Arnon Grunberg

The perfect place

Melancholia and lust

I cannot recall when I visited the Bemelmans bar at the Carlyle for the first time.
I went there with many of my former girlfriends, a few women with whom I fooled around for a while, quite a few of my publishers, a captain with whom I traveled twice to Afghanistan, some editors, a secretary who disappeared, a friend who disappeared, an Italian man who had the habit of engaging strangers in conversation, my amante and an agent whom I left.
Tonight I went there after dinner with one of my Dutch publishers.
A couple stood up and started dancing.
Bemelmans is the perfect place for those who suffer from melancholia and those who suffer from lust and anything in between.