May 22nd, 2009 / 9:35 am
Web Hype

What’s Up, Rumpus?

Well, let’s see, shall we?

A Faithful Grope in the Dark” – Joshua Mohr writes about trying–and failing–to place his first novel, Some Things that Meant the World to Me, with a major publisher, and then finding a happy home at Two Dollar Radio (publishers of Rudolph Wurlitzer and the new Gary Indiana).

I then spoke with a former editor at several major publishing houses and asked how she knew what would sell. “It’s a crapshoot,” she said. Her tone wasn’t smug or ambivalent; the calm way she conveyed this sentiment made it feel honest.

“The Last Book I Loved” is an ongoing Rumpus feature. Right now they’ve got David Ebershoff on City of Theives. Recently they also had friend-of-Giant (or is that Giant Friend?) Kevin Sampsell on Another Bullshit Night in Suck City Lincoln Michel on Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World, and person-who-is-me Justin Taylor on Bleak House.

Also, the latest installment of Peter Orner’s column devoted to the short story, The Lonely Voice, is about John Edgar Wideman.

Oh Also too, if you live in NYC, know that the Rumpus is coming. The NYC event, You Are Not Alone, is May 30. You can get more info about the event (Eugene Mirman, Anthony Swofford, Amy Tan, the list goes one…) here, or check back in with Giant early next week when we’ll be giving some tickets to it with some sort of contest that’s so simple and fun and right-on that I still haven’t figured out what it will be.

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13 Comments

  1. Drew

      Wideman is too smart for me. Although, I guess, Chris Elliott is probably also too smart for me. Figure it out.

  2. Drew

      Wideman is too smart for me. Although, I guess, Chris Elliott is probably also too smart for me. Figure it out.

  3. Kevin O'Neill

      Thank you for this summary; I appreciated it.

  4. Kevin O'Neill

      Thank you for this summary; I appreciated it.

  5. Lincoln

      I wrote a short last book I loved the other day.

      Rumpus is a fun site. Lots of interesting content updated very quickly.

  6. Lincoln

      I wrote a short last book I loved the other day.

      Rumpus is a fun site. Lots of interesting content updated very quickly.

  7. Justin Taylor

      Don’t know how I missed that one- you’re on there now.

  8. Justin Taylor

      Don’t know how I missed that one- you’re on there now.

  9. HTMLGIAN

      I’ve been trying to love the Rumpus and was really excited about its launch, but every time I go there I get all blahhed out. But I think my head’s just fucked. The only things I like online anymore are The Awl, HTMLGIANT, and STreetBoners.

  10. HTMLGIAN

      I’ve been trying to love the Rumpus and was really excited about its launch, but every time I go there I get all blahhed out. But I think my head’s just fucked. The only things I like online anymore are The Awl, HTMLGIANT, and STreetBoners.

  11. amanda

      My boyfriend, who is actually in town, gave me that six-word book; it’s pretty neat. This makes me want tickets to an event I didn’t know was happening until just this minute…

  12. amanda

      My boyfriend, who is actually in town, gave me that six-word book; it’s pretty neat. This makes me want tickets to an event I didn’t know was happening until just this minute…

  13. <HTMLGIANT> > Blog Archive » YOU’RE NOT ALONE– IF YOU WIN THIS CONTEST

      […] the force behind last/this year’s bizarrely wonderful Six-Word Memoir phenomenon. And the last time I blogged about the Rumpus it was about their “Last Book I Loved” column (which, btw, now has its own index page, […]