Presses
Amelia Gray’s AM/PM
Out this month from Featherproof, as a kickoff to their brand new and already brain-changing Paper Egg Books: Amelia Gray’s fabulous AM/PM, a short novel that follows “23 characters across 120 stories full of lizard tails, Schrödinger boxes and volcano love.”
I was already really excited about this before I saw how beautiful the book is (as is to be expected in the nimble hands of designer Zach Dodson), having continually been wowed and had my skirt blown up by Amelia’s work in the past, such as this amazing story in the Diagram Innovative Fiction finalists, and Caketrain, American Short Fiction, etc.
Last night, though, reading AM/PM from cover to cover before bed, I could not stop rotating between the sharp, quick gut giggles that Amelia’s layered one liners continually deliver, and awe at her unmatched ability to meld the everyday minutiae of houses and people-talk with moments of pure existential terror and sublime gloaming.
Her sentences, whittled into these tight-packed paragraphs surrounded by the white space their intelligence requires for those who read to breathe, operate like a dissector, a stand up comic, and slant-eyed philosophy all at once. The result is kind of like a marriage between the surprising microworlds of Diane Williams, in the way they make you look and look again, to those of Carver or Yates or even at times Denis Johnson, in the way assume a simplicity of delivery and diction that gets right to the meat, without any dragging on. And yet so funny, in a way that seems truly, distinctly, Amelia.
Here is one section, chosen mostly at random, as as I went on reading, jotting down my favorite pages, I ended up giving up the list, as they are all so nice:
The truck, advertising FISH and MEAT and GOURMET BRANDS, got stuck on the hump between the parking lot and the road in front of the deli next door to our apartment. We went outside because we wanted to count the wheels still touching the ground but the driver waved us away. So we went back inside, where we could only see the back of the truck from the window, and just barely the cars in the street, swerving to avoid it. Somebody said, What would happen if the back end disconnected from the front end, and rolled in through the window and into our home? Killing us all? And causing thousands of dollars of structural damage for our landlord? And somebody else said, I think you have sufficiently answered your own question.
AM/PM is a refreshing, magical book, equipped with so much lucid linage that its hard not to want to read each page again and again, extending each small punch of threaded pleasure.
And the catch? Well, AM/PM is free! with your subscription to Paper Egg‘s yearly series, which are extremely reasonably priced at $20 for 1 year, $35 for 2 years, and $50 for 3 years, with two books coming in each period (AM/PM not even counting at one of the two for the first year…). This offer is good for the first 250 people who sign up, and will begin in subscription with Christian Tebordo’s THE AWFUL POSSIBILITIES by Christian Tebordo.
Get it while you can. This new model, which to me seems a great stride in the way books should be sold and delivered, is already making waves.
Tags: am/pm, amelia gray, featherproof
You must be a fast reader, Blake. This book sounds pretty cool. I heart the Featherproof gang.
You must be a fast reader, Blake. This book sounds pretty cool. I heart the Featherproof gang.
i’m a medium fast reader. it’s a quick book, but full of meat.
i’m a medium fast reader. it’s a quick book, but full of meat.
This book really is beautiful, and it looks great, and that subscription is a fantastic idea. But shouldn’t you mention how Featherproof is publishing “Scorch Atlas”? Kind of weird to just come across that on their front page after reading:
“Get it while you can. This new model, which to me seems a great stride in the way books should be sold and delivered is already making waves.”
I mean, it seems like it is. Just, you know.
This book really is beautiful, and it looks great, and that subscription is a fantastic idea. But shouldn’t you mention how Featherproof is publishing “Scorch Atlas”? Kind of weird to just come across that on their front page after reading:
“Get it while you can. This new model, which to me seems a great stride in the way books should be sold and delivered is already making waves.”
I mean, it seems like it is. Just, you know.
scorch atlas isn’t part of the subscription series.
scorch atlas isn’t part of the subscription series.
Also, Featherproof is awesome. I like the subscription model of publishing also… even if scorch atlas is ‘sold separately.’
Also, Featherproof is awesome. I like the subscription model of publishing also… even if scorch atlas is ‘sold separately.’
furthermore, i don’t think its a conflict of interest to show admiration for books published by an indie press who happens to be publishing me in the future. its not meant to be sneaky: i genuinely admire what they do.
my public support, then, which began well before i even sent them a manuscript, will continue, regardless of supposed connotations applied by people in this net game who want to affix a negative to most anything that comes out of anybody’s mouth. i mean really.
furthermore, i don’t think its a conflict of interest to show admiration for books published by an indie press who happens to be publishing me in the future. its not meant to be sneaky: i genuinely admire what they do.
my public support, then, which began well before i even sent them a manuscript, will continue, regardless of supposed connotations applied by people in this net game who want to affix a negative to most anything that comes out of anybody’s mouth. i mean really.
:ahem:
AM/PM is amazing, please buy it.
:ahem:
AM/PM is amazing, please buy it.
Win.
That excerpt is funny. I did the 2yr option at Paper Egg, and look forward to reading AM/PM.
Win.
That excerpt is funny. I did the 2yr option at Paper Egg, and look forward to reading AM/PM.
Blake, I’m not misunderstanding or accusing you of anything. Why not mention the connection? I mean it’s in the comments now but it only takes a sentence or parenthesis. It was just a bit jarring– as a reader you trust the post and then when you see that it kind of makes you stop for a second, you know?
Blake, I’m not misunderstanding or accusing you of anything. Why not mention the connection? I mean it’s in the comments now but it only takes a sentence or parenthesis. It was just a bit jarring– as a reader you trust the post and then when you see that it kind of makes you stop for a second, you know?
i am looking forward to this book’s arrival in the mail, as well as the beginning of the paper egg series. the people at featherproof are making nice things.
i am looking forward to this book’s arrival in the mail, as well as the beginning of the paper egg series. the people at featherproof are making nice things.
I feel compelled to ask you this: Do you feel betrayed? You’re implying that you were betrayed, or were lied to. Where is the lie? Where is the betrayal?
I feel compelled to ask you this: Do you feel betrayed? You’re implying that you were betrayed, or were lied to. Where is the lie? Where is the betrayal?
Jesus. Sorry everyone? I didn’t say anything about lies and betrayal. It’s pretty common practice to write when you are associated with an entity you are promoting.
Jesus. Sorry everyone? I didn’t say anything about lies and betrayal. It’s pretty common practice to write when you are associated with an entity you are promoting.
My guess is that the question of betrayal came in after your usage of the word trust in the prior comment. To note that as a reader you had that inherent trust of what you were reading and then had to question it for a second? Well, that does imply a feeling of betrayal, even if only for a second.
That said, I was a “little” surprised, but not too much, when I read Blake’s post and didn’t see a mention of Scorch Atlas. Not totally surprised though, as Blake and I have had many conversations about Featherproof and various other independent presses (including Dzanc Books, one I run) and I’ve had him recommending their stuff to me for a couple of years now, since, as he noted, well before they accepted his manuscript.
I think the other reason I wasn’t totally surprised is that Blake seems to try to avoid plugging his own stuff so much over here, as he has his own blog to do that with. Or at least it seems that way in his posts.
My guess is that he’s going to continue plugging Calamari, Featherproof and the other presses he has over the years, whether they publish his work or not. As he continues to gain success though, it wouldn’t be a bad standard practice to note anything that others may read as a possible conflict of interest.
My guess is that the question of betrayal came in after your usage of the word trust in the prior comment. To note that as a reader you had that inherent trust of what you were reading and then had to question it for a second? Well, that does imply a feeling of betrayal, even if only for a second.
That said, I was a “little” surprised, but not too much, when I read Blake’s post and didn’t see a mention of Scorch Atlas. Not totally surprised though, as Blake and I have had many conversations about Featherproof and various other independent presses (including Dzanc Books, one I run) and I’ve had him recommending their stuff to me for a couple of years now, since, as he noted, well before they accepted his manuscript.
I think the other reason I wasn’t totally surprised is that Blake seems to try to avoid plugging his own stuff so much over here, as he has his own blog to do that with. Or at least it seems that way in his posts.
My guess is that he’s going to continue plugging Calamari, Featherproof and the other presses he has over the years, whether they publish his work or not. As he continues to gain success though, it wouldn’t be a bad standard practice to note anything that others may read as a possible conflict of interest.
Yeah, Dan… I got that Blake was that kind of person after his first response. It’s really easy to see how it was overlooked. I just didn’t know much about him and at least wanted to show how the article could be misconstrued if one didn’t have all of that background understanding. Anyway… you did a good job of explaining everything, thank you.
Yeah, Dan… I got that Blake was that kind of person after his first response. It’s really easy to see how it was overlooked. I just didn’t know much about him and at least wanted to show how the article could be misconstrued if one didn’t have all of that background understanding. Anyway… you did a good job of explaining everything, thank you.
thanks dan, that does help elucidate. i guess these kind of things do not occur to me, as i really don’t care. it would seem more embarassing to me to mention my own book when really i am trying to discuss someone else’s, connection or no. it’s just not my style. either way i proceed with it, there are hairinesses. and i don’t mind hair.
it’s easy to assume someone is doing something backwards, as most people probably would. or at least enough to taint the sample.
anyway, yes, i will continue to shout about everything i like, regardless of my involvement with it. i mean, if i crossed things off for promotonal purposes whenever my own work crossed over, well, it would seem to defeat the whole purpose of this thing: sharing what we love.
by the way, i have a really nice ass, have i mentioned that. do my ties to my ass make me saying so seem incestuous?
some people think incest is the truest form of love.
also, my mom makes some really good bran cookies. but you can’t buy them.
thanks dan, that does help elucidate. i guess these kind of things do not occur to me, as i really don’t care. it would seem more embarassing to me to mention my own book when really i am trying to discuss someone else’s, connection or no. it’s just not my style. either way i proceed with it, there are hairinesses. and i don’t mind hair.
it’s easy to assume someone is doing something backwards, as most people probably would. or at least enough to taint the sample.
anyway, yes, i will continue to shout about everything i like, regardless of my involvement with it. i mean, if i crossed things off for promotonal purposes whenever my own work crossed over, well, it would seem to defeat the whole purpose of this thing: sharing what we love.
by the way, i have a really nice ass, have i mentioned that. do my ties to my ass make me saying so seem incestuous?
some people think incest is the truest form of love.
also, my mom makes some really good bran cookies. but you can’t buy them.
I don’t think he was calling you negative, really, I think he just thought it was weird that you didn’t self-promote. Your little speech there, however, was pretty negative. Nonetheless I look forward to reading this book. I think the subscription model is a good one for small presses because it gives them just enough steam to keep rolling. Anyway, I don’t think you did featherproof any favors by biting dude’s head off. Further, I don’t think anyone suspected you were being coerced into promoting the book–why then would you go to the lengths you went? Maybe I’m getting too into this now, but I kind of just got annoyed at you for a minute. Lastly, congratulations on publishing with featherproof. They’re weather-proof, they’ll be around for some time to come, I think.
I don’t think he was calling you negative, really, I think he just thought it was weird that you didn’t self-promote. Your little speech there, however, was pretty negative. Nonetheless I look forward to reading this book. I think the subscription model is a good one for small presses because it gives them just enough steam to keep rolling. Anyway, I don’t think you did featherproof any favors by biting dude’s head off. Further, I don’t think anyone suspected you were being coerced into promoting the book–why then would you go to the lengths you went? Maybe I’m getting too into this now, but I kind of just got annoyed at you for a minute. Lastly, congratulations on publishing with featherproof. They’re weather-proof, they’ll be around for some time to come, I think.
I like Cool Ranch Doritos. I receive a yearly stipend from them.
I like Cool Ranch Doritos. I receive a yearly stipend from them.
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