PARTY LIKE IT'S 1989

Rob Spillman, fixture of New York's literary swirl and a founding editor of Tin House (along with his wife, our own I Elissa Schappell), grew up in a divided world—raised in Cold War Berlin by nomadic musician parents, he witnessed u firsthand the schism of East and West as well as the more intimate one of an early divorce. Returning to the U.S., where he shuttled between homes, Spillman yearned to find his own artistic "tribe." Eventually, he hit the road and, at 25, pitched up in East Berlin in the days just after the Wall came down. There, in a heady mix of anarchy, idealism, and raves, Spillman discovered not only "the cultural moment I'd been waiting for" but also deeper lessons in rootedness. His memoir, All Tomorrow's Parties (Grove), is a thrilling portrait of the artist as intrepid young adventure seeker. —ANDERSON TEPPER

ANDERSON TEPPER