December 9th, 2009 / 2:17 pm
Web Hype

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.

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18 Comments

  1. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      “You’re with the big dogs now, little puppy.”

  2. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      “You’re with the big dogs now, little puppy.”

  3. Mike Meginnis

      That Eileen Myles post is insane. That part blew my mind.

  4. Mike Meginnis

      That Eileen Myles post is insane. That part blew my mind.

  5. Lincoln

      It is hard for me to imagine how anyone, especially in an argument about poetry readings, could use that phrase with a straight face.

  6. Lincoln

      It is hard for me to imagine how anyone, especially in an argument about poetry readings, could use that phrase with a straight face.

  7. Mather Schneider

      Not that I want to defend Eileen, but do we really know that was her making that comment?

  8. Mather Schneider

      Not that I want to defend Eileen, but do we really know that was her making that comment?

  9. Justin Taylor

      No, we have no way to know for sure. The style has some of the hallmarks of her prose style, albeit a less refined and sinuous version, which could pretty easily suggest an imitator, but it could also just suggest a person who is very pissed off, and therefore has lost her usual cool. I assume it’s her.

  10. Justin Taylor

      No, we have no way to know for sure. The style has some of the hallmarks of her prose style, albeit a less refined and sinuous version, which could pretty easily suggest an imitator, but it could also just suggest a person who is very pissed off, and therefore has lost her usual cool. I assume it’s her.

  11. magick mike

      the recording of this reines reading is incredible

  12. magick mike

      the recording of this reines reading is incredible

  13. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      All she was really saying was, “Your boyfriend is a douche who has no idea how much space he takes up in a room, and you’re an idiot for defending him,” which could totally be true.

  14. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      All she was really saying was, “Your boyfriend is a douche who has no idea how much space he takes up in a room, and you’re an idiot for defending him,” which could totally be true.

  15. Richard

      thanks for the gaitskill, i’ve become a huge fan of hers

  16. Richard

      thanks for the gaitskill, i’ve become a huge fan of hers

  17. Justin Taylor

      Yeah, isn’t it? Ariana is pretty much always worth listening to.

  18. Justin Taylor

      Yeah, isn’t it? Ariana is pretty much always worth listening to.