Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 184

These Dark Sky (Chap) Books Will Change Your Life - I Have Touched You by Gregory Sherl and Muted Lines From Someone Else's Memory by Seth Berg.

Travel. Read. Dark Sky. There is a temptation of course when you read multiple, in this case two, does that even qualify as multiple, anyway, multiple releases from the same publisher and in this case at the same time to ask yourself, why was said publisher drawn to these titles, what they might have in common, do they hang together in terms of theme, language or some more nebulous like vibe or rhythm. Which brings us to I Have Touched You by Gregory Sherl and Muted Lines From Someone Else's Memory by Ryan Berg, the former linked stories, the latter a collection of poems.

We are Baby Got Books interview. And we are most happy.

We very much love the Baby Got Books and we are most happy to be Baby Got Books interview. So big thanks for that Baby Got Books, and drinks on us, for sure, when next we meet.

BGB: Wow. Lots to check out there. And you've been busy yourself. Since we began this interview, a review copy of your next book My Father's House has arrived in the mail. From what I've been able to check out so far, it has a much different feel than You Can Make Him Like You. Can you tell us a little about My Father's House? Anything else in the works you want to tell us about?

BT: Sorry, still feeling guilty about that last question, one of the many problems with being a fanboy. And yes, there has been some busyness, which also makes me feel a little guilty, though it may be self-consciousness, I will look that up. But with My Father's House I think there is a different feel in two ways. First, and especially with the last couple of novels, I have been trying to tell humorous stories about relationships in a pop culture saturated world with layers of pain, coping and confusion lying closely below the surface, and with My Father's House, a story focused on a character losing his father, I flipped this approach, and so it is more overtly about pain, coping and confusion, with the humor and pop culture is lurking just below the surface and serving as a sort of salve for both the characters and readers. I would also say though that I have been trying to emulate the music of the Ramones and the recent movies by David Cronenberg in my writing, tight, intimate, punchy, funny, and violent scenes that come fast and propel you into the next scene or chapter, and with this book I decided to tighten that approach up even more, so more sparse, quick and insular, and more like how I see the actual experience of living through some one's death. In terms of what else may be in the works, and at this point more self-consciousness abounds, I have a collection of humor pieces coming out at some point this summer titled This American Life and I am working on my first science fiction joint, similar themes to my previous work, though more focused on work and the intersection of work and family, albeit in a not so distant Chicago where work is hard to come by, life on Mars beckons and the drugs are mostly synthetic.

Still pre-order. Still half-price. Still contractually obligated to remind you of such.

Here. There. And everywhere.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All idle. And Long.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. We have a new story Idle Time by Robert Long, which we are way excited about, and, (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and more debt ceiling 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, big props to The Captain.

We are CCLaP. Hear us roar. Or something. On August 10th.

More here. More to come. For real.

Tell Me a Story - Michael Kimball. Yes, that Michael Kimball.

Word. Big word. TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Michael Kimball has penned a fine piece titled "I Wanted to Go With Her" for TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog's Tell Me a Story feature and we are quite digging it. Quite. All of it. So please do take a look, because it just might change your life. Word.

"It was my sophomore year of high school before I received a telephone call from a girl. Her name was Ellen Bonner and she sat across from me in our beginning typing class. I used to tease her about anything that I could think of—the way she styled her hair, the shape of her nose, the width of the stripes on her corduroys, the flowers on her blouse, the way that she spelled her last name, which was almost funny. Of course, I only did this to Ellen Bonner because I really liked her."

This Book Will Change Your Life - Prize Winners by Ryan W. Bradley.

Oh what to do with Prize Winners from TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Ryan W. Bradley? There is sex, and more sex, raunch, depravity, and nakedly raw characters, and sex, did we mention that? Here's the thing though, the thing being what we think we know when we think we are talking about sex. It can be titillating. It can be too graphic. Or uncomfortable. Humorous. Violent. Sad. Fun, yes, even fun, have you heard? And Prize Winners is all of that, but again, here's the thing, the sex here is something the characters primarily do in an effort to make the pain and confusion go away, the more sex they have, the more they don't have to focus on their failed, or failing marriages, their inability to have children and their lame jobs, and there is power in this kind of writing, and the writing is real, yes, we said real, and yes, we sort of hate that, using real as a descriptor, what does that mean, and so maybe its better to say, that the writing is real to us because there is anguish, and anger, and like the sex it is raw, and naked, and there is strength in that, not shying away from the ugliness of life and relationships and not hiding behind anything, no metaphors, no imagery, not really, just the act of sex as a means for expressing everything, running from everything and maybe even being the only highlight of the day, which if you think about it is immensely sad, but certainly beats the alternative.

"Tanzer's books have haiku moments at their core." My Father's House gets decomP magazinE'd. And likes it. A lot.

Really honored and appreciative for the incredibly thoughtful and kind words about My Father's House, not to mention, okay we are mentioning, the ongoing support and championing of our work by the stellar decomP magazinE and the inestimable Spencer Dew. Drinks on us for sure when next we meet.

"The goal of Tanzer as a novelist, the gem at the center of his work—is not solving the problems or untangling the knots but coming to some still points of transcendence, moving beyond all the 'unresolved shit' and assorted questions and bad behaviors and normal behaviors and façade of day-to-day bullshit 'mellowness.'"

E.T. The Knack. Zombieland. J.J. Abrams. District 9. ELO. Stand By Me. George Romero. Close Encounters. Fathers. Blow Out. And Kyle Chandler. Super 8.

Interview Sundays are back.

For real. We are so Interview Sundays this week and quite pleased to be sharing this interview with TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Tom Williams courtesy of the Dark Sky Magazine. Enjoy.