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1.) Weather by David. “Blue skies but covered with streaking thin masses of white clouds.”
2.) Probably the most glow “new” Andy Warhol book here.
3.) The PEN/Faulkner Award finalists announced today. Tao Lin is not on the list and that is fucking cocksucker horseshit fuck. Fuck. Sherman Alexie (the Man we all be-sweet-on) and that snarky L. Moore book are thick, gray, cement-like children educated in Switzerland. I mean goooooooooooold.
(The PEN is America’s “largest peer-juried prize for fiction” but I thought that was American Idol.)
4.) The Heavy Rain reviews drizzle on in now. Dripping.
5.) Will someone do something about contributor notes? Jesus H Lard. If you are 1.) trying to get laid, 2.) have the self-esteem of an ID badge, 3.) ever owned a dog, 4.) have a spouse you very, very, very much love, got it, you are in love, the real thing, you can’t believe you found this supportive, caring…5.) have once in your life been president of anything, 6.) have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
OK this is cool. And this.
But if not…just tone it down, I’m trying to read over here.
Thanks
Tags: andy warhol, contributor notes, david lynch, Lorrie Moore, michael martone, PEN
That Andy Warhol book sounds sweet. Big fan of all things Andy, including his Philosophy book.
That Andy Warhol book sounds sweet. Big fan of all things Andy, including his Philosophy book.
Ditto on Tao being looked over. Just read “Shoplifting from American Apparel.” Tao’s writing there is a perfect vessel of implied emotions; he also gives dignity to how (many) young people today try to live and to relate to each other. Between this and his poetry, I’d say he’s going to be remembered.
Ditto on Tao being looked over. Just read “Shoplifting from American Apparel.” Tao’s writing there is a perfect vessel of implied emotions; he also gives dignity to how (many) young people today try to live and to relate to each other. Between this and his poetry, I’d say he’s going to be remembered.
Martone’s got a whole book of them:
http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Martone-Fictions/dp/1573661260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267054479&sr=8-1
Martone’s got a whole book of them:
http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Martone-Fictions/dp/1573661260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267054479&sr=8-1
I did like a Contrib Note I saw in The Los Angeles Review 6 or PANK 4 (both arrived same day and don’t have handy), where the author said for his 18th birthday he got a union card and wedding coat.
I did like a Contrib Note I saw in The Los Angeles Review 6 or PANK 4 (both arrived same day and don’t have handy), where the author said for his 18th birthday he got a union card and wedding coat.
Is there any way to really do a good CN? I mean, 98% of those reading the CN are other writers or your friends/family. I like to throw my blog link and maybe a few pub credits. By “like” I mean I end up taking that approach. Every thing else I ever try, including the one I just sent Laura Ellen Scott, ends up looking schlocky. Maybe the fact that I hate my CN, every one of them, helps me keep hating myself enough to keep writing?
Is there any way to really do a good CN? I mean, 98% of those reading the CN are other writers or your friends/family. I like to throw my blog link and maybe a few pub credits. By “like” I mean I end up taking that approach. Every thing else I ever try, including the one I just sent Laura Ellen Scott, ends up looking schlocky. Maybe the fact that I hate my CN, every one of them, helps me keep hating myself enough to keep writing?
Oh, I’ve written ones that looked–now in hindsight–like a dating ad. Very tacky things. I guess keep it simple and evolving?
Oh, I’ve written ones that looked–now in hindsight–like a dating ad. Very tacky things. I guess keep it simple and evolving?
Exactly, simple and evolving is the key. Ravi Mangla has written some funny ones. One guy had one that said something about wanting desperately for you to like him. Reading it the first time made me laugh and like it but then I decided it was kind of kitschy.
Exactly, simple and evolving is the key. Ravi Mangla has written some funny ones. One guy had one that said something about wanting desperately for you to like him. Reading it the first time made me laugh and like it but then I decided it was kind of kitschy.
You maybe need to read better books to elevate your expectations for fiction? Tao seems like a good-hearted person(a), but SFAA seemed mediocre at best, even by Tao’s standards.
You maybe need to read better books to elevate your expectations for fiction? Tao seems like a good-hearted person(a), but SFAA seemed mediocre at best, even by Tao’s standards.
I’m sorry Sean and Stephen, but Tao is not a good writer. Tao’s writing is not a “perfect vessel of implied emotions,” but a shallow and witty masking of empty art. He’s witty, sure; but don’t confuse this with good writing. And don’t confuse implicit emotion with vapidity. I do think he’ll grow up someday and write well, once he stops fearing people and language and real ideas. But that day hasn’t arrived yet.
I’m sorry Sean and Stephen, but Tao is not a good writer. Tao’s writing is not a “perfect vessel of implied emotions,” but a shallow and witty masking of empty art. He’s witty, sure; but don’t confuse this with good writing. And don’t confuse implicit emotion with vapidity. I do think he’ll grow up someday and write well, once he stops fearing people and language and real ideas. But that day hasn’t arrived yet.
and don’t confuse opinions with absolute truths. one isabella’s vapidity is another stephen’s implied emotion. you say potato, i say frittata.
and don’t confuse opinions with absolute truths. one isabella’s vapidity is another stephen’s implied emotion. you say potato, i say frittata.
One man’s terrorist is another man’s heroic marytr . . .
Even if read as a critique of vapidity, SFAA doesn’t transcend vapidity. It doesn’t represent the complexities of “youth” (even for a handful of borderline autistic youth now in NYC). Empty suggestion of more isn’t enough, objectively. Such an approach isn’t new, friends. If masterfully handled, it works. If not, it’s like SFAA.
One man’s terrorist is another man’s heroic marytr . . .
Even if read as a critique of vapidity, SFAA doesn’t transcend vapidity. It doesn’t represent the complexities of “youth” (even for a handful of borderline autistic youth now in NYC). Empty suggestion of more isn’t enough, objectively. Such an approach isn’t new, friends. If masterfully handled, it works. If not, it’s like SFAA.
I think Tao Lin is an interesting writer. I liked SFAA but wouldn’t consider it “award” material in the mainstream sense.
I actually prefer his poetry, which I find charming and rather moving. I “got it” (his poetry) much better after hearing him read his ugly fish poem during the Bookworm interview with him.
I think his writing is not so much “a vessel of implied emotions” as filled with trepidation about emotions. There is a shyness, a “not wanting to impose too much” when trying to express feelings of loneliness and alienation.
I think Tao Lin is an interesting writer. I liked SFAA but wouldn’t consider it “award” material in the mainstream sense.
I actually prefer his poetry, which I find charming and rather moving. I “got it” (his poetry) much better after hearing him read his ugly fish poem during the Bookworm interview with him.
I think his writing is not so much “a vessel of implied emotions” as filled with trepidation about emotions. There is a shyness, a “not wanting to impose too much” when trying to express feelings of loneliness and alienation.
“empty art”? “real ideas”?
“empty art”? “real ideas”?
I own four Tao books and just put up some SFAA broadside things all over Ball State University, a medium size Midwestern college. Tao sent them to me.
Sometimes I like his writing and other times find it annoying.
I think his genre is annoying. Annoying as a genre, I mean. I think that’s OK.
So I sometimes enjoy Tao’s wriitng and sometimes not.
The above post I was jesting. That’s why I used so many excellent curse words. As hyperbole to jest.
Why am I wriitng this? I dunno. I wish it was Mean Week and I would never qualify anything or maybe I wish I was just meaner?
no.
ps
I like his poetry best too
I own four Tao books and just put up some SFAA broadside things all over Ball State University, a medium size Midwestern college. Tao sent them to me.
Sometimes I like his writing and other times find it annoying.
I think his genre is annoying. Annoying as a genre, I mean. I think that’s OK.
So I sometimes enjoy Tao’s wriitng and sometimes not.
The above post I was jesting. That’s why I used so many excellent curse words. As hyperbole to jest.
Why am I wriitng this? I dunno. I wish it was Mean Week and I would never qualify anything or maybe I wish I was just meaner?
no.
ps
I like his poetry best too
Your curse word use is excellent. Naughty phrase maker.
I don’t think you need to qualify anything.
Whenever I read something you’ve written, I feel like “I don’t understand it but I do”.
Your curse word use is excellent. Naughty phrase maker.
I don’t think you need to qualify anything.
Whenever I read something you’ve written, I feel like “I don’t understand it but I do”.
I still use “jar of socks” when appropriate.
I still use “jar of socks” when appropriate.
“bag of dicks”
“bag of dicks”
I see. Joking. I wouldn’t have thought. Other than Jimmy, things can be humorless here. Or pretentious. Usually both!
I see. Joking. I wouldn’t have thought. Other than Jimmy, things can be humorless here. Or pretentious. Usually both!
Thanks for posting the link to Michael’s story, Sean. I learned a lot from editing it. It’s a response to a story by Susan Neville that we published.
http://freightstories.com/Neville.html
Thanks for posting the link to Michael’s story, Sean. I learned a lot from editing it. It’s a response to a story by Susan Neville that we published.
http://freightstories.com/Neville.html
Was that a joke?
Was that a joke?
You’re almost certainly wrong? I’ve read many, many established classics of varying difficulty (my favorite is something you might have heard of, Ulysses (this is me using the condescending voice you used)—I also like such books as The Waves, Beckett’s “trilogy” and short prose, Invisible Man, Hopscotch, etc. etc. etc.). Perhaps because I didn’t use my “pompous writing voice” when describing my impressions of SFAA, you underestimated who was writing it. SFAA is an enactment of Buddhism. It is radical minimalism. It is a valuable cultural artifact. Its depth of insight into the subtlest nuances of contemporary behavior and emotional states is rare indeed. All of his work is screaming at the top of its lungs for graduate theses. And SFAA is relentless, where previous prose works allowed in fantasy. To repeat, he will be remembered.
You’re almost certainly wrong? I’ve read many, many established classics of varying difficulty (my favorite is something you might have heard of, Ulysses (this is me using the condescending voice you used)—I also like such books as The Waves, Beckett’s “trilogy” and short prose, Invisible Man, Hopscotch, etc. etc. etc.). Perhaps because I didn’t use my “pompous writing voice” when describing my impressions of SFAA, you underestimated who was writing it. SFAA is an enactment of Buddhism. It is radical minimalism. It is a valuable cultural artifact. Its depth of insight into the subtlest nuances of contemporary behavior and emotional states is rare indeed. All of his work is screaming at the top of its lungs for graduate theses. And SFAA is relentless, where previous prose works allowed in fantasy. To repeat, he will be remembered.
Also SFAA is welcoming and funny for younger readers, which is how other books have survived (including that woefully misunderstood yet wildly bestselling book, The Catcher in the Rye).
Also SFAA is welcoming and funny for younger readers, which is how other books have survived (including that woefully misunderstood yet wildly bestselling book, The Catcher in the Rye).