Blake Butler—
Typo 14 is out. I just started reading, but Foley rips as usual and Sommer Browning pickles my butt so good: “If a human exploded isn’t a question.” More.
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Let’s talk about me for a minute: Poetry + Robert Mondavi Edition
I wonder if people noticed that one of the three categories in which this post is classified is a brand-new one. That would be the “Craven self-promotion” tag–something we’ve probably needed here for a long time, and which I hope all the contributors will feel inclined to make use of, as needed. That said, wanting to direct your attention to this first thing isn’t actually all that craven. I’ve written an essay for the Poetry Foundation, “A Dog Days Reading List: five books of poetry as hot as the sun.” Titles discussed are: The Wonderfull Yeare (a shepherd’s calendar) by Nate Pritts, Fort Red Border by Kiki Petrosino, Sum of Every Lost Ship by Allison Titus, The Drunk Sonnets by Daniel Bailey, and Mean Free Path by Ben Lerner. Eight poems from four of the five books are posted with the essay (dunno what happened with Titus, but you can read some of her work here) for your sampling pleasure.
Okay, second thing. Have you seen the July issue of Bookslut? Among its many treasures, there’s a great review of Ben Mirov’s Ghost Machine, an interview with Rae Armantrout, and–here it comes–a long interview with me, by Mark Doten. It’s a little hard to articulate just how excited I am about this, and why, but I’ll give it a shot. In the version of my own biography that I tell to myself, the start of my career as a “real” writer is marked by the first piece I wrote for Bookslut, an interview with Dennis Cooper published in February 2005. Dennis and I would wind up becoming frequent co-conspirators, and friends, and lately press-mates, but at the time he was just this guy whose books I was in love with, who had actually agreed to talk to me. Looking over the “Articles by Justin Taylor” on Bookslut, it occurs to me that (1) I haven’t written anything for them in over two years, which is inexcusable, and (2) that pretty much all the people I spoke to on their behalf–and several of those I reviewed–wound up becoming friends and/or colleagues in some capacity. Even five years ago Bookslut had a long rich history–without its trailblazing and its model, a site like GIANT would almost certainly not exist–and they should be commended for their ongoing commitment and apparently perpetual vitality. So that’s why it’s a special moment for me to find myself on the other side of the interview on their website, and why I hope you will go read it. Also, if I do say so myself, the piece is awesome. Mark Doten is a good friend, an incredible writer, a wise reader, and a savvy interviewer–what I mean by this last remark is that he was smart enough to get me drunk, and decent enough to get at least as drunk as I got.
Nothing New
Robert Lopez has started putting up guest posts on his blog for Kamby Bolongo Mean River. All posts are titled ‘No News Today.’ Seems like more will be forthcoming. I’ve added it to my google reader & you should add it to yours. It is one of the only blogs that guarantees to be newsless, unless you are somehow still reading Gawker. Here is the first one from Sam Ligon:
There are reports of startling news from the recent or distant past. Something about oil or a flood somewhere. Something about a military leader being dismissed or named emperor. Something biblical, maybe, involving slaughter and men lying with beasts. Nothing has been confirmed by reliable sources. It’s all very unclear, people, and shaded by gossip, rumor, innuendo. Therefore, and as always, there is no news today.
The Best Film Books?
Which are the most inspirational five books about film ever written? This was the question the British Film Institute asked 51 leading critics and writers, and their answers are printed here in full.
Those lists provided me with some new titles to check out. (I’ve just begun reading Stanley Cavell’s A World Viewed, which made it onto a good many of the lists.) At any rate, I’d love to learn about your favorite books on film. Here are my top five:
Gilles Deleuze — Cinema 1: The Movement-Image [&] Cinema 2: The Time-Image
Jean-Luc Godard — Godard on Godard
P. Adams Sitney — Visionary Film
Stan Brakhage — Essential Brakhage: Selected Writings on Film-Making
David Bordwell — Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema
Life of drafts
I hate lame drafts, trust me I know. Whenever I have a lame draft, I pull weird shit to try to spice it up. One time I removed all the dialog quotes and put em dashes in front. One other time I turned all the dialog into italics. One other time I deleted all the letters “n” and added this thing about how the writer of the story was missing the N-key (Stephen King did that). One other time I changed a female character’s name to sound more European. One time I removed all paragraph breaks and turned the entire story into one paragraph. One time I said the story was translated into English from Wingdings. When I get really desperate, I broaden the margins to make the story look longer. Sometimes I’ll make the first five words small caps like they do in fancy journals. One time I changed my name to “Toni Morrison” then had to find and replace “choad” into “tar blossom.” I never include a SASE because I never get accepted, so my logic beats theirs. I often shit-talk in my head about people with STDs, BMWs, SASEs, and MFAs, telling myself acronyms are for assholes. We all know the 20 under 40 list, but exactly who is under the influence of a 40 oz.? (Beer with me, people.) The only thing more lame than a “your mom” retort is calling nepotism, or “your dad.” The only thing writing has to do with life is that everything is a draft. Some people want fans, others just open the window to let the free air inside.
Tentacles Are Hair You Wear On Your Spleen, Ideally
“You might define the general trend in my work as a synthesis of aesthetics and psychology. Traditionally, in Japan, these are not two different things. Neither is aesthetics in conflict with realism. I believe this is unique to Japan.” – Yukio Mishima
Flash 14
1. Ken Sparling. 2. Stace Budzko. 3. Kim Chinquee 4. Elysia Smith. 5. Shya Scanlon 6. Aimee Nezhukumatathil 7. Mark Ehling.
8. Damian Dressick. 9. Jac Jemc. 10. Peter Gradbois 11. David Shumate. 12. Jesse Goolsby. 13. Caroline Zilk. 14. Molly Gaudry.
Comment of the Day: Andy Hunter on Tin House-gate
Well, Matthew Simmons’s two-line post from Friday, about a new temporary Tin House submission policy, has now drawn 212 comments, with more still coming in. The discussion has been protracted and bizarre, as well as occasionally quite ugly–some of which was my fault; but also, it’s important to note, some of which wasn’t–but there have been some moments of real insight and/or useful dialogue, and I’d like to share my favorite one here. It appeared in the comment thread on Matthew’s post yesterday evening, but I’m just noticing it now. Its virtue is not merely in what Andy says–though he says a lot of insightful and useful things, which are the categories of merit on which the award is based–but also in the calm and open manner in which he says them. Unsurprisingly, the position he takes is more or less exactly the same as my own, minus the rancor, which is probably the direct result of his not directly engaging with anyone. He just says what he thinks. As Commenter of the Day, an office which I just made up and which it may well never occur to me to think to award again, his duty is simply to do what he already did–post the comment which got my attention in the first place, and so he (and everyone else) can rest secure in the knowledge that his being awarded the office coincides exactly with his fulfillment of its duties and therefore, at midnight tonight, the completion of his term. Here is his comment, reproduced in full:
July 4th, 2010 / 6:31 pm edit Andy Hunter—
My first reaction to the Tin House policy was, “Ha Ha. Good for them.”
The economic arguments against it are a joke, as are the ‘local bookstore’ arguments. Most people can afford to buy a couple books a year. Most people live near bookstores. And if you don’t? Write a note explaining that. Not much to get outraged about.
Sometimes I’m amazed at how quickly commenters get outraged around here, but then I realize: being outraged is fun.
Anyway, the condescension complaint is valid, although I think TH meant it in good humor – which apparently didn’t come off.
The thing that I think many here are missing is the incredible volume of submissions Tin House must get. EL is not half as well known, but we get thousands of submissions every issue, and even with 35 readers, it’s very hard to keep up. Especially because everything is read twice. Sometimes we regret our open policy, but it was the policy we wanted to see when we were on the other side, as writers. Now that we’re on the publisher side, it gets a little rough. There are many, many writers who are scanning duotrope and submitting to magazines they’d never fit in. The majority of these writers don’t seem to read enough, to be honest. They really ought to buy and read more books. Collectively, EL spends thousands of hours reading submissions, which is exponentially more time than we spend on anything else. The temptation to put up a small hurdle for submitters is understandable. Especially one that is directed at helping your industry, and supporting what you love.
For about 4 months, EL offered $6 off subscriptions to writers who submitted work to us, via a coupon code. It brought the cost of a digital subscription down to $3 an issue. Out of over 3,000 submitters during that time, less than a dozen used that code. I’m sure Tin House has similar stories.
There has been a lot of wondering, here and elsewhere, if emerging writers do enough to support the institutions which they wish to support them (i.e. ever buy a literary magazine). Tin House decided to playfully push the issue, and lighten the slush pile for themselves at the same time. It’s not so horrible.
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PS- As a special and counter-intuitive reward for having achieved distinction in the comment thread, I have disabled comments on this post, granting Andy–and everyone else–relief from any perceived obligation to respond, nitpick, attack, or praise. You can still do those things, but you’ll have to (and you should) do them over in the already-existing-thread on the post from which these words were drawn.