Matthew Simmons
Matthew Simmons lives in Seattle.
Matthew Simmons—
The LA Review of Books is now live and updating online. THE DEATH OF THE BOOK: “It is possible to regard much of Western avant garde poetry and prose as an extended argument with the bound pages from which literature would prefer to break free.” BUSTER KEATON AND THE WORLD OF OBJECTS: “Keaton takes the bat and systematically smashes every pane in every bookcase, puts the bat aside, sits down, says nothing.”
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Youtube teaches me something about writing.
Above is video of the reaction of José Saramago to the filmed version of his book Blindness. READ MORE >
Matthew Simmons—
A reminder: The prayer-as-story, story-as-prayer web journal On Earth As It Is, which I edit with my buddy Bryan, is accepting submissions through April 30. The work we accept will make up the last round of weekly updates on the site. Submit here. (If you have any questions, leave them in the comments for this post and I will answer them as best I can.)
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Matthew Simmons—
Did you buy How They Were Found by Matt Bell? He wants to give you a free ebook. Details on his blog.
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“Burk’s Nub” from LOOK! LOOK! FEATHERS by Mike Young
So. Cyber-punk.
“Johnny Mnemonic” can’t get past just being Johnny Mnemonic. “Burk’s Nub,” though, gets to be Tetsuo The Iron Man, and “Burk’s Nub,” gets to be George Washington.
Because “Burk’s Nub” isn’t concerned with the gadgetry of cyber-punk. It’s just concerned with youth, with bodies, with tubas, and with language. And because it is full of concern and not full of fetish, it gets to be fuller and more satisfying and more interesting. READ MORE >
Matthew Simmons—
UbuWeb Sound is filled with happiness, of course. Here’s some recent happiness: The Tape-Beatles discography. Plagiarism can often be a really beautiful thing. Additionally: Big City Orchestra’s sublime—and unpleasantly named—Beatlerape.
Matthew Simmons—
A head’s up: writers who have enjoyed the On Earth As It Is project, and would like to try to write something for it, will soon have that chance. My co-editor and I will have open submissions through the month of April. (I’ll make note of it here and on our Facebook page.) Also, the work we choose will become the last round of updates for the site. The site will remain up and the stories available to be read, but we will no longer add to it.
†Illuminati∞Thug∆Mafia‡
So tell me about the name of the new record, Illuminati Thug Mafia?
It’s kinda like the unseen terrible, you know what I mean. All these things have a negative mythology to them. At the same time these organizations, you know that none of us completely know, have their own culture individually. You hear Illuminati, you hear thug, you hear mafia you kind of dismissed it instantly, or at least a degree where you prepare what the the fuck you’re gonna hear. You already prepare yourself to already not believe it, take it with a grain of salt. In a way combine all three of those and it kind of like it’s some real super power, the ultimate fucking ridiculousness.
I went to the Getty recently, and saw an exhibit of illuminated manuscripts. READ MORE >
Matthew Simmons—
I’m in love: Holy Warbles, 78 revelations, ethniquities, gospelarians, librarians, gloops, gleeps, magnetique tape, ost, dmt, kvlt, spectral string bands, psychedelique funkenfuzz, songbirds, disembodied voices, tape echo, plate reverb, lepyrlymns, field recordings, holy ghosts of electricity & cloven tongues of fire. (via Dave Segal)
“The Peaches Are Cheap” from LOOK! LOOK! FEATHERS by Mike Young
It occurred to me, hanging out with Mike Young last weekend, that I/maybe we have not talked enough about Mike’s really fantastic collection of stories, LOOK! LOOK! FEATHERS here on HTML Giant. I will endeavor to do so, to at least offer an impression of each story, over the coming weeks.
So, PART ONE.
Placed at the beginning of the book of stories is “The Peaches Are Cheap,” a flash meant maybe not just to be itself, but meant instead to be the slow, disjointed, “look around, case the joint,” opening of all that comes after. It’s a couple of dudes in a car, and all the stuff they see—all this stuff that promises to act like hooks through the rest of the book. These hooks on which we hang the answers to our “where the fuck are we” questions. Hang the things we unpack to learn about where the whole where of the book is. READ MORE >