The Forever War
The Forever War
by Dexter Filkin
Knopf, 2008 / Vintage reprint 2009
384 pages / Buy 1st edition from Amazon ($25); Buy Reprint edition from Amazon ($15.95)
The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins. Nonfiction—investigative journalism. A journalist’s stories from Afghanistan and Iraq. Highly violent and disturbing, filled with bizarre wartime details, reminiscent of Apocalypse Now, conveying at times the hallucinogenic weirdness of wartime events (for example, the story “Blonde,” in which an American army platoon displays one of their female soldiers and announces that she is “for sale,” as a distraction to the Iraqi males in a village, thereby allowing the unit to search the Iraqis’ homes without encountering resistance). Obviously not a cheerful book. Just look at the author photo.
The book opens with a prologue entitled “Hells Bells,” describing the 2004 assault on Fallujah from the footsoldier’s perspective in terms that are not mournful but grimly exuberant—just like the heavy metal rock song “Hells Bells” (by AC/DC), which is playing from loudspeakers during the attack. We witness combat as a lethal game of tackle football, in which the marines and the journalist sprint downfield, dive for cover, bullets whip past, and a “jihadi’s head bursts like a tomato.”
8 Comments
September 28th, 2012 / 12:00 pm
September 28th, 2012 / 12:00 pm
Life Is with People by Atticus Lish
There was a new release from Tyrant Books yesterday. Life Is with People by Atticus Lish is 120 pages of illustrations and text by Atticus. The covers come in four different colored papers. They are thick and nice. The illustrations and text are printed on composition (lined) paper that is thick and nice. This isn’t something I can really try to sell to you. You either like it, or you do not. You either get it, or you do not. I am not saying one is better than the other. Personally, I see each page as a poem that takes awhile to sink in. I can’t really look at too many of them in one sitting. I once looked at a stack of 300 of them in one sitting and felt mental and ill for ten hours afterward. These books cost $20 to make, so I am selling them for $20. If we sell all of them, we break even. I’m not being all, “Look how generous I am.” I am being all, “I think this book is so important that I do not want any kind of deterrence from buying it for those who may not be able to afford it.” Book design by the good-eyed Ryan P. Kirby. There were only 500 of these produced. Do not hesitate. Actually, I am so behind this book that if you order one and think it was not worth your money, you can call me and tell me why and if you make one iota of sense, I will reimburse you. Cool? Cool. Thank you kindly.
The books is available through SPD, the Tyrant website, and will be in limited stores very soon.
[Previews at Vice.]
New York Tyrant 8
A note on the brand new issue of NYT from editor Giancarlo Ditrapano:
New York Tyrant 8 (Vol.3, No.2) is available for preorder. The book went to press today and will be back and ready to ship in two weeks. Not to blow my own horn (and I can do that, you know), but this is a pretty solid issue. Sam Lipsyte, Ken Sparling, Noy Holland, Breece D’J Pancake, an interview with Padgett Powell, Daryl Scroggins, two beautiful pieces by Brandon Hobson, Andy Devine, Ken Baumann, Sean Kilpatrick, Michael Kimball, more drawings (one sampled below) from Atticus Lish, and a shit ton of other great writers. The theme of this issue turned out, unintentionally, to be knives. Lots of knives in these stories. I swear I don’t do this shit on purpose.
A couple issues ago, we made the Tyrant 300 pages long. We are now back to a better length, less than 200 pages. I hate when journals get all bulky and are just too intimidating to even get through half of the stories. We’ll be having a launch party within the next couple of weeks so I’ll keep you updated on that. But until then, please go get your copy of the new Tyrant. Buy a subscription. Okay, here’s a deal. If you buy a 4 issue subscription or the larger 8 issue, we will throw in a copy of Brian Evenson’s novella Baby Leg. And if you buy a copy of the new Tyrant in the next 5 days, we will include a copy of Tyrant Books’ latest release, Firework by Eugene Marten. I’ve never done this discount/sale thing before but it feels good and right. No it doesn’t. It sucks and it hurts.
Uncategorized / 73 Comments
July 13th, 2010 / 6:00 pm
July 13th, 2010 / 6:00 pm
Tyrant 6: !!!
Um, what the hell: the line up for the new issue of New York Tyrant has just been released, and, well, if you still have eyes, you might get ready to lose them:
300 pages of the best one yet.
A whole new batch of art from Mr. Atticus Lish!
Kevin Sampsell interviews Diane Williams
fiction from:
Thomas Bernhard
Rachel Sherman
Justin Taylor
Christine Schutt
Cooper Renner
Daryl Scroggins
Scott Garson
Anthony Luebbert
Christopher Kennedy
Jesse Ball
Daniel Grandbois
Michael Hemmingson
Darby Larson
Karl Taro Greenfeld
Ken Sparling
Robert Lopez
S.G. Miller
Kim Chinquee
Jason Snyder
Jessica Blau
Michael Leone
I think I would listen to the Thong Song for a week straight if I had to to get a hunk of this. I don’t know what made me just think of the Thong Song.
You can preorder the issue now on the Tyrant website, which is also currently running the Sampsell/Williams interview in full for your enjoyment.
Every new issue of the Tyrant is a spectacle of power and light. If not yer eyes, this one might take yer lungs out. Or your ovaries. Or you might get ovary-implanted. Either way, go get, before it sells out, as they always do.
Uncategorized / 59 Comments
March 24th, 2009 / 6:34 pm
March 24th, 2009 / 6:34 pm
New York Tyrant 5
A sneak peek of the greatest cover of a literary magazine this year, if not this decade, if not…
Wow.
Uncategorized / 6 Comments
November 10th, 2008 / 2:24 am
November 10th, 2008 / 2:24 am