false 6 6 5 true 5725314 read 1 true 2908288 currently-reading 0 true 2908287 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28464944 to: Super Flat Times: Stories (Paperback) by Matthew Derby

Great, great book, funny and driven by one of the purest, most expressive of emotions, anger. It can come across as bitter and too surreal for some readers, but for the few who appreciate Derby's unique blend of tone, hunor, and poetry, and can understand why anger is so necessary these days, it explodes into an unrivaled panacea, not easily matched by anyone that readily comes to mind. Very contemporary in its cultural "jabs" and "cool" in surreal Sci-fi world building. Contrived as both poetic outlet, experimental narrative, and joke, the language conveys economy and a depth of meaning while never taking itself too seriously. Very real pathos comes through in the voice and from the sheer originally of the project, but if you aren't laughing a little, you're not getting it. Once again I need to apologize for being a bad reviewer. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28463043 to: The Age of Wire and String: Stories (American Literature (Dalkey Archive)) by Ben Marcus
I like all 3 of Ben Marcus's books tremendously. I hope he'll come out with another soon. I'm not even going to try to review this author, but I think he defines what might be called the "new wave of modernism" that took place in the early to late 20th century (not that it ever entirely died) and which at least a thousand or more present-day writers and poets regret is beginning to rapidly decline (not that it was ever really that big, even during Gordon Lish's tenure at Knopf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Lish). Also, the kind of "hybrid" prose/poetry writing that one could arguably credit Marcus with helping to define on a more, widespread, commercial level (by which I only mean "not small press," like Burning Deck or Lost Roads) continues strongly today, with many new presses and journals cropping up, so one certainly can't say that the movement has died, it's just returned to where it's always been, like New Directions and the authors represented by Atlas. Sorry for these digressions ... ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28461460 to: Conditions Uncertain and Likely to Pass Away: Tales (Lost Roads) by Frank Stanford
Life changing book, and one I keep going back to. Amazing language-driven stories about the South from a poet raised by monks. He later committed suicide at a young age. The book is definitely about death and the post slavery era, but also about experiences that shine beyond most normal channels of experience and existence, while remaining accessible to good readers. The writing takes you to a different world within this word, but also a private, personal place. Stanford was once the spouse of CD Wright, a Brown University instructor and MacArthur Fellow. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28460274 to: Dra- (New American Fiction Series) by Stacey Levine
One of my favorites, if not still my favorite book. Levine writes incredibly funny and unpredictable prose, whose giddy moments turn quickly from dark to light. Her descriptions are always amazing and the interactions among ambient characters both bizzarly mundane and gravely existential. The prose escalates in ways that one cannot imagine, then veers in yet another startling direction, only to fizzle into a pit like one's emotions at the end of long tedious work day. I'm not a good reviewer, but it's impossible to do justice to this book, in my opinion. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28459493 to: Journal of Albion Moonlight (Paperback) by Kenneth Patchen
Highly virtuosic modernism, at times a bit gratingly "beat" and dated. I started skimming from pages 250 to 300 and considered it a done deal. It's taken me over a year or two to make it that far. There are amazing passages, but this level of "early" textual innovation belongs to shorter forms in these days of jadedness and short attention spans. Book gets kudos from Henry Miller and is considered an important underground classic. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28459036 to: Honored Guest (Paperback) by Joy Williams
bookshelves: currently-reading
More story-driven than I typically like, which makes it kind of a relief, i.e., an easy read? I'm enjoying it profusely on the late-morning can, not to denigrate its obviously high degree of literary and experimental quality (in this case more "quirky prose" than word-driven poetical hybrid). The author came recommended from Tao Lin's blog about a year ago. ]]>