Read Tripticks and Berg by Ann Quin, Endurance by Alfred Lansing, Speedboat by Renata Adler, and Kind One by Laird Hunt. Watched The Place Beyond the Pines and Nebraska. Listened to Antecedent Conditions by threethings, The Machine Stops by The Frozen Vaults, Where Shine Bright Lights by Tara Jane O’Neil, and July by Marissa Nadler.
Reviews of Tripticks, Berg, July, Antecedent Conditions, and The Machine Stops after the jump.
“Natives” is in the 10th and final issue of Pear Noir. It can be preordered here. It’s a story about child thieves and a town that gets caught up in it all.
Partway through writing this story, I lost direction with it. I had a draft that wasn’t working, but couldn’t pinpoint the problem. I sent it to my sister Rain, and she helped to identify the issues and brainstorm some solutions. Her assistance was invaluable, and I greatly appreciate it.
“A Source” is up today in the January issue of The Collagist. It took a few tries to get the ending right, and I’ve got some notes on that after the jump. Spoilers, etc.
Read Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins, Troublers by Rob Walsh, Caketrain 10, Jurg Laederach’s 69 Ways to Play the Blues and the first issue of Them. Watched Melancholia. Listened to Jenny Hval’s Innocence is Kinky, Beyonce’s Beyonce, and Kate Carr’s Songs From a Cold Place.
Finished Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett and read The Sister’s Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. Reread The Wavering Knife and Fugue State by Brian Evenson and parts of Divorcer by Gary Lutz. Watched 12 Years a Slave and rewatched Skyfall. Listened to Carey’s Cold Spring by Frog Eyes and Julia With Blue Jeans On by Moonface.
Small reviews of some of these after the jump.
Lake of Earth is available to order today.
You can purchase it through Caketrain for $9, or buy it with another book of theirs for $13, shipping included. You can also purchase it from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.
There’s an excerpt from the book available here.
You can read more about the creation of the book here.
Thank you so much to Caketrain editors Amanda Raczkowski and Joseph Reed for their careful editing and design of the collection. It’s been a great process to a be a part of, and I’m terribly proud of the book.
“Z” is up today over at Hobart. It’s a relative of “Surrogated,” in that it shares a similar form and harbors decades of resentment. Thanks to Jac Jemc for taking the piece. I’m proud to be included.
Read Steve Almond’s The Notorious B.B. Chow, David Markson’s The Last Novel, and started Beckett’s Malone Dies. Watched Room 237, The Bay, and rewatched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Listened to Neko Case’s The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, Bill Callahan’s Dream River, and Lubomyr Melnyk’s The Voice of Trees.
Short reviews of most of those after the jump.
I thought I’d expand my Reading posts to include reviews of other things (movies, music, etc).
-Saw I’m So Excited. While the movie felt like a retreading of earlier Almodóvar films, it was still immensely fun to watch. It has the melodramatic sensibilities of Live Flesh and the near slapstick of Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, but never achieves the emotional depth of Talk to Her or Volver. This is a case where a filmmaker’s prior efforts can work against them — had Almodóvar made this film earlier in his career, it probably would have been better received. But still, very enjoyable and fun.
More about Pacific Rim, J.M. Ledgard’s Submergence, Laird Hunt’s Ray of the Star, and Max Richter’s Memoryhouse after the jump.
“I’m Going to Have to Ask You to Leave” is up at Squalorly. This issue features work by Leesa Cross-Smith and John Vanderslice. The story will also be included in a print anthology of work from Squalorly’s first year, available later this year.
Will VanDenBerg 