Tree for Friday
It’s Friday. Have a wonderful description of trees.
When I’m surrounded by trees, a condition I’ve sought out pretty persistently throughout my life I think the thing I might like the most about them is this whisper like all the hair of the world passing through the tunnel of one single breath – if that is a form of percussion. This irregular hiss of trees and wind. I think it is my mother. And I am her son, and you are my dog.
from “Protect Me You” by Eileen Myles.
Monday Lunch Hour Triple Play
How long has it been? Okay, how about now?
This is for all you poor mofos with dayjobs.
Nicolle Elizabeth is on top of The Rumpus today, with a piece of hard-hitting, uterine-deforming, Uwe Boll-referencing nonfiction entitled “I am the Unicorn.” Damn right she is.
Eileen Myles is the newest Poet Off Poetry over at Coldfront. She’s talking about the great Gram Parsons, specifically Archives Vol 1. I haven’t heard that release yet, but I count two Gram Parsons recordings–Safe at Home by his International Submarine Band, and Sweetheart of the Rodeo from him-era The Byrds–among the best musical discoveries I made in 2009. Huge, huge, huge. In the course of discussing Parsons, she also says quite a bit about the Everly Brothers, about whom, well–see previous sentence.
And finally, Jon Woodward’s Poems to Stare At comes with a hat-tip to a student of Matthew Rohrer’s I met at the Writers House on Friday at the Jonathan Lethem reading. Dude, I’m sorry I don’t remember your name but I really appreciate this link, and the stuff you said about Cognitive Behaviorial Therapy was also pretty dead effing on. Okay, the rest of you head over and start staring. Now here are the Everly Brothers to play us out-
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kooAgqCHGvU
Around the Web
Jeff Parker on Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood at The Rumpus.
Mary Gaitskill’s got some new fiction at New York Magazine.
Carolyn See on a life of Mithradates, “The Poison King,” at the Washington Post Book World.”He wasn’t a very savory person, unless, perhaps, you hated the Roman Empire with all your heart.” Hmm.
New Raleigh Quarterly features poems by Paige Taggart, Mathias Svalina, Claire Donato, Farrah Field, and then some. Also, I guess, the fiction and nonfiction.
Dennis Cooper’s got the Spotlight on Bataille’s Blue of Noon.
Also, over at Jezebel, they’re having a discussion nearly as contentious as our recent ones on racism, over some people in the audience at an Ariana Reines reading who laughed in the wrong place, or in the wrong way, or something. But don’t worry, this debacle seems to have an element of potential racism in it, too. Scroll down to the comments for a particularly vitriolic screed by Eileen Myles. To be honest, I can’t really get a bead on what’s at stake here, to have drawn this much of her ire, but my immense respect for her coupled with the apparent depth of her rage has caught my attention. I’m inclined to believe I’m missing something, maybe since I wasn’t there. Also, at the top of the post, they’ve got actual audio from the event–not the questionable laughing itself, sadly, but about a minute of the Q&A.
Justin Taylor—
There’s a new issue of Bookslut up. As usual, it’s action-packed with features and interviews, but I’d like to draw your attention to three non-fiction reviews of books I didn’t know existed and am very pleased to have been made aware of. Interestingly, all three books are written by women, all three are reviewed by women, and all three have subtitles. Here they are: (1) Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture by Kaya Oakes, reviewed by Gina Meyers. (2) I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah’s Witness Upbringing by Kyria Abrahams, reviewed by Kate Munning. (3) The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art by Eileen Myles, reviewed by Elizabeth Bachner.
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