Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 23

3 Songs 3 Writers and The World's a Mess by X at the Livewire Lounge this Sunday, June 28th we are.

So happening it is. And much more here, yo.

On the great Matthew Modine, The Better Man Project, fathers, love, Buddha and the possibility that we may, or may not, have contributed to this piece at Men's Health.

For real. Yes. Maybe? Excerpt? Indeed.

"Life is an evolution, and you don't walk into it with all the answers. Evolution never ends. You’re never fully cooked. You don’t evolve to a certain moment, and then that’s it, you’ve learned everything you need to learn. Life should be a continual learning, and evolving experience.

There’s always going to be another challenge. Another obstacle to overcome. Another bathroom full of poop that you don’t want to clean, and you can’t believe you’re here, with a mop in your hand.

That’s a metaphor, obviously, but it’s an apt one. Life can be messy, and it can feel unfair, and it sometimes seems like you’re getting the raw end of the deal. But like my father taught me, sometimes the best thing to do is take a deep breath, let go of your anger, and tackle the problem."

"Displays Tanzer's evolution into a master storyteller." The New York Stories is Book Notes at Largehearted Boy and quite excited about that we are.

Truly. And appreciative too. Excerpt? Word.

"It is lovely to be back.

I should say upfront that as Largehearted Boy has very generously invited me to submit Book Notes essays in the past, I find myself considering a slightly different tack with my new release The New York Stories.I worked on this collection over a ten-year period, writing in binges as I worked on other things, and so some of what I was listening to when working on these stories has been covered previously on this site.Another thing that is unique, is that these stories were less driven by specific musical inspirations than other work I've done. The rhythms and tenor of 99 Problems, You Can Make Him Like You, or Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, speak to the musicians and the beats that spoke to me when I was working on those projects.But what spoke to me on these stories was memory, and my associations with my hometown, the bars there, the neighborhoods I lived in, and the people I ran around with.Further, the three collections within this collection are intended to loosely cross eras, the 80s, 90s and late aughts/2010 on respectively, and if not entirely riddled with time specific references, than certainly in the feeling of living in those eras, and the passage of time.These Notes then are about the music I, or the characters themselves, would have been listening to during those time periods, which I guess means there will be some overlap after all. These stories may be fiction, but they are my fiction, and that doesn't mean we don't share some things in common.One final note, these are songs that favor relationships, lost love, heartache, and confusion. They are also songs you hear in bars. All of which seems right for these stories, and most certainly appropriate."

"There Will Be Blood" is Sunday Rumpus Essay with art by Michael Tanzer which being Father's Day is quite lovely indeed.

Most lovely. And appreciated. Excerpt? Word.

"The air is salty, crisp, and inky dark.

This isn’t the summer Provincetown where the night is filled with packs of boys dressed in leather who follow Adam and I as we go to meet our parents after wandering the streets; where music plays everywhere, pulsating and full of kinetic energy; where every other storefront is a souvenir or T-shirt shop selling cans of Cape Cod air and where Spiritus Pizza, the Penny Patch, and the Army-Navy store filled with its ancient scuba gear are always jammed with tourists while rainbow flags flutter from every building, and there is life, so much life, and so much joy with every stop.

This is winter, and even on New Year’s Eve, the people on the streets are few, except for the drunken guy who yells, “Happy New Year’s” at me as he and another guy stumble by, and I think, “Happy New Year’s for who man, because it’s not happy for me and my brother?”.

And what must Adam be thinking at this point, laying on the floor of our room, alone, scared, and far from home, as he wonders whether keeping his hands clasped tightly around his head will keep his brains from spilling out onto the rug as he awaits my return?

Not that I’m really thinking about any of that."

And then there was the time we read from The New York Stories while wearing our new red checked shirt at the release party at City Lit Books.

"True to life." Lost in Space is quite lovely and much appreciated pre- The New York Stories release party and Father's Day review at the Gaper's Block Book Club.

All of that, yes. Excerpt? Word.

"Throughout the book we get a sense of Tanzer as a father who is writing while juggling parenthood, marriage, a job, and his social life. He directly speaks to the reader, sharing his most intimate feelings and letting us in on the minutiae of his day-to-day life. We know he is a runner, a worrier, a loving father, and a dedicated writer. He leaves nothing out, sharing even his personal fears and insecurities, about parenting and writing both. We see this done in the essay Anatomy of a Story, in which Tanzer wrestles with how to write about a surgical procedure undergone by his son. The original intent was to fictionalize the diagnosis into something more visceral for the reader. Yet, ultimately he tells it true to life, demonstrating his authority and authenticity as a writer and a parent." 

The New York Stories is Writers Recommend at Poets&Writers.

Yes, that Poets&Writers. For real. And much appreciated it is. Excerpt? Cool.

"With each step I begin to sort things out. I see the kernels of a story connect, and unwrap, and build upon themselves. I picture the characters. I feel their confusion. I hear their dialogue. And then at some point I stop, and I write, and it is glorious."

The New York Stories is here.

So please feel free to rejoice or whatever it is people do. Also, please consider hyping it, buying a copy, reviewing it and sharing it with your friends. It just might change your life.

We interrupt our nearly non-stop barrage of The New York Stories self-love to pause for a most synchronous Other People meta moment.

.@BenTanzer writing to let me know of synchronicity pic.twitter.com/6fVZYpDbBo

— Otherppl (@otherppl) June 11, 2015

"Check it out if you haven't done so yet." The New York Stories Gabino Iglesias Twitter hype there is.

Spending my Saturday finishing @BenTanzer's The New York Stories. This cat can write. Check it out if you haven't done so yet.

— Gabino Iglesias (@Gabino_Iglesias) June 13, 2015