Review of Matthew Simmons’s ‘A Jello Horse’ (by Christopher Higgs)
I see this text consisting of a heart and appendages.
The heart = the funeral.
The appendages = the memories (of what it’s like to be a kid & of previous dating experiences) – plus the experiences at the roadside attractions.
Oddly, the heart (the funeral section) seemed to be of tangential importance. What seemed to hold the most significance, for me anyways, were the appendages. But perhaps that observation says more about me as a reader – and what I see as a tension between reality and imagination – than about the text itself.
As a reader, I generally tend to dislike conventional realism because I find it uninteresting to read a transcript of a situation that could feasibly occur in the ordinary reality in which I live: in the case of A Jello Horse it would be what I am calling the heart — the transcript of driving to a house party, playing pinball, going to a funeral, going to a health clinic, etc. And to be honest, I can’t really understand why other people don’t feel the same negative reaction to this kind of realism. I mean, we already share this ordinary existence, why would I want someone to tell me about their version of it? That would be like someone giving me a running commentary while I’m watching a Lakers game. It’s like: dude, I’m watching it with you, I don’t need you to tell me your version of it – I already have my version, which I will always value greater than anyone else’s version. What I don’t have is whatever strange imaginary things other people hide in their heads, which is one of the primary reasons I turn to literature in the first place.
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May 27th, 2009 / 7:57 pm
May 27th, 2009 / 7:57 pm
Seriously Not Safe For Work! Ernie Conrick’s GOLDEN HEMORRHOIDS
This is my second inappropriate post in a row. I feel like a fifteen year old boy with a constant hardon who skips school to look at porn magazines behind the 7/11. Any day now, I’m going to write a nice book review, but in the meantime….what follows is a video of the writer Ernie Conrick reading a very outrageous story called “Golden Hemorrhoids”. I had the great pleasure of hearing him read the story that night- it was very much the highlight of the evening in a “Holy Shit” sort of way. Mixing politcs and anal sex, man. I had a drink with him afterward- I love this guy. He also has a fucking brilliant, different story in the Susie Bright edited anthology, X: The Erotic Treasury (click here to go to the incomparabe Susie Bright’s blog and to learn more about her latest book). Oh, and he’s also the author (under a different name) of The Upside Down Tree: India’s Changing Culture, which you can read more about by clicking here.
I Like Caketrain a Lot and interviewed them about it
When I say Caketrain never ceases to amaze me, what I mean is that Amanda Raczkowski and Joseph Reed are always amazing me. Even when I’m not doing anything but trying to fall asleep, even when I’m doing tons of stuff like negotiating printer maintenance costs for the Stamford office, I marvel: how do they do everything they do so well? The things they publish in the journal are continually new, smartly readable, and surprising. Their books are fun to hold. Their design is consistently impeccable. And they’re making it happen so affordably that anyone can buy and read them. What a great way to save literature, to not overcharge for it.
So one day, when I couldn’t take my publisher’s envy anymore, I sent them a few questions that first rattled to mind. They responded generously, taking my trivialties and forming from them genuinely interesting subjects. And even better than that, they included pictures and captions and links that fit seemlessly into the HTML Giant archives. Read the interview below the fold. READ MORE >
Rumpus/Giant/6word Contest: WE HAVE A WINNER
Congratulations to JENNIFER, for her winning entry in yesterday’s contest. Here’s what she wrote-
I have always been my opposite.
[Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides]
Runners up, honorable mentions & other details after the jump, but first: TO ALL THOSE OF YOU WHO DID NOT WIN / ENTER: WHY NOT COME TO THE EVENT ANYWAY? TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE, AND THE LINE-UP KEEPS GETTING BIGGER AND MORE AWESOME. THIS MORNING THEY ANNOUNCED THE ADDITION OF AMANDA PALMER FROM THE DRESDEN DOLLS.
Video Game Art: ‘Passage’
There’s been a lot of discussion of video games and their influences on literary art.
Here, then, is a rather rare and interesting entity in the realm of conceptual gaming: Jason Rohrer’s ‘Passage.’ (Free to download and very little time required in the playing, give it a try, you’ll see).
Because the point and nature of the game are not immediately apparent, you should download and explore it, paying attention, and then, if you are interested, follow for more thoughts after the break.
WINNER of Dead Eye Dick Contest
Thank you everyone for entering HTMLGIANT’s Dead Eye Dick contest — such creative takes on Vonnegut’s drawing! Most memorable ones, for me, include Drew’s sunburnt nipple, Jake’s self-inflicted bullet wound, Clapper’s ear hair, cobweb’s entropy of vectors, Chris East’s surrogate swastika, Ben Brooks’ hilarious Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ronnie’s erased web of crosses; all of these are worthy of a prize, and have seriously delighted me — though Ben Blum takes the prize with his brilliant cunnilingus tongue technique, not just for its creativity, but the adroitly executed letter of proud dramatic indignation:
Dearest Marjorie, your repeated usage in letters to me of the words “short” and “powerful” is unnecessary, as these are widely understood to be the essential qualifications of a jockey, and I and half the neighborhood are well aware that that is the profession of the man you have run off with. I have nothing but respect for your decision. But in spite of myself, I think I would like you to know the kind of power growing in your own, abandoned home (although as yet I am no shorter), and it is with this aim in mind that I now dip my tongue in the fatmouthed collectible inkwell your mother bought me last month as consolation for your behavior and show what I can accomplish in one and one quarter seconds, to the benefit of countless women unknown to you:
Congratulations Ben, Dick Eye Dick will be mailed shortly after I receive your mailing address. To everyone who entered, you’ve all made my day. I am only sorry I only have one book to give away. It’s true, life is no way to treat an animal, so let’s all just pet each other, quietly.
Word Spaces (12): Amelia Gray
Amelia Gray is the author of AM/PM (featherproof) and Museum of the Weird (forthcoming from FC2). She recently won the FC2 Fiction Prize. I’ve linked to a page on her website that lists many publications online that you may read over. Also, here’s an audio recording of Amelia’s reading from AM/PM in Tucson for a reading thing at Congress, I think.
Various information about her and her work can be read here:
AM/PM reviewed at Literary License
Amelia Gray’s favorite novellas
Below is her word space. Enjoy.
Book: The Sequel contest
Finally, a story contest that plays to my strengths as a writer: short attention span and love of despoiling classic works. Enter submissions by May 30 and write a one-line sequel to your favorite books. I went with Sentimental Education, since I read it recently and it’s good. I entitled the sequel “The Death of Sentiment.”
In the distant future, Frederic, realizing that he was somehow no longer a French dandy, but instead a heavily-armed cyborg knee-deep in gristle, shrapnel and unidentified limbs, accepted that the time for idleness and romance had passed—now it was time for payback.
YOU’RE NOT ALONE– IF YOU WIN THIS CONTEST
Look alive, kids. This sweet mother is coming to NYC on May 30th, and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away. First read the flier and get yourself all worked up, then I’ll tell you how you can win.
So okay, you might have noticed that one of the event sponsors is SMITH magazine, 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, so you can see all the entries in the series). So let’s make this easy as sin- if you want the pair of tickets to this event, you need to write a six-word “Last Book I Loved” entry and leave it in the comment thread on this post. Book title and author’s name don’t count against your word limit. Also include a way for me to get in touch with you, or else don’t forget to check back here tomorrow to see who won. The contest will be open all day today, with entries closing at midnight EST. Good luck.