Joseph Mattson's Blog, page 4

Hello Friends, Citizens,Dispatch: BAR CRAWL--I will be fe...

Hello Friends, Citizens, Dispatch: BAR CRAWL--I will be featured in a rather killerevent TONIGHT (Sat., 10/29, 6pm until late) downtown LA--five contemporaryLA authors/literati reading from five classic LA Noir books--Chandler, JamesCain, Nathanael West... It'll be the mighty, mighty Gary Phillips, badass Cajuntransplant Martin Pousson, the LA Times' Carolyn Kellogg, Libros Schmibros'David Kipen, and your pal Joseph Mattson (me). I'll be dropping an ace--I'mreading from Paul Cain's FAST ONE, perhaps the most brutal classic crime novelever written, a savagely obscure book by a true enigmatic dynamo. The eventwill start at the Last Bookstore at Spring and 5th--FOLLOWING the reading is adowntown literary bar crawl/pub hop/elixir mixer. Put together by PEN as partof the Night & The City Festival. Starts at 6pm. Full info here: http://www.penusa.org/node/378Let's see you tonight!Cheers,Joseph

Mediabistro/Galleycat book club TUES 10/11/11!

Hello friends and esteemed "industry professionals"—

The Speed Chronicles (Akashic Books), has been selected for/will be featured at the Mediabistro/Galleycat Book Club THIS Tuesday, October 11th, 2011. I will be there, too! I will be joined by three other killer authors, Grace Krilanovich, Richard Grossman, and Sanjiv Bhattacharya—please come and schmooze and make me look good, because standing next to all of you beautiful people cannot but help usher illumination.

FREE! + free books! But you MUST, by the gods, RSVP at: http://labookpartyoct.eventbrite.com/

Viceroy Santa Monica Hotel
1819 Ocean Avenue
Tues., Oct. 11, 7pm

Co-conspired by SLAKE, THE LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS, and GOODREADS, so I say shttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftay down and get on it. Full disclosure below!

Cheers,
Joseph

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/mediabistro-book-club-returns-to-los-angeles_b39099

From GALLEYCAT:

You can read all the online book reviews in the world, but nothing beats real-world conversations between readers, and authors. To help our community grow, we will host our second West Coast edition of the Mediabistro Book Club on October 11th in Los Angeles.
Follow this link to RSVP for the free party at the Viceroy Santa Monica Hotel. The book club will feature loads of free books, short readings by four authors, and the chance to meet editors from The Los Angeles Review of Books, Slake and GoodReads.
The slate of featured authors includes: Joseph Mattson with The Speed Chronicles, Grace Krilanovich with The Orange Eats Creeps, Richard Grossman with The Animals and Sanjiv Bhattacharya with Secrets & Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon Polygamy. Read more about the books below…
The Speed Chronicles edited by Joseph Mattson: "Speed: the most demonized–and misunderstood–drug in the land. Deprived of the ingrained romantic mysticism of the opiate or the cosmopolitan chic of cocaine or the mundane tolerance of marijuana, there is no sympathy for this devil. Akashic Books dares to bring forth the first contemporary collection of all new literary short fiction on the drug from an array of today's most compelling and respected authors. These are no stereotypical tales of tweakers–the element of crime and the bleary-eyed, shaky zombies at dawn are here right alongside heart-wrenching narratives of everyday people, good intentions gone terribly awry, the skewed American Dream going up in flames, and even some accounts of pure joy."
The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich: "A girl with drug-induced ESP and an eerie connection to Patty Reed (a young member of the Donner Party who credited her survival to her relationship with a hidden wooden doll), searches for her disappeared foster sister along "The Highway That Eats People," stalked by a conflation of Twin Peaks' "Bob" and the Green River Killer, known as Dactyl. With a scathing voice and penetrating delivery, Grace Krilanovich's The Orange Eats Creeps is one of the most ferocious debut novels in memory."
The Animals by Richard Grossman: "Consisting of 400 poems, this environmental bible is set in a mythical "field" where a shepherd engages in a series of discussions on a wide range of issues, both practical and mystical, with his flock of 200 different creatures ranging from an amoeba to a whale. Additionally, each animal tells its own intimate story in its own unique voice to the assembled group."
Secrets & Wives by Sanjiv Bhattacharya: "Bhattacharya gains unprecedented access to their world, a teeming shadow country of crazed prophets, high drama and dark secrets, where some feel at home and others are desperate to leave. He lives with a community that inhabits a giant rock on the Moab desert. Meets a prophet who works at Wal-Mart and converses with beings from other planets. He finds disturbing evidence on his travels, of forced marriage, incest and physical abuse, and as he digs, the intrigue draws him in – a former child-bride wants help in escaping; strange packages arrive in the post; there are mystery calls in the night. But Bhattacharya also finds warmth and humanity in the fundamentalist diaspora, moving into one community for weeks, holding dinner parties and discovering a Bollywood fan club for kids."

The Speed Chronicles IN-STORES NOV./DEC.

Akashic Books launches DRUG CHRONICLES series, sister to their infamous NOIR series...Out NOV./DEC. 2011: THE SPEED CHRONICLES...I edited this monster--and the authors really slammed it home...in PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY (and, yes, that indeed is the one and fucking only MEGAN ABBOTT, not Megan Abbort, er)...details on the book below. Dear readers, please come dance with the go-fast devil...

TOUR info HERE and MORE coming SOON...

"Just reading the table of contents for this fucker makes me want to hop in my time machine, zoom back to 1966 and find those two dubious physicians who used to write me scripts for Dexedrine, even though I was too tall and skinny to live already. Mainline this book now!"—JAMES ELLROY

THE SPEED CHRONICLES

Edited by JOSEPH MATTSON

Featuring 14 NEW short fiction stories about the drug speed by SHERMAN ALEXIE, WILLIAM T. VOLLMANN, JERRY STAHL, MEGAN ABBOTT, BETH LISICK, JESS WALTER, SCOTT PHILLIPS, JAMES GREER, JAMES FRANCO, TAO LIN, JOSEPH MATTSON, NATALIE DIAZ, KENJI JASPER, and ROSE BUNCH.

Speed: The most demonized—and misunderstood—drug in the land. Deprived of the ingrained romantic mysticism of the opiate or the cosmopolitan chic of cocaine or the mundane tolerance of marijuana, there is no sympathy for this devil. Yet, speed—crystal meth, amphetamines, Dexedrine, Benzedrine, Adderall; crank, fuzz, chickenscratch, OBLIVION marching powder, the go fast—is the most American of drugs: twice the productivity at half the cost, and equal opportunity for all. It feels so good and hurts so bad.

From its dueling roots of pharmaceutical miracle cure and Californian biker gang scourge to contemporary Ivy League campuses and high school chem labs, punk rock clubs to the military industrial complex, suburban households to tin can ghettos, it crosses all ethnicities, genders, and geographies—from immigrants and heartlanders punching double factory shifts to clandestine border warlords, doctors to bomber pilots, prostitutes to housewives, T-girls to teenagers, Academy Award-nominated actors and the mansion on the hill to the poorest Indian on the rez—making it not only the most essentially American narcotic, but the most deceivingly sundry literary matter.

Some shoot for angst-curing kicks, some snort for sad endurance, some for explosive joyrides into the unknown because, no matter how delicious dying young might seem, they want to live forever.

The subject of speed is so innately intimidating yet so undeniably present that it begs to be written about. It is no secret that the drug has historically tuned up the lives of writers, including Jack Kerouac, Susan Sontag, Philip K. Dick, and scores more. Too rarely, though, has it been written about, and its jolt to the bones of the American landscape continues to peak. Akashic Books dares to bring forth the first contemporary collection of all new literary short fiction on the drug from an array of today's most compelling and respected authors. These are no stereotypical tales of tweakers—the element of crime and the bleary-eyed, shaky zombies at dawn are here right alongside heartwrenching narratives of everyday people, good intentions gone terribly awry, the skewed American Dream going up in flames, and even some account of pure joy.

RSVP--last chance for SLAKE PARTY! 8/26...

Dear Friends,



Atwater Village was once a poppy field where wild ponies danced in the tequila sun. Because the naked spirit lives on, SLAKE is keeping it wild THIS Friday night, August 26th, 2011, 7:30pm until the bottles run dry…



It is SLAKE's Issue 3 (the "War and Peace" issue!) release PARTY—get down with the brave, the creamy, the brazen and brazed and even the beautiful LA literati, the printed word—that's right, SLAKE has enough ovaries and balls not only to summon the literary ass-kicking (good, as in badass) we all deserve, but thrust their money into the holy fire and give us what we need in book form, on paper, in our hands, a thousand times worth the salt, and we owe them this much.



RSVP (this is the LAST day to RSVP here for a paltry $5!!) and get your loving asses down to Atwater Crossing, 3245 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90039, Friday night. Let the world know you were down before/while the shit hit the fan, and while you're at it, SUBSCRIBE NOW here. That's the good thing about this party, is Slake is out here putting on a kick ass show for nothing, man, five bucks a head is nothing…



See you there, scroll below to see ALL you get…



All my very best,

Joseph



The night will include:



• Complimentary flatbread and wine from Atwater Grill Wood Fire Kitchen and other items for purchase

• Live music and DJ sets by the experimental collective Ojo and the band Old Californio

• Original art on display from Slake No. 3 contributors, including Ingrid Allen, Gregory Bojorquez, Michael Dopp, and Sandow Birk

• A party lounge outfitted by Living Room

• Fried chicken from the Ludotruck for sale

• Complimentary coffee from the superlative local roasters Handsome Coffee

• Hot dogs for sale from Let's Be Frank

• Beer!

• Pie!

• Stacks and stacks of Slake No. 3 for sale

THE ART OF THE RATTLING WALL

Hello friends!

TOMORROW, Aug. 13th, 2011, at 7PM, Monica Carter, Libby Flores, Eric Layer, myself, and the indomitable Sunfish Holy Breakfast Prep Cook & Arbiter of Goode Taste Mr. James Greer will be reading at the opening of ALBERT REYES: THE ART OF THE RATTLING WALL at Synchronicity Space gallery, 713 N Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90029, FREE, 7pm start, readings at 8pm.

Each writer was asked to crank out a 5-minute flash fiction piece based on Albert Reyes's cover art for the premier issue of The Rattling Wall. Mine is based on a diary I found in Van Horn, Texas, the contents of which concern a FedEx van driver's love affair with a seventeen-year-old Juarez prostitute. My fellow writers/readers will on the other hand charm you and make you laugh.

Cheers!

Joseph



Please join PEN Center USA and Narrow Books at Synchronicity on August 13, 2011, at 7 p.m. for the opening of ALBERT REYES: THE ART OF THE RATTLING WALL. The Rattling Wall is a Los Angeles-based literary journal specializing in short fiction, travel essays, and poetry. ALBERT REYES: THE ART OF THE RATTLING WALL will feature the artwork that appears in the journal's inaugural issue, as well as new work. The show will run from August 13-27, 2011.



Albert Reyes has a distinctive artistic approach inspired not only by street art, comic books, and American pop culture; but also by contemporary and classical "high art." His drawings and illustrations incorporate everything from icons of corporate America to Hollywood stars, to mass media, to politics, to consumerism. Reyes has exhibited at the Pacific Design Center, Giant Robot (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York), Black Market Gallery, Art Basel Miami Beach, and Shepard Fairey's Subliminal Projects and Studio Number One galleries. His artwork has appeared in the New York Times: Year In Ideas, Swindle, Chicano Art Magazine, Giant Robot Magazine, and on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and CNN.



The Rattling Wall, Issue 1, includes work by Tod Goldberg, Libby Flores, Tony Hoagland, Joseph Mattson, Kyle G. Dargan, Eric Layer, Stacey Waite, Neal Pollack, Lou Mathews, Don Winslow, Matthew Zapruder, Alisa Slaughter, James Greer, Eloise Klein Healy, Blake Butler, Jessica Garrison, Allison Burnett, Samantha Dunn, Brando Skyhorse, and James Frey. The Rattling Wall is edited by Michelle Meyering.



Synchronicity is located at 713 N Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90029. By definition, Synchronicity is an art gallery, but in practice it is much more. Its doors are open to a community of contemporary thinkers whose goal is to make thoughtful and intelligent work, never limiting themselves to a specific medium. Synchronicity hosts exhibitions, screenings, performances, and parties.



The Rattling Wall is generously funded by PEN Center USA and published by Narrow Books.



PEN Center USA, a literary non-profit based in Beverly Hills, has a membership of more than 800 professional writers. PEN Center USA strives to protect the rights of writers around the world, to stimulate interest in the written word, and to foster a vital literary community among the diverse writers living in the western United States. PEN Center USA has a long, successful history planning literary events in and around Los Angeles; special programming has taken place at The Hammer, Hotel Café, Largo at the Coronet, The Echo, Actor's Gang, the Hammer, the Pacific Design Center, and the Beverly Hills Hotel.



Narrow Books is an independent Los Angles-based publisher founded in 2005, publishing both art and literature. In addition to The Rattling Wall, their title's include: Hey Fudge, a giant collection of work by acclaimed artist Travis Millard (aka Fudge); Eat Hell, a book of stories by Los Angeles author Joseph Mattson; the Two Letters anthology collections; and several "unofficial" and now out-of-print handmade, mini-books and zines.



ALBERT REYES: THE ART OF THE RATTLING WALL is a free event. Reservations not accepted, RSVPs not required. Street parking is available; please take note of parking signs.



For more information on this event, please contact Michelle Meyering, Director of Programs and Events, at PEN Center USA: michelle@penusa.org.

SLAKE "War & Peace" @ STORIES 8.10.11!

Hello friends,

Sorry this is last minute, but I've just returned from an unexpected and brutal journey away from Los Angeles for the last two and a half months—and am getting back down to biz with a reading/party for SLAKE tonight at Stories in Echo Park! Full details below—this is for their brand new kick in the kisser "War & Peace" issue!

Cheers,

Joseph

Slake at Stories Books

Wednesday, August 10 at 7 p.m.

Stories Books and Café 1716 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026

(213) 413-3733



Slake returns to its first true love—Echo Park—for a reading at the intimate Stories Books and Cafe in support of our brand-new Issue 3, "War and Peace." Get a pastry at the cafe and then join us on the back patio with:



• On war's simple absurdities: National Magazine Award winner and novelist Ben Ehrenreich (The Suitors and the forthcoming Ether)

• On the wrenching, violent loss of true love: Novelist Joseph Mattson (Eat Hell, Empty the Sun), who Slake editor Joe Donnelly once called the hardest-working man in the lit business

• On mothers, knowing, and not knowing: Poet Amy Scattergood, who edits the L.A. Weekly's food blog, Squid Ink, and cowrote the James Beard Award–winning Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours

• On war, the internal following the external: Writer and filmmaker Hank Cherry, a three-time Slake contributor

• On standing against marriage: Poet and artist John Tottenham (The Inertia Variations)

• On the relative merits of a comeback: Comics writer Owen Wiseman (Samurai's Blood)

Silver Lake Jubilee reading music comedy etcetc!

SAT & SUN, May 21 & 22 (Mattson reading 3pm Sat.!):

From PEN Center USA:

PUT ON YOUR BEST PLAID SHIRT, POLISH YOUR RAY-BANS,
AND CHOOSE YOUR BEER CHALICE ...

IT'S TIME FOR

THE SILVER LAKE JUBILEE
May 21 + 22, 2011
Readings from 11 - 5 PM daily

PEN Center USA
is the proud literary curator
of the Jubilee's Community Stage

WITH READINGS BY
Joseph Mattson, Martin Pousson, Janet Fitch, Kate Micucci, Christian Lander,
Reyna Grande, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, and Jerry Stahl

ENSEMBLE READINGS BY
Les Figues, Amor Fati, The 2011 Emerging Voices Fellows,
The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rattling Wall, Slake, and Molossus

Admission to Silver Lake Jubilee is $5

BANDS Too!!! Tons of 'em!:

Saturday May 21st
SUNSET STAGE
10:30-11:30 am: Fringe Fest
12- 12:30 pm : Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band
1-1:30 pm: LACER
2-2:30 pm: Psychic Friend
2:50- 3:20 pm: Marvelous Toy
3:40 – 4:10 pm : The Finches
4:30 – 5:05 pm: Lady Danville
5:35 – 6:10 pm: NeverEver
6:40 – 7:20 pm: Mia Doi Todd
(7:20 – 7:50 pm Killsonic performs under the bridge)
7:50 pm – 8:30 pm: Ximena Sariana
9 – 9:45 pm: Ceci Bastida
10:15 – 11 pm : Sister Crayon
DJs between sets: Kevin Bronson 3:20-6:30, Ricky Garay 8:30-10:15

SANTA MONICA STAGE
10 – 12:50 pm : Marshall High School Band
1:20 – 1:50 pm : TRMRS
2:20 – 2:50 pm : Audacity
3:20 – 3:50 pm : Pangea
4:20 – 4:55 pm : Gestapo Khazi
5:25 – 6:00 pm : Black Flamingo
6:30 – 7:10 pm : Jail Weddings
7:40 – 8:20 pm : Summer Darling
8:50 – 9:35 pm : Rainbow Arabia
10:05 – 10:50 pm : Geotic
Betweeen sets: Molly/Jim 1:50-5:25; My Hollow Drum 8:20-10:05

EAGLE LA STAGE

2:50 – 3:20 pm: The AV Club
3:50 – 4:20 pm: Pageants
4:55 – 5:25 pm: Truman Peyote
6:00 – 6:30 pm: Peter Pants
8:20 – 8:50 pm: Stab City

PEN CENTER USA COMMUNITY STAGE

11:15 Les Figues Press
12.00 Amor Fati
12:45 Emerging Voices Fellows
1:30 LA Review of Books presents "The Electrocution of the Book: Reading, Writing, and Publishing in a Post-Print Culture," featuring Cecil Castellucci, Ben Ehrenreich, Grace Krilanovich, and Matthew Specktor, with Tom Lutz moderating
2:15 The Rattling Wall: a literary journal |
3:00 Joseph Mattson
3:30 Martin Pousson
4:00 Kate Micucci
4:30 Christian Lander, Stuff White People Like
6:05 Restavrant
7:00 Iliza Schlessinger's Comedy Showcase, featuring Mark Ellis, Jarod Carmichael, Tig Notaro, Pete Holmes, and Iliza Schlessinger
9:00 I Will Destroy You Comics Showcase, featuring Robert Goodin, Levon Jihanian, Jed McGowan, Tom Neely, and Malachi Ward

SUNDAY MAY 22nd
SUNSET STAGE
10:30 – 11 am : The Sweat Spot
11:15 -11:45 am : The Hollow Trees
12:15 – 12:45 pm : Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band
1 – 1:30 pm : Kazai Rex
2 – 2:30 pm : Cobra Lilies
3 – 3:30 pm : boxViolet
(3:30 – 4 pm: Heller Keller performs under the bridge)
4 – 4:30 pm: SISU
5 – 5:30 pm : Twilight Sleep
6 – 6:35 pm: Races
7:05 – 7:45 pm: Love Grenades
8:15 – 9:00 pm: We Are The World

SANTA MONICA STAGE
10:00 – 10:30 am : Fringe Fest
11:00 – 11:30 am : Fringe Fest
12:00 – 12:30 pm : Raheem Cohen
12:50 – 1:20 pm : Future Ghost
1:50 – 2:20 pm : Tommy Santee Klaws
2:50 – 3:20 pm : One Trick Pony
3:50 – 4:20 pm : Slang Chickens
4:20 – 4:50 pm: Hands
4:50 – 5:20 pm : Dante vs. Zombies
5:50 – 6:30 pm : The Black Apples
7 – 7:40 pm : Crystal Antlers
8:10 – 8:55 pm : The Little Ones

Rudolph Herzog, Jerry Stahl, Joseph Mattson, Dana Gould, and Matthew Fleischer .

TONIGHT/MAY 12, 2011, 7PM at STORIES BOOKS in ECHO PARK:

Stories Books and Rare Bird Lit present:

An Evening with RUDOLPH HERZOG,
son of Werner Herzog and author of DEAD FUNNY: HUMOR IN HITLER'S GERMANY
w/Special Guests:
Comedian DANA GOULD (The Simpsons, Seinfeld, The Aristocrats)
Writer JERRY STAHL (Permanent Midnight, Pain Killers, I, Fatty)
Writer JOSEPH MATTSON (Eat Hell, Empty the Sun, Slake)
Journalist MATTHEW FLEISCHER (Los Angeles Times Magazine, Slake, LA Weekly)

BE THERE.

The event is FREE + FREE Vodka/refreshments will be served while supplies last.
Stories Books * 1716 Sunset Blvd * Echo Park/LA * 90026 * 213-413-3733
www.storiesla.com
www.rarebirdlit.com

Rattling Wall reading at the Hammer Museum!

Hello all,

The killer, beautiful, crucial new literary magazine, The Rattling Wall, headed by PEN Center USA's Michelle Meyering in conjunction w/Narrow Books, is launching Wed., May 11th, 7PM with a reading at the HAMMER MUSEUM here in LA!

I've got a story in it and will be reading along with JAMES GREER, TOD GOLDBERG, MICHELLE MEYERING, SAM DUNN, NEAL POLLACK and more!!!

Info below! + more info at www.therattlingwall.com

The Rattling Wall Release Party

The Rattling Wall is a Los Angeles-based literary journal specializing in short fiction, travel essays, and poetry. Join us for the release of Issue 1, which includes work by Allison Burnett, Blake Butler, Samantha Dunn, James Frey, Tod Goldberg, James Greer, Eloise Klein Healy, Tony Hoagland, David Keplinger, Joseph F. Mattson, Neal Pollack, Brando Skyhorse, Alisa Slaughter, Stacey Waite, Don Winslow, and Matthew Zapruder. The Rattling Wall is edited by Michelle Meyering. A reception will follow the reading. The Rattling Wall is published by Narrow Books and generously funded by PEN Center USA.

READERS INCLUDE:
Joseph Mattson
Michelle Meyering
James Greer
Neal Pollack
Allison Burnett
Stacey Waite
Eloise Klein Healy
Sam Dunn
Matthew Zapruder
Lou Mathews

ALL HAMMER PUBLIC PROGRAMS ARE FREE. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Hammer members receive priority seating, subject to availability. Reservations not accepted, RSVPs not required.

10899 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Phone: 310.443.7000

Parking is available under the museum for $3 after 6:00pm.

Granta Magazine/Rare Bird Lit party, Mattson reading w/TC Boyle, Mona Simpson & MORE!

Hello Friends,

I'm reading at the LA Times Festival of Books Granta Magazine party Sat. night 4/30/11 w/TC Boyle, Mona Simpson, Richard Rayner and more (!)—it's a party w/readings + music and a benefit for WriteGirl, DJs etc and full bar, and some carnival-esque type goings-on, all inside of an old bank vault!

Excelsior!
Joseph

Saturday, April 30th, 8:00-Midnight

Granta and Rare Bird Lit present A Literary Carnival (a fundraiser for WriteGirl, an LA-based non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls through writing and expression)

Featuring T.C. Boyle, Jonathan Evison, Aris Janigian, Mona Simpson, Joseph Mattson, Richard Rayner, Katie Arnoldi, and Deborah Vankin. New art by Oriana Small AKA Ashley Blue. Music by Rich Ferguson with DJ sets by Alex and Rik from Conquistador.

Free Gift with RSVP at www.Granta.Kintera.Org/Tickets

For more information, please contact Saskia at Events@Granta.com

All happening at Spring Arts Tower, 453 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013