Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 32

THE BIG (SPEAK)EASY. AWP. April 9th.

#AWP15 Thur night just got awesomer! THE BIG (SPEAK)EASY. Incredible readers, booze, & chips. https://t.co/sSZ4xZl5MT pic.twitter.com/F1RZ7dPTbQ
— Leah Angstman! (@leahangstman) March 19, 2015

"With moments that bring tears to the eyes and others that disgusted me beyond what I thought I was capable of, Tanzer also made me laugh, wonder, and feel excited to see Two Rivers again and again." The New York Stories. The Chicago Writer.

Most humbling. And greatly appreciated. Excerpt? Word.

"Ben Tanzer’s strength lies in his recurring characters. It’s a small enough town, right? So some characters are going to come back, you figure. And they do across the span of several years—some stories of children later unfold when we see those little boys and girls turn into confused, fucked up adults. When one marriage ends, another begins and we find that protagonist’s ex-wife as a different protagonist’s wife. Though, not all the stories are told from the point-of-view of men either. Sometimes, we see women discover their independence again, or embrace it in the wake of the oncoming storm. Many of the protagonists are children, and sometimes, the point-of-view is from a collective community. Either way, these characters often return, and sometimes, they’ve learned something from the things they lost. At other times, they come back as fresh as we left them, as befuddled and lost as they once were when they first set out into the world, setting out yet again into the storm. It’s because of this, it’s easy to develop a relationship with these characters as they struggle through the strife of that begets Two Rivers, in spite of the narrative distance built by a lack of description. We knew that this character when he was just a kid, after all, so it’s really easy to maintain your relationship with him, even if you kind of hated Stevey or Frank or any of those assholes when they were just in high school. And seeing them as children before watching them succumb to their fate is what makes this book brilliant. It’s not quite the same way that Salinger or Ellis bring characters back around again, almost as a masturbatory reference to their other works, because it’s just as important to the later stories that you saw the past stories in order to understand the full circle that some of these characters take, even if those past stories aren’t directly referenced. Like a chain, they link together, but each link alone still makes a full circle."

Love.

This Book - The Dark Will End The Dark - and This Podcast - Episode One Hundred and Three - Like Real Life If It Was Just Slightly Fucked - written by and starring the Darrin Doyle respectively - Will Change Your Life.

Like real life if it was just slightly fucked. We told the Darrin Doyle that we would say this, somewhere, and somehow when describing his work, and more specifically his new joint The Dark Will End The Dark. And so we have. Because that's the thing with Darrin Doyle. He's a college professor in a nice suit, with a neatly trimmed beard. He's lovely to speak with. A husband and dad of two boys. All things not especially gothic, or seemingly all that fucked at all. And yet his characters are swallowed whole, commit mass suicides, and always in a sort of harried motion. But still stuck, and wrapped in darkness and loss, of relationships, body parts, children, and possibly their sanity.
 
All of which can almost feel normal too. Because there are no ghosts, not really, or demons. Instead we have the horror of normalcy, things falling a part as things do, and stories that owe more to Stephen King, Shirley Jackson and Samuel Beckett, than say Alice Munro or Raymond Carver. All of which is to say, that we think you should consider reading the Doyle, and listening to our podcast with him, now, both, and experiencing all the fucked normalcy contained therein for yourself. Because it just might change your life, if even for only a moment at that.

That time we were wearing our blue blazer and read Stabbed in the Back from The New York Stories at The Dark Will End The Dark release party.

@BenTanzer killing it with his New York Stories. As always. pic.twitter.com/HZQ9GcnyEU
— Giano Cromley (@gianoc) March 14, 2015

Book and Brew: The New York Stories.

Much book. Much brew. And much love for The Chicago Writer. 

Today I Am A Book by xTx there is. Which is most awesome when you stop to think about it.

Right? Totally, yes, and more here there is.

There will be HEAT 2015: Hotter than Hell, A Benefit for VIDA. Friday, April 10th. 11:30am - 6:00pm. AWP. Minneapolis Convention Center.

That time our hair was real short, our blazer was quite blue, and we talked social media and networking at the Chicago Writers Conference 2014.

Ben Tanzer on Social Media and Networking at CWC 2014 from Chicago Writers Conference on Vimeo.

All Glitter, Everything by the Laura Relyea there is. Which is most awesome when you stop to think about it.

Right? Totally, yes, and more here there is.