Christian Bauman
@christianbauman.bsky.social
Writer you almost but don’t quite remember from 20 years ago.
Novels: The Ice Beneath You, Voodoo Lounge, In Hoboken.
Other: NPR/ATC commentaries; guitar slinger; soldier.
NewHope, PA & WestCapeMay, NJ
baumansbrain.com
Waitress this morning called me Baby Doll and I have never felt more seen
November 13, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Waitress this morning called me Baby Doll and I have never felt more seen
Buried deep inside the new, depressing biography of Robert McNamara I found my #sundaysentence for this week, a quote from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas: "If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Buried deep inside the new, depressing biography of Robert McNamara I found my #sundaysentence for this week, a quote from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas: "If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
I have a little bit of @leeupton.bsky.social hanging around my house, in this collaboration she did with the late, great artist Ed Kerns. One of my favorite pieces of art.
November 8, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I have a little bit of @leeupton.bsky.social hanging around my house, in this collaboration she did with the late, great artist Ed Kerns. One of my favorite pieces of art.
New novel from @ambersparks.bsky.social is just so good. I held it to be my Halloween read. I'm about halfway through this morning and can't put it down. Fern & Alice are kind of a minor miracle. Anyway, my #sundaysentence this week: "The misery of the dead attracts more dead."
November 2, 2025 at 12:05 PM
New novel from @ambersparks.bsky.social is just so good. I held it to be my Halloween read. I'm about halfway through this morning and can't put it down. Fern & Alice are kind of a minor miracle. Anyway, my #sundaysentence this week: "The misery of the dead attracts more dead."
This is absolutely the best month of the year to live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (& the guy who bakes that bread also owns a bookstore, so…)
October 27, 2025 at 3:41 PM
This is absolutely the best month of the year to live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (& the guy who bakes that bread also owns a bookstore, so…)
20 years ago? Sheesh. Simultaneously feels like 50 years ago and also yesterday.
October 24, 2025 at 10:26 PM
20 years ago? Sheesh. Simultaneously feels like 50 years ago and also yesterday.
Well this was a fun find. 20 years ago this weekend, me and Fiona on the cover of Sunday Philly Inquirer, for the release of novel #2, Voodoo Lounge.
October 24, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Well this was a fun find. 20 years ago this weekend, me and Fiona on the cover of Sunday Philly Inquirer, for the release of novel #2, Voodoo Lounge.
Didn’t find a #sundaysentence this week, but I am enjoying this. The first half, anyway. He took a left turn for Part 2, and it’s just not nearly as compelling. But Part 1 was so good that I’ll forgive him.
October 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Didn’t find a #sundaysentence this week, but I am enjoying this. The first half, anyway. He took a left turn for Part 2, and it’s just not nearly as compelling. But Part 1 was so good that I’ll forgive him.
My #sundaysentence this week is Ani DiFranco contemplating the immediate outcome of writing: “I wake up to the fact that I have transformed my pain into something more beautiful and useful than it was in its original state.”
October 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
My #sundaysentence this week is Ani DiFranco contemplating the immediate outcome of writing: “I wake up to the fact that I have transformed my pain into something more beautiful and useful than it was in its original state.”
Back to Graham Greene again for my #sundaysentence this week: "Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation."
October 5, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Back to Graham Greene again for my #sundaysentence this week: "Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation."
The marks of 30+ years of playing on what is now the beach #guitar; I find them beautiful, like weathered lines on a sailor’s face. (Long way to go to get to Willie level on the patina, though.)
September 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The marks of 30+ years of playing on what is now the beach #guitar; I find them beautiful, like weathered lines on a sailor’s face. (Long way to go to get to Willie level on the patina, though.)
Sometimes you run across one short sentence that manages to capture a whole person. My #sundaysentence this week is this simple & funny beauty that captures so much of Graham Greene: “While in Villahermosa, Greene was afflicted with the company of an American dentist.”
September 28, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Sometimes you run across one short sentence that manages to capture a whole person. My #sundaysentence this week is this simple & funny beauty that captures so much of Graham Greene: “While in Villahermosa, Greene was afflicted with the company of an American dentist.”
My #sundaysentence this week is from Deborah Levy and her new book of essays: "It has always been very clear to me that people who wear shoes without socks are destined to become my friends and lovers."
September 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
My #sundaysentence this week is from Deborah Levy and her new book of essays: "It has always been very clear to me that people who wear shoes without socks are destined to become my friends and lovers."
me and Baby Lou and Foundation, a fine friday
September 19, 2025 at 11:47 PM
me and Baby Lou and Foundation, a fine friday
The great Dorothy Allison provides my #sundaysentence for this week, from Bastard Out of Carolina: "Nevil never wasted words when he could grunt, or a grunt when he could move his hands." And runner-up sentence: "Say the wrong thing and she'll take the shine off your teeth."
September 14, 2025 at 12:13 PM
The great Dorothy Allison provides my #sundaysentence for this week, from Bastard Out of Carolina: "Nevil never wasted words when he could grunt, or a grunt when he could move his hands." And runner-up sentence: "Say the wrong thing and she'll take the shine off your teeth."
two paths,
the narrow & the deep
new hope, pa 2:12pm
the narrow & the deep
new hope, pa 2:12pm
September 13, 2025 at 6:12 PM
two paths,
the narrow & the deep
new hope, pa 2:12pm
the narrow & the deep
new hope, pa 2:12pm
This from @ianleslie.bsky.social is fantastic; thoughtful, nuanced. My #sundaysentence concerns inhabiting (vs copying) American songs: "John was showing Paul that you could make it your own rather than pretending to be someone you were not; that you could get it wrong in a way that felt right."
September 7, 2025 at 1:21 PM
This from @ianleslie.bsky.social is fantastic; thoughtful, nuanced. My #sundaysentence concerns inhabiting (vs copying) American songs: "John was showing Paul that you could make it your own rather than pretending to be someone you were not; that you could get it wrong in a way that felt right."
hanging with Athelstan & Tom Holland on a monday, as one does
September 1, 2025 at 12:46 PM
hanging with Athelstan & Tom Holland on a monday, as one does
Please, people — this is a dignified train car
August 31, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Please, people — this is a dignified train car
Okay, Roger Clarke's book Ghosts (largely concerned with the British variety) is a new favorite. Today's #sundaysentence, a quote from another ghost writer on people's desire to believe: "People don't want the debunk, they want the bunk."
August 31, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Okay, Roger Clarke's book Ghosts (largely concerned with the British variety) is a new favorite. Today's #sundaysentence, a quote from another ghost writer on people's desire to believe: "People don't want the debunk, they want the bunk."
new hope, pa
saturday 7:35pm
saturday 7:35pm
August 30, 2025 at 11:36 PM
new hope, pa
saturday 7:35pm
saturday 7:35pm
“There are said to be a couple of phantom bears in London.”
What??!!? How do I arrange an introduction???
What??!!? How do I arrange an introduction???
August 25, 2025 at 4:59 PM
“There are said to be a couple of phantom bears in London.”
What??!!? How do I arrange an introduction???
What??!!? How do I arrange an introduction???
My #sundaysentence today from NYT, about composers' directional notes: "The most famous example is Satie, whose performance indications skirt the boundary between mysticism and Dada: 'Light as an egg,' & 'Like a nightingale with a toothache.'" (I want to put how-to-read-me notes in my books...)
August 24, 2025 at 1:53 PM
My #sundaysentence today from NYT, about composers' directional notes: "The most famous example is Satie, whose performance indications skirt the boundary between mysticism and Dada: 'Light as an egg,' & 'Like a nightingale with a toothache.'" (I want to put how-to-read-me notes in my books...)
mori point trail
pacifica ca 11am
pacifica ca 11am
August 23, 2025 at 7:21 PM
mori point trail
pacifica ca 11am
pacifica ca 11am
san francisco bay
wednesday 8pm
wednesday 8pm
August 21, 2025 at 1:00 PM
san francisco bay
wednesday 8pm
wednesday 8pm