Chuck Berry had a house I used to pass on my walks in the Hollywood Hills…

I don’t know if he ever was in residence, at least not when I roamed the neighborhood. The home was a cool old Moorish thing with arches and a red tile roof. I seem to remember an empty swimming pool in the back, but what I certainly remember was the front: fat shaggy untrimmed palm trees and at the edge of the property a concrete and re-bar sculpture that had obviously seen better days. I called it the Duchamp deer. It was the shape of a deer but significant portions had fallen away until it was just a surreal suggestion of an animal…

Anyway, stick around. A friend of mine has published a book and I’ve got an excerpt coming your way.

Cheers! V