Blake Butler

http://www.gillesdeleuzecommittedsuicideandsowilldrphil.com/

Blake Butler lives in Atlanta. His third book, There Is No Year, is forthcoming April 2011 from Harper Perennial.

Dear Publishers, When you go around saying you are into “discovering new voices,” make sure you don’t really mean “discovering new people who write in the exact same voices we always publish.”

Art Observed (Going Places)

This week: Always almost there. A blurry image tells more than you think. “Suggested Donation,” means never pay more than 1 cent to get into The Met. A broken toilet can still be used (just don’t flush). – TD

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Film / 3 Comments
July 26th, 2011 / 3:16 pm

“On Writing” Roundup

For easier access, by request, here’s a roundup of all our “On Writing” posts, with craft thoughts by:

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme
Coco
GZA
Delonte West
Mark Rylance
Kenneth Anger
Damien Hirst
Anton LaVey
Prince
Gerhard Richter
Judy Garland
Kimora Lee
Peyton Manning
Mark David Chapman
David Tudor
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Bill Evans
Ted Bundy
Ray Lewis
Andre Agassi
Wu-Tang
Aleister Crowley
Grace Jones
Liz Fraser
John Holmes
Floyd Mayweather
Klaus Kinski
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Ron Artest
Louise Bourgeois
Gustav Mahler
Iggy Pop
R. Kelly
Captain Beefheart
Dee Dee Ramone
Kool Keith
Mike Tyson

Roundup / 8 Comments
July 24th, 2011 / 3:50 pm

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme on Writing

“Anybody can kill anybody.”

“I do not have the answers and as a woman I do not intend to play my own thoughts over the truth. I can clearly state the problems and tell you that I suffer from them.”

“We all came from houses with doors, doors that were supposed to be closed when there were things going on that we weren’t supposed to see, and when our pants were down.”

[re: approaching Gerald Ford with an unloaded weapon] “He looked like cardboard to me… but at the same time, I had ejected the bullet in my apartment, and I used the gun as it was.”

[re: Charles Manson] “I know I laid a lot of my thinking in his mind.”

“I am co-counsel and as co-counsel I have the right to represent myself, speak for myself and conduct myself and my trial by myself in my best interests in order of due process.”

“Keep talking about moving toxic wastes, but never let it cross your mind to quit producing them.”

“People have already shown you can lay blood in front of them and they’re not, you know, they don’t think anything of it.”

“When the circumstances are right, everything becomes a dance.”

“Usually a person who does what I did doesn’t repeat it.”

“It’s in everybody.”

Craft Notes / 7 Comments
July 22nd, 2011 / 12:24 pm

The novel isn’t dead, bro…

Behind the Scenes / 10 Comments
July 21st, 2011 / 2:58 pm

A new Brian Evenson story, “Anskan House,” appears online as an excerpt from the new issue of Redivider.

Art Observed (Opening Salvo)

Artists have a responsibility to indulge and nourish their ideas, no matter how insignificant they may seem at first. This weekly blog post, Art Observed, is one of those ideas. It seeks to function as both an abstract, non-linear diary of sorts, and as an exercise in observation and image curating. My artwork relies heavily on the juxtaposition of images, their cohesiveness and contradiction, as well as the conclusions that the mind reaches when forced to reconcile the two. For the most part, I will opt to let each set of 10 images speak for itself, but will include some brief commentary if I find it necessary or illuminating. – TD

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Random / 13 Comments
July 19th, 2011 / 2:26 pm

22 Things I Learned from Submitting Writing

Re this I thought about this:

1. Early on I sent out a lot of bullshit. I mean I would send out almost anything that seemed done, whether I loved it or not. Later on I began to realize that not only did I rarely receive acceptances for things that I hadn’t put the work on in, I also realized that boy does it suck when you accidentally get something published that you don’t even like.

2. There is a mental diminishing return to publishing. The more you do it the more the feeling is diluted. Thus, there is no rush. It seems really urgent and then it seems less urgent. Being diligent  to the point of nearly psycho produces results in that the practice of writing makes you get better and better, but you should never feel shitty for a rejection. It is just another chance to improve. Take that chance.

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Behind the Scenes / 181 Comments
July 18th, 2011 / 4:10 pm

Everything I Submitted from 2006-2008 & What Happened To It

[Key: Journal / Title of Work / Date Sent / Date Response Received / Accepted?]

[Strikethrough = withdrawn]

 

2008

Proximity (solicited)                     Bath or Mud (reprint)                        12/29            1/14            Y

Dewclaw (solicited)                            New Sick & Sentencens            12/29            12/29            Y

Dalkey Archive                        2 nov excerpts                                    12/29

The Cupboard                                    Sourcebook                                    12/18            RETRACT

Diagram                                    100 Children                                    12/16            1/14            N

Noon                                          Sourcebook                                    12/12            2/20            N+

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Behind the Scenes / 53 Comments
July 15th, 2011 / 5:49 pm

Please, please, no more promo emails for your client’s new book where the first line is a question meant to sum up the central conflict. I seriously just got this one: “Dear Blake, What happens when a serial killing cab driver and a suicidal socialite collide?” Bro…