EYE WITNESS

Taking one for the team

By Sam Pfeifle

By almost every indication, Longfellow Books’s reading with Arthur Bradford and Zadie Smith, held at the SPACE Gallery this past Friday, was a great success. People showed up in droves — all the seats were filled and many had to remain standing — and Bradford and Smith were both very entertaining. But disaster loomed around every corner.

First, the thing started about 45 minutes late because Bradford — a Brunswick native, by the way — sort of got lost trying to get from Boston to Portland. But that was okay. People were really patient.

Then there was the matter of Bradford’s hand. See, he’s part of the new breed of authors. He likes to add a little show-biz to his readings by strumming along on a guitar while he reads particular stories — and the last time he was here, he showed slides of his mother’s artwork.

On Friday, however, he indicated there might be a problem. He’d been helping a friend do some yard work that day and dropped a big rock on his hand. A giant blood blister developed.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to play,” he said. “But I can.”

Great news. Everyone cheered. He even relented to serenading Longfellow owners Chris and Lisa Bowe with “Happy Birthday.”

Then, about halfway through his story, things sort of went awry. His finger started bleeding — profusely. Bradford carried on. It was spattering all over. Bradford wiped his hand on his pants. It was getting kind of gross. The show’s host, Gabriel Hamen, came over and gave him some paper towels. He mopped up most of the blood, and continued on with the story.

He was laughing, as were most of the audience.

Then an enterprising soul walked up and handed him a pick.

“Ah, a pick,” said Bradford. Things got easier from there.

Zadie Smith came on next, and was a little non-plussed by the blood on the podium. Then she got over it.

“I trust Arthur,” she said.