Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 191

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. Full of James. And all in pieces.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. And all in pieces. We have a new poem, Pieces of Home by Mitch James, which we are way excited about, and, (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and birthers protestations 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, and art, and video, yes, video, and combinations there of. And most finally, its (finally) freaking beautiful here and we hope it is wherever you are as well.

Mass Curbside Splendor splendiferousness.

So much Curbside Splendor goodness happening all at once, but let's begin by thanking Victor David Giron and crew for hosting a most kind You Can Make Him Like You release party at the Beauty Bar this past Wednesday night, and then let's be sure to hype both Curbside's upcoming release The Chapbook: Poems by Charles Bane Jr. and the new lit joint posted on their website Bear v. Snake written by none other than TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Lauryn Allison Lewis. All in all, most splendiferous indeed.

"Somewhere between Don Draper and Vic Mackey." You Can Make Him Like You gets Small Doggies'd. And likes it. A lot.

Small Doggies and its fearless leader Matty Byloos, our newest BFF for sure, are coolness, and so we are way thrilled indeed at their quite insane review of You Can Make Him Like You. Big thanks Matty and drinks on us when next we meet. For everyone else, some excerpt and please do keep a look out for some Small Doggies short story action soon. Very, very soon. Who knows, it just may change your life.

"Taking its name from a popular (?) song by The Hold Steady, You Can Make Him Like You dabbles in pop culture moments of the immediate present, offering another pathway into the novel for many readers. In the wake of contemporary cinema and the ubiquitousness of television, we all tend to see ourselves as the star of our own miniseries. We soundtrack our experiences, we relate ourselves and our friends to characters on t.v. shows, we reference the heroes and villains of music, or fashion, or politics, in an effort to understand what the hell might be happening to us at any given time in the world. This is how we make sense of our time on the planet, which might be something particular about being American, I'm not sure. That said, the framework that the title establishes serves as a guide for navigating the text — and this may very well be a significant reason behind exactly why the pages of this book turn so easily and quickly."

Tonight.

We are Fab 5. Sweetness.

Quite geeked we are to be included, along with the Suzanne Burns, in the new edition of the DOGZPLOT Fab 5 series, where authors are invited to share the five pieces of their work they wish could get a little more attention. We chose to focus on pieces that ran in Thieves Jargon, decomP, RAGAD, THE2NDHAND and Dogzplot itself, and we are most appreciative for the chance to do so. Big thanks Dogzplot, drinks, and dogs, on us, when next we meet.

"Erratic yet touching." You Can Make Him Like You gets Time Out Chicago'd. And likes it. A lot.

A little floored to have a review of You Can Make Him Like You in the Time Out Chicago, but there is review, and we are humbled, confused, most appreciative, and wondering if there is any larger [insert appropriate word here] to this.

"In true Tanzer fashion, You Can Make Him Like You is littered with a barrage of pop-culture references. Told in a series of vignette-like chapters, the book chronicles the meltdown of a reluctant father. Readers are treated to Keith's every thought as his internal dialogue is often humorously interjected in conversations."

Dang. R.I.P. Grete Waitz.

"For every finish-line tape a runner breaks -- complete with the cheers of the crowd and the clicking of hundreds of cameras -- there are the hours of hard and often lonely work that rarely gets talked about." Grete Waitz (1953 - 2011)

A double-dose of Hosho McCreesh.

We are big fans of writer Hosho McCreesh, see the quite fine Sunlight at Midnight, Darkness at Noon from the Orange Alert, and we think you should be as well. Did that sound pushy? Fine, because we believe that said fanhood just might change your life. So, what's the first step? Check out his new website, which you can do here, or here, and second, join us in reveling in Hosho's quite fine and crazily appreciated review of You Can Make Him Like You at the Goodreads, which has most definitely changed our lives. Big thanks Hosho and drinks on us whenever it is we get out to the desert you call home.

"Tanzer's best book to date, YCMHLY perfectly captures the Pop-infused wants and worries of both serious relationships, and having a first child. Breezy and entertaining, Tanzer delivers a weighty emotional journey, but one that never tumbles into melodrama--a very easy book to relate to and enjoy. "

98,775.

Change you can believe in.

"Babbitt in a faded The Hold Steady t-shirt." You Can Make Him Like You gets Geoff Hyatt'd. And likes it. A lot.

You Can Make Him Like You has received some most kind words from local author and new BFF Geoff Hyatt and for that we are most appreciative. We are also buying drinks when next we meet, cool? Awesome. Big thanks bro.

"You Can Make Him Like You is told in an engaging first-person that quietly denies the urgency and agony of feeling one's identity becoming subsumed by a life as expected as a marketing campaign. It instead explores the bigger fear of not being "good" enough to even make it that far. Fortunately, there is love and fatherhood to bring our hero to something bigger than himself. There's much to smile about in Tanzer's latest. After all, if Keith can get it together to look for a sense of personal completion, then maybe there's hope for all of us."