Cameron Pierce's Blog, page 5
March 4, 2011
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
The New Yorker recently published another excerpt from DFW's The Pale King. It's good. Here's the first line: "Every whole person has ambitions, objectives, initiatives, goals. This one particular boy's goal was to be able to press his lips to every square inch of his own body."
I look forward to The Pale King's release (April 15th). From the published excerpts and everything I've heard about the book, including this article at Conversational Reading, I have mixed expectations for The Pale King itself, but it will certainly be the source of some interesting, controversial discussions about what it means to be the author of a text. Personally, I feel that books, even those attributed to a single author, tend to be far more collaborative than is often recognized. A flawed or incomplete but otherwise promising manuscript can become a fully realized book in the hands of a good editor. Gordon Lish, for example, "claims that he had played a large role in creating Raymond Carver." There are probably many similar accounts of editors "creating" writers. In this case, however, David Foster Wallace was already David Foster Wallace, so nobody can create him. It's a matter of recreation here, and after he's dead, no less. I wonder, if The Pale King turns out to be as great as (or better than) anything David Foster Wallace wrote in his lifetime, will anyone care? Can the book be judged as a book, isolated from the name on the cover? The answer is probably no, of course, because that name is David Foster Wallace and he's a giant and he's dead. Even if The Pale King disappoints, the conversations and debates it stirs up will be exciting to follow.
March 3, 2011
New poem at The Nervous Breakdown
I have a new poem up at The Nervous Breakdown. It's called "three people lose their genitals while getting naked." You can read it here.
February 22, 2011
New Brian Keene from Deadite Press
Eraserhead's cult horror imprint, Deadite Press, has just released new trade paperback editions of three Brian Keene titles: Urban Gothic, Clickers II, and Jack's Magic Beans.
Here's the description of Jack's Magic Beans:
It happens in a split-second. One moment, customers are happily shopping in the Save-A-Lot grocery store. The next instant, they are transformed into bloodthirsty psychotics, interested only in slaughtering one another and committing unimaginably atrocious and frenzied acts of violent depravity.
Only Jack, Sammi, Angie and Marcel seem immune to the insanity that has infected the rest of the town. But can they stay alive long enough — and trust each other long enough — to unravel the secret of Jack's magic beans.
Deadite Press is proud to bring one of Brian Keene's bleakest and most violent novellas back into print once more. This edition also includes four bonus short stories: "Without You," "I Am An Exit," "This Is Not An Exit," and "The King, in: YELLOW."
You can buy Jack's Magic Beans from Amazon for only $7.95.
February 18, 2011
Trailer from Rose: The 3D Zombie Puppet Musical
In case you haven't heard, legendary horror writer and editor John Skipp is making a movie. It's a dream project of his, and from what I've seen/heard about it so far, it's going to be very, very special.
In Skipp's words, the movie is about "…a super-hot, hilarious ex-mental patient with a cable access puppet show in downtown LA. But now it's 48 hours into the zombie apocalypse so she's running rescue stations and musical numbers round the clock, trying to keep people's hope alive…and periodically pausing to pulverize the skulls of the zombies trying to bust down her door."
If that description (and Skipp's past works) don't quite convince you that Rose will be an epic-strange zombie film like no other, then visit the project's Kickstarter page and hear what Skipp and others have to say about it.
And be sure to check out this fun little teaser trailer that was just released:
February 16, 2011
February 15, 2011
Two Stories. One Sandwich.
I have a new story up at Housefire.
It's short enough to read in the time it takes to eat half a sandwich, and it's followed by a new story by Kirsten Alene that you may also read in the time it takes to eat half a sandwich.
My story is about a man who is full or worms or something. Kirsten's is about a laundromat.
Do the math.
Poncho Peligroso for 2011 Poet Laureate
February 3, 2011
Reptile Smuggling
A few years ago, I read a news article about reptile smuggling, which gave me an idea for a story about reptile smuggling, but I put the story on hold when I realized that I didn't know enough about reptile smuggling. I didn't have much luck coming across the information I wanted either.
Two nights ago, I happened to find a book called The Lizard King. It was written by Bryan Christy, a freelance writer who has worked for Playboy and National Geographic.
The Lizard King is all about reptile smuggling. I read it in one night, fascinated by the story of Strictly Reptiles (a key player in the reptile smuggling trade), the illegal activities of zoos and several famous herpetologists (people who study amphibians and reptiles), and how similar — and often connected — animal smuggling is with the drug trade. The difference between dealing in drugs and animals is that the laws protecting animals are weak. Despite the Lacey Act and CITES, major animal smugglers often walk free with no more than a small citation or, at worst, a brief prison sentence. More often, they're never incarcerated, or only incarcerated after years. Lack of funding is largely to blame, but there are other factors as well.
I only had two major complaints about The Lizard King. The story told seems to end in the late nineties and the book was published in 2008, but there's no followup chapter or afterword to explain if and how environmental protection laws have changed since then. I'll be researching that on my own, but it seems like something that should have been included here. Also, the prose was a bit rocky. The story was so compelling that the prose didn't matter too much, but it definitely annoyed me at times, especially Christy's metaphors and human profiles.
Overall, I highly recommend The Lizard King to anyone looking for a quick non-fiction read on a disturbing, fascinating subject. The morning after I finished it, I told my fiance about it for a half hour without pause.
I look forward to finally writing the reptile smuggling story I've wanted to write for years. It'll blow Snakes on a Plane/Train out of the air and off of the tracks.
Last night I also started We Take Me Apart by Molly Gaudy. which has a charming fairy tale quality, and read The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. The Killing Joke was great, but Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum remains my favorite Batman comic (sorry Moore).
The Year Father Ran Away with the Pest Control Guy
Rats nested in our Christmas tree.
They ate all the wrapping paper
and crapped on the presents.
On New Year's Eve,
mother burned the house down.
February 1, 2011
Best Doughnuts in Portland?
No doubt, Voodoo Doughnut is the champion of all doughnuts. They've taken what we all know and love about fried dough foods, dragged it through the nine circles of Hell, gotten lost in Frankenstein's lab, and emerged with delicious monstrosities like Captain My Captain (a Captain Crunch doughnut), Diablos Rex (satanic doughnut), the Old Dirty Bastard, and my favorite, the Voodoo Doll.
VD even has a variety of vegan doughnuts that are quite good. If that weren't enough, they occasionally hold awesome events, like bringing in Lloyd Kaufman and screening Poultrygeist. The original downtown location is usually open 24 hours too (and it's a short walk from where I live).
Voodoo Doughnut is a local fixture that has earned international acclaim. There might be no better doughnut shop in the world than this little hole in the wall beside a porno theater (and the NE Portland location is good too), but there's another doughnut shop in Portland that deserves attention: coco donuts on SW 17th Avenue.
Contrasting Voodoo's bizarro inventions, coco donuts serves all the classic doughnuts (or donuts, whichever you prefer). The most you'll spend on your fried dough here is $1.25, and they've also got a weekly special where $2 gets you espresso and a doughnut. And their espresso is really, really good, as are the doughnuts. Everything is always fresh and you never walk away feeling sick, wondering what the hell you've just digested (which isn't the case at Voodoo either, but it is with a lot of other doughnut shops).
Whenever the dog and I go for late night walks, we usually pass by cocos. I like their pink/white/brown minimalist storefront. And the smell of freshly baking doughnuts is strong enough to mask the bum shit that lines the streets and gutters, and whether I'm feeling good or shitty, I feel a little happier after walking by this doughnut shop after hours, when the doughnuts for the next day are just being prepared. They might not serve up sea battles, but sometimes a battle is not what we need.
Then again, whales battling Fruit Loop octopi are always in my dreams.
