Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 225

Repetition Patterns is iPhone. Breath. Rejoice. Read.

It's true, CCLaP books are now available on the iPhone, and so after that fully sinks in, please feel free to rejoice whenever it feels right.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago by Mike Royko.

First off we need to thank the Pete Anderson for giving us a copy of this book. When we were kids we voraciously sucked down any and all columns by Mike Royko we could find and so for many years it was his voice and his writing that drove all that we thought we knew and associated with Chicago, which is now of course the home of TBWCYL, Inc.'s headquarters. What is amazing, or maybe not so amazing, depending on how much time you've spent here, is not just how much the book both supports and...

It's coming.

It's back.

This (e-Chap) Book Will Change Your Life - Chasing Pigeons Makes Me Feel More Powerful by Kendra Grant Malone.

So we read, and then re-read the new e-chapbook Chasing Pigeons Makes Me Feel More Powerful by TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Kendra Grant Malone, which left us feeling melancholy and happy all at once. Melancholy because while there is much provocation in Malone's work, and in these poems especially, that provocation is wrapped around pain and loss, which provides a buffer for both writer and reader, but never lets either get too far away from the feelings being protected. Still, there is happiness...

Childhood. Cowboys. Parenting. Loss. Dinosaurs. Nostalgia. Growing-up. Spacemen. Fear. Sadness. Joy. Pain. Letting go. And Ned Beatty. Toy Story 3.

Happy Anniversary. And don't call me Shirley.

Everything you ever wanted to know about dating, but we're afraid to ask. Well, that and a guest post on TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog.

Following their quite fine, and most appreciated, review of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, the quite fine and endlessly cool team behind TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog asked if TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer if he might be willing to talk dating in a guest post on the blog. Apparently, the fact that Ben knows near nothing about dating wasn't an issue for them, or Ben, and so we invite you to take a look at the post and enjoy the below excerpt. We also want to thank...

More Than Anything. Live reading at the Orange Alert Reading Series. And some Orange Alert podcast action as well.

We wanted to share a recording with you of TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer reading his story More Than Anything at the Orange Alert Reading Series. The piece was originally run in Necessary Fiction and we are much appreciative all around. We also wanted to draw your attention to this week's episode of the Orange Alert podcast which always rocks, but also includes an excerpt from Ben and Jason Orange's recent interview on WGN 720 radio here in Chicago.

Eggers. Ellen. Stalking.

We have been intrigued by the reaction to the Elizabeth Ellen Bookslut essay on her time "Stalking Dave Eggers," no less so now that she has reported that his people have asked her to take it down. Hero worship is tough. Celebrity love is confusing. And our current intensely ramped-up focus on pop culture and stardom is crushing. I'm not sure if the essay is honest or brave, scintillating or even true, but that doesn't matter, not really, the feelings are something anyone can relate to...