A Little Nip In the Air

To celebrate the end of summer (and the publication of GETTING OFF) we hit the grassy slopes of Sheep Meadow in Central Park for one more outdoor jaunt. And though the breezes were a bit sharp at times, when they died down it was the perfect weather for an afternoon of reading outdoors with friends.

Of course, the perfect weather won’t last much longer! Want to help us keep the flame burning when it’s cold outside? Take a photo of yourself reading your favorite trashy novel and send it to us at toplesspulpfiction[AT]gmail.com, and we’ll post our favorites here. Indoors, outdoors…at home, on vacation…topless or bare-ass naked (just don’t get yourself arrested!). This is your chance to join the brave and beautiful women who’ve exercised their rights with us this summer. Remember, books need covers—breasts don’t!

Join Us for GETTING OFF in the Park

The weather report for Sunday looks good, so we’re planning a visit to one of New York’s gorgeous parks for a twofold celebration: next week marks the end of summer and also the publication of one of the books we’ve had the chance to read early, Lawrence Block’s GETTING OFF.  (A quick Thank you! to Hard Case Crime for supplying advance copies to our club.  I guess they took pity on us when they saw we clearly were too poor to afford shirts or bras.)

So, women of New York, what are you waiting for? If you’ve ever wanted to exercise your rights by enjoying a top-free afternoon in the sun, this is your chance! (And maybe your last chance for the year.)  Drop us a note at toplesspulpfiction[AT]gmail.com and we’ll give you the when-and-where. You’ve got nothing to lose but your tanlines!

New York Approves!

Thank you, New York magazine, for listing us on your “Approval Matrix” page! As they say, “If you can make it there…”

Thanks also to everyone who made our visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art so much fun. Remember, if you want to know what we’re up to, or maybe even join us on a future adventure, follow us on Twitter: @ToplessPulp.

It Takes a Village (Voice)

In case you haven’t seen it, the Village Voice ran a piece online about us! It was written by the great Jen Doll (who’s really going to have to join us for one of our outings one of these days). The piece then got picked up by a bunch of other sites, so people are coming to our site in droves…which almost makes up for the fact that it’s supposed to rain all week in New York—and possibly over the weekend, too—so no outdoor reading for us.  Boo.

But cheer up! Next week looks like it should have some lovely sunny days, and if it does, we’ll be out in ‘em.

In the meantime, here’s a glimpse of a bit of fun we had outside Madison Square Park.

Make Some Noise, They Say

So, a good friend says we should be on Twitter. Maybe so. Not sure we’ll have something new to say often enough, but…if you like what we’re doing and want to stay on top of it, you can follow @toplesspulp.

Covering Our Uncovering

How were we supposed to know that our little book club would strike such a chord for so many people?  As of this morning, more than 100 websites have written about us, and word keeps spreading. And the responses have been incredibly gratifying. Aside from the one censorious loonybird who warned that we’d never get dates with Nice Boys again because all their friends had seen our tatas (thanks, we’ll take our chances), it’s been nothing but positive comments.  “Okay this is really awesome,” wrote one blogger.  “This is really really cool,” wrote another.  And: “Pretty much all I’ve ever wanted from life (only slightly joking).” And best of all, it’s not guys saying this, it’s other women!

All we can say is: hooray. And thank you. And for the self-descfribed “Rockabilly Burlesque dancer, Ukulele player, Zine Writer, Knitter, Comic Artist, Feminist” who posted, “Can we start one of these in Vegas???  PLEASE!?”, we say: Go for it.  It’s warm out there all year round isn’t it?

I Can See Clearly Now, The Rain Is Gone

Many thanks to all of you who wanted to know how our members weathered the big storm; most of us live in Brooklyn, Queens, or Manhattan and weren’t too badly hit. Not sure when our next outing will be (the parks are still cleaning up downed tree branches and such), but in the meantime we thought we’d share a couple of antediluvian photos (look it up) that we took last week. Just to bring a smile to your face.

Oh, and many thanks also to all the cool sites that have been writing about our adventures!  Fleshbot, the Topfree Equal Rights Association, Tales From the Bookworm’s Lair, and so many others (including some with names we’d be embarrassed to type!). We’re glad to know you’re enjoying our get-togethers almost as much as we are.

Apres Nous, Le Deluge

It was the last day before the End Of The World (otherwise known as Hurricane Irene), and we decided to spend it in style. And it was an amazing, amazing, AMAZING day. Thanks to the gods of good weather, and the providers of good books (the publisher of Hard Case Crime stopped by for a visit!), and the good citizens of New York who didn’t give the half dozen topless women in their midst more than a passing glance and a joyful thumbs-up, we had a spectacular afternoon in the sun.

Wish us luck with the storm…

Living High

So, did it rain today? Did it ever! Buckets and buckets; we got drenched.  But it was still warm out, and getting caught in the rain actually felt lovely.  We took our books up to the beautiful elevated Highline park and lounged around reading.  At one point, we ran into a bride and groom taking photos, and the photographer tried to get us to pose for a picture with the groom.  As a sort of wedding gift to the bride, we politely demurred.

A Trip to the Library

Because tomorrow’s supposed to be all thunderstormy and today was gorgeous, a couple of us took a trip to the park today…Bryant Park, right behind the main HQ of the New York Public Library.

Today’s reading material included GETTING OFF by Lawrence Block and CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust.  We spent some time reading out on the grassy lawn…

…and then repaired to the steps of the library for some reading in the shade.