What Marlon James Can’t Live Without

When I won the Booker Prize in 2015, my friends dared me to buy an outrageous gift for myself, which is the worst thing to say to somebody like me. I thought,What is the wildest, craziest thing that I feel I must have?And I remember the Moooi Horse Lamp, done by this design collective, Front, which is hilarious to everybody but Americans. I bought it in Amsterdam, and it was a nightmare to bring it to America because they shipped it in a crate that was nearly a ton in weight. It had to be delivered by a semi-truck. And then the semi-truck didn’t have anywhere to off-load. It was wild. A museum-services company actually brought it to me. The day I brought it to my first apartment, the security guards showed up, saying they think I’m having a livestock issue. I’m like, “It’s not a real horse. It’s a plastic lamp.” It’s life size, ten feet by ten feet. It dictates wherever I move. If they don’t have a decent elevator, not moving there. Even now, my partner, when we go looking for places, because you’re in New York, half of the time you’re looking for apartments you would never buy. The first question is always, “Where would the horse go?” And of course, people are like, “What?” I was like, “It’s a plastic horse. It’s fine.” I also get joy from looking at it. The big ridiculousness of it. Like every New Yorker, my apartment is small. So this big-ass thing is dwarfing everything with a lampshade on top. It’s always a conversation starter, and I always have to say at some point, “No, you cannot ride it.” There are times when I’m away and if people are visiting, I’ll stick a note: “Do not ride if you’re past the age of 6.”

I am addicted to this thing. Largely because I come from a country where everything is spicy, which means on average, most food I get in America is bland. It’s like when Beyoncé says she got hot sauce in her bag, I got chile crisp in my bag. It instantly makes everything great. The first time I bought it was at the Chinese store. It was in Chinese. I discovered chile crisp by accident. I thought I bought hoisin sauce or soy sauce or something. I didn’t know what the hell I was buying. I thought,This thing tastes like it’s from heaven and hell at the same time. There’s no such thing as a bad food day for me anymore, because chile crisp will save anything. I put chile crisp in peanut butter. You realize that the one thing peanut butter is missing is a fiery kick.

It’s pretty big; I guess we call it A4 size. It’s 9 by 12, plain-leaf. I used to be an artist and graphic designer long before I was a writer. I retired from that and stopped drawing for a very long time. I only resumed a couple years ago. I journal quite a bit. I’ve been journaling since I was 11. I still have them. They’re a riot to read. I’m like, “Damn, boy, get a life.” But I realized that instead of writing something, I’d rather draw. I draw from life, I draw from memory, I draw things that are interesting. I draw people I can’t forget. It’s sort of likeFellini’s Book of Dreams. I’m journaling a lot as I always have, but now it’s with pictures because the pages are sketch-pad thick. So I can paint, I can write. Am I gonna publish it likeFellini’s Book of Dreams? I’m like, “Maybe.” I like Taschen books as much as everybody else. It gives me the flexibility to tell a story in different ways. Sometimes, even though I’m a writer, I would rather not use words. When I run into friends from high school, the first thing they ask me is, “You still doing that writing thing, or are you going back to what you’re supposed to do?” Like, yeah, I’m still dabbling in that writing thing.

[Editor’s note: Marlon’s exact journal isn’t available because he bought it at a flea market, but this one is similar.]

They’re B pencils. They’re all lead. There’s no wood. I break them all the time. They’re great for drawing. One of the happiest things for me is to rediscover how to shade and really deepen the work with dimension in drawing. I’ve been afraid of doing it for a while. That was part of the rediscovery. I never know when I’ll wanna capture something I’d rather not take a picture of, so those pencils are always with me. I’m way too afraid to do charcoal, because you can’t erase charcoal. You can still erase a pencil, so they’re my go-to. I sometimes shade really large things and I need more of a drawing area, if that makes sense. With a wooden pencil, you just have the tip, whereas with this you have the whole thing. It’s also way messier. People go, “I love the rough edges of your art.” I’m like, “No, that’s mess. It’s not rough. It’s messy.” I’m erasing all of that. That fingerprint is not supposed to be there.

I read it when I was going through a pretty bad phase of depression. The idea of being, finding delight in all sorts of space, really helped. It was a daily way of seeing the world differently. I used to have this idea that only children experience delight, that one of the things that happens when we get older is that we lose the ability to experience delight. Happiness and joy, but the way in which something would make a kid squeal. That we lost that. I certainly felt like I lost that. That book was a real course correction. You can find delight in anything. I live in New York; nine times out of ten, you don’t pause at all. So a high five from a stranger or nicknames or watching the movieHouse Partyagain, a movie that’s all about joy. Seeing a hummingbird fly backward. You know, things like that. Or the first time you actually get bumped to first class. It happened to me once, but I was traveling with somebody and I felt bad, so I didn’t take it. I said, “You know, I should remember that of all my mother’s children, I love me best.” That’s what I should remember.

This may be the first cologne I ever bought at market price. Usually, I’m hunting around the place for sales. But I smelled it, and I’m like, “You know what? This is an investment.” I use it very sparingly. There’s aSeinfeldepisode where Elaine walks around with a singer and checks if the men are spongeworthy. I’ll think of an event and go, “Is it Spicebomb-worthy?” Nine times out of ten, they’re not. I’m like, “Nah, this is Old Spice–worthy.” The last event I went to that was Spicebomb-worthy was the Janelle Monáe and Grace Jones concert in Prospect Park. That was definitely a Spicebomb-worthy event.

I get fussy about skin-care stuff, largely because I’m in weather that’s not the greatest friend of Black skin. There are a few faux pas worse than being ashy. I like the soap. It’s creamy, it’s great, it smells great, although sometimes I’ll be using the goat-milk one and think,Man, I must be getting busy with a goat. Why am I smelling like this?It’s really clean and creamy. I’m kind of addicted to them. They have a lemongrass flavor that’s just fantastic. They have a honey version that’s great. I have a pretty elaborate bathing and grooming routine, and it usually starts with that. Also, I can travel with it. I don’t know if anybody noticed, but hotel cleaning soaps have gotten bad. I’m a touring writer, so I gotta carry my stuff.

I take them everywhere. I’ve been using it for at least ten years. I’m taking it on the train right now. They’re very durable. I abuse them a lot. My new one already has holes, but I can’t blame Away for that. I just put them through all sorts of distress. Yesterday, I went to Baltimore. I took my backpack. I go to London. I take the backpack. It has so much space. I can carry clothes, shoes, a ton of books. It’s durable. Well, durable is relative. I destroy everything. So even that, I will end up with a hole sooner or later. And they’re cute. My problem sometimes with backpacks is that it looks like you’re carrying your whole life. I am way too obsessed with glamour to look dumpy. I always buy it in army green. When it gets scuffed up, it looks rough and ready as opposed to just nasty.

I’m a big tea person, but I’m terrified of microplastics. The only ones I’ve heard that are really safe are Harney’s and Republic of Tea. Harney is in a nice tin, so I feel very proper when I open one. I like their cinnamon tea because you don’t have to add sugar. I also like the Black Cask Bourbon Black Tea. It sounds like an adventure. That’s the one I like the most. It’s the one I never run out of. There’s lots of vanilla and lots of caramel. Not too chocolaty, because my deep dirty secret is I actually don’t like chocolate. But caramel and vanilla with some black-tea Earl Grey thing, that’s perfect.