear throughout

the book, adding up to a kind of self-portrait, although not a very

naturalistic one.

And I used the word Bible in the title of this book because

the first really strange stories I remember hearing were Bible stories

And these stories were completely amazing;

about parting oceans,

and talking snakes.

And people really seemed to believe these stories,

and I’m talking about adults.

Adults, who mainly just did the most mundane

things imaginable-mowing their lawns and throwing potluck parties-they all

believed in these wild stories, and they would sit around and discuss them in

the most matter-of-fact way.

So, in a way, I was introduced to a special local

form of surrealism at an early age

And so there was always a question in my mind about what’s actually true,

and what is just another art form

Now I’ve always been interested in trying to define what makes up the late

twentieth century American, for example.

And so, as an artist, I’ve always

thought my main job was to be a spy, to use my eyes and ears, and find some of

the answers

For example, I like to hang around the banks of phones in airports,

one of my favorite listening posts, and eavesdrop on conversations.

Now I usually travel on the same schedule as salesmen, and after lunch these

guys call into the main office.

And I just stand there at the phones,

listening in and taking notes for my portrait of the American salesman

Uh, Frank?

Listen, Frank, you know, I hate to say this about Brad, I mean we both know

he’s got a heck of a job-

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, you’re so right

But you know, we both know that Brad just isn’t pulling his weight,

you know what I mean?

And I’m not saying this just because we’re both up for

the same Safeway account

So this book is really a collection of voices and stories, as well as portraits

of people that I’ve met along the way