Brian Alan Ellis's Blog, page 32
February 8, 2014
February 7, 2014
The Round Up Writer's Zine | The Round Up Writer's Zine – Short stories, poems and other literary musings with an edge.
I’ve got a story in this here motherf’r. It’s called “Flowers at Full Speed.” It’s about a coke-fueled love triangle culminating at a trailer park barbecue.
February 1, 2014
A Contemporary Classic
Fast Machine by Elizabeth Ellen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you asked (you wouldn’t, but if you did) what the perfect book was, I’d be hard-pressed not to answer with: Fast Machine.
For starters, the book is beautifully designed, and despite its length of nearly 400 pages, is small enough to fit inside a purse or coat pocket (which doesn’t mean you should steal it; the book won’t cost you much, anyway).
Secondly, the stories therein (like, 100 of them!) are funny, honest, brave, sad, poignant; compact and durable; a pleasure to the eyes and to the mind and to the heart—they have wonderful openings (“I was eight months pregnant with a black eye. More importantly, I was late for work and my shirt still wasn’t ironed. I didn’t have time for any of Jenny’s shit.”), quirky titles (“Samuel L. Jackson Is Not a Good Name for a Rabbit”), juicy middle portions (“I had a bad habit of making my life about the people who were no longer in it.”), and closing lines (“She will remain alert and focused, knowing she is moving toward something again, rather than away.”) which, like any literature worth a damn, leave you winded, lifted.
Basically, Elizabeth Ellen’s Fast Machine is a warm friend you’ll need while navigating the soul’s many cold spots; a contemporary classic; most crucial, indeed.
View all my reviews
January 26, 2014
Great Interview!
Great interview with author/publisher Michael J. Seidlinger
January 23, 2014
TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog: The Indie Ink Runs Deep: Brian Alan Ellis
The Next Best Book Club asked me to write something about my favorite tattoo, so I wrote about my Edward Gorey tattoo with the hidden penis (pictures included).
January 22, 2014
The Lance Carbuncle Interview
Over at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, Sloughing Off the Rot received my pick for Best Bizarro Literature Book for 2013. I talk with the author, Reverend Lance Carbuncle, about…
Check out this interview with Lance Carbuncle, author of some crazy-good and crazy-bizarre books, like Grundish and Askew and Sloughing Off the Rot. Not only does he kindly give me a shout out, but he talks about “blumpkins” as well!
An Excerpt From Brian Alan Ellis's 'The Mustache He's Always Wanted But Could Never Grow'
We’re pleased to offer an excerpt from Brian Alan Ellis’s new collection The Mustache He’s Always Wanted But Could Never Grow, available now. Reviewing the collection for CCLaP, Karl Wolff noted th…
Check out an exclusive excerpt of my latest book over at Vol. 1 Brooklyn!
January 17, 2014
CCLaP: Book Review: "The Mustache He's Always Wanted But Could Never Grow and Other Stories," by Brian Alan Ellis
Some love from CCLAP!
“Vulgar, fetishistic, and ferocious… [The book] glitters with a violent, sex-crazed lowbrow majesty.”
January 16, 2014
January 15, 2014
The Laughter of Strangers by Michael Seidlinger (A Review)
By Brian Alan Ellis 268 pgs. | $12.95 Lazy Fascist Press Judging by the author picture in his last book, My Pet Serial Killer, Michael J. Seidlinger is a very handsome man you wouldnâ��t believe had …
Check out my review of Michael Seidlinger’s excellent novel, The Laughter of Strangers (Lazy Fascist Press), via Sundog Lit!
