Here is something interesting I think: Yes, writers are always playful with language – its structure, its tone, its voice, et cetera. But I have read quite a few books recently where the editor played along or the press played along or something like that happened. Lily Hoang’s CHANGING set in small mathematic sections. Jack [...]
Archive for November, 2009
Form & Structure
Posted in Uncategorized on November 5, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Book Chat: Prose. Poems. A Novel. by Jamie Iredell
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Denis Johnson, jamie iredell, Promise Ring, prose. poems. a novel. on November 4, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Been reading Jamie Iredell‘s Prose. Poems. A Novel. today. Wanted to talk about it with someone, so I figured I’d see if anyone else is reading/has read this one. The poetry of the prose is romantic and indulgent and perfectly ugly. I don’t know how he does it exactly, but Jamie never overwrites, while reserve [...]
What is Death’s Configuration?
Posted in Uncategorized on November 4, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I’m in the middle of reviewing Mary Caponegro’s new collection All Fall Down. I highly recommend this book, any of her books, for that matter. Anyway, in one story, “Ashes Ashes We All Fall Down,” Carter, a man driven to momentary madness because of the pressure of taking care of both his terminally-ill mother and [...]
R.I.P. Claude Levi-Strauss
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged A Writing Lesson, Claude Levi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques on November 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Claude Levi-Strauss Brussels, November 28, 1908 – Paris, October 30, 2009 From Maurice Bloch’s obituary: The fame of Claude Lévi-Strauss, who has died aged 100, extended well beyond his own subject of anthropology. He was without doubt the anthropologist best known to non-specialists. This is mainly because he is usually considered to be the founder [...]
Chauvinist’s Weekly?
Posted in Uncategorized on November 3, 2009 | 10 Comments »
Publisher’s Weekly has created a stir this week upon releasing their list of 2009′s top books. None of their top ten were written by women, and only 29 of the full 100 on the list were by female authors. I find this ludicrous for many reasons. But a big indicator, in my mind, as to [...]
1.2 Million Litres of Blood, Sweat, Tears and Blah Blah Blah
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged London's Film Museum, Pinewood Studios' Underwater Stage, The Movieum, Water on the Lens on November 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »
One metaphor for fascinating, heartbreaking writing: The Underwater Stage
Big Other Contributor’s News #2
Posted in Uncategorized on November 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Ryan W. Bradley‘s story “Soft Drugs” is in the latest issue of Emprise. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Molly Gaudry‘s Twelve Stories has a new issue up HERE. She’ll be reading in Cambridge, MA, in the Dire Literary Series on Dec 4, alongside Sherrie Flick, Paul Schneider, and Ethan Gilsdorf. And in Providence, RI, at Myopic Books on Dec [...]
New from The Cupboard
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Encyclopedia of Modern Magic, Michael Stewart, The Cupboard on November 3, 2009 | 3 Comments »
A Brief Encyclopedia of Modern Magic by Michael Stewart 32 pages. Tape-bound. $5.00 Every illusion carries a price and no one is more aware of that than the wondrous, tragic magicians detailed here. They know darkness that leaves scars. They know failure that gives birth to terrible life. They know their journey is one of [...]
Choose Your Own Adventure
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 253, Bantam Books, Choose Your Own Adventure, Geoff Ryman, Hypertext, Lily Hoang, Vincent King on November 3, 2009 | 2 Comments »
When Lily Hoang told me that she was working on a choose your own adventure novel, I immediately thought of the Choose Your Own Adventure series of children’s books originally published by Bantam Books from 1979-1998. I remember coming home from the library when I was a kid with piles of those books in my [...]
Can You Tell Red from White Art?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Red white wine, Value of art, why? on November 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »
So, you have seen the study, wine sommeliers/connoisseurs (many paid thousands to hundreds of thousands to infinity for their skillz) possibly (I qualify, since I think scientific method, by definition, requires replication) can not even sense white versus red wine? Forget nuance, acidity, tannins, medieval toffee/toffee-ass/cat-toffee-ass undertones, whatever glossary of palate, they can’t taste red [...]
NDiaye Wins Goncourt
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Marie NDiaye, Prix Goncourt, Publishers Weekly on November 2, 2009 | 2 Comments »
French-Senegalese writer Marie NDiaye today won France’s most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt, becoming the first black woman to do so. I find the news bolstering after hearing that the recent Publishers Weekly list of the Top 10 Books of 2009 contained exactly zero female authors.
Literary Primes – AARP Division
Posted in Uncategorized on November 2, 2009 | 14 Comments »
It’s nothing new, but the art world, particularly the literary world (including comics), is an ageist game. Especially with the explosion of hypermedia, and the reliance on interactivity to maintain one’s literary profile. There’s this idea (often an accurate one) that we should be excited by a writer’s first or second (sometimes third) book, but, [...]
New Decomp!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Adam Henry Carrière, Angi Becker Stevens, Ben Loory, Bridget Bell, Dave Clapper, Decomp, Jason Jordan, John Dermot Woods, John Jodzio, Julian Callos, Kaisa Ullsvik Miller, Lydia Copeland, Matthew Browning, Michael James Martin, Michelle Askin, places & things, Rich Ives, Sabrina Stoessinger, Sarah Kay, Susan Buttenwieser, William Crawford on November 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
New issue of decomP: a literary magazine is up. From Jason Jordan, the Editor-in-Chief: Welcome back to decomP for the November 2009 issue. This month we’re featuring new work from Michelle Askin, Bridget Bell, Matthew Browning, Susan Buttenwieser, Julian Callos, Adam Henry Carrière, Dave Clapper, Lydia Copeland, William Crawford, Rich Ives, John Jodzio, Sarah Kay, Ben Loory, Michael [...]
Ben Marcus (and others) Reading in NYC, November 11, 2009
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Atmospheric Disturbances, Ben Marcus, David Samuels, Notable American Women, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Rivka Galchen, The Age of Wire and String, The Father Costume on November 2, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Harper’s Magazine Presents: The Family Table with Rivka Galchen, Ben Marcus, and David Samuels To coincide with Thanksgiving, Harper’s Magazine presents a reading with its contributors on the theme of “the Family Table”—eating, fighting, anguish, and the American form of gratitude. Featuring selections from the magazine and new work by the writers Rivka Galchen, author [...]
Process? You Wanna Talk About Process?
Posted in Uncategorized on November 1, 2009 | 13 Comments »
Maybe I’m feeling extra curmudgeonly today, but one thing that drives me nuts about writing is when people talk about “process.” And maybe this is where I finally slip up and say something that alienates me from other writers, or ousts me from the secret club, I don’t know, but I don’t buy the whole [...]
The world, Set on Fire, by Reading
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life, Theodor W. Adorno on November 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »
So here I am, questioning the academy–the academy where I’ve been so comfortable for so long–asking if those hiding in it are intellectuals or the bourgeois. And ultimately, is there any difference between these terms any more?
Lars von Trier’s Slippery, Sloppy Antichrist
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 500 Days of Summer, Antichrist, B.F. Skinner, Bach's Cello Concertos, Bjork, Blue Velvet, Breaking the Waves, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dancer in the Dark, David Lynch, Dogville, Duplicity, Gerhardt Ritcher, Ingmar Bergman, Inland Empire, John Cassavetes, Lars von Trier, Martin Scorsese, Michael Haneke, Nicole Kidman, Stanley Kubrick, The Shining, Willem Dafoe on November 1, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Lars has made some very good movies in his time. Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark and Dogville are all examples of exciting, provocative cinema. And now comes this–thing. I’m very mixed about this motion picture. Not torn up, not oozing, like after Eyes Wide Shut. There are some beautiful images in this film, [...]
Extra hour
Posted in Uncategorized on November 1, 2009 | 7 Comments »
What did you do with your extra hour?
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Authors
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John Madera
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John Dermot Woods
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Ryan W. Bradley
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Michael Leong
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Greg Gerke
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A D Jameson
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Tim Jones-Yelvington
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Rachel Swirsky
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Edward Mullany
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Aya Karpinska
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Paul Kincaid
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davis schneiderman
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Amber Sparks
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Tim Horvath
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John Domini
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Elaine Castillo
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Curtis White
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Paula Bomer
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Andrew Taggart
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James Tadd Adcox
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Nick Francis Potter
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Brian Kubarycz
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Gabriel Blackwell
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Janey Smith
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Matty Byloos
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J/J Hastain
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Greg Hunter
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