Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 123

December 29, 2012

These Books (by Chicago authors) Will Change Your Life, Part Two - Volt by Alan Heathcock and How To Hold A Woman by Billy Lombardo.

Read and travel and travel and read and hit Chicago authors repeatedly all week. And hit may be the operative word, well, one of any number of operative words when it comes to Volt by Alan Heathcock, who we should note is a Chicago native, now Idaho transplant, though we will claim him in perpetuity, and How To Hold A Woman by Billy Lombardo, both of which come out swinging in some fashion and don't let-up. Not much anyway. And not until their respective books stop. Not end, there's no end for these characters, just a point where the stories stop. For now, and for the reader, though not for them. Both books also do a masterly job of building something larger from smaller parts. Lombard's joint is a novel in stories, stories as fragments, stories about how one family falls apart, blow by blow, and piece by piece, until, maybe, possibly, re-building again. It is crushing, but it is also knowing, which makes the feeling of being crushed all the worse. 


It may be we are bringing our biases and preferences to the table here as well, and when aren't we, but as great as it all is, and it is greatness, Chapter Two, "How I Knew You Were Mad At Me," says everything that needs to be said about how quiet and distance enters a once vibrant relationship. How it is little things that pile-up until they are not little, just painful and sad and there is no end in sight. Heathcock goes another way, stand-alone stories that are not entirely stand alone, as he crafts, or is it creates, and what a fertile, detail-loving eye Heathcock possesses, a small town called Krafton and the endless violence, fear, and loss that permeates the lives of the people who live there in ways both insular, and not. Because even in small towns where everybody may know something about everyone else, you can't keep the natural, or larger, world, at bay. Things don't work like that. They can't. And like all relationships, things once vibrant can go dark and quiet just like that. All of which may be sad and like a punch a face, or gut, but be it Volt or How To Hold A Woman, makes for riveting, and yes even, life-changing reading.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 29, 2012 10:42

December 28, 2012

These Books (by Chicago authors) Will Change Your Life, Part One - Hack by Dmitry Samarov and Inside The Whale by Joseph G. Peterson.


Travel. Read. Chicago authors. Which is not totally planned mind you, but there they are, looming bedside, like literary ghosts, all ethereal, other-worldly, and finding their way into the TIMBUK2. Which is not to say we don't favor Chicago authors or writers we know, if even only somewhat. Because we do. Proudly and all tribal as it were. Which is to say that both Hack by Dmitry Samarov and Inside The Whale by Joseph G. Peterson are Chicago books by Chicago guys we know, so there's that. They are also however, books of a type we don't always look to pick-up. With Hack all nonfiction. And Inside The Whale a novel in verse, because yes those exist and notice must be paid when they do. Peterson of course is an old friend and favorite, and anyone who has the stones to write a novel about a drunken, ill-fated, poet bartender's fall from grace who somehow may yet still majestically live on through words and child has our life-long admiration. 



Which is not even to mention the rich cover art, the illustrations, or the commensurate stones Wicker Park Press must have to publish such a creation. Which feels as Chicago as anything. Well, as anything as Hack that is. Which not only has kick-ass cover art and illustrations itself, but said cover and illustrations are by the author himself. An author who is kind enough to take us on a spin to all corners Chicago as he finds fares of all kinds, the drunk, the racist, the wretched, and the sexed-up. All kinds and all tribes. All Chicago really. As are both books at that. Full of ghosts, and full of what the city is and ever will be, full of rich, albeit broken characters, full of life, full of stones, and full of words, rivers full, and sure to change your life yo.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 28, 2012 16:15

December 27, 2012

Wherein TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog asks us to riff on some of our favorite books of the year. And we do.

There will be more. So much more. Soon. Promise. For what would the end of the year be without lists? Sad and empty, that's what. But for now please do enjoy some TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog Caldwell Rosenblum Nelson love and please do check out said favorite books because they just may change your life. For real. Even if only briefly.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 27, 2012 21:55

December 23, 2012

There is Dads & Families Daddy Cool interview.

It's true, we are talking Daddy Cool with the Bradley and the Duffer at the THE GOOD MEN PROJECT, it is most beautiful, and we are most appreciative. Excerpt? Yes. Done. Word.

GMP: Why are you enamored with dad writers?

Ben: I think it’s about seeking, or building, a sense of community when writing can be so isolating. Especially when you have a day job as I do that has nothing to do with writing. When you’re a parent, which can be a further disconnect. Community is so important, connection, reducing isolation, sharing, all of it, and seeking people who have something in common with you is such a big part of that. For me that’s dad writers, regardless of what they do otherwise.

Ryan: I ran a children’s bookstore for two years, and that was my real education in the medium. Until then I was really dismissive of books for kids. Then the deeper I plunged into fatherhood I realized nothing I write is appropriate for kids, and naturally I want to share my passion with my children. I wrote a middle grade novel for my stepson and then a short story (which will be in Daddy Cool) and I’ve bandied about some picture book ideas. I think the coolest part of the idea was that it was a chance for all of us to share our writing with our kids for a change.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 23, 2012 06:05

December 22, 2012

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All Blind. And full of Hemmings.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. We have new piece from old friend, {BLIND} by Kyle Hemmings, which we are way excited about, and, (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and fiscal cliff prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all shout-outs and links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more of you will submit comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art, and video, yes, video, and combinations there of. And most finally, Happy Holidays, one and all.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 22, 2012 18:52

December 21, 2012

December 20, 2012

Beaudoin. Carr. And the week that is.

Even during a week rife with death, bullets,  and sadness, there can still be beauty, language that moves us, literature as salve, and immersion in the stories of people's lives that if they don't actually explain things in ways that allow us to make more sense of the world around us, they at least normalize the confusion. Two pieces that have struck us in just such a fashion this week are "Going Home" by Sean Beaudoin, who writes of growing-up in Newtown, and going home again in The Weeklings, and "What Music?" by Brian Carr, his account of his brother's death on the side of the road in The Rumpus. These pieces are as moving as they are timely. They speak to loss as much as they speak to the possibility of healing. And during a week such as this one, even the possibility of healing is something both beautiful and well worth embracing.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 20, 2012 15:25

December 19, 2012

My Father's House is Pete Lit Good Reading 2012. And we are fine.

We are also much appreciative for the Pete Lit's ongoing support and most geeked to be among such fine company, including, but not limited to, the Tom Williams, Joe Meno, and Michael Czyzniejewski, all writers we quite love and admire.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 19, 2012 07:07

December 18, 2012